VeeKay’s favorable draw of fourth driver to run quickly became obsolete after wrecking in Turn 3 on the opening lap of his four-lap run, which left significant damage to the back end and left side of his No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet.
Despite the severe damage, VeeKay’s team elected to do extensive repairs instead of switching to a backup car. After several hours of work, he lapped at 231.166mph near the tail of the field, but was never in danger of being bumped into the last-chance group.
In a bold late move, his team waived that time and moved VeeKay into the express lane in a make-or-break run that produced an average of 232.419mph in the final seconds to slot into 11th place and secure a transfer spot.
In turn, he keeps his chances alive to extend his current streak of three consecutive front row starts – and holds the second-best qualifying record ever in the event’s 107-year history to date.
“What a day,” VeeKay said. “It would be a really cool story, but I like boring stories more.
“Just such a roller coaster. Such a heartbreak to start the day. Crew got the car back together in under three hours, which is incredible to start with.
“Then we get a banker run in, get the car cooled down, go back out again at the end and do that – I've never lost hope, but I mean, I never expected us to do that. It's such a great story, such a great job by the guys.
“They are the real winners here today. I just had to stay flat for four laps today and hang on to the thing. They made it possible for me. Yeah, just really, really, really good job.”
VeeKay couldn’t recall how many parts had to be replaced, but confirmed that the chassis and engine remained original. There was also the fact that VeeKay was forced to shake off the physical impact of the crash, which saw him limping as he got out of the car.
“Yeah, it was a pretty hard hit, and my right knee hurt a little bit after, but 20 minutes later it was gone,” VeeKay said. “It was more the shock of the incident.
“Physically had harder hits before. You kind of get over that.
“Yeah, that was not my worry. It was more the car really.”
VeeKay believes this rebound can spur his team on to repeat another great qualifying performance on Sunday.
“We're here to get pole position and to win the race,” he stated. “We're not here for anything less.
“We know we have that car. I've had it in every previous year, but this is just a day where you cannot really be assured of anything. Yeah, we made something really good happen.
“You may not expect it, but also Ed [Carpenter, team owner and team-mate] was still full of praise to my crew chief, my engineers, mechanics. Everybody still said, you're a badass driver, let's get it out.
“That's exactly what I did. I just drove like I always do. The team did what they always do around this place, and they gave me a really fast car.”
