Rinus Veekay set to join AJ Foyt Racing in 2026: Report

Rinus Veekay is reportedly set to join AJ Foyt Racing for the 2026 IndyCar season. The 25-year-old was with Dale Coyne Racing in 2025, having been signed as the final piece of the season's 27-driver puzzle just three weeks before the season opener at St. Petersburg.

There weren't high expectations of this partnership, considering DCR's performance in the recent past as that of a backmarker. However, the Dutch driver left the IndyCar paddock floored by overachieving in his No. 18 Honda. He opened with an unexpected Top 10 finish at St. Pete.

Veekay then bettered that performance in Round 4 at Barber, falling just short of the podium in P4. He racked up four more Top 10 finishes before a pivotal drive at Portland in the second half of the season, which earned him a P3 finish. It was Dale Coyne Racing's first podium in two years and Rinus Veekay's first in over three years.

Rinus Veekay, Pato O'Ward, and Kyffin Simpson celebrate on the IndyCar podium in Toronto - Source: Getty

His performance made rival teams take notice, and he admitted that his "stock" had risen in the driver market. DCR attempted to retain him by offering a contract for 2026, but Veekay rejected it in the postseason.

It was rumored that he was being considered for the No. 4 AJ Foyt Racing seat of David Malukas, whom Team Penske would sign in place of Andretti Global-bound Will Power. As per GPblog, an announcement about Veekay joining AJFR is imminent. This would also confirm the worst-kept secret in the paddock, which is Malukas being Power's successor in the No.12 Team Penske Chevy.

At Dale Coyne Racing, Romain Grosjean, Linus Lundqvist, and 2025 Indy NXT champion Dennis Hauger are reported to be in contention for the team's two seats.

Conor Daly claims Rinus Veekay is more deserving of Will Power's Team Penske seat than David Malukas

Will Power with Josef Newgarden and Rinus Veekay at the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 - Source: Getty

Conor Daly recently spoke about how Rinus Veekay could be a better option to replace Will Power at Team Penske over David Malukas. The Juncos Hollinger Racing driver had previously highlighted how Veekay "one million percent" deserved a seat at Penske.

In a recent episode of the Speed Street podcast co-hosted by him, Daly seconded co-host Chase Holden talking about the possibility of Team Penske signing Veekay rather than Malukas.

"I think he would immediately be very good. I think it would be such a wild shake-up to the situation after all the talk about David Malukas, for then Penske to be like, you know what, Rinus... Rinus is so talented. I think David is too, but Rinus, for sure, has a little bit more experience, is still young enough to get in and get going. That would be a wild shake-up," Conor Daly said. [35:15 onwards]

Official announcements from AJ Foyt Racing and Team Penske about Rinus Veekay and David Malukas' 2026 signings are awaited. The two teams have a technical alliance, which could also see Veekay making the jump to Penske after 2026.