One lap after a restart for Dennis Hauger's spin and save, Rinus VeeKay made contact with the rear of Alex Palou's No. 10 Honda during Saturday's Good Ranchers 250 NTT IndyCar Series race at Phoenix Raceway, knocking the four-time and three-time reigning series champion out of the race after he had made up six places from his 10th place starting position.
Palou, who took the championship lead after the race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Sunday, June 23, 2024, has won nine races and two championships since then, and he hasn't looked back. It is the longest such streak in series history.
He extended his points lead streak to 28 consecutive races by winning the season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida for the second consecutive season.
Rinus VeeKay knocks out Alex Palou, again
VeeKay has had a history of making low-percentage, if not utterly reckless, moves throughout his seven-year IndyCar career, and he also has a somewhat bizarre history of on-track contact with Palou.
He did it at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in 2021, did it again in the pits during the Indy 500 at 2023, and now he's done it again at Phoenix.
Here's another look at what happened between Alex Palou and Rinus VeeKay at Phoenix. pic.twitter.com/9rHO2aHKXu
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) March 7, 2026
There was clearly no room to make the move, yet VeeKay for some reason thought otherwise. Palou was willing to chalk it up to a racing incident, and admitted that he wasn't aware that anybody was to his outside.
VeeKay blamed Palou for "driving up on me" and lost several laps due to the damage on his No. 76 Chevrolet, and we're not really sure what the spotters were telling the drivers at the time.
After scoring 53 points in the season opener, Palou will leave the Phoenix race with 59 points, having been credited with five points for a 24th place finish. Regardless of today's result, he will not have the points lead.
No IndyCar race has ended without Palou in the points lead since June 9, 2024, when Will Power, then driving for Team Penske, won at Road America.
Point standings will be updated after the race. Fox is providing live race coverage.
VeeKay most recently won a race in May 2021, when he won at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course for Ed Carpenter Racing. He was replaced by Alexander Rossi after 2024 and spent the 2025 season with Dale Coyne Racing before replacing Conor Daly at Juncos Hollinger Racing in 2026.