Series news on youngest driver's debut in 2010

Fifteen-Year-Old Zach Veach and Jensen MotorSport Join Forces for Historic Season in 2010 Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda

ORLANDO, Fla. (December 11, 2009) - With the 23rd annual Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Show as the backdrop, Zach Veach and Jensen MotorSport announced today that Veach will compete in the 2010 Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda. The 15-year-old driver will be the youngest in the 37-year history of the series.

Veach formed a two-year partnership of his ADS/Secur-IT-Vault-backed entry with the long-time Atlantic team owned by Canadian Eric Jensen. The team contended for top-three results throughout the 2009 season and Jensen, who also made three starts in the cockpit, earned the prestigious Team Owner of the Year Award at the season-ending awards banquet.

"I've indeed been lucky and often privileged to coach upcoming drivers who strive to become tomorrow's open-wheel stars," said Jensen. "Every so often, an individual comes along that truly makes you stand up and take notice, with both the raw, God-given talent and desire that simply cannot be taught. From what I've already seen in several private tests at both Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Nevada, Zach might very well be one of America's great next generation drivers."

Veach has been successful at various levels of karting and participated in an aggressive Formula BMW Americas testing program with an eye toward competing in that series before it was discontinued in August. The youngster then switched his attention to Atlantic competition and has familiarized himself with the Mazda-Cosworth-powered, Cooper Tire-shod Swift 016.a through several days of testing.

"I'm obviously excited about the opportunity to launch my professional racing career with one of the great team owners and instructors in Eric Jensen," said Veach. "When my father (Roger Veach) and I studied his past accomplishments and the respect he has within motor racing, we agreed that Eric was more than a logical consideration. He was absolutely the right choice. Since the age of five, I've dreamed of racing on the great race circuits of the United States - and ultimately winning the Indianapolis 500. With our newly formed team with Eric, this incredible journey is about to begin."

Veach will make his Atlantic Championship debut on March 19, 2010 at the historic Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Fla.

The Atlantic Championship is noted for its long history of graduating its drivers into the top levels of motorsport throughout the world. Graduates include past and present IndyCar drivers such as Bobby Rahal, Danny Sullivan, Michael Andretti, Jimmy Vasser, Danica Patrick, Dan Wheldon, Graham Rahal, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Raphael Matos, Formula One legends and champions such as Gilles Villeneuve, Jacques Villeneuve and Keke Rosberg, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Sam Hornish Jr. and A.J. Allmendinger.

Atlantic Championship graduates have won races and championships at the highest levels of motorsport, including Formula 1, IndyCar and Champ Car, and sports cars. In 2009, Atlantic graduates were top competitors in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series, the American Le Mans Series, the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series and even the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series among many others. Learn more about Atlantic at www.atlantic-championship.com.

For additional information on Zach Veach, including corporate sponsor partnerships and beneficially creative marketing opportunities, please visit www.veachracing.com, or contact: Veach Racing, 33 North Plaza Boulevard, Chillicothe, OH 45601, by phone at 740-821-0483 or via email to rveach@zachveach.com.

Jensen MotorSport is a professional race team that has been competing in championships in North America including Champ Car, the Atlantic Championship, and Formula BMW. Since 1998, more than 50 professional drivers have raced for the team; and the team has also advanced the careers of many others with its driver development programs. For information, please visit the team's official website at www.jensenmotorsport.com.

-credit: atlantic championship