| Zach Veach | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg.webp) Veach at the 2018 ABC Supply 500 | |||||||
| Nationality |  American | ||||||
| Born | December 9, 1994 Stockdale, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||
| IndyCar Series career | |||||||
| 47 races run over 4 years | |||||||
| Team(s) | No. 26 (Andretti Autosport) | ||||||
| 2019 position | 18th | ||||||
| Best finish | 15th (2018) | ||||||
| First race | 2017 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama (Barber) | ||||||
| Last race | 2020 Honda Indy 200 Race 2 (Mid-Ohio) | ||||||
| |||||||
| 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 who competes full time in the IMSA SportsCar Championship GT3 class for Vasser Sullivan.
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 of the 2015 season due to an injury which required hand surgery, 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.
During his Indy Lights racing career, Zach 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 J. R. Hildebrand.[11] Despite the short notice and a limited amount of time to become familiar with the car prior to the event, he managed to close the performance gap to teammate Spencer Pigot in each session, from 1.5 second behind in the 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 place, 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 was three years in length.[14]
On September 23, 2020, Andretti Autosport announced that Veach would be leaving the team ahead of the Harvest GP. [15]
IMSA
For the 2021 season, Veach was signed by Vasser Sullivan Racing to drive a GTD-class Lexus RC at the IMSA SportsCar Championship, partnering with Frankie Montecalvo.[16]
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.[17] 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.[18]
In July 2010, Veach released an anti-texting app, urTXT, which automatically responds to a text message received by the phone.[19]
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.[20]
Musical career
Veach will star in the Indianapolis Opera's production of Gaetano Donizetti's comic opera Elixir of Love, to be held in November 2019.[21]
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
(key)
| Year | Team | Chassis | No. | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Rank | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara DW12 | 21 | Chevrolet | STP | LBH | ALA 19 |
PHX | IMS | 33rd | 23 | [22] | ||||||||||||
| A. J. Foyt Enterprises | 40 | INDY 26 |
DET | DET | TEX | ROA | IOW | TOR | MDO | POC | GTW | WGL | SNM | |||||||||||
| 2018 | Andretti Autosport | 26 | Honda | STP 16 |
PHX 16 |
LBH 4 |
ALA 13 |
IMS 23 |
INDY 23 |
DET 12 |
DET 13 |
TXS 16 |
ROA 22 |
IOW 20 |
TOR 7 |
MDO 10 |
POC 6 |
GTW 5 |
POR 19 |
SNM 14 |
15th | 313 | [23] | |
| 2019 | STP 14 |
COA 22 |
ALA 12 |
LBH 17 |
IMS 12 |
INDY 29 |
DET 8 |
DET 8 |
TXS 20 |
RDA 18 |
TOR 13 |
IOW 7 |
MDO 21 |
POC 13 |
GTW 14 |
POR 22 |
LAG 18 |
18th | 271 | [24] | ||||
| 2020 | TXS 4 |
IMS 14 |
ROA 16 |
ROA 16 |
IOW 23 |
IOW 20 |
INDY 15 |
GTW 21 |
GTW 22 |
MDO 20 |
MDO 17 |
IMS | IMS | STP |
21st | 166 | [25] | |||||||
* Season still in progress.
Indianapolis 500
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Dallara | Chevrolet | 32 | 26 | A. J. Foyt Enterprises |
| 2018 | Dallara | Honda | 25 | 23 | Andretti Autosport |
| 2019 | Dallara | Honda | 28 | 29 | Andretti Autosport |
| 2020 | Dallara | Honda | 17 | 15 | Andretti Autosport |
Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Class | Make | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Vasser Sullivan Racing | GTD | Lexus RC F GT3 | Lexus 5.0 L V8 | DAY 13 |
SEB 6 |
MDO 2 |
DET | WGL 11 |
WGL 2† |
LIM 10 |
ELK 6 |
LGA 10 |
LBH 13 |
VIR 13 |
PET 3 |
8th | 2538 |
† Points only counted towards the WeatherTech Sprint Cup and not the overall GTD Championship.
References
- ↑ Kernis, Jay. Wednesday's intriguing people, CNN.com, May 19, 2010
- ↑ Marks, Ginger. Veach to Release Book with the 99 Series Archived 2011-07-07 at the Wayback Machine, 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 Archived 2012-03-16 at the Wayback Machine, Racing Wire, January 14, 2011, Retrieved 2011-09-05
- ↑ Final 2011 Points Standings Archived 2012-03-30 at the Wayback Machine, 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 Archived 2015-11-28 at the Wayback Machine, Racer, November 25, 2015, Retrieved 2015-12-02
- ↑ "The Official Site of the Road to Indy, Drivers, Schedule & Shop". Archived from the original on 2017-11-17. Retrieved 2017-11-16.
- ↑ 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) - ↑ "Zach Veach ticks all the right boxes in Barber debut weekend". 24 April 2017.
- ↑ "Indycar Racing News | Racer.com - Veach to run Indy 500 with Foyt". Racer.com. Archived from the original on 2017-04-08. Retrieved 2017-04-08.
- ↑ Ayello, Jim. Zach Veach joining Andretti Autosport in 2018, Indianapolis Star, September 11, 2017, Retrieved 2017-09-12
- ↑ Pruett, Marshall. Veach parts with Andretti ahead of Harvest GP, Racer.com, September 23, 2020, Retrieved 2020-09-23
- ↑ Pruett, Marshall (14 January 2021). "Megennis joins Vasser Sullivan endurance line-up". racer.com. Racer Media & Marketing Inc. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
- ↑ 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 Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine, paddocktalk.com, June 04, 2010
- ↑ Drell, Lauren. Zach Veach: A 15-Year-Old Takes on Texting and Driving Archived 2010-09-28 at the Wayback Machine, 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
- ↑ Andretti Autosport (30 October 2019). "ZACH VEACH TO STAR IN INDIANAPOLIS OPERA'S ELIXIR OF LOVE". Andretti Autosport. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
- ↑ "Zach Veach – 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
- ↑ "Zach Veach – 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
- ↑ "Zach Veach – 2019 NTT IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
- ↑ "Zach Veach – 2020 NTT IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
External links
