The 23-year-old Dutchman, who was expected to be a strong contender for pole position this weekend, was the fourth of 34 drivers to go out and attack Indianapolis Motorsport Speedway’s fastest four laps, over 10 miles, of the season.
VeeKay – who was just 0.004s and 0.006mph away from Alex Palou’s pole-winning four-lap average last year – made his maiden 2024 qualifying run directly after the No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of IndyCar Series rookie Kyffin Simpson.
After establishing a quick warm-up lap that exceeded 221mph, he went through the Turns 1 and 2 trouble-free but then it all went wrong going through Turn 3.
His No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet went into the corner at 238mph before he got out of shape and bobbled before spinning into the outside wall.
There was significant damage to the backend and left side of the car before he came to a stop in the middle of Turn 4, after nosing into the wall there once more.
Following assistance from IndyCar’s AMR Safety Team, he got out of the car but was seen walking away with a noticeable limp. VeeKay was cleared and released after being checked out by on-site medical center.
“It felt all fine,” he said. “We basically did Turn 3 at speed once, but then had a bit of understanding actually the previous lap and made a little adjustment because with understeer you scrub and lose speed.
“I had a huge moment really late and don't really understand how that happened. It seemed a bit unusual. I've been in a way looser car and I've had smaller moments than this.
“At that point, I was a passenger who tried to save it, but it just, yeah, I feel terrible for the guys. That's for sure. You know, they spend months, maybe all year, to get this car as efficient and fast as possible.”
UPDATE: The team has evaluated the damage and will rebuild the car rather than switch to a backup chassis.
“The tub and the engine are fine,” said ECR’s Woody Harvey. “We’re just going to split it from the engine back, so [fit] a new bellhousing and gearbox.
“That’ll take care of the whole rear end, and we’ll fit a whole new left-front suspension, and fit new bodywork as we go along. Should be back out in three hours or so.”
In his four previous starts, VeeKay qualified fourth (2020), third (2021), third (2022) and second (2023). This is reportedly the second-best qualifying record in the entire history of the Indy 500.
