Second consecutive top ten finish for VeeKay at Iowa
Rinus ‘VeeKay’ van Kalmthout followed up a superb fifth place in race one with a ninth-place finish in the second race of the NTT IndyCar Series doubleheader at Iowa Speedway, as the 23-year-old Dutchman once again showed strong pace in the Hy-Vee One Step 250.
VeeKay, who failed to put a foot wrong while defending the colours of the No. 21 askROI.com Chevrolet at Iowa, is personally enjoying a strong 2024 IndyCar season, but the balance of power in the series is currently not in his favour. Four teams stand head and shoulders above the rest, with a combined total of 14 cars, meaning that Ed Carpenter Racing’s battle will usually start from P15.
That 15th position would be VeeKay’s starting position for the second race of the doubleheader at Iowa Speedway. Following a rock-solid performance on Saturday night, which saw the one-time IndyCar race winner move up from 13th on the grid to claim a respectable fifth at the finish, the ECR driver was back on the grid on Sunday morning for a race that, similar to the first, was scheduled for 250 laps.
In the opening laps VeeKay found a midfield spot to hover around his grid position for his entire first stint. Unfortunately, the timing of his pitstop proved to be somewhat inconvenient. The ECR crew did nothing wrong, but the caution that was enforced moments before his pitstop failed to work in VeeKay’s favour. As a result, the youngster rejoined back in 18th.
However, an excellent second stint combined with a well-executed second pitstop vaulted the green and black car and its Dutch driver back to the front. VeeKay then spent the majority of his third and final stint on the red-hot Iowa Speedway in 11th place, still on the lead lap. Challenging for the top spots proved almost impossible due to the track’s new characteristics, with traffic playing a detrimental part.
Fortunately, a few late chaotic scenes lifted VeeKay into the top ten, handing the ECR driver his second top-ten finish in a row, and his fourth of the year, following his results at St Petersburg and Indianapolis. The race was won by Penske driver Will Power.
“Another good race,” said a delighted VeeKay from Iowa. “A ninth place this time, I would have signed up for that result before the race. After Saturday’s top-five finish, the goal for race two was to at least finish in the top ten. We managed to stay out of trouble and had a good race for the second time this weekend.”
“As in Saturday’s race, there was very little overtaking in this race, which is also due to the new characteristics of Iowa Speedway. The best thing to do was to stay out of trouble and wait for others to make mistakes or bunch together in a group. That’s how we were able to overtake our rivals left, right and centre and get to this ninth place.”
“I would like to thank the Ed Carpenter Racing team for a great weekend. During Sunday’s race, the pitstops were once again great and the strategy decisions were fine. We were not as lucky as Will Power and Alex Palou, who came in at exactly the right time to take advantage of the caution, but at least we got a good result and clawed back some positions in the championship. Now it’s a case of getting back on track for the rest of the season”, VeeKay concluded.
The season is about to continue with no less than four races in the busy month of July, three of which have already been completed. Next Sunday, 21 July, the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto will take place as the 12th round of the IndyCar season. The race around Exhibition Place in Toronto, Canada, will start at 19:20 Dutch time.
