VeeKay takes 17th in challenging race at Portland
Rinus ‘VeeKay’ van Kalmthout finished the 15th round of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series in P17 after the 24-year-old Dutchman was tapped by an opponent in the early stages of the race and struggled with tyre pressures afterwards.
After a busy month of July, in which no fewer than five races were run, Rinus VeeKay and his IndyCar rivals were given a weekend’s rest after the encounter at Laguna Seca, as the 15th of 17 races on the 2025 calendar took place on the second weekend of August. The venue was the Portland International Raceway in the eponymous Oregon state capital on the west coast of the United States.
VeeKay went into the short summer break with mixed feelings. With seven top-ten finishes from 14 starts, he had matched his best season tally already, but at the same time the one-time IndyCar race winner was thwarted on several occasions while on his way to even more glory. At Laguna Seca, for example, the driver of the #18 askROI.com Dale Coyne Racing Honda was run off the track by an opponent in a promising position, and at Detroit the car failed.
In good spirits, however, VeeKay traveled to Portland, one of the tracks where he has a strong history. With the recent strong form of Dale Coyne Racing and himself in mind, both VeeKay and Coyne were dreaming of more success. However, the weekend of the BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland proved to be one of the challenging kind. In qualifying, VeeKay lost the chance for a competitive spot on the grid when he was forced to abort his fast lap due to a red flag. As a result, he only managed 23rd.
Despite a great start – VeeKay’s trademark – it was not easy to get to the front in the race. In the scramble of the opening laps, the Dutchman fell victim to an overzealous rival who tapped him around after eight of the scheduled 110 laps, forcing VeeKay to surrender all the places he had just won. Coyne and VeeKay then tried to move to the front using an alternative strategy, but that failed to work out. During one of the stints on soft tyres, tyre pressures turned out to be well away from their planned values.
Throughout the long race on the Portland circuit, VeeKay kept working extremely hard, only to have to settle for a midfield finishing position. When the chequered flag dropped, he crossed the finish line in 17th position. The race was won – as in 2024 – by Penske driver Will Power, while VeeKay’s Coyne teammate Jacob Abel finished 23rd. Alex Palou secured the IndyCar championship early.
“Not a great race,” was VeeKay’s honest feedback from Portland. “First, I got hit from behind on the restart, causing damage that affected me for the rest of the race. Then we had problems with tyre pressures, which obviously didn’t help our speed. 17th place turned out to be the maximum in the end.”
“In qualifying on Saturday, we were unlucky with the timing of the red flag, as I was on course for a place among the Fast Twelve. That’s the danger when you go out on the track with a lot of competitive IndyCars and everyone is fighting to qualify for the next section. All in all, it was a challenging weekend in Portland, but we learn from that as well.”
“Two more races ahead, both on an oval – I am looking forward to racing in Milwaukee and Nashville and will give everything to finish my first season with Dale Coyne Racing and Honda with great results. My congratulations to Alex Palou, who has already won the championship.”
The penultimate race of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series is the Snap-On Milwaukee Mile 250, also the fifth of six oval races on the schedule. On August 24, Milwaukee’s historic short oval will be the battleground of round 16 of the championship. This race will start around 8:30 p.m. Dutch time and can be followed live on Ziggo Sport.