The information got here considerably as a shock late September: After 5 years needed to go away — the staff he made his debut with again in 2020. “I did not see it coming. I used to be within the health club and received a number of calls from my supervisor”, VeeKay remembers throughout an unique interview with Motorsport.com.
“I believed ‘I will name him again in a minute’, however usually if I do not reply my cellphone, he does not maintain calling me three extra occasions. Lastly, I picked up and he advised me ‘you will not consider this, however Ed does not wish to proceed and goes in a unique route with the line-up’. It got here as a whole shock to me, as a result of in Nashville I sat down with Ed and advised my crew ‘guys don’t be concerned, I will be again subsequent yr’.”
VeeKay felt he deserved a bit extra credit score along with his former employer. “I’m the one driver who has been with Ed Carpenter Racing for thus lengthy. I believe I can say that if you happen to take away my outcomes over the past 5 years, the staff would have appeared loads worse than that it really did. After all there have been errors right here and there, however as a racing driver you continue learning. I felt they have been proud of me and I’ve at all times been very loyal. However on the first alternative that got here up, they determined to enter a unique route.”
Robust first week: “We checked out all situations”
Aside from the best way through which it was communicated, the timing was unlucky. Most groups had already finalised their driver line-ups for 2025, leaving VeeKay with few choices.
“For some time I could not assess what was going to occur. The primary week after the information I actually struggled, mentally I wasn’t fairly there. However precisely one week later that cellphone name, I used to be in a position to put it behind me, to show the web page and to maneuver ahead once more.”
Throughout these early days, many ideas flashed via his thoughts. The 24-year-old checked out all of the choices, together with the worst case state of affairs. “We even considered the thought, if it did not work out, to sit down on the sidelines for a yr and principally anticipate the Connor Daly state of affairs, the place you may are available in as a brilliant sub.”
“We considered that, nevertheless it’s not what you like after all, as you’re so depending on others. We checked out all situations, however fortunately my check with got here alongside in a short time. On 11 October, three weeks after the information, I used to be in a Dale Coyne automobile at Indianapolis. Truthfully, that gave me a lot peace of thoughts.”
Rinus Veekay, Dale Coyne Racing at St. Petersburg
Penske Leisure
Final-minute name: ‘Are you able to check in Indianapolis?’
When it got here to the check, VeeKay thought he was travelling to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for various causes. “I went to Indianapolis as a result of I knew the check was there, everybody was at Indy. We scheduled conferences with totally different groups, however the day earlier than I immediately received a name from Dale asking if I needed to check. It was final minute, nevertheless it felt like some type of reward from above.”
VeeKay says he wasn’t nervous, simply motivated to the bone. “It is laborious to elucidate, however you’ve gotten a really particular motivation whenever you come out of a scenario like that. I believe I used to be extraordinarily sharp and focussed. In a means it additionally took the stress off.” It might sound unusual when your IndyCar future depends upon it, however VeeKay explains: “If it was some type of examination that I needed to examine for…, however I do know precisely what I would like in Indy. And remember: the automobile I used to be in was the one automobile that did not qualify for the 2024 Indy 500. In that respect, I did not really feel an excessive amount of stress.”
After the check at Indianapolis each events have been hungry for extra. “We went from a automobile that wanted fairly a bit of labor to a really secure automobile at Indy. I used to be in a position to lead the staff that day and the staff let me take the lead as effectively, which is essential. Dale [Coyne] heard how I started working and never lengthy after the check we agreed that we needed to proceed into the 2025 season collectively. At that time it was only a matter of ready to see which investor would come to the staff, and once they would signal.”
Placing the pen to paper: A brand new problem awaiting
Noting that for the surface world it took a very very long time earlier than the deal was introduced, VeeKay smiles: “Not just for the surface world — additionally for myself! We had a spoken settlement and each of us needed to proceed, nevertheless it’s solely official when the signatures are there. I undoubtedly discovered that lesson this low season.”
With that have in thoughts, VeeKay tried to cement his place as a lot as he may. “I saved visiting the Dale Coyne store close to Chicago, saying ‘I would like my steering wheel like this, I would just like the brake setup like that and extra issues like that’. The staff went forward and made changes for me regardless that I hadn’t signed but! It was nice to see that they made me part of all these processes and on the identical time I attempted to work my means into that seat.”
It labored out ultimately: with signatures on paper, VeeKay is assured of one other IndyCar season. “That was a really good second and a bit humorous as effectively. When the contract arrived in my mailbox, I simply stepped off the aircraft in Indianapolis. I used to be going to Dale Coyne Racing the following day to get my seat prepared for our check at Sebring, so I may instantly signal the contract in particular person!”
After a tumultuous winter, VeeKay is secured of one other yr within the sequence, which has began surprisingly effectively for each the Dutchman and his new staff. In St. Petersburg, VeeKay took ninth place, securing the primary top-ten end for Dale Coyne Racing in over a yr. Extra on that and on the IndyCar season forward might be discovered partially 2 of the interview.
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