Zach Veach

Zach Veach
Zach Veach, Indy Lights 2014
Nationality	American
Born	(1994-12-09) December 9, 1994 Stockdale, Ohio, U.S.
Indy Lights career
Debut season	2013
Current team	Belardi Auto Racing
Car no.	5
Former teams	Andretti Autosport
Starts	44
Wins	6
Poles	5
Fastest laps	6
Best finish	3rd in 2014
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 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 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 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 being out of the cockpit for 2015, Veach will return to Indy Lights in 2016 with Belardi Auto Racing.^[10]

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.^[11] 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.^[12]

In July 2010, Veach released an anti-texting app, urTXT, which automatically responds to a text message received by the phone.^[13]

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.^[14]

Racing record

U.S. F2000 National Championship

Star Mazda Championship

Indy Lights

References

External links

• Official website