By: Zack Meyer
Date: March 30, 2014
St. Petersburg, Florida – With just 90 minutes of practice prior to taking the green flag from ninth on the starting grid, Zack Meyer was optimistic about how his #2 TMR/DAMIS PARTNERS III/Innisfil Indy Karting/Xtreme Coil Drilling car would perform over the duration of the 45-lap St. Petersburg 100. While he showed his pace early in the race, pulling off a bold pass on fellow Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires rookie Lloyd Read, Canadian Meyer would eventually settle for a final finishing position of eighth.
Meyer's day almost came to an early end when Scott Anderson made hard contact with the outside wall in Turn 3. The impact bounced Anderson's disabled car out into the middle of the track, and sent a loose wheel bounding across the circuit. With some quick evasive maneuvers, Meyer was able to avoid all of the accident carnage, albeit losing a place to Read in the process. When the green flag resumed the racing on the streets of St. Petersburg on Lap 6, Meyer set off in pursuit of his fellow competitors.
The 21-year-old turned made a gutsy pass of Read on the inside of Turn 4 for ninth place and soon thereafter set his fastest lap of the race on Lap 9. With Read out of the way, Meyer quickly closed the gap to Juan Piedrahita in eighth. With some attrition, Meyer found himself in seventh place and looking for a strong start to his season. However, as the laps wore on his car lost overall grip and his race pace suffered. Meyer would eventually be overtaken by Indy Lights veteran Juan Pablo Garcia and soldier home in eighth.
"It wasn't the best first race in Indy Lights, but it certainly wasn't the worst," explained Meyer after the first Indy Lights race of his young formula car racing career. "We thought we would have a good car on a long run, but once we settled into the race we really struggled with overall grip. Now the team and I are trying to figure out where we can improve, and we'll take the lessons learned and go to Long Beach in two weeks and come back stronger. We'll take the positives from this weekend and focus on those. Most importantly, we're going to keep pushing towards the top."
The television broadcast of the St. Petersburg 100 will air on NBC Sports Network on April 4 at 4 p.m. EDT. Meyer and his Team Moore Racing crew will return to action April 11-13 on the streets of Long Beach.
You can learn more about Zack Meyer by visiting ZackMeyer.ca, and you can also follow Zack on Twitter @ZackMeyer66. If you are interested in supporting an up-and-coming Canadian racer in the Mazda Road to Indy, you may directly contact Zack Meyer to discuss sponsorship opportunities.
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About Zack Meyer:
A homegrown racer from Toronto, Ont., Meyer began his racing career in karting at Innisfil Indy Karting. Meyer's racing career blossomed under the tutelage of his driver coach and manager, Joe Launi. With both the support of his mother and Launi, Meyer went on to become one of the top karters for the ultra-competitive GP Racing Karts team, participating in and winning numerous KZ2 Shifter Kart events. Meyer claimed the championship for the Brian Stewart BSRKC-F125/ICC Shifter class in both 2009 and 2010, only to follow those up by claiming the championship in the KZ2 Class in the Florida Winter Tour in 2011 and 2012. Meyer made his debut in the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires in 2012 with JDC MotorSports before moving to the series full-time in 2013. Meyer posted a best finish of fourth in his home race, the Honda Indy Toronto, on his way to finishing the year as the highest-placed JDC MotorSports driver in the championship with sixth in the championship standings. For 2014, Meyer steps up to the top rung on the Mazda Road to Indy development ladder, Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, with race-winning Team Moore Racing.
Photo Credit: Photos @ Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography