St. Petersburg, Florida (Saturday, March 1, 2025) – Dale Coyne Racing’s Rinus VeeKay (No. 18 askROI Honda) advanced out of the first group, securing a spot in the Fast 12 and qualifying 12th for this Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, while Jacob Abel showed consistent gains, qualifying 25th.
Rinus VeeKay – No. 18 askROI, Dale Coyne Racing Honda
- VeeKay took to the track in Group 1, Round 1 of qualifying on the primary Firestone tires.
- The veteran used these laps to warm up his tires and brakes in preparation for his final run.
- The Dale Coyne Racing crew changed VeeKay onto the alternate set of Firestone tires.
- The No. 18 entry then set a lap of 59.857, edging out Will Power for the final spot into Round 2 of qualifying.
- VeeKay began Round 2 of qualifying on a scuffed set of alternate tires before pitting for a fresh set.
- He then set a lap of 1:00.308, placing him 12th for Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
Post race quote:
“Wow, first qualifying with the Dale Coyne Racing crew and I’m very happy with the results. We made a lot of changes last night for today and we are really seeing the gains getting P 2 in the morning practice and into the top half of the field of qualifying. This is a really starting point to build off of for the coming race and events ahead. I’m super exited to work with Dale Coyne Racing and askROI for this upcoming season”.
Jacob Abel – No. 51 Abel Construction, Dale Coyne Racing Honda
- The rookie took to the track on the alternate Firestone tires for his first qualifying laps in his NTT INDYCAR career.
- Abel then pitted for the Dale Coyne Racing crew to give him another set of alternate tires.
- He went on to set a lap time of 1:00.807.
- The young rookie is set to start his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES race in P25 of the 27-car field.
Post race quote
“First off, I’m very happy for the team and Rinus to advance into round two! For the #51 car, our first qualifying session went ok. The alternate tire has a very short peak and you only really get one shot at it. Being a rookie and having so little time on them makes it challenging to extract the maximum. Regardless, we’ve made tons of progress with both myself and the car all weekend long and I look forward to moving forward in the race tomorrow.”
Next up: Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Sunday March 2, 2025 with coverage beginning at 12 P.M. ET (FOX)
