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Veach Leads Firestone Indy Lights Team To Sebring Open Test
Since entering the Mazda Road to Indy in 2010, it's been a rapid ascension for Zach Veach. He began in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda and now finds himself entering his first Firestone Indy Lights season.
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He could be racing in the Indianapolis 500 before exiting his teens.
"I really want to be in (the IZOD) IndyCar (Series), but Michael (Andretti's) goal is he never wants to move any of his drivers up too fast," Veach said of the Andretti Autosport team owner. "I think it's best for me, and Michael thinks as well, that we take our time working our way up. So probably two years at least in Firestone Indy Lights and just taking our time learning as much as we need to be able to move up.
"So definitely dreaming big, but I'm just focused on this year right now, and we're going to go for hopefully the championship and see where we are at the end of the year."
Veach, 18, will continue to focus on that immediate goal with Open Tests at Sebring International Raceway on March 7-8 before heading to Barber Motorsports Park with the IZOD IndyCar Series on March 11. The season-opening race on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., is March 23.
In the first Firestone Indy Lights Open Test at Homestead-Miami Speedway a few weeks ago, Veach and fellow Andretti Autosport driver Carlos Munoz traded the top spot on the time sheet throughout the day. Munoz ended fastest of all participating drivers, with Veach close behind.
"I'm very fortunate to have such a strong teammate this year like Carlos," Veach said. "He was very successful last year, and he's really putting a lot of pressure on me this year and definitely making me drive a lot harder. Throughout testing the past couple of times, we've been in tenth or hundredths (of a second) of Carlos. So I have a feeling that we'll be really prepared as we go into the season, and I'll be pushing really hard to get K12 some wins this year."
Expected Participants:
Sam Schmidt Motorsports Gabby Chaves
Sam Schmidt Motorsports TBD
Sam Schmidt Motorsports Jack Hawksworth
Andretti Autosport Zach Veach
Andretti Autosport Carlos Munoz
Belardi Auto Racing Jorge Goncalvez
Belardi Auto Racing Peter Dempsey
Team Moore Racing Juan Pablo Garcia
Team Moore Racing Mikael Grenier
PaddockTalk Perspective
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