Why Rinus VeeKay believes there's more to come after Toronto podium

One could say it was only a matter of time before Rinus VeeKay and Dale Coyne Racing broke through to the podium in the 2025 IndyCar season. The Dutch driver signed with DCR to drive the No. 18 Honda just a couple of weeks before the season opener in St. Petersburg, and kicked off the year with a top-10 finish, crossing the checkered flag in ninth.

He backed that up by reaching the Fast Six and finishing fourth at Barber, on his way to collecting six top-10 finishes in the first 12 races of the season.

Despite some strong performances from VeeKay and DCR, there were two key elements that helped explain their run to second place last Sunday on the streets of Toronto. The first: VeeKay’s ninth-place starting position — his best grid spot after a stretch of five races where 18th had been his best qualifying result. The other key factor was making a two-stop strategy work, starting with a 13-lap stint on alternate tires. A caution caused by Scott McLaughlin’s lost wheel on Lap 3 proved decisive.

“We’ve been moving forward every race in the last six races. But we’ve been starting in the back,” VeeKay said. “It was important for us to qualify well, and we qualified ninth. We did a bit of a different strategy than others. In the crazy race it was today, it turned out to be the right call.”

“The yellow definitely helped. That was kind of our strategy. There was a really high probability of a Turn 1, Lap 1 yellow in the past eight years. It was a pretty long one — and that was good for us.”

“I really tried to baby the alternate tires from the start — be gentle with them, avoid wheelspin. I expected the fronts to go off a lot, but in the end it was actually the rears that degraded. It felt like I was driving on just the axles at the back. It was tough — I don’t think we could’ve stretched it another lap.”

A “maximized” opportunity

Rinus Veekay, Dale Coyne Racing

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Lumen via Getty Images

VeeKay made his final stop at the end of Lap 57, while Pato O’Ward stayed out an extra lap and made the overcut work. The Dutchman explained why it played out that way.

“I think the team and I did everything we could. Pato had only done about 20 laps on that set of tires before the final stop, so he needed less fuel and had a shorter stop. We were waiting to fill the tank, and that’s where we lost time. Coming out of the pits, I think he was two seconds ahead. I closed the gap a bit while his tires were coming up to temperature. But in the end, it’s hard to stay close and get a really good run.”

“I really gave it everything. I tried to save some tires to maybe attack him in traffic near the end. But honestly, this is all I could do. I maximized it, and the whole team did too. I think everyone’s very happy. Everyone should be really proud.”

Dale Coyne Racing made a major engineering change in late May, bringing back Michael Cannon to engineer VeeKay’s car, while Mike Colliver began working with rookie Jacob Abel in the second entry.

Since then, VeeKay has scored four top-10 finishes in seven races and currently sits 11th in the championship, just seven points behind David Malukas and AJ Foyt Racing. It’s no surprise that VeeKay is full of praise for Cannon’s contribution.

“After the engineering overhaul, we really started figuring out what we needed to do,” he said. “Michael Cannon brought a lot of experience to the timing stand and the engineering truck. It’s paying off.”

Patricio O’ward, Arrow McLaren, Rinus Veekay, Dale Coyne Racing, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing

Photo by: Gavin Baker / Lumen via Getty Images

“There’ve been a few races this year where I’ve had the best car I’ve ever had in my IndyCar career. It was a crazy offseason with everything that happened, but I think it was a big step in my career.”

“I’ve had a great year so far with Dale Coyne Racing. Of course, with Michael Cannon joining — his experience — I think we’ve got a really strong team. Matt Nelson, Michael Cannon, Dale Coyne — that whole strategy group, together on the stand, they make it happen every time. Whatever happens in the race, we make the right decisions.”

In that sense, VeeKay is adamant his podium in Toronto wasn’t a one-off, and he warns rivals to keep an eye on him and Dale Coyne Racing in the final four races of the season.

“Laguna Seca is coming up, and I think the setup we had at Barber will work well there,” he said, referring to next weekend’s round.

“We’re at that point in the season where we’ve figured out what we need to do. I think we’re going to have some really strong races coming up.”