Rinus VeeKay, IndyCar Rookie of the Year 2020, isn’t the best-known young prospect on the series. He’s not even the second or third most popular young prospect. Add in the three exciting rookies to headline the season and he probably won’t be the fifth driver to be named on the IndyCar circuit’s new talent list in recent years. But he is undoubtedly talented and today he finally showed what he can do.
Two of VeeKay’s top three career results were achieved at this track, the Infield Road Course in Indianapolis, last season. Today he actually started in seventh place, right behind his team-mate Conor Daly. Former Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean started on pole, the first of his career in his third start, but the bigger headline of qualifying the day before was what happened on the first round of the cutoffs: Will Power, Patricio O’Ward and Scott Dixon, all expected contenders for pole and wins every time the series takes a street course, failed to make the Fast Twelve and started deep in the field.
It was a perfect setup for someone who was making some noise unexpectedly. At first it appeared to be either Grosjean or Jack Harvey. The former Haas F1 star led most of the race, but his Dale Coyne Racing team skipped him too long on his first stop and struggled with tire change timing on his second. It was worse for Harvey, who was in second place and able to fight for victory, when his tire failed after a stop that included stalling in the pit lane. With Harvey out of the picture and Grosjean’s early lead gone, VeeKay was able to take the lead as the pit cycles converged at the start of the final stint. Despite what the NBC broadcast saw as a potential fuel economy issue last round, he never looked back.
The win is VeeKay’s first, but the history of the win goes back much further than its 19-race IndyCar career. VeeKay, a stage name for the driver, whose first name is Rinus van Kalmthout, has systematically worked his way up to IndyCar through the much-touted Road To Indy ladder series. He finished runner-up in the 2017 USF2000 Series, won the 2018 Pro Mazda Championship, and finished runner-up in the 2019 Indy Lights Series. That earned him a ride with Ed Carpenter Racing, and last year that ride became Rookie of the Year underscored by strong runs here in Indianapolis (two top fives in three races on the road plus a good day on the road 500 that went wrong late). This year, three top ten in four races made for a modestly strong start to a promising year. It’s all the more interesting with today’s win.
Grosjean’s second place is also exceptional. Since he only skipped both races in Texas in one season on the racetrack, the run means that after just three starts he is pole sitter and podium finisher in an IndyCar. His first two races were uninspiring, but they were respectable achievements that resulted in tenth and 13th place. his third was electric. Without the team’s questionable early strategy and avoidable late mistake, he would have ended up closely with VeeKay. He still leaves the day with an exceptional performance that he can build on as the season progresses. Now that he has the rest of May off, he can watch the Indianapolis 500 as a spectator before returning to the Detroit car.
Third, Alex Palou is no longer a surprise. The barber race winner and vaunted Chip Ganassi Racing prospect is now a close second in the championship hunt, in close proximity to teammate Scott Dixon, who drives in the Indianapolis 500. This will already be part of the course.
Josef Newgarden and Graham Rahal took part in the top 5. Simon Pagenaud, Alexander Rossi, Scott McLaughlin, Scott Dixon and Marcus Ericsson completed a top ten that weighed heavily on the strong teams, although smaller programs ended up in first and second place. Particularly bad days for the competitors include Will Power 11th, Colton Herta 13th and Patricio O’Ward 15th, although Jack Harvey’s 2020 performance means his 23rd place is also a big disappointment which quietly turned out to be something of a competitive season.
Conor Daly was the only retired person of the day, victim of an early mechanical failure. With Grosjean in second and McLaughlin in eighth, Jimmie Johnson completed the rookie set in 24th, the last of the running entries.
IndyCar is now shifting its focus to the Indianapolis 500, where it will stay for the next two weeks. Practice starts this week, qualifying takes place the following weekend and the race itself takes place on its traditional date: the last Sunday in May.
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