#21 – Rinus VeeKay, 14th in the championship standings (277 points) – 17 races
#20 – Ryan Hunter-Reay, 26th in the championship standings (131 points) – 11 races, 10 w/ECR
#20 – Conor Daly, 25th in championship standings (134 points) – 11 races, 7 w/ ECR
#33 – Ed Carpenter, 30th in championship standings (46 points) – 5 races
Joey Barnes: The good news is that Rinus VeeKay only had two finishes of 21st or worse. The bad news, though, is that he only had two top 10s and no result in the top five. I would imagine there was frustration in the ECR camp as a year ago the squad appeared poised to take another step, but that didn’t happen.
Honestly, I’m not sure it’s much about regression within the camp, even with a mid-season driver change that resulted in Conor Daly being swapped for Ryan Hunter-Reay, but more about the expansion and progress by other teams.
VeeKay qualified in the top 10 three times in 2023, which is undoubtedly one of the key areas that he has to improve next year if ECR is to push back into contending for top fives and the occasional podium or win.
Hunter-Reay provided enough stability to be a benchmark for the team but also gave VeeKay a veteran team-mate with a championship pedigree, which is something that hadn’t existed since he came into IndyCar in 2020. I believe that could pay dividends going into next year in a variety of ways, not least as VeeKay takes on the leadership role with Christian Rasmussen, the 2023 Indy NXT champion, set for select rounds in the seat Hunter-Reay occupied.
Source: Autosport