Zach Veach
Veach at the2019 Indianapolis 500
Nationality	American
Born	(1994-12-09)December 9, 1994 (age 30) Stockdale, Ohio, U.S.
IndyCar Series career
47 races run over 4 years
Team	No. 26 (Andretti Autosport)
2019 position	18th
Best finish	15th (2018)
First race	2017Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama (Barber)
Last race	2020Honda Indy 200 Race 2 (Mid-Ohio)
Wins Podiums Poles 0 0 0
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 anAmericanauto racing driver. He has previously competed in theIndyCar Series, where he last drove the No. 26Honda forAndretti Autosport.

Veach was named toCNN'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 onNBC'sThe Today Show on March 2, 2011.^[2]

Veach began racing at age twelve when he was "discovered" by formerIndyCar Series team ownerSarah Fisher's dad, Dave Fisher. In nineteen months, Veach had gone from go-karts to the cockpit of an open-wheelFormula BMW machine. Near the end of 2009, while testing a Formula BMW,Atlantic Championship team ownerEric Jensen signed Veach to his team for the2010 Atlantic Championship season.^[3] In early March 2010, the Series halted operations.^[4]

In his first year as a driver in theU.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 forSports Illustrated's annualSports 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 the2011 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 teammateSpencer Pigot.^[6] Veach won the2011 U.S. F2000 National Championship season opener atSebring International Raceway. Veach finished fourth in series points.^[7]

Veach made hisStar Mazda Championship debut for Andretti Autosport atInfineon Raceway in August 2011. He also competed in the series' season finale atMazda Raceway Laguna Seca,^[8] where he finished third. He competed in the full season for Andretti Autosport in the No. 77 car in2012, finishing tenth in points with a best finish of third atLucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.

Veach moved up toIndy Lights with Andretti Autosport in2013. Veach led the most laps and finished on the podium in third at theMilwaukee Mile and won the pole atAuto Club Speedway on his way to seventh in points. He remained in the series and Andretti Autosport in2014. He collected three wins and nine podiums in fourteen races to end third in the standings behindGabby Chaves andJack Harvey. After sitting out of the 2015 season due to an injury which required hand surgery, Veach returned to Indy Lights in2016 withBelardi 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 three wins as well as several podium finishes throughout the eighteen race season.

During hisIndy Lights racing career, Veach finished in the top-ten in 43 of the 44 races he competed in, or 97.73%.^[10]

He made his IndyCar Series debut at the 2017Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama as a last-minute replacement driver for the injuredJ. 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 teammateSpencer 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 nineteenth and ran as high as fourth in the race, after pitting off-sequence, before finishing in nineteenth place, the last car on the lead lap.^[12]

Veach competed at the2017 Indianapolis 500 forA. 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 driveAndretti Autosport's fourth IndyCar full-time for the2018 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]

For the 2021 season, Veach was signed by Vasser Sullivan Racing to drive a GTD-classLexus RC at theIMSA SportsCar Championship, partnering withFrankie Montecalvo.^[16]

Veach has been very outspoken about his interest in putting an end to distracted driving. On April 30, 2010, Veach attended the taping ofThe Oprah Winfrey Show's focus on theNo 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 33Indy 500 drivers support of the No Phone Zone, including that ofDanica Patrick andHélio 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 byUnited States Secretary of TransportationRay LaHood, in addition to theJonas Brothers andJordin Sparks for their collective efforts to put an end to distracted driving.^[20]

Veach will star in theIndianapolis Opera's production ofGaetano Donizetti's comic operaElixir of Love, to be held in November 2019.^[21]

(key)

* Season still in progress.

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)

^† Points only counted towards the WeatherTech Sprint Cup and not the overall GTD Championship.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toZach Veach.

• Official website

• 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
• GT World Challenge America drivers
• Michelin Pilot Challenge drivers

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