Zachary E. Veach (born December 9, 1994) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

driver who competes full time in the

IMSA SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...

GT3 class for Vasser Sullivan. Veach was named to

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's list of "Intriguing People" in May 2010, is the national spokesperson for FocusDriven, and released his first book, ''99 Things Teens Wish They Knew Before Turning 16'' on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

's ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was ...

'' on March 2, 2011.

Racing career

Early career

Veach began racing at age 12 when he was "discovered" by current

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...

team owner

Sarah Fisher Sarah Marie Fisher (born October 4, 1980) is an American retired professional race car driver who competed in the IndyCar Series, Indy Racing League (IRL, now IndyCar Series) and the Indianapolis 500 intermittently from 1999 to 2010. She also ...

's dad, Dave Fisher. In 19 months Veach had gone from go-karts to the cockpit of an open-wheel

Formula BMW Formula BMW was a junior racing formula for single seater cars. It was positioned at the bottom of the motorsport career ladder alongside the longer established Formula Ford category. Like Formula Ford, it was intended to function as the young ...

machine. Near the end of 2009, while testing a Formula BMW,

Atlantic Championship The Atlantic Championship is a formula race car series with races throughout North America. It has been called Champ Car Atlantics (after its former name), Toyota Atlantics (due to the series' previous history of using Toyota-powered engines) ...

team owner Eric Jensen signed Veach to his team for the 2010 Atlantic Championship season. In early March 2010, the Series halted operations.

U.S. F2000 National Championship

In his first year as a driver in the

U.S. F2000 National Championship The USF2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires is an American racing series using the American variation of the Formula Ford formula, "F2000", that resumed operation for the 2010 season. As of 2022, it is sanctioned by the United States Auto ...

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 ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

's annual

Sports Kid of the Year "SportsKid of the Year" was introduced by Sports Illustrated magazine after the highly successful Sportsman of the Year Since its inception in 1954, ''Sports Illustrated'' has annually presented the Sportsman of the Year award to "the athlete o ...

award. On December 9, Andretti Autosport announced they had re-signed Veach to again compete in the USF2000 National Championship and WinterFest in 2011. 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 Spencer James Pigot (born September 29, 1993) is an American racing driver who currently drives in the IMSA SportsCar Championship. Personal life Pigot was born in Los Angeles and raised Pasadena, California, and Orlando where he graduated from ...

. Veach won the 2011 U.S. F2000 National Championship season opener at

Sebring International Raceway Sebring International Raceway is a road course auto racing facility in the southeastern United States, located near Sebring, Florida. Sebring Raceway is one of the oldest continuously operating race tracks in the U.S., its first race being run i ...

. Veach finished fourth in series points.

Star Mazda Championship

Veach made his

Star Mazda Championship The USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, formerly known as the Star Mazda Championship, Pro Mazda Championship, and later Indy Pro 2000 Championship, is an open-wheel racing series serving as the third step on the Road to Indy l ...

debut for Andretti Autosport at

Infineon Raceway Sonoma Raceway (originally known as Sears Point Raceway from 1967 to 1980 and 1982 to 2002, Golden State International Raceway in 1981 and Infineon Raceway from 2002 to 2012) is a road course and dragstrip located at Sears Point in the southern S ...

in August 2011. He also competed in the series' season finale at

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 near both Salinas and M ...

, where he finished third. He competed in the full season for Andretti Autosport in the #77 car in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, finishing tenth in points with a best finish of third at

Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (formerly Indianapolis Raceway Park, O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, and Lucas Oil Raceway) is an auto racing facility in Brownsburg, Indiana, United States, about northwest of downtown Indianapolis. It ...

Indy Lights

Veach moved up to

Indy Lights Indy NXT, previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as Firestone Indy NXT Series for sponsorship reasons. Indy Lights is the highest step on the Road to Indy, a program ...

with Andretti Autosport in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

. Veach led the most laps and finished on the podium in third at the

Milwaukee Mile The Milwaukee Mile is a oval race track in the central United States, located on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. Its grandstand and bleachers seats approximately 37,000 spectator ...

and won the pole at

Auto Club Speedway Auto Club Speedway, originally opened as California Speedway, is a , low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in unincorporated San Bernardino County, California, near Fontana. It has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1997. It was also previ ...

on his way to seventh in points. He remained in the series and Andretti Autosport in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

. He collected three wins and nine podiums in 14 races to end third in the standings behind

Gabby Chaves Gabriel "Gabby" Chaves (born 7 July 1993) is a Colombian-American racing driver, currently competing in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the Michelin Pilot Challenge. He raced in the IndyCar Series and is the 2014 Indy Lights Champion. ...

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 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

with

Belardi Auto Racing Belardi Auto Racing was an American racing team in the Indy Lights series. The team was owned by Brian Belardi, who competed in SCCA. Belardi was previously located in Illinois before moving to Brownsburg, Indiana. Indy Lights 2011-2013 Jorge ...

. 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

racing career, Zach finished in the top 10 in 43 of the 44 races he competed in, or 97.73%.

IndyCar Series

He made his IndyCar Series debut at the 2017

Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama The Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama is an IndyCar Series race held at Barber Motorsports Park, a 17-turn road course, in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Officially announced on July 27, 2009, the inaugural event was on the weekend of April ...

as a last-minute replacement driver for the injured J. R. Hildebrand. 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

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. Veach competed at the

2017 Indianapolis 500 The 2017 Indianapolis 500 (branded as the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil for sponsorship reasons) was a Verizon IndyCar Series race held on Sunday May 28, 2017, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway ...

for

A. J. Foyt Enterprises A. J. Foyt Racing, officially and historically known as A. J. Foyt Enterprises, is an American racing team in the IndyCar Series and formerly NASCAR. It is owned by four-time Indianapolis 500 winner, 1972 Daytona 500 winner, 1967 24 Hours of Le ...

, 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 Andretti Autosport is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series, Indy Lights, Indy Pro 2000, and Formula E. The team also has a 37.5% ownership stake in the Australian Supercars Championship touring car team, Walkinshaw Andretti ...

's fourth IndyCar full-time for the 2018 IndyCar Series season. The contract is three years in length. On September 23, 2020, Andretti Autosport announced that Veach would be leaving the team ahead of the Harvest GP.

IMSA

For the 2021 season, Veach was signed by Vasser Sullivan Racing to drive a GTD-class

Lexus RC The Lexus RC (Japanese: レクサス・RC, ''Rekusasu RC'') is a compact executive two-door coupé manufactured by Lexus, Toyota's luxury division. The RC which according to Lexus stands for "Radical Coupe" is a two-door coupé version of the Le ...

at the

, partnering with

Frankie Montecalvo Frank "Frankie" Montecalvo (born December 28, 1990) is an American racing driver who currently competes in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Early life A native of Highlands, New Jersey, Montecalvo attended high school at St. John Vianney ...

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 ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime broadcast syndication, syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicag ...

'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. Veach announced on June 4, 2010, he had added 33

Indy 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of India ...

drivers support of the No Phone Zone, including that of

Danica Patrick Danica Sue Patrick (; born March 25, 1982) is an American former professional racing driver. She is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel car racing—her victory in the 2008 Indy Japan 300 is the only win by a woman ...

and

Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves (; born Hélio Alves de Castro Neves; 10 May 1975) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He has won the Indianapolis 500 a record-equalling four times: in 2001, 2002, 2009, and 2021. He won the 2021 24 Hours of Daytona wit ...

, among others. In July 2010, Veach released an anti-texting app, , which automatically responds to a text message received by the phone. On September 21, 2010, Veach attended the 2010 National Distracted Driving Summit where he was honored by

United States Secretary of Transportation The United States secretary of transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to transportation. The secre ...

Ray LaHood Raymond H. LaHood (born December 6, 1945) is an American politician who served as the 16th United States Secretary of Transportation from 2009 to 2013 under President Barack Obama. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the I ...

, in addition to the

Jonas Brothers The Jonas Brothers () are an American pop rock band. Formed in 2005, they gained popularity from their appearances on the Disney Channel television network. They consist of three brothers: Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas, and Nick Jonas. Raised in W ...

and

Jordin Sparks Jordin Sparks-Thomas (born December 22, 1989) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame in 2007 after winning the sixth season of ''American Idol'' at age 17, becoming the youngest winner in the series' history. Her self-titled debu ...

for their collective efforts to put an end to distracted driving.

Musical career

Veach will star in the

Indianapolis Opera Indianapolis Opera is an opera company based in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the only professional opera company in Indiana and hosts a number of fully staged productions each season. It also supports a Young Artist Program. The company is led ...

's production of

Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...

's comic opera Elixir of Love, to be held in November 2019.

Racing record

U.S. F2000 National Championship

Star Mazda Championship

Indy Lights

IndyCar Series

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) * Season still in progress.

Indianapolis 500

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† Points only counted towards the WeatherTech Sprint Cup and not the overall GTD Championship.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Veach, Zach 1994 births Living people IndyCar Series drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers Indy Lights drivers Indy Pro 2000 Championship drivers People from Pike County, Ohio Racing drivers from Ohio U.S. F2000 National Championship drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers Ed Carpenter Racing drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers Andretti Autosport drivers AFS Racing drivers Belardi Auto Racing drivers A. J. Foyt Enterprises drivers JDC Motorsports drivers