VeeKay's rookie session crash costs much-needed track time

The team at Ed Carpenter Racing has endured a busy afternoon that was already plenty packed.

During the opening 30-minute rookie session, Rinus VeeKay posted the fastest time after 11 laps, but then hit trouble entering Turn 3. The 19-year-old Dutchman put the left side tires just under the white line and scraped the apron, which was enough to send him into a 180 degree spin, his Chevy hitting the Turn 4 wall before coming to a stop near the entrance to pit road.

As a result, there was damage to the left side pod and suspension. An ECR team representative told RACER they are repairing the primary car with bodywork from the backup car, which belongs to teammate for road, streets and the Indy 500, Conor Daly. (For all ovals, with the exception of Indianapolis, Daly drives the No. 59 entry for Carlin.)

More IndyCar

Foyt signs multi-year sponsorship extension with Hendricks Holding

The IndyCar silly season is raging…for engineers

IndyCar retains Independent Officiating Board for 2027

The incident came at a cost of much-needed track time as VeeKay missed out on the remainder of practice, which was topped by five-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon.

“I had a crash in practice -- a rookie mistake. Got too low, lost the car and hit the wall,” said VeeKay. “The team is working very hard to get the car ready for qualifying. Let’s reset and go from here.”

Team owner/driver Ed Carpenter had an incident of his own as well, spinning off the exit of Turn 4, sliding through the tri-oval and coming to a stop near the entrance to Turn 1. He suffered slight damage to the rear wing, which warranted a change.

Apologies from the RACER.com team that we’re unable to bring you our usual in-depth photographic coverage from today’s NTT IndyCar Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. Due to on-site personnel limits and protocols implemented by INDYCAR for the evolving COVID-19 situation, our photographic partner Motorsport Images has been precluded from taking part in this event. We are working to rectify this situation and to ensure that we can deliver the level of coverage you’ve come to expect and enjoy during the remaining races of the 2020 IndyCar season. Meanwhile, we hope you enjoy our alternative visual take on events in The Lone Star State. As always, we appreciate your continued support of RACER.com.