STARTING POSITIONS 

12th: RINUS VEEKAY No. 21 Chevrolet
20th: CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN No. 20 GuyCare Chevrolet

RACE: Sonsio Grand Prix
TRACK: Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course
LOCATION: Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
TRACK LAYOUT: 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course
RACE LENGTH: 85 Laps

BROADCAST: Saturday, May 11 – 3 p.m. ET (NBC)

CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN, NO. 20 GUYCARE CHEVROLET

CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN, No. 20 GuyCare Chevrolet, Starting 20th: “I ran into a little bit of traffic on my second to last lap, but I am not sure if that would have helped us. I was starting my last lap even better, but we just didn’t quite have it. We keep trending in the right direction and we had two good practices today, but just lacked a little bit in qualifying. I’ll draw on my past experience tomorrow in terms of race craft, that can only benefit us. We’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”

OF NOTE: 

• Christian Rasmussen had two strong practice sessions heading into qualifying for the Sonsio Grand Prix. As the field was split in half for qualifications, he was assigned to Round 1, Group 2. During one of his quick laps, he encountered traffic, leaving him 10th at the checkered flag. He did not advance to the second round and will start 20th tomorrow.

• While the Sonsio Grand Prix will be Rasmussen’s first NTT INDYCAR SERIES race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, he has competed at the track in each level. While part of the USF Pro 2000 championship three years ago, Rasmussen won two of the three races contested at IMS. In four INDY NXT starts, he finished no lower than 6th. He has also completed two days of testing an NTT INDYCAR SERIES car at the circuit, which occurred in late March. 

•  Rasmussen is ECR’s newest driver, joining the team after winning the 2023 INDY NXT championship. He competes in the road and street course events in the No. 20 GuyCare Chevrolet and will transition to the team’s 3rd entry, the No. 33, for the Indianapolis 500. The Dane is only the second driver in history earn a championship in each open-wheel junior category that currently feeds the NTT INDYCAR SERIES – USF2000 (2020), USF Pro 2000 (2021) and INDY NXT (2023). 

RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 CHEVROLET

RINUS VEEKAY, No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, Starting 12th: “We started out strong in Round 1 of qualifying, the car felt really good and I was really happy with the balance. We basically made no changes going into the Fast 12, but it felt like a completely different car when we went onto the red tires. It’s very confusing. We don’t really know what caused it or why the balance changed so much. It is definitely something that we will work to find out before the race tomorrow.”

OF NOTE: 

• Rinus VeeKay returned to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in style, setting the 4th fastest lap of all cars leading into this afternoon’s qualifications. He easily advanced to the second round of qualifying after setting the 2nd-fastest lap of Round 1, Group 1. Though VeeKay struggled with the balance of the No. 21 Chevrolet during Round 2, he will still start 12th in tomorrow’s Sonsio Grand Prix.

• The Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course is home to many of VeeKay’s career milestones. In just his second NTT INDYCAR SERIES race, VeeKay recorded his first Top 5 finish on the road course in July of 2020. A few months later in the October event, VeeKay earned his first pole position, led the first laps of his career and earned his first podium finish. In May 2021, he joined the ranks of race winners when he scored his first victory. 

• Now in his fifth season in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, VeeKay has stepped into a veteran role as ECR’s senior full-time driver. He has spent his entire career behind the wheel of the No. 21 Chevrolet and is the longest tenured full-time driver in the team’s history. The 23-year-old’s season began with strong qualifying effort and a Top 10 finish in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Two weeks ago at Barber Motorsports Park, he turned the fastest lap of all drivers in the second practice session and raced his way through the field.