There is a saying that Nashville is a place "where music tells the story," so it's only fitting that Nashville Superspeedway is where Rinus VeeKay finishes off the racing tale of his remarkable 2025 campaign.
Despite being dropped by Ed Carpenter Racing after last season, this year isn't VeeKay's comeback tour. If anything, it's been an evolution. From without a ride to signing to drive Dale Coyne Racing's No. 18 Honda-powered entry just days before the season began, he now sits on the threshold of finishing top 10 in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship standings for the first time in his career.
"You're in IndyCar, so everything is possible," VeeKay said. "But you still have to be realistic, and realistically I didn't think we would have had a year like this."
The original target was "four or five top 10s" en route to top 16 in the overall standings. However, he reached that mark by the end of June, and bolstered it with a runner-up result on the Streets of Toronto - the fifth podium of his career and first since 2022 (Barber Motorsports Park), but more importantly, the first he was able to celebrate with his wife, Carmen, in attendance.
Why this is merely progression from the 24-year-old Dutchman is the fact he tied his career-best of seven top 10s - a mark he set last season - with four rounds remaining this year.
"The first thing is my experience," VeeKay said. "It started to click halfway through the last season with ECR. I really started to understand the game there. Right now, with Dale Coyne Racing, the meetings we have outside of the track, the connection I have with my team and doing strategy, we make a plan together as a team and I know exactly what I need to do in the car to make a strategy work at this point. It's a lot of transparency within the team that allows me to make stuff work just by knowing exactly what to do at each time."
To the point VeeKay even confidently - but also respectfully - believes he's started to figure out how to tackle races similar to six-time series champion Scott Dixon.
"It's weird to say about myself, but kind of feel like I could do Dixon stuff at this point," VeeKay said. "But I feel like I've started to really drive in a championship mindset - like a Dixon, like an Alex Palou - with staying out of trouble and maximizing everything, and then using the Honda fuel mileage to get two stops and keep showing up at the front."
One of the other factors that has also undoubtedly helped is the addition of legendary race engineer Michael Cannon, who returned to Dale Coyne Racing in May and joined VeeKay's timing stand. Cannon spent six years at DCR (2014-19), with other recent stops including AJ Foyt Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing.
"He brought consistency to the team," VeeKay said. "We had numerous times before he showed up where we rolled off the truck and we were far out of the window. We took big swings and got a bit lucky."
Cannon having extensive knowledge with this generation of Indy car, the Dallara DW12, has given the team a strong baseline everywhere once they unload off the truck. It only ever needs "a little bit of tweaking," according to VeeKay. Additionally, Cannon is also the one not only directing everyone on the timing stand, but the voice over VeeKay's radio throughout a race weekend.
"The way his language is working together with a lot of people, it is really calm," VeeKay said. "Whatever happens, if we're leading the race or last, it doesn't matter, he talks on the radio in the same tone. It's funny, but it keeps me really stable in the car."
VeeKay was "welcomed with open arms to the Honda family" when he signed with DCR, and has felt a noticeable difference with the Japanese manufacturer's powerplant.
"The engine has been really good, especially on street courses where the drivability has been awesome," said VeeKay, the 2020 INDYCAR Rookie of the Year. "It's something that, all my experience before Dale Coyne Racing has been with Chevy, and you're always like, ‘Ah, the Hondas look so easy to drive on street courses,' and wondering what it's like. And it does make a difference. It doesn't make it easy, but it makes it a bit more consistent to drive.
"And then the biggest thing for me is the mileage, just the fuel mileage. We've done a lot of two-stoppers. We've done a lot of creative stuff that would not be possible without the fuel mileage we're getting. What we did in Toronto was basically a product of the Honda fuel mileage, going for a two-stop and still keeping the pace up."
The 1.33-mile D-shaped oval that hosts INDYCAR's season finale, the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix, presents a number of challenges. Beyond its 14 degrees of banking that pushes qualifying speed over 200mph, it's also the only concrete track surface on the calendar, which can wreak havoc during the race.
"Instead of (tire) marbles, it's kind of like a fine powder coming off the tires," VeeKay said. "You don't see the marbles but they're there. It's kind of like dust, so that gets really tricky in the race.
I have to say, the racing was incredible last year. We were going side-by-side for a long time, people were moving and it was a fun race. For me last year, we were really quick but every time I pitted the yellow came out afterwards, so I went a lap down every time; that was pretty hard. We did that three times, and every stop it went yellow right when I got out of pit lane."
VeeKay still finished 12th despite the misfortune. Oddly enough, he was directly ahead of the Dale Coyne Racing entry he now pilots.
With the journey from then to now full circle and early season expectations shattered, the goal is simple for VeeKay: "I want to be top 10 in the championship." If he were to accomplish that, he would also give team owner Dale Coyne his first top 10 finish in the standings since Sebastien Bourdais finished seventh in 2018.
The path to such a feat could require a win in Music City, and VeeKay confidently believes it's possible.
"Oh yes, I think it is," he said. "We have a shot. With Michael Cannon right now, he brings so much experience that we have stuff we can rely on. We aim to have a really good season finale."
