ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Hundreds of thousands of fans poured into St. Petersburg this weekend for the Firestone Grand Prix. It’s the 15th time this race has come to St. Pete and every year it is here, it’s always the first race of the season.
When it comes to races like these, one can’t help but think of the danger involved. But for those closest to the racers, it’s just business as usual.
“Actually I feel safer with him being here than being on the highway," said Roger Veach. His son Zach is racing for the second year in Indycar. "Cause you know, being on the highway, you’ve got all different levels of drivers. You have people who have just gotten their license, you have older people, you have people that just really aren’t good drivers. You know here, you’ve got great drivers around you. And the cars are so safe, the series does such a good job of vetting the cars and making sure they are safe. His hobbies worry me more than racing because he rock climbs as a hobby.”
For the Veach’s racing is a daily activity. It runs in the family. Roger was involved in motorsports before Zach started racing. While the fans might be shocked by the speeds and tight turns, parents have seen these moves countless times.
“He’s been racing since he was 12. And I only missed one race in all those years. So it's pretty amazing. In a 9 year span, I've only missed one race,” said Roger
That one race missed was because of a flight issue. There was no way Roger would be missing the St. Pete Grand Prix because St. Pete is not only the first race of the season, but he also met his wife here making the sunshine city extra special.
Zach finished 14 out of 24 racers.
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