INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Rinus VeeKay's already challenging season took another twist Saturday when a hard crash in Indianapolis 500 qualifying left him limping down the front straightaway, hopeful he could get back on the 2.5-mile oval before the first round of qualifying ends.
The 23-year-old Dutch driver traditionally has performed well on both the track's historic Brickyard and the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course. But VeeKay, who is in the final year of his contract with Ed Carpenter Racing, finished 26th in last weekend's Indianapolis Grand Prix and now faces a long road back to making his fifth straight pole shootout as the team scrambles to repair his No. 21 Chevrolet.
VeeKay's car wiggled going through the third turn at more than 238 mph, then spun hard into the wall, bounced off, skidded down the chute between Turns 3 and 4 before hitting the wall again in Turn 4 and coming to a stop in the front straightaway.
“I had had a bit of understeer on the previous lap and made a little adjustment, somehow I had a huge moment really late. I don't really understand how that happened,” he said, before climbing out of the car and limping toward track workers. “I feel terrible for the guys, they spend months — or a year or two — getting this car ready and now we've taken a huge step backward.”
VeeKay went to the infield medical care center, where he was checked, released and cleared to drive shortly after qualifying resumed.
He has been one of the top qualifiers in each of his first four racers — starting fourth as a rookie in 2020, third in each of the next two years and second in 2023, when he finished 10th. VeeKay's career-best 500 finish, eighth, came in 2021, the same year he won the Indianapolis Grand Prix.
Now, though, the obstacles become much more difficult.
“I think we'll be fine getting into the field,” he said. “We should have just been able to do it with one run and done, but it's just a bummer. We shouldn't have to go through this.”