IndyCar driver gets suspicious looks from competitors: "They say the steward is biased"

Rinus VeeKay is now established in IndyCar. He will be on the gridfor the fifth consecutive season this term driving for Ed CarpenterRacing, trying to follow in Arie Luyendyk's footsteps by winningthe Indy 500, something his compatriot did twice. Luyendyk will beamong the first to congratulate VeeKay, as the Dutchman has beenworking as a steward in IndyCar for years. In that capacity, alldrivers can turn to him for advice, something VeeKay has obviouslytaken advantage of in the past, especially in his rookie years. Butthat relationship between driver and steward, both of Dutchdescent, is creating suspicion among competitors, VeeKay reveals inan exclusive interview with RacingNews365 . "For me, Arie is arunning rulebook and it is true that every weekend we have dinner,for example, and then he tells us 'there and there we are going topunish more severely' and 'what those drivers did the other day, wereally didn't like'. But he is very open to everyone." Partisanshipis always overcome "Arie likes talking to drivers and not just tome, and he also doesn't like giving penalties at all. Preferably hedoesn't do it at all either. "It is still sometimes said that he isbiased towards me but if that were the case, there is always asecond steward in Max Papis and if the two don't see eye to eye,then a third steward makes the decisive decision. That way it cannever be biased. "I know that the entire Ganassi team feels that Iam not being punished enough for what I do," VeeKay continued, thencited a specific example. "When Scott Dixon hit me really hard atLaguna Seca, he immediately yelled 'Arie's boy, Arie's boy!' Then Ithink 'yeah boy, you're the one driving really hard into me.' "If Ido something wrong, I also just get a penalty and sometimes I thinkit's even too severe then. But maybe we are like soccer players inthat respect sometimes."