STARTING POSITIONS

15th: RINUS VEEKAY No. 21 askROI.com Chevrolet
17th: CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN No. 20 GuyCare Chevrolet 

RACE: BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland
TRACK: Portland International Raceway
LOCATION: Portland, Oregon, USA
TRACK LAYOUT: 12-turn, 1.964-mile natural road course
RACE LENGTH: 110 Laps/216.04 Miles

BROADCAST: Sunday – 12 p.m. PT (USA Network, Peacock)

CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN, NO. 20 GUYCARE CHEVROLET

CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN, No. 20 GuyCare Chevrolet, Qualified 17th: “It’s so tight out there! You have to be on the absolute limit to even transfer. In practice, a tenth of a second was a matter of 10 spots. Unfortunately, we were just on the wrong side of that, but we have a strong car this weekend. We really didn’t show our pace in practices, but this is more like it. Hopefully, we can move forward a bit in the race and finish off the season strong.”

OF NOTE: 

• Though this weekend marks Christian Rasmussen’s first NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at Portland International Raceway, he has driven at the Pacific Northwest road course as he made his way up through the ranks. Just last year, he finished 5th in the INDY NXT race the week before winning the championship. He will start 17th in tomorrow’s BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland, missing a transfer position by .07 seconds.

• Rasmussen joined Ed Carpenter Racing after winning the 2023 INDY NXT championship. He was only nine when he claimed his first karting championship in his home country of Denmark. Rasmussen arrived in the United States in 2018 and began his road to INDYCAR the following year. He 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). 

• The 24-year-old has continually impressed in his debut NTT INDYCAR SERIES season. In his first Indianapolis 500, he drove from 24th to 12th and was the highest finishing rookie in the field. After a strong race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, he had a breakout performance at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Rasmussen advanced to the second round of qualifying for the first time and earned his first Top 10 starting position. He took the checkered flag in 9th, his first career Top 10 finish in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. In his most recent race in the streets of Toronto, he advanced in qualifying for the second event in a row.

• The No. 20 Chevrolet will compete in the colors of GuyCare for the entirety of the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season. GuyCare clinics provide discreet and confidential care, ensuring men’s health and well-being through proven therapeutic interventions and wellness programs. After successfully opening their first clinic in Salt Lake City, GuyCare is now expanding its service offerings nationwide through the launch of a Telemedicine program.

RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 ASKROI.COM CHEVROLET

RINUS VEEKAY, No. 21 askROI.com Chevrolet, Qualified 15th:“This is a tough one! We really feel that we have a much better car than 15th, but it’s so hard to get the gaps right during qualifying and then not knowing what other cars around you are going to do. Last year though, I started 13th and had my best finish of the season, so we will try to move our way forward tomorrow and continue our streak of Top 10s!”

OF NOTE: 

• Rinus VeeKay’s history with ECR at Portland International Raceway goes back to the beginning of his NTT INDYCAR SERIES career. In August of 2019, ECR selected VeeKay for an evaluation test at Portland. It was the first of two successful tests before he was named full-time driver of the team’s No. 21 Chevrolet prior to the 2020 season. For the 2024 edition of the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland, he turned Top 10 lap times in the all cars practice yesterday and this morning in Practice 2. However, the tight circuit and even tighter lap times would leave VeeKay 15th on the starting grid. He missed transferring to the second round of qualifying a mere .03 of a second.

• Born in Hoofddorp, Netherlands, Rinus van Kalmthout began karting in 2009 at the age of 8. With sights set firmly on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, he transitioned to the Road to Indy in 2017 and launched his U.S. career driving as Rinus VeeKay. He now has over 75 career starts, each of which have been behind the wheel of the No. 21 Chevrolet. His fifth season in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES has seen VeeKay step into a veteran role as ECR’s senior full-time driver.

• VeeKay began 2024 with a Top 10 finish in the season-opening street course race in St. Petersburg, Florida. At the Indianapolis 500, VeeKay and his No. 21 crew rebounded from a crash during his first qualification attempt and not being in the 33-car field to advancing the to the second day of qualifying and earning the 7th starting position. The following week, VeeKay raced his way through the entire field to finish 9th after a penalty dropped him to the back. Including last Saturday night’s 10th place at WWT Raceway, VeeKay has put together an impressive string of four Top 10 finishes in the last four races.

•  The No. 21 Chevrolet has featured askROI.com at select events this season and will again be on the car for the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland. askROI aims to redefine the boundaries of generative AI by providing tailored business solutions beyond the conventional scope, adapting to individuals’ or businesses’ specific data. askROI and ECR are actively exploring ways that the team can use AI to increase competitiveness.