INDIANAPOLIS — Ed Carpenter Racing started off the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season reeling. Rinus VeeKay entered the Indy 500 18th in points. He finished 21st, 11th, 26th, 16th and 13th respectively. Conor Daly was 24th. He finished 14th, 20th, 23rd, 25th and 19th himself.

However, on a warm day in Central Indiana, both full-time cars came away with Dual Top 10 finishes.

While it was a “what could have been” type of day for VeeKay, to still come away with a pair of Top-10 finishes as a team is all that they could have asked for.

VeeKay started from the second position, the third time in three years he took the green flag from the front row. By Lap 3, he was in the lead of the Indianapolis 500. For the duration of their first and second stints, pole sitter Alex Palou and VeeKay swapped the lead. 

After his second pit stop on Lap 64, VeeKay cycled into third. Saving fuel, he slid back one position to 4th. The first caution of the day brought the entire field in for their third stops on Lap 94. On exit, the rear of VeeKay’s car slipped and he made contact with Palou. He fell to 8th, but a drive through penalty for avoidable contact dropped him to the rear of the field. 

VeeKay re-entered the race in 28th, a half a lap behind the field on the 2.5-mile oval. VeeKay stayed focused and used the next 97 laps to work his way back forward. The final 15 laps of the race were marred with cautions and red flags and VeeKay used each opportunity to his advantage. By the 200th and final lap, VeeKay had climbed all the way back into the Top 10 and finished 10th. 

“We were doing well saving fuel and with our strategy until the contact in pit lane,” noted VeeKay. “After the drive through penalty we were almost a lap down, but we fought back to eighth until we got squeezed into turn one with people crashing. We came home tenth – a step up from last year.” 

For Daly who competed in his 10th Indianapolis 500 today, he rolled off from the 16th position. He slipped back two spots on the start, but regained one and settled into 17th. Quick work by the No. 20 BITNILE Chevrolet crew gained Daly two positions on this first stop. His forward progression continued and after his second pit stop, he was just outside of the Top 10.

At the midway point of the race, Daly was running 10th; by his 4th pit stop, he was in 7th. A smart strategy call during the second caution period to not pit and stay with the leaders all but solidified a Top 10 finish. However, the closing laps of the race held numerous cautions and red flags. Daly remained focused until the end and brought home an 8th place finish, his second-best in the Indy 500 to date.

“We had a great car all month and we were so competitive,” Daly said. “There were a few things that held us back. Our car was competitive – we kept moving up even if something happened. I loved feeling like we had a shot at it, but difficult to attack on restarts. Thank you to the BITNILE.COM crew for getting me back up front again. Congratulations to Josef (Newgarden) – he is INDYCAR’s best representative and he is a deserving champion.”