VeeKay snatches strong fourth on otherwise bad day for ECR

Starting from eighth, VeeKay remained was in the fight for a podium finish or at the very least a top-five throughout the day, battling with cars from Arrow McLaren SP and Chip Ganassi Racing almost throughout the Hy-VeeDeals.com 250.

Indeed, one of the highlights of the race was VeeKay’s back-’n’-forth fight with Ganassi’s Jimmie Johnson who was in fine form in his first IndyCar race on Iowa’s 0.894-mile oval.

In the closing laps, as all driver wrestled with desperately tired Firestone rubber, VeeKay got a late bonus, as defending IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou got all crossed-up in the wake of Will Power’s Team Penske-Chevrolet and slid high into the marbles of rubber around the edge of the track. VeeKay, who had eventually defeated Johnson, was close enough behind to benefit and dive inside the slithering Ganassi-Honda to claim fourth. Indeed, he came up only 0.0926sec of beating Power to the final podium position.

VeeKay told NBC: “"We had to take the tires super-far and I got super-loose on the high line.

“I got close with Will and I could have pushed a little bit harder that last lap but I didn't want to get into the wall. Fourth is good for a Saturday.”

His teammates were left far more frustrated. Conor Daly started the race from third and remained there for much of the first stint but had slipped outside the Top 10 by the time he pitted for the first time, and he would never find decent pace at the end of a stint. He eventually came home in a disappointing 19^th, although his qualifying pace means he will start tomorrow’s race from fourth – or third again should Herta take a grid penalty for a changed engine.

Meanwhile the team boss, Ed Carpenter, who since 2014 has raced only in IndyCar’s oval events, made contact with the wall on Lap 161 and was forced to retire from the race.