Pike County racecar driver in the Indy 500

by | May 26, 2017 | Ohio Country Journal

A 22-year-old from Pike County is in the field of 33 drivers for the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500.

Zach Veach of Stockdale qualified to start 32nd for his first Indy 500, not where he was hoping, but he is still excited to be there driving the No. 40 Indy Women in Tech Championship A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet. Veach said his dream of racing in the Indy 500 began at an early age.

?Probably when I was four years old, as soon as I could start to realize what I wanted to do as a child and understand what I was seeing on the TV, that?s when all of this really started to take off,? Veach said. ?We are in the show and that?s the main thing. I know we have a great race car that can take us to the front.?

He has six wins and six poles in three Indy Light seasons and was the third-place finisher in 2016, according to www.zachveach.com.

?As any young American driver, you always think about Indianapolis and of course you always relate the name A.J. Foyt with Indy,? Veach said. ?That?s something that?s been driving me. To be able to say I?m going to run my first Indianapolis 500 with a team like this, it?s very exciting for me and a goal I?ve been actively working on for 10 years.?

Veach is hoping to meet up with Joe Kelsay, a dairy farmer from Whiteland, Ind., who will be waiting in Victory Circle on Sunday to hand the winning driver the traditional bottle of milk. Kelsay said the Indy 500 not only puts the spotlight on milk, it also presents an opportunity for all of agriculture.

?We can not only celebrate the product that we make everyday with our dairy cows, we can also start conversations with our customers. We can talk about the nutrition of milk and the way that we work on the farm, hand-in-hand with our animals and the land and with our families,? Kelsay said. ?And I think with the interest that exists among people about knowing the background of where their food comes from and the kinds of things they care about from a value standpoint, what a great opportunity for dairy farmers and the ag industry generally to really engage in a conversation with our customers. Let?s do it in Victory Circle when we celebrate with a drink of milk.?