News

VEACH RECORDS TOP-10 RESULT IN FIRST STAR MAZDA RACE
Zach Veach Places Seventh at Infineon Raceway In Series Debut

SONOMA, CA (August 27, 2011) – For the first time this season, Andretti Autosport fielded two entries in the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, offering USF2000 National Championship driver Zach Veach a shot at the second step on the "Mazda Road to Indy" developmental ladder this past weekend. Veach qualified eighth and finished seventh in his Star Mazda debut at Infineon Raceway alongside former USF2000 teammate Sage Karam.

"This weekend was my first time to compete in the Star Mazda car," said Veach. "I really have to thank everyone at Andretti Autosport and my Zakosi Data Backup team for taking the time to put the car together. In the race, we were able to move up one spot. I was running sixth for a while but weren't able to hold on. In practice, we were really loose and tried to make adjustments for the race. We ended up going too far forward and couldn't get the car to rotate at the end. I'm really looking forward to Laguna. I can't wait to get back in a Star Mazda car."

The teen athlete opened the weekend in Sonoma, California, fifth in the first official Star Mazda Championship series practice before falling to eighth in the second session and putting a qualifying effort in the same position. During the race, Veach ran just outside the top-five, before finishing the 30-lap effort in the seventh position.

Veach will make one final start on the Star Mazda schedule with a race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca September 16-18 in Monterey, California.

Next weekend, Veach returns to his No. 7 Zakosi Data Backup Mazda in the USF2000 National Championship Series September 2-4, where he will close out his 2011 USF2000 season schedule. The sixteen-year-old is currently running a full schedule in the USF2000 National Championship series where he sits third in series points heading into the final two races of the 2011 season.

Sanctioned by INDYCAR, the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear is one of two series part of both INDYCAR's Road to Indy ladder system and the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development driver program.

For more information, please visit www.AndrettiAutosport.com or www.StarMazda.com.