Zach Veach joins the Young Marines youth organization in their efforts to raise awareness to the U.S. Flag on National Flag Day, June 14th.
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[/media-credit]WASHINGTON, DC (June 14, 2012) – Most Americans can tell you what day of the year that Independence Day, or Veterans Day lands on each year, but Flag Day and National Flag Week is commonly an overlooked event. Today, June 14th, is National Flag Day and Andretti Autosport Star Mazda driver Zach Veach is celebrating his partnership with the Young Marines youth organization to honor the flag.
“Through my partnership with the Young Marines youth organization, I meet youth that make up this incredible program that are dedicated to many things like raising awareness for the flag,” said Veach. “Each Young Marine has a different story and background, but I have noticed that they are all working together towards a common goal; living a life of leadership, integrity and self-discipline. The Young Marines share a similar passion for their dedication to promoting and living a healthy, drug-free lifestyle. I admire individuals who can identify what they are passionate about, set goals for themselves and work effortlessly to achieve them. I strive to use this same mentality in my personal life and racing career.”
Many communities and civic groups arrange special ceremonies on, or around, Flag Day and National Flag Week each year; and, the Young Marines is no exception. The week of June 14 is designated as “National Flag Week.” During National Flag Week, the President of the United States will issue a proclamation urging U.S. citizens to fly the American flag for the duration of that week. Flag Day is June 14th annually.
“I’m flying the American flag every time I race,” continued Veach. “OMP gives me an awesome uniform each year with the American flag shooting down the sides of it. It’s awesome and I’m honored each time I get in my K12 Mazda racecar to know that I’m racing with the flag right with me.”
National Executive Director of the Young Marines, Mike Kessler, says Zach is a remarkable young man with incredible talent who shares in the Young Marines values of being a good citizen.
“Whether it be living a healthy, drug free lifestyle to raising awareness to our national flag, Zach has the qualities that are rare in many young people,” says Kessler. “We are proud our honorary Young Marine Zach Veach has joined the Young Marines in our efforts to raise awareness to the flag on National Flag Day, June 14th. Young Marine units are very active in civic events to honor the American flag, and they do so all year long. We believe that we can do even more as a national organization to help inform and enlighten the status of Flag Day and National Flag Week in our communities.”
The Young Marines has been a partner in Veach’s racing career since 2011. The two will return to the racetrack next week Iowa Speedway as a lead up to the headling IZOD IndyCar Series race. The 7/8-mile Iowa Speedway will open for Veach and his K12 Mazda for practice on Fri., June 22. Veach has just one previous start at the Newton-Iowa track with a top-five result and a third-place qualifying effort.
Sanctioned by INDYCAR, the Star Mazda Championship is one of two series part of both the Mazda Road to Indy ladder system and the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development driver program. Andretti Autosport is currently the only INDYCAR team to compete in each level of the Mazda Road to Indy.
For more information, please visit www.YoungMarines.com or www.zachveach.com.
About the Young Marines youth organization:
The Young Marines is a national non-profit 501(c)3 youth education and service program for boys and girls ages 8 through completion of high school. The program focuses on teaching the values of leadership, teamwork and self-discipline so its members can live and promote a healthy, drug-free lifestyle. The national organization is comprised of over 10,000 youths and 2,800 adult volunteers in nearly 300 throughout the United States and overseas. For more information about the Young Marines youth organization, visit the official website:www.YoungMarines.com.
About Zach Veach:
Zach “Ziggy” Veach is a 17-year-old autoracing driver who competes in INDYCAR’s ‘Mazda Road to Indy’ Star Mazda Championship Series, an important open-wheel stepping-stone to a career in the IZOD IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500. In 2012, Veach captured the Formula Car Challenge Winter Series Championship and in 2011, he secured the USF2000 Cooper Tires Winterfest Championship and was voted the “Most Popular Driver in USF2000”. Named by ESPN The Magazine as a NEXT athlete in motorsports, Veach keeps an active pace both on and off the race track. In 2010, Michael Andretti signed Veach to his team, Andretti Autosport, while also being named one of CNN’s “Intriguing People” and being nominated for the Sports Illustrated “Sports Kid of the Year” award. In addition to his racing, Veach is an advocate for safer driving as the national spokesperson for FocusDriven, an advocacy group for victims of motor vehicle crashes involving drivers using their cell phones and has campaigned for Oprah Winfrey’s “No Phone Zone.” Veach designed a phone application through his phone-app building company, ZaAPP, releasing urTXT, in the Marketplace for Android to help consumers avoid dangerous text messaging while driving. Like most of his peers, Veach was bullied as a kid and works to combat the growing epidemic as part of the Cyber Safety Academy’s “No BULL Challenge” as a key ambassador. Veach has been a guest or profiled on a variety of national platforms including NBC’s The Today Show, CNN’s Headline News, ABCNews.com, Oprah Radio’s The Gayle King Show, The Los Angeles Times, AOL.com and is a blogger for RACER magazine and The Huffington Post. The son of a national truckand tractor-pulling champion, Veach is sponsored by K12, Zakosi Data Backup, the Young Marines youth organization, Replay XD, Arai Helmets, OMP, ADS IT Solutions, and artrotondo.com. He enters his senior year of high school this fall and released his first book, 99 THINGS TEENS WISH THEY KNEW BEFORE TURNING 16, in 2011. For more information, please visitwww.ZachVeach.com.
About Andretti Autosport:
Based in Indianapolis and led by racing legend Michael Andretti, Andretti Autosport fields multiple entries in the IZOD IndyCar Series. Andretti Autosport competes in Firestone Indy Lights, the Star Mazda Championship and 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), one USF2000 championship (2010) and has won the Indianapolis 500 twice (2005 and 2007). For more information, please visit www.AndrettiAutosport.com.
About the Star Mazda Championship Series:
For 2012, the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear will again be a major part of the “Mazda Road to Indy”. The 2012 schedule consists of 17 races on 10 weekends, most with IndyCar. Rising stars from around the world will compete on road courses, street circuits and ovals in front of more than a million fans as they battle for prizes valued at $1.5 million, including a scholarship to move up and race in the 2013 Firestone Indy Lights series. Drivers 16 and older are welcome to compete and the Star Mazda Championship also features the Expert Series for drivers 30 and older. The Star Mazda Championship features standing starts, wheel-to-wheel racing at 160 mph and budgets a fraction of other top open-wheel ladder series. For more information on the Star Mazda Championship and its drivers, as well as the Mazda Motorsports ladder system, please visit www.StarMazda.com.
