VeeKay and Coyne shine again in Toronto

Another IndyCar Series race is complete and there’s yet another reason to marvel at what Rinus VeeKay and Dale Coyne Racing continue to achieve.

The Dutchman arrived in Toronto holding 13th in the drivers’ championship on the strength of delivering six top 10s from 12 races in the No. 18 DCR Honda. By the end of Sunday afternoon, the number improved to seven from 13, but with a sizable improvement.

VeeKay earned his first podium for DCR with a run to second after a long dry spell dating back to 2022 with Ed Carpenter Racing at Barber Motorsports Park, and for Coyne, it was the team’s first podium since 2023 with David Malukas at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Against teams that are much bigger and wealthier, VeeKay and DCR continue to write one of the best stories of the season, and since the arrival of race engineer Michael Cannon in June, four of those top 10s have been produced. Add in great pit stops from the No. 18 crew led by Renato LaPorte, and they got to watch their driver spray champagne as a result of their work.

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“It’s the same kind of (Alex) Palou or (Scott) Dixon thing,” Cannon told RACER. “He didn’t make any mistakes; he didn’t have any penalties. You forget, he’s only 24 years old, but he's very experienced. He is mature beyond his years, and he's quick. So how do you combat against that? There's a lot of people out there who are quick over one lap and on race day they have no race craft and make mistakes. And he just knocks it out. The guy, he's very good.”

Cannon worked with Palou and Dixon at Chip Ganassi Racing, winning the 2020 IndyCar title with Dixon, and beforehand, he worked with some incredible drivers across CART, Champ Car and IndyCar. He sees a bright future for his latest charge.

“I'm working with a 24-year-old kid who has a 40-year-old head on the shoulders,” Cannon added. “Really pleasant surprise. His talent level is at that (Simon) Pagenaud and Palou level, and that makes it so much easier. I've been very lucky to find a situation where I got a really good guy I'm working with, and the rest of our crew is just exemplary. This a team that should be quite proud of itself because they work damn hard and don’t get all the credit they deserve.”