FORT WORTH, Texas – Rinus VeeKay became the first NTT IndyCar Series driver to crash this season when the Dutch rookie hit the wall at Texas Motor Speedway at early Saturday afternoon.
VeeKay’s No. 21 Chevrolet came out of turn three very low, went about one foot over the white line at the bottom of the track and he spun. VeeKay spun backwards and crashed into the turn three wall. The car sustained major damage but VeeKay was not injured.
“It’s very tough, it was a rookie mistake going too low,” VeeKay said. “I will learn from this. It is very hard getting into a car without any Sim work. You make a mistake and it’s done. I will look at the data and look as much at what Ed Carpenter does. I will reset for qualifying and hope it will be OK.”
VeeKay’s travels just to make it to Texas Motor Speedway were featured Friday on SPEEDSPORT.com.
IndyCar is currently conducting a 30-minute practice session for rookie drivers. Veterans will be allowed to hit the track for full-field practice at 1:40 p.m. Eastern Time.
The event in Fort Worth, Texas, is being held without spectators and each team is limited to 20 crew members.