VeeKay announces Ed Carpenter Racing departure

The Dutchman spent the past five IndyCar seasons with the organisation

One-time IndyCar race winner Rinus VeeKay is officially among those on the free agent market after revealing via social media his contract is up with Ed Carpenter Racing. 

The entirety of VeeKay’s time in North America’s premier open-wheel championship to this point has been spent with ECR, having made his debut in 2020.

In addition to his 2021 Indy Grand Prix win, he has another three podium finishes to his name, has twice taken pole position and led 212 laps in 80 starts. 

Writing on social media platform X, the 24-year-old said: "A big 'thank you' to everyone that sent me kind messages over the past few days.

"I also want to thank Ed Carpenter Racing for giving me the opportunity and support during the last five years.

"We had some excellent success together, but as happens in racing, we had some challenges too…but most importantly we always gave the maximum and had fun...with a great team spirit.

"Now that my contract with ECR has come to an end, I am excited about the future and know that I have my best racing years ahead of me."

While the last couple of seasons were a struggle when it came to results, this past campaign saw flashes of a resurgence for both the Dutchman and ECR.

He captured a best result of fifth in the first of Iowa's two races to pair with an additional six top 10 finishes en route to placing 13th in the championship standings — the second-highest driver for a team not affiliated with Andretti Global, Arrow McLaren, Chip Ganassi Racing or Team Penske. 

VeeKay joins a list of talented drivers in the open market looking for a ride in 2025 that includes Alexander Rossi and rookie of the year Linus Lundqvist, among many others.

One of the potential notables that could be in play for a seat is Logan Sargeant, who was recently confirmed for a test with Meyer Shank Racing after being casted out of his Formula 1 seat with Williams.

ECR boss Ed Carpenter stood down from his seat for the final oval races of the season at Milwaukee and Nashville to afford more seat time to 2023 Indy NXT champion Christian Rasmussen, whose programme had predominantly consisted of road and street course events.