Rinus VeeKay was sitting in the DEX Imaging Media Center last Saturday, answering questions from the media after scoring his first career NTT INDYCAR SERIES win in the GMR Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, when two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Arie Luyendyk rounded the corner.

Luyendyk was standing with VeeKay’s parents, Evelien and Marijn van Kalmthout, when the 20-year-old saw Luyendyk. His face lit up, and he grinned from ear-to-ear as Luyendyk gave him an emphatic two thumbs up.

It was a special moment for VeeKay, who has leaned on the 1990 and ’97 “500” winner often over the last several years. But it also meant a lot to fellow Netherlands native Luyendyk, who has a long association with the van Kalmthout family.

“I was a bit emotional on Saturday because it’s like I see my own kid race, almost,” Luyendyk said. “It was super cool. Of course, I’m proud of him as a driver and as a Dutchman, that’s for sure.”

The history between the two Dutch families dates back decades. Luyendyk’s dad was one of Marijn’s crewman when VeeKay’s father raced, specifically working on his gearbox. Then in the 1990s, Luyendyk’s son, Arie Luyendyk Jr. raced against Marijn in Formula Ford in the Netherlands. Not to mention, the elder Luyendyk and Marijn share a mechanic that was once on Luyendyk’s car before wrenching Marijn’s.

So, it was only natural that when the van Kalmthout’s came to America to pursue VeeKay’s dream of racing in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES that the family used their connections to get in touch with Luyendyk.

Luyendyk insists his role in VeeKay’s success is overblown, serving more as a family mentor than a driving coach. Luyendyk has given VeeKay personal advice as he grows up in America and helps him navigate what is still a relatively new paddock.

That doesn’t mean he hasn’t given VeeKay tips for on-track success. He has provided him with on-track notes every so often ever since he first saw VeeKay race in USF2000 at age 17.

The first piece of advice Luyendyk gave VeeKay was to be patient, insisting to the teenager that if he didn’t have a winning car to think about the big picture and take what the car will give him, even if it’s a fourth-place finish.

Shortly thereafter, Luyendyk watched VeeKay on track and saw a driver charge to his inside. VeeKay backed off and let the driver’s aggression play out on its own. That caught Luyendyk’s eye, because had VeeKay used his typical aggression and went toe-to-toe with that driver, he likely would have found himself in the wall.

“That impressed me at that age, because he was about 17 or something,” Luyendyk said. “I have noticed with him that if I do talk to him and give him some race advice, he does listen very well. There comes a point where you look and go, ‘I don’t have to tell this kid every time what to do,’ because he knows what to do. I surely don’t have to tell him how to drive. He knows how to drive.”

For VeeKay, it means the world to have a driver of Luyendyk’s caliber by his side, dating back to the day they met at Union Jack Pub in the Town of Speedway in 2016.

“It’s great to have Arie here,” he said. “He’s given me a lot of tips, but also very good guidance about any rule changes. With him being a steward, he gives me good tips and many reminders that help me out. It’s just little tips and a lot of good atmosphere he gives to me so I can win races.”

Luyendyk has been an INDYCAR race steward in some form since 2012, when he was part-time before becoming a full-time steward in 2016. It’s a role that Luyendyk relishes, because he gets to stay involved in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.

But he also enjoys it because he can pay his wisdom forward to young drivers. While he has had a huge impact on VeeKay’s life, he also teaches other young drivers entering the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. For instance, at the Indy 500 Open Test in April, Luyendyk spent time with Indy 500 rookie Pietro Fittipaldi to ensure the young Brazilian felt ready to take on the legendary 2.5-mile oval.

“I’ve taken it upon myself that when there’s a rookie at Indy, I give them a lot of extra time,” he said. “I talk to them before some of the road courses and tell them this is what we look for from Race Control, as a race steward. The last thing that Max Papis and I want to do is hand out penalties. Our goal is to hand out as few penalties as possible.”

Certainly, educating series rookies before they take to the track makes his and Max Papis’ lives easier as race stewards. But Luyendyk was once a rookie at the Indianapolis 500, in 1985, and he remembers what it was like to feel clueless at the Racing Capital of the World.

“When I came into the series, we got no pointers from nobody,” he said. “We had to figure it out all ourselves, even some of the rules. We didn’t really get a lot of advice from the other drivers, not from people that worked in the series. We had to figure it out and listen to people that were talking.”

Every year, when Luyendyk takes time out of his busy schedule to talk with up-and-coming drivers, the biggest piece of advice he gives them about the Indianapolis 500 is to soak in the moment. Don’t worry about the race that is about to come, because you can’t predict what will happen.

Instead, savor the spectacle.

“Try to enjoy all the fanfare long before the start of the ‘500,’” he said. “Take it in, try to enjoy it. I know your nervous for the race, but you’ve done your thinking of how you want to approach that, anyway. You can’t predict the start, so forget about the start. Take it as it comes and try to enjoy everything else before the start of the race.”

That was advice he gave VeeKay last year, although it wasn’t applicable due to the lack of fans in the postponed race. He’s sure to give VeeKay, as well as the other rookies in the field, the same advice as IMS welcomes 40 percent of capacity and up to 135,000 fans Sunday, May 30 for the 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

But when the green flag flies in less than two weeks, Luyendyk admitted he will have butterflies in his stomach. Some will be for VeeKay, who he loves to see succeed, but the others will be from his simple joy for the sport.

“You kind of are in the seat with these guys; you worry for them in certain places,” he said. “You get a little nervous for them, and your adrenaline is up a little bit. When the engines fire up on Sunday morning, I get excited. I still love the sport. We definitely are working for the love of the sport.”