INDIANAPOLIS — In his first Indianapolis 500 with Juncos Hollinger Racing, Rinus VeeKay scored the team’s best start and best finish, as well as his own best finish, in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, driving from an 11th-place start to a sixth-place result in a rain-interrupted NTT IndyCar Series race on Sunday, May 24.
VeeKay’s race at times looked set to be determined by strategy as inclement weather circled Indianapolis Motor Speedway. With rain and potential lightning circling the track throughout the day, and multiple interruptions due to water on the tracks, teams were faced with a choice: play it aggressively in the pits with fresh tires and ample fuel, or try to stretch each stint after the halfway point in case weather caused the race to be called off early.
Early in the race, a decision not to pit during the first yellow-flag period put the No. 76 team on the back foot.
“It was a roller coaster race,” VeeKay told Frontstretch afterward. “Started 11th, kind of stayed around there; did not take the first yellow, which ended up not being the right decision. So we cycled back to like 27th. We got back with everybody on the same strategy around the third [pit] stop, slogged around there saving fuel and didn’t really make much mini move and then at the end we saved enough fuel that we could pivot, make a change in our strategy, and do one less pit stop than most, and that worked out to be a very good decision.”
With a slew of cautions in the race’s second half — four periods for 36 laps from lap 92 to the finish — the field was shuffled multiple times, leaving some drivers bitten by strategy miscues. VeeKay, however, climbed to ninth place before Caio Collet hit the wall with eight laps remaining, bringing out the penultimate caution and bumping VeeKay up a handful of spots.
The final restart of the race came on lap 197 when Mick Schumacher hit the wall.
“I had a really good restart, the second to last one, I went up to fifth, and at the end, [Scott] McLaughlin had 15-lap newer retires, so I couldn’t really take the battle with him or to him, but incredible job by the team to recover on such a big stage. Best start for the team, best finish for the team, and all in our first year together. So, really happy and really proud of everybody at Juncos Hollinger Racing for giving me an incredible month of May.”
The battle with McLaughlin that VeeKay referenced came on the last lap, when IndyCar threw the green flag and white flag at the same time, setting up a one-lap dash for the finish. While all eyes were on then-leader Marcus Armstrong, David Malukas and eventual winner Felix Rosenqvist, positions were swapping throughout the field. While VeeKay lost one position to the No. 3 car on that one-lap dash, he held no reservations toward IndyCar’s decision to throw the green and white at once, which proved controversial when it was last done in 2023.
“Yeah… sketch… cool!” VeeKay exclaimed when asked about the final restart. “It’s great for the show. Honestly, that final restart, I haven’t really seen it all, but I think Armstrong went really early, which he might regret a little, but what a job. Really cool for Felix!”
VeeKay referenced this being his first year with Juncos Hollinger. Indeed, Juncos is Rinus’ third home in three years following the end of his five-season tenure with Ed Carpenter Racing after the 2024 season. From there, VeeKay took up a ride with Dale Coyne Racing in 2025, scoring seven top-10 finishes with the team, including a podium at Toronto. His sixth-place run in the 500 is his second top-10 result with Juncos in 2026.
Following that result, VeeKay was asked what he could bring to his new team to make them stronger.
“I think there’s a lot of potential in this team,” he said. “They’re really a strong group and the team has a bit less experience than most of the heavy hitters, but we’re learning a lot. We’ve got a lot of very smart minds at the team. So, for me, it’s just making sure we get the team to be confident in what they do and innovate in whatever way they can.”
VeeKay had a similar appraisal for his new teammate, Sting Ray Robb.
“It’s been fun working with Sting Ray,” he said. “We’ve known each other since I think we were 13 or 14, both of us. We’ve raced together in go-karts in the U.S. and in Europe, so we’ve known each other for a long time, our families have known each other. He’s a great guy. We hang out pretty often outside of the racetrack, play golf, go climbing. We should go climbing actually more often, good for grip! But no, he’s a really nice guy, and he listens to what I have to say.
“You know, he understands that I have experience. I’m not a Scott Dixon yet. But I’ve got, you know, the seven 500s, I’ve been out front, I’ve been out back, And, you know, he really takes my advice serious and tries to do whatever he can with it.”
Alex is the IndyCar Content Director at Frontstretch, having initially joined as an entry-level contributor in 2021. He also serves as Managing Director of The Asia Cable, a publication focused on the international affairs and politics of the Asia-Pacific region which he co-founded in 2023. With previous experience in China, Japan and Poland, Alex is particularly passionate about the international realm of motorsport and the politics that make the wheels turn - literally - behind the scenes.