Dale Coyne Racing's Rinus Veekay shares his 'helpless' plight before last-minute 2025 IndyCar signing

IndyCar driver Rinus VeeKay was left without a seat for the 2025 season as his former team, Ed Carpenter Racing, announced Alexander Rossi as the driver to team up alongside Christian Rasmussen in September 2024. VeeKay recently came out and shared his thought process before Dale Coyne Racing made the late announcement.

The Dutchman participated in the 2024 post-season IndyCar test with Dale Coyne Racing, which was held in late October at the road course around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. VeeKay detailed how that test began the journey of a possible contract for DCR, as the announcement was made in February.

Dale Coyne Racing was the last team to confirm their IndyCar lineup for the 2025 season, leaving it to the very last moment. Bob Pockrass uploaded a video featuring VeeKay, where the DCR driver was questioned about his thought process as Dale Coyne Racing took its sweet time to confirm his seat. He said:

“I wasn't freaking out. At times I had my waves of freak outs, but it was more of a, I mean, just sitting tight, just of a helpless feeling. I mean if there was a money tree on the side of the road, I would definitely stop there every day. But there's no money trees in the world.”

“So I just had to sit tight and trust Dale's word. And that's what we did and we got it done in the end. Dale always announces drivers late and there's always a car at every race. So I wasn't worried if there wasn't going to be a car driving, I was going to be in it. So in the end, you know, I have to stay realistic,” he added

Rinus VeeKay will make his debut for DCR at the 2025 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The Dutchman will start the race on March 2nd from P12 onwards the grid

Rinus VeeKay detailed his family's expectations ahead of the DCR signing

Rinus VeeKay raced with Ed Carpenter Racing for five years before the team replaced him with Alexander Rossi. As Dale Coyne Racing delayed the decision to announce their final driver, VeeKay’s family started losing hope of the Dutchman securing a seat for the 2025 IndyCar season.

Rinus VeeKay spoke with IndyCar reporter Marshall Pruett and highlighted the same in a video uploaded on the social media platform X. The DCR driver said:

“Everybody was very relieved just that it was done and you know, there were some people back home that had hope (and) some that kind of gave up. But right now, having an IndyCar seat - the news was amazing for me, but also for everybody out there. I'm happy that my fans still get to see me in IndyCar and it's going to be a good year.” (1:42 onwards).

While Rinus VeeKay starts P12 for his DCR debut, his teammate Jacob Abel, who finished as the runner-up in the 2024 Indy NXT championship, will start in P25 on his IndyCar debut.