Veach heads home for Mid-Ohio race
18-Year-old Zach Veach to make first start in his home state since 2011.
LEXINGTON, OH - 18-year-old Andretti Autosport driver Zach Veach will have the home field advantage this weekend as he heads to his home state Ohio to compete in the Hondo Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio SportsCar Course. After coming off of a tough weekend in Toronto, Veach is hoping the home fans can give him just what he needs to get back on track and end with a podium finish with K12.
"Not too many drivers get to race in their birthplace state, so being able to do it this weekend is really special for me," said Veach. "With that being said, this weekend is going to come with a little more added pressure but I'm up for the task! My engineer and I have been working extremely hard in our off time preparing for this race.The Andretti Autosport cars were good there at the test and hopefully it'll carry on to this weekend! I want to thank K12, The Young Marines, ADS IT Solutions, Zakosi Data Backup, Replay XD, OMP, Bell Helmets, Got Chocolate Milk?, and Art Rotondo for the continued support! We'll be trying to make Ohio proud this weekend!"
Veach, of Stockdale, Oh., returns home to Ohio after racing in Toronto where he ended up driving a backup car borrowed from rival team Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. The Firestone Indy Lights rookie driver started off strong by coming in second on the speed charts after the first practice session.
Veach would hit problems during the shootout for the Pole Award where he would crash into Turn 1, only to be sitting in a blind spot where he would then be hit by Patrick Dempsey. The #12 car would not be able to race and the borrowed backup car was used. The K12 driver ended up taking a seventh place finish during the race.
Ohio is rich in memories for the teenage driver who was scouted at a local Ohio go-kart track by retired IZOD IndyCar Series driver Sarah Fisher's dad, Dave Fisher, who would later be Veach's driving coach. As the race weekend approaches, Veach is hoping having home turf advantage will give him the edge he needs to build on his four top-five finishes on the season and trump his best finish of third in Indy Lights.
The 2.258-mile, 13-turn natural terrain course will hold its challenges for Veach but he will go into the weekend with not only many family and friends in attendance but experience on his side. The elevation changes, tight corners, and challenging entry to pit lane will not be foreign for the driver who raced at Mid-Ohio back in 2011 where he scored two-top ten finishes in USF2000 and hopes he can repeat his success this weekend.
Veach's social schedule is almost as busy as his racing commitments. While being in his home state, Veach will partake in several appearances, including the Racing for Kids event where he will make an appearance on Thurs., Aug 1. The event is in support of Akron Children's Hospital and Veach will be signing autographs and posing for photographs with the Official Pace Car from the Mid-Ohio SportsCar Course and of course children of the hospital.
The following weekend, Veach will travel to Los Angeles to participate in the Great American NO BULL Anti-Bullying Awards for which he serves as a national spokesperson alongside Dr.Oz's daughter, Zoe Oz.
Zach Veach
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