Rinus VeeKay nearly took the second win of his IndyCar career at Barber Motorsports Park this weekend, leading the field from pole until he lost out to Pato O’Ward in the final section of the race.
VeeKay went into a bit of a slump last year after having to miss a race due to a broken collar bone suffered in a cycling accident.
He failed to register a top 10 finish in the final seven races of 2021, but now has three of them in the first four races, including a podium.
It seems the 21-year-old is back on form this season, and he feels that he has thoroughly bounced back from his run of poor results to compete where he should be.
“I feel like we’re definitely back,” said VeeKay after the race. “I felt like that at St. Pete already, qualifying fourth, finishing sixth. That was a great way to bounce back.
“I think we started out really well already. This weekend really, yeah, was the cherry on the cake with the pole position and having a car to win the race, all race.”
VeeKay did nearly win the race too, leading the most of the 90 laps and keeping the advantage until the final stint of the race.
It was only when Pato O’Ward dove deep into the corner on fresh tires that the Dutchman lost the lead, and he explained that he probably should have been a little more aggressive trying to keep the top spot.
“I have screwed myself a few times in the past braking a little too deep, locking a tire, basically destroying my whole last stint,” said VeeKay explaining why he was conservative in the battle.
“I did not know Pato was going that deep. Yeah, I was looking in my mirrors a lot. Maybe that distracted me a little bit. I don’t know.
“If I could go back, I would go way deeper and stay ahead of him. I was also struggling a little bit more on my last set of tires. Yeah, he was definitely faster on that last stint. He deserved win for him. Fortunately I still got a podium out of it.
