Andretti Autosport has recently announced that former Mazda Road to Indy driver and one-off IndyCar driver this year Zach Veach will join the team next year, where he will drive the nº. 26 entry and will complete a all-American line-up.
It was released at the beginning of the week, bout yesterday it was officially confirmed by both team and driver that 22-year old Ohio driver Zach Veach is going to join Andretti Autosport to drive the Nº. 26 Honda entry during the entire 2018 season.
The driver has already driven in IndyCar Series twice in this season. He was confirmed to be the driver who would drive A.J. Foyt Enterprises’ in the 101st edition of the Indy 500, where he would eventually finish 26th. But the month before the race, he was chosen to replace the injured JR Hildebrand in ECR at the Grand Prix of Alabama, where he finished on 19th place.
Veach‘s career was linked to Indy when he joined the Mazda Road to Indy in 2010, where he won 13 races and finished third in Indy Lights championship twice (2014 and 2016).
The 22-year old driver is currently the only rookie set to drive the complete season next year, and replaces Takuma Sato, who won this years’ Indy 500 with that car and is now set to join Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Veach‘s team mates will be Andretti Autosport’s current drivers Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti and Alex Rossi in a team that will be composed by four North-American drivers.
“I’ve been thinking about this day since St. Petersburg in 2010 when I sat beside (Andretti Autosport CEO) Michael Andretti announcing that I’d be competing in USF2000 for his team,’’ Veach said. “To be driving in the Verizon IndyCar Series with them is a dream come true.”
“We are excited to give Zach the opportunity to show what he can do at the highest level, and I’m looking forward to welcoming him home, so to speak, as he completes our all-American lineup,” Michael Andretti said. “Zach started his INDYCAR career with us in USF2000 and has driven in every step of the Mazda Road to Indy ladder with Andretti Autosport. He’s a driver that has always impressed me.