Zach Veach
| Zach Veach | |
|---|---|
 Zach Veach, Indy Lights 2014 | |
| Nationality |  American |
| Born | December 9, 1994 Stockdale, Ohio, U.S. |
| IndyCar career | |
| Current team | Andretti Autosport |
| Car number | 26 |
| Former teams | A.J. Foyt Racing 2017 Indy 500 Ed Carpenter Racing 2017 GP of Alabama Belardi Auto Racing Indy Lights Andretti Autosport Indy Lights U.S. F2000 Star Mazda |
| Previous series | |
| 2013-2014 2016 2012 2010-2011 | Indy Lights U.S. F2000 National Championship Star Mazda Championship |
| Championship titles | |
| 2011 2012 | U.S. F2000 Winterfest Formula Car Challenge |
Zachary E. Veach (born December 9, 1994) is an American auto racing driver, currently competing in the IndyCar Series.
Veach was named to CNN's list of "Intriguing People" in May 2010,[1] 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.[2]
Racing career
Early career
Veach began racing at age 12 when he was "discovered" by current 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.[3] In early March 2010, the Series halted operations.[4]
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.[5]
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.[6] Veach won the 2011 U.S. F2000 National Championship season opener at Sebring International Raceway. Veach finished fourth in series points.[7]
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,[8] 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 finished 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 remained in the series and Andretti Autosport in 2014. He collected three wins and nine podiums in 14 races to end third in the standings behind Gabby Chaves and Jack Harvey. After sitting out the 2015 season due to an injury, Veach returned to Indy Lights in 2016 with Belardi Auto Racing.[9] After a rough start, where he suffered a mechanical failure while dominating the first race in St. Petersburg, he went on to collect 3 wins as well as several podium finishes throughout the 18 race season.
Amazingly, during his Indy Lights racing career, Zack finished in the top 10 in 43 of the 44 races he competed in, or 97.73%.[10]
Indycar Series
He made his IndyCar Series debut at the 2017 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama as a last-minute replacement driver for the injured JR Hildebrand.[11] Despite the short notice and a limited amount of time to get familiar with the car prior to the event, he closed the gap to teammate Spencer Pigot in each session, from 1.5 off in first practice to 1.1 in the second, 0.8 in the third and just 0.5 in qualifying. Veach started 19th and ran as high as fourth in the race, after pitting off-sequence, before finishing in 19th. The last car on the lead lap.[12]
Veach competed at the 2017 Indianapolis 500 for A. J. Foyt Enterprises,[13] placing 26th, when he retired on lap 155 with mechanical issues.
On September 11, 2017 it was announced that Veach had reached an agreement to drive Andretti Autosport's fourth IndyCar full-time for the 2018 IndyCar Series season. The contract is three years in length.[14]
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.[15] 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 Hélio Castroneves, among others.[16]
In July 2010, Veach released an anti-texting app, urTXT, which automatically responds to a text message received by the phone.[17]
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 Jordin Sparks for their collective efforts to put an end to distracted driving.[18]
Racing record
U.S. F2000 National Championship
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Andretti Autosport | STP |
STP |
ORP 4 |
IOW 5 |
NJM 4 |
NJM 5 |
ACC 7 |
ACC 6 |
ROA 3 |
ROA 3 |
ATL 2 |
ATL 4 |
5th | 189 |
| 2011 | Andretti Autosport | SEB 1 |
SEB 8 |
STP 3 |
STP 4 |
ORP 2 |
MIL 2 |
MDO 5 |
MDO 7 |
ROA 3 |
ROA 5 |
BAL 12 |
BAL 16 |
4th | 223 |
Star Mazda Championship
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Andretti Autosport | STP 17 |
STP 11 |
BAR 15 |
BAR 10 |
IND 3 |
IOW 6 |
TOR 2 |
TOR 17 |
EDM 9 |
EDM 17 |
TRO 8 |
TRO 8 |
BAL 8 |
BAL 6 |
LAG 11 |
LAG 17 |
ATL 8 |
10th | 199 |
Indy Lights
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 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 | ||||||
| 2014 | Andretti Autosport | STP 1* |
LBH 2 |
ALA 1* |
ALA 3 |
IND 9 |
IND 7 |
INDY 3 |
POC 2 |
TOR 5 |
MDO 4 |
MDO 2 |
MIL 1 |
SNM 7 |
SNM 3 |
3rd | 520 | ||||
| 2016 | Belardi Auto Racing | STP 16 |
STP 3 |
PHX 8 |
ALA 3 |
ALA 10 |
IMS 5 |
IMS 10 |
INDY 10 |
RDA 1 |
RDA 3 |
IOW 2 |
TOR 9 |
TOR 6 |
MDO 5 |
MDO 4 |
WGL 1 |
LAG 3 |
LAG 1 |
4th | 332 |
IndyCar Series
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara DW12 | Chevrolet | STP | LBH | ALA 19 |
PHX | IMS | 33rd | 23 | ||||||||||||
| A. J. Foyt Enterprises | INDY 26 |
DET | DET | TEX | ROA | IOW | TOR | MDO | POC | GTW | WGL | SNM | ||||||||||
* Season still in progress.
References
- ^ 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
- ^ Veach joins Belardi for 2016, Racer, November 25, 2015, Retrieved 2015-12-02
- ^ https://www.indylights.com/teams-drivers/career-stats
- ^ 2:49 p.m. ET April 18, 2017 (2016-10-20). "Zach Veach to replace injured JR Hildebrand at Barber". Indystar.com. Retrieved 2017-04-19.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ http://motorsports.nbcsports.com/2017/04/24/zach-veach-ticks-all-the-right-boxes-in-barber-debut-weekend/
- ^ "Indycar Racing News | Racer.com - Veach to run Indy 500 with Foyt". Racer.com. Retrieved 2017-04-08.
- ^ Ayello, Jim. Zach Veach joining Andretti Autosport in 2018, Indianapolis Star, September 11, 2017, Retrieved 2017-09-12
- ^ 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