Andretti Autosport’s Zach Veach believes his car troubles have been fixed and he can compete at the front of the field once the Indianapolis 500 gets underway this Sunday.
The 25-year-old driver had a disappointing qualifying session, completing his four-lap run at an average speed of 229.961 MPH. This was only good enough for 17th, and was over a full mile-per-hour slower than his Andretti Autosport team-mates.
The team has since identified a fuel mixture problem was the cause of the slower pace, and has corrected the issue. This has left Veach with a positive outlook heading into the race weekend.
“The only reason we weren’t with [my team-mates] is we had a small mixture issue,” revealed Veach in media day interviews. “So it wasn’t getting the power that we were supposed to, which is on us. So that’s what hampered us with qualifying.
“After getting that fixed, on Sunday in race running the speed was right where it needed to be. The car is behaving better than I’ve ever felt before.
“I’m really, really excited. I think we have a great opportunity. We’ve got to avoid mistakes; that’s the biggest risk of ruining our day at the moment. Do we have a car that I think can challenge up front? Without a doubt.”
Veach shrugged off the notion that starting in the middle of the field will be a problem, even though some drivers have noted that the dirty air created by the AeroScreen will cause more problems for the cars not running up front.
“The AeroScreen has made the cars particularly a little bit better, in my opinion, around this place. Having the weight a little more forward, it just gives the car a hint of understeer, which seems to calm it down a bit more.
“If there’s one thing I’ve noticed in the past two years, it’s that every one of us says that we can’t pass. Until we get to the race and then miracally we can all pass. We always talk about how hard it is to get through traffic, then it always seems to take care of itself in the race for some reason.”
Veach had a good opening round this season, equaling his best IndyCar result by finishing fourth at Texas Motor Speedway. Since then, however, he has not had very good luck and is yet to earn a second top-ten finish.
The best Indy 500 for Veach is 23rd in 2018, so there is plenty of opportunity for the young driver to earn his best ever result at the infamous race.
The 104th running of the Indianapolis 500 will run behind closed doors this Sunday, August 23. The pre-race festivities start around 13:00 EDT (18:00 BST) and the green flag will fly at 14:30 EDT (19:30 BST).
