VeeKay Battles to P17 After Strong Start, Abel Shows Speed Despite Setback at The Thermal Club
Thermal, California (Sunday, March 23, 2025) –
Dale Coyne Racing’s Rinus VeeKay (No. 18 askROI Honda) finished P17 after a promising start saw him consistently running in the top 10. Jacob Abel showed great pace cutting through the field until a mechanical issue forced the rookie to make an unscheduled pit stop.
Rinus VeeKay – No. 18 askROI, Dale Coyne Racing Honda
• Starting the race on the alternate tires, VeeKay cut through the field, pitting from 8th on lap 12 for primary tires.
• He continued his climb through the field, reaching P6 before pitting for a set of scuffed red tires.
• The veteran driver struggled to find grip on the scuffed tires, losing time to the pack of cars ahead.
• Pitting on lap 43, the Dale Coyne Racing crew fitted the askROI Honda with a fresh set of Firestone alternate tires.
• On the softer tires, VeeKay returned to his early race pace, clawing his way from P24 back up to P17 while having to fuel save.
Post-Race Quote:
"Tough race. We started out really well, with good pace, and the tires held on very well in the first two stints. Then it was a question of new blacks or scuffed reds. We opted for scuffed reds since that’s what everyone around us was doing. We need to look into it, but we struggled for grip on that stint, losing a lot of lap time. In the end, we pitted early and had a big fuel number to hit, but we still drove from P24 to P17 on strategy. Some good takeaways—some positives, some negatives. For how tough the race was, we definitely made the most of it and minimized the damage. I think P13 in the championship is solid, weekends like this will happen. Let’s learn from this and go into Long Beach with a better plan. Huge thanks to askROI, as always, for their continued support of me and the team. They make everything we do possible, and I couldn’t be more grateful for that."
Jacob Abel – No. 51 Abel Construction, Dale Coyne Racing Honda
• Starting on Firestone alternate tires, Abel avoided the lap-one incidents and had blistering pace, gaining spots from his starting position.
• Abel continued to show promising pace until a mechanical issue forced him to make an unscheduled pit stop.
• The determined rookie kept his head down and kept pushing, setting his fastest lap of the race on lap 50 with a time of 1:44.978.
• Continuing to learn with each lap and running competitive times, Abel finished the race in P25.
Post-Race Quote:
"Well, I won’t lie that one hurts a bit. We had a mechanical issue come up that forced us to pit at a time when it really hurt our strategy, but that’s racing. It’s easy to just look at the negatives, but we had really good pace today. I was feeling good and passing cars on our first stint, and the crew found me a lot of speed throughout the weekend. We need to keep our heads up and build on the positives for Long Beach, and I know we will. I can feel myself learning more and more every lap I’m on track, so being able to finish these races has really helped my understanding of this car."
