Drivers Pigot and Veach Recorded a Total of Four Wins to Secure Team's Second Consecutive Championship Title
 
INDIANAPOLIS - Andretti Autosport secured the team championship title for the second consecutive year at the conclusion of the 2011 Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda season on Sept. 4 in Baltimore.  

Drivers Spencer Pigot and Zach Veach recorded a total of four wins, seven poles and 13 podium finishes to capture the team USF2000 title with a lead of more than 50 points in the standings. Veach's chief mechanic, Ron Weaver, received the series' 2011 "Mechanic of the Year" award.  

In the final rounds of the season, Pigot earned his third race win of the season and finished second in championship points. Pigot, the 17-year-old California native who currently resides in Windermere, Fla., also finished his impressive season with eight podiums and four pole positions. Pigot was also honored at Baltimore as a recipient of the 2011 Team USA Scholarship. As part of the program, Pigot will compete in the premier Duratec class at the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch in Kent, England on Oct. 15 and 16. He was also awarded the opportunity to drive in the final round of the MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain at Silverstone on Oct. 8 and 9. Pigot was named a Team USA Scholarship winner in 2010 and competed in the Formula Ford Festival as part of the program, qualifying on pole for his heat, finishing fourth in the final, and setting the fastest race lap.  

Sixteen-year-old Veach, from Stockdale, Ohio, finished fourth in driver championship points with one win, five podiums and three poles. The talented young driver captured the inaugural Cooper Tires presents the USF2000 Winterfest Championship title earlier this year with two race wins. In 2010, Veach finished fifth in the overall USF2000 driver championship points, despite starting the season two races behind the rest of the field. He secured eight top-five finishes throughout the season, helping Andretti Autosport clinch the team championship title. Veach was recently featured in ESPN The Magazine as a NEXT athlete. The Sept. 19 issue is available on newsstands now.  

Sanctioned by INDYCAR, the USF2000 National Championship, presented by Cooper Tires and powered by Mazda, is one of two series part of both the INDYCAR's Mazda Road to Indy ladder system and the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development driver program. Andretti Autosport is currently the only INDYCAR team with entries in all levels of the Mazda Road to Indy.  

For more information, visit www.AndrettiAutosport.com and www.USF2000.com.   

MICHAEL ANDRETTI, CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER,
ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT:        

"Winning the team championship for the second year in a row was a great way to cap off the USF2000 season for Spencer and Zach. They've each brought their own strengths to the team, and I've personally seen them grow as drivers throughout the year. I'm proud of them for their accomplishments on track and I know they have even more success ahead of them."  

SPENCER PIGOT, DRIVER, #8 TEAM MAZDASPEED/SKIP BARBER:           

  
"It was really a great year in USF2000. From getting comfortable with the car at the beginning of the season, to a race win at the end of the season in Baltimore, I think we accomplished a lot as a team. I have to thank everyone who helped me this year: MAZDASPEED, Skip Barber and of course Andretti Autosport, along with all of my sponsors."  

ZACH VEACH, DRIVER, #7 TEAM ZAKOSI DATA BACKUP:  

           
"I'm proud to be a part of the championship team again this year. We've been so focused and worked really hard all season long, so it's great to see that work pay off. We didn't have the finish we had hoped for at the end of the season, but overall it has been a good learning experience for me. From here, we can start working on plans for next year. Thanks to my team for all of their hard work this year and Zakosi Data Backup for their support."    

-END-  

About Spencer Pigot
Spencer Pigot, winner of the 2010 Skip Barber National title and Team USA Scholarship, is widely regarded as one of the rising stars in American formula car racing. The Windermere, Fla. driver first came to the forefront in 2003, capturing his first karting state championship title at the age of 10. Earning his first national title one year later, Pigot rapidly became a presence in the national karting scene. Over the next four years, he added five more series titles and several prestigious race wins to his resume. In 2009, Pigot first got behind the wheel of a race car with an entry into selected races of the Skip Barber Regional series. As a 15-year-old rookie, he immediately impressed, scoring a victory at the famed Sebring International Raceway road course in only his second-ever Skip Barber race. Continuing his winning ways, the talented American won four of the six races that he contested in the Skip Barber Summer Series, finished on the podium in his Skip Barber National debut, and won his class in an SCCA Club Racing 13-hour endurance race at Virginia International Raceway. The 2009 season also brought a major win in the "Skip Barber Karting Shoot Out". For more information, please visit www.SpencerPigot.com.   

About Zach Veach
Zach "Ziggy" Veach is a 16-year-old autoracing driver who competes in INDYCAR's 'Mazda Road to Indy' USF2000 National Championship Series and Star Mazda Championship Series, important open-wheel stepping-stones to a career in the IZOD IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500. In 2011, Veach captured the USF2000 Cooper Tires Winterfest Championship, on the heels of placing fifth in the 2010 season, despite missing two race events. In 2010, Michael Andretti signed Veach to his team, Andretti Autosport, while Veach was also being named one of CNN's "Intriguing People" and was also nominated for Sports Illustrated "Sports Kid of the Year" award. In addition to his racing, Veach is an advocate for safer driving in conjunction with Oprah Winfrey's "No Phone Zone," and is the national spokesperson for FocusDriven, an advocacy group for victims of motor vehicle crashes involving drivers using their cell phones. In 2010, Veach released his first published Android application through his phone-app building company, ZaAPP, releasing urTXT, in the Marketplace for Android to help consumers avoid dangerous text messaging while driving and helms his own safe driving program, Ziggy's Safe Driving, which hits 25 markets across the country each year. 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. The son of a national truck and tractor-pulling champion, Veach entered his sophomore year of high school this past fall and released his first book, 99 THINGS TEENS WISH THEY KNEW BEFORE TURNING 16, on March 2, 2011. For more information, please visit www.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 also campaigns multiple cars 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.