Zach Veach
| Zach Veach | |
|---|---|
 Veach in 2010 | |
| Nationality |
 American |
| Born |
December 9, 1994 Stockdale, Ohio, United States |
| 2014 Firestone Indy Lights | |
| Debut season | 2013 |
| Current team | Andretti Autosport |
| Car no. | 12 |
| Starts | 12 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Poles | 1 |
| Previous series | |
| 2010-2011 2012 |
U.S. F2000 National Championship Star Mazda Championship |
| Championship titles | |
| 2011 2012 |
U.S. F2000 Winterfest Formula Car Challenge |
Zach Veach (born December 9, 1994) is an American auto racing driver, currently competing in the Firestone Indy Lights for Andretti Autosport.[1] Born and raised in Stockdale, Ohio, Veach was named to CNN's list of "Intriguing People" in May 2010,[2] is the national spokesperson for FocusDriven, and released his first book, "99 Things Teens Wish They Knew Before Turning 16" on NBC's The Today Show on March 2, 2011.[3]
Racing career
Early career
Veach began racing at age 12 when he was "discovered" by current IZOD IndyCar Series team owner Sarah Fisher's dad, Dave Fisher. In 19 months Veach had gone from go-karts to the cockpit of an open-wheel Formula BMW machine. Near the end of 2009, while testing a Formula BMW, Atlantic Championship team owner Eric Jensen signed Veach to his team for the 2010 Atlantic Championship season.[4] In early March 2010, the Series halted operations.[5]
U.S. F2000 National Championship
In his first year as a driver in the U.S. F2000 National Championship for Andretti Autosport, Veach had 10 top-five finishes and four podium results. Despite entering the series after the season-opener (St. Pete) and therefore missing out on two rounds of race points, he managed to finish fifth in the driver championship point standings. His performances also contributed to Andretti Autosport securing the team championship for the 2010 season. He was also named a semi-finalist for Sports Illustrated's annual Sports Kid of the Year award.
On December 9, Andretti Autosport announced they had re-signed Veach to again compete in the USF2000 National Championship and WinterFest in 2011.[6]
In January 2011, Veach won the 2011 U.S. F2000 Winterfest - a winter race series held in Florida. Veach won two of the five races and won the title by six points over Andretti teammate Spencer Pigot.[7] Veach won the 2011 U.S. F2000 National Championship season opener at Sebring International Raceway. Veach finished fourth in series points.[8]
Star Mazda Championship
Veach made his Star Mazda Championship debut for Andretti Autosport at Infineon Raceway in August 2011. He also competed in the series' season finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca,[9] where he finished third. He competed in the full season for Andretti Autosport in the #77 car in 2012, finishing tenth in points with a best finish of third at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.
Indy Lights
Veach moved up to Indy Lights with Andretti Autosport in 2013. Veach led the most laps and finihsed on the podium in third at the Milwaukee Mile and won the pole at Auto Club Speedway on his way to seventh in points. He will return to the series and Andretti Autosport in 2014.
Distracted driving campaign
Veach has been very outspoken about his interest in putting an end to distracted driving. On April 30, 2010, Veach attended the taping of The Oprah Winfrey Show's focus on the No Phone Zone program. At the program he met Jennifer Smith, founder and president of FocusDriven, the official beneficiary from Winfrey's No Phone Zone, and later became FocusDriven's national spokesperson. In May 2010, Veach campaigned to gain support from professional racecar drivers to support Winfrey's No Phone Zone.[10] Veach announced on June 4, 2010, he had added 33 Indy 500 drivers support of the No Phone Zone, including that of Danica Patrick and Helio Castroneves, among others.[11]
In July 2010, Veach released an anti-texting app, urTXT, which automatically responds to a text message received by the phone.[12]
On September 21, 2010, Veach attended the 2010 National Distracted Driving Summit where he was honored by United States Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, in addition to the Jonas Brothers and Jordan Sparks for their collective efforts to put an end to distracted driving.[13]
Racing record
Indy Lights
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Andretti Autosport AFS Racing |
STP 5 |
ALA 9 |
LBH 9 |
INDY 5 |
MIL 3 |
IOW 7 |
POC 4 |
TOR 7 |
MDO 5 |
BAL 8 |
HOU 10 |
FON 4 |
7th | 333 |
References
- ↑ INDYCAR: Veach Graduates To Indy Lights With Andretti, SPEED TV, Dec. 3, 2012
- ↑ Kernis, Jay. Wednesday's intriguing people, CNN.com, May 19, 2010
- ↑ Marks, Ginger. Veach to Release Book with the 99 Series, 99-Series.com, May 01, 2010
- ↑ Atlantic: Jensen MotorSport signs 15-year-old driver, Racer, December 11, 2009
- ↑ Atlantic Championship forced to take hiatus, Motorsport.com, March 03, 2010
- ↑ Andretti Autosport re-signs Zach Veach for USF2000, Racer Magazine, December 09, 2010
- ↑ Veach wins Cooper Tires Winterfest championship, Racing Wire, January 14, 2011, Retrieved 2011-09-05
- ↑ Final 2011 Points Standings, U.S. F2000, Retrieved 2011-09-05
- ↑ Veach steps up to Star Mazda, IndyCar, August 18, 2011, Retrieved 2011-09-05
- ↑ 15 Year-Old Racer Zach Veach To Campaign For Oprah Winfrey’s No Phone Zone By Adding The Indy 500′s 33 Drivers To Her Petition, Catchfence.com, May 13, 2010
- ↑ 33 Indy 500 Drivers Join Oprah Winfreys No Phone Zone, paddocktalk.com, June 04, 2010
- ↑ Drell, Lauren. Zach Veach: A 15-Year-Old Takes on Texting and Driving, AOL Small Business, Sept. 23, 2010
- ↑ Racer Zach Veach Participates in National Distracted Driving Summit with Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, SPEEDtv.com, Sept. 21, 2010
External links
| |||||||||||