Rinus VeeKay’s move to Juncos Hollinger Racing for the 2026 season “was the best move for me for the future”.
On Tuesday, VeeKay announced he would race in IndyCar with Juncos Hollinger Racing for the 2026 season. The Dutchman left Dale Coyne Racing after one year, announcing days after the 2025 season finale in Nashville.
“Best move for me for the future”
Rumors placed VeeKay staying with Dale Coyne Racing or moving to A.J. Foyt Racing. At the end of the day, the 25-year-old decided to move to JHR for 2026.
When asked how many teams were interested in him, VeeKay answered in a media session with Pit Debrief and other media outlets, “Not too many, actually. I kind of touched with JHR pretty early, and it didn’t take us very long to get a deal done and then all get happy with the terms.
“For me it was really between Dale Coyne Racing and Juncos Hollinger Racing. Those were, for me, the big options for 2026.“
Even though DCR had a great season in 2025, with VeeKay taking P2 in Toronto and six other Top 10 finishes, the Dutchman shared that the move to JHR “was the best move for me for the future.”
“It’s always hard to make a decision like that, especially having a very successful season with Dale Coyne Racing in 2025. You think about it. You look in some different kind of perspectives. For me this clearly was the best move for me for the future.“
Why JHR?
VeeKay was persuaded to race with JHR after seeing the team’s “ambition“. The 25-year-old hopes to combine his racing experience with JHR’s expertise to turn the team’s ambition to on-track results.
“I see a lot of ambition, a lot of good people with incredible track records working at the team, and I think the team is a lot better than what they have been able to show. So I think with me coming into the team, showing what I’ve done to Dale Coyne Racing last year, not only as a driver, but also in really leading the team into making the right decisions, altogether I think we can do really well.
“Yeah, I mean, the car is already great, but then on the road and street courses I can help them a lot, and I think we can be a consistent contender for top 5s and top 10s.“
A homecoming
This move is a homecoming for VeeKay as Juncos worked his way up to IndyCar with the team. The Dutchman raced in the Pro Mazda Championship (now USF Pro 2000) in 2018 and in Indy Lights (now Indy NXT) in 2019.
When asked if the transition period would be easier, VeeKay answered, “Yeah, definitely. I’ve worked with a lot of people inside the team. Not only the Argentinians, but a lot of the Brits that come from a long time ago with Carlin Racing.
“I know a lot of people on the team. Of course, I’m going to have to remember a lot of new names, but it’s going to be very exciting. I live 25 minutes from the shop, so it will be easy to go in and get some work done.“
Bringing the oval expertise
JHR had a great oval season for 2025 with Conor Daly and Sting Ray Robb. Although VeeKay did not have the best result on ovals with DCR in 2025, he is excited, “when the car works the way you want it to.”
When asked about building JHR’s oval performance, VeeKay shared, “Yeah, I’m really excited. That’s one thing I struggled with a little bit last year. I think that’s not a secret that with Coyne we struggled a bit on the ovals. An oval becomes a lot of fun when the car works the way you want it to, so I’m really excited for that.
“Yeah, I think I love oval racing, but a car is just very important there. It’s going to be a lot of fun, and the same for road and street courses. I think we can qualify really well with that car and keep racing up in the front and put ourselves in a position to get on the podiums all the time.“
Going back better
VeeKay has not been with Juncos since 2019 in the Indy Lights. However, the Dutchman has seen “lot of growth“, especially under Team Principal, Dave O’Neill. VeeKay is excited to work more with Juncos Hollinger Racing ahead of the 2026 season.
“Oh, a lot of growth. I can see the influence that Dave O’Neill has brought to the team and just the professionalism within the team. It seems like a very well-organized team.
“Yeah, just cannot wait to get into the shop more often and learn more about how they work and really get involved a lot more. Yeah, I think it’s going to be very, very easy to transition into the team. I think everybody just shares the same mindset.“
