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15-YEAR-OLD RACER ZACH VEACH LAUNCHES ANTI-TEXTING APP, PRESENTS
MESSAGE ON DISTRACTED DRIVING TO PEERS DURING SAFE DRIVING PROGRAM
Joliet, Ill. (July 27, 2010) – Zach Veach, 15-year-old Andretti Autosport race car driver in the USF2000 National
Championship series presented by Mazda, launched a Droid anti-texting application today as a part of a Teen
Safe Driving day at Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, Ill in conjunction with Mazda North America.
The mobile application, urTXT, automatically alert others that the individual is driving and will text the recipient
back later. The application will be sold for $0.99 in the Marketplace for Droid with a percentage of proceeds to
benefit FocusDriven, an advocacy group for victims of motor vehicle crashes involving drivers using their cell
phones and the group that Veach is the national spokesperson for.
Veach, a native of Stockdale, Ohio and named to CNN’s “Intriguing People” in May 2010, has been working to
educate teen drivers about the perils of texting while behind the wheel as a part of his safe-driving initiative,
Ziggy’s Safe Driving. As a part of the campaign, Veach is currently finishing a book, “99 Things You Wish You
Knew Before You Turned Sixteen,” due out this fall. Earlier this year, Veach spoke in front of the Ohio House of
Representatives in an effort to pass a Distractive Driving bill, which was put into legislation in April.
On April 30, Veach attended The Oprah Winfrey Show for her “No Phone Zone” day where she profiled heartbreaking
stories of the consequences of texting while behind the wheel. Veach spoke to the audience before
the show about his interest in helping educate others about the dangers of texting through his racing efforts. He
also spoke with Winfrey after the show about his campaign, which led to Veach campaigning on Winfrey’s
behalf in obtaining the signatures of 33 Indianapolis 500 professional race car drivers, for Winfrey’s “No Phone
Zone” anti-texting petition, which included notable drivers Danica Patrick and Helio Castroneves.
As a part of the teen safe driving day held at Autobahn Country Club, Veach presented a message to other
teens on his involvement in campaigning against texting and driving. He also encouraged all attendees to sign
Winfrey’s “No Phone Zone” petition at the seminar, which would put them in the company of other’s Veach has
gained support from including CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
All attendees of Ziggy’s Safe Driving day were made eligible to partake in the event after signing up at two
area Mazda dealerships—Autobarn Mazda and Continental Mazda, after test-driving a new Mazda 3. During
the event, all the teen drivers received a copy of Veach’s anti-texting app., a voucher for a signed copy of
Veach’s soon-to-be-released book, a Zach Veach Official T-shirt and two students went home with new Dell
Inspiron notebook computers.
For more information, please visit www.ZachVeach.com.
ZACH VEACH, ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT, DRIVER
“With the rising number of deaths and accidents related to distracted driving, seminars like the one
today are becoming more and more important. I can’t imagine if any of my friends were hurt because of
texting and driving, so I want to make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone. I’m really excited about the new
iPhone and Droid apps. Even if they save just one life, it’s worth it.”
About urTXT
urTXT is an anti-texting application available for download in the Marketplace for Droid. The application was
developed by 15-year-old Andretti Autosport race car driver Zach Veach, who competes in the USF2000
National Championship presented by Mazda. The app. alerts the sender of the text message that the recipient
is driving and will respond to their text once they are finished driving. The app. is pre-loaded with 10 default
messages or consumers can create their own. The app. is available for download for $0.99. For more
information, please visit www.zachveach.com.
About Ziggy’s Safe Driving
‘Ziggy’s Safe Driving’ was developed by 15-year-old auto racing driver Zach Veach, nicknamed Ziggy, who competes in the Indy Racing League’s ‘Road to Indy’ USF2000 Championship Series for Andretti Autosport. As part of Ziggy’s Safe Driving” program, Veach presents messages to other teens on his involvement in campaigning against texting and driving. The program also details tips and tricks for being safer drivers on today’s roads. The first event is being held at Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, Ill. For more information, please visit www.ziggyssafedriving.com.
About Zach Veach
Zach Veach is a 15-year-old autoracing driver that competes in the Indy Racing League’s ‘Road to Indy’ USF2000 Championship Series for Andretti Autosport. Veach began his racing career at age 12 in go-karts. It was in 2007, where Veach caught the eye of Dave Fisher, father of IZOD IndyCar Series driver and team owner, Sarah Fisher. For the next two years Fisher [Dave] coached and developed Veach’s talent, as he did with Fisher [Sarah] in the early stages of her career. By the middle of 2009, in just 16 months, Veach had progressed from entry-level karting to Formula BMW. In late 2009, Veach signed with Jensen Motorsport to compete in the Atlantic Championship Series, before it folded in early 2010. Veach has created a safe-driving initiative: Ziggy’s Teen Safe Driving Campaign, with seminars and supportive school programs to be held in race markets where Veach competes in 2010. He’ll release his first published iPhone and Droid application, due out in mid-2010, to help consumers avoid dangerous text messaging while driving. Further, he’s set to author a book, due out on his 16th birthday, “99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Getting Your Drivers License,” which will serve as a supplemental read for driver’s educations programs across the country, set to be released Dec. 9, 2010. For more information, please visit www.zachveach.com.
About Andretti Autosport
Based in Indianapolis, Ind., Andretti Autosport is led by racing legend Michael Andretti. Andretti Autosport, which is the winningest team in Indy Racing League history, fields multiple entries in the IZOD IndyCar Series. Andretti Autosport also campaigns multiple cars in the Firestone Indy Lights series in a joint venture with AFS Racing and two cars in the USF2000 National Championship. The company boasts three IZOD IndyCar Series championships (2004, 2005 and 2007), two Firestone Indy Lights titles (2008 and 2009) and has won the Indianapolis 500 twice (2005 and 2007). For more information, please visit www.AndrettiAutosport.com.
About AutoBahn Country Club
Autobahn is a 3.56-mile country club road course located 45 miles southwest of Chicago in Joliet, Ill. Autobahn
features four race circuits including a Karting circuit. For additional information visit
www.autobahncountryclub.net.
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