Indy 500: The ultimate dark horse for the 104th running

If you’re looking for a dark horse pick for the upcoming 104th running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, look no further than teenager Rinus VeeKay.

Rinus van Kalmthout, professionally known as Rinus VeeKay, had never been behind the wheel of an IndyCar before this year, when he got the opportunity to compete full-time for Ed Carpenter Racing behind the wheel of the #21 Chevrolet after climbing the Road to Indy ladder.

VeeKay has made marked improvements in his driving since his debut at Texas Motor Speedway, recording a fifth place finish in the race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course before running well in the first race at the Iowa Speedway oval before he was an innocent bystander in a crazy wreck.

Based on his pit strategy at the time, he was in line for a runner-up finish had things played out without him being run into by Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport’s Colton Herta on an aborted restart.

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Six races into his IndyCar career, VeeKay is set to make his Indy 500 debut, and he is slated to be the youngest driver in this year’s field for the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”.

VeeKay got a taste of superspeedway racing back in early June in his debut when he wrecked twice at Texas Motor Speedway, once in practice and once in the race itself by doing something team boss Ed Carpenter specifically told him not to do, drawing early criticism from the three-time Indianapolis 500 polesitter.

But with the extensive amount of practice leading up to the Indy 500, the 19-year-old Dutchman will be one to watch at the Brickyard, and the fact that he is running for the team that have had arguably the most raw pace in their cars at Indianapolis Motor Speedway over the last decade won’t hurt him.

If you’re looking for a dark horse, look no further than VeeKay.

The #21 Chevrolet has been a rocket in qualifying since Carpenter started running it back in 2014, including in 2015 when it was run by the Carpenter co-owned CFH Racing with Josef Newgarden behind the wheel.

In six starts since 2014, the #21 Chevrolet hasn’t missed a Fast Nine Shootout. J.R. Hildebrand qualified in ninth place in 2014. In 2015 when there wasn’t a Fast Nine Shootout due to rain and the power was turned down in the cars for safety reasons, Newgarden still qualified in ninth.

In 2016, Newgarden qualified on the front row in second place and was barely beaten to the pole position by Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ James Hinchcliffe on the final qualifying run of the session.

With Newgarden off to Team Penske to replace two-time Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya after 2016, Carpenter promoted Hildebrand to the full-time seat, and he qualified the #21 Chevrolet in sixth place in 2017.

Spencer Pigot replaced Hildebrand after 2017 and qualified in sixth place in 2018 in his first true opportunity to shine in an oval qualifying session. Skip ahead to 2019, and he topped the speed chart in the Saturday qualifying session before qualifying on the front row in third.

The teenager who hails from Hoofddorp, Netherlands was tabbed to replace Pigot this season as Ed Carpenter Racing’s full-time driver, and his speed alone has proven why Carpenter took a chance on him.

Can he take that to the next level?

A 500-mile race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) oval in Speedway, Indiana is a tall task, especially for a 19-year-old rookie, one who has struggled with consistency.

Most recently, Herta had a chance to run the race last year as a teenager, but mechanical issues hindered his day just three laps into the 200-lap event.

But given the speed of the #21 Chevrolet, which has an average starting position of 5.83 in this race since 2014, best of any car to run all six races (second best if you include Will Power’s #1 Team Penske Chevrolet as the reigning champion in 2015 along with his #12 Chevrolet — average of 4.83), VeeKay is the ultimate dark horse for this race.

Ed Carpenter Racing as a whole have been fast at the track, with Carpenter having taken three pole positions and two additional second place starts since 2013 behind the wheel of his #20 Chevrolet. He finished in a career-high second in 2018, two years after Newgarden finished in a career-high third in his #21 Chevrolet.

Last year, Ed Carpenter Racing took three of the top four positions in the starting lineup, with Carpenter in second place, Pigot in third and Ed Jones in fourth in his #64 Chevrolet.

VeeKay finished in third place in last year’s Freedom 100 Indy Lights race at the track, so he does have experience at the front of the pack as well, which could prove crucial at the sport’s top level, especially if that’s where he qualifies tomorrow (11:00 a.m. ET on NBC Sports Gold) and Sunday (1:15 p.m. ET on NBC).

Through two practice sessions, VeeKay sits in fifth place on the no-tow speed chart (221.693 miles per hour) and 13th overall (224.068 miles per hour).

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Tune in to NBC at 1:00 p.m. ET next Sunday, August 23 for the live broadcast of the 104th running of the Indy 500 from Indianapolis Motor Speedway.