Craigo Looks To 2013 Season, More Success
For Colorado’s Zach Craigo, 2012 marked a milestone, with two career-best finishes of fourth at New Jersey Motorsports Park and Summit Point Raceway in the No. 18 Van Diemen from Front Range Motorsports. It was a solid improvement for the 27-year-old, who ran six out of the seven events after a few seasons with select races entered.
“For 2013, the goal is to make it to every race,” said Craigo, who finished eighth in the 2012 Championship. “Last year we were shooting for top ten finishes, this year it is top fives.”
Craigo and his Front Range team are perhaps the furthest travelers, crisscrossing the country to make F2000 Championship Series races.
“The competition the F2000 Series offers is the best in my opinion,” Craigo noted. “The officiating is really good and the series has some of the best tracks in the country.”
His favorite track? Watkins Glen.
“It’s a completely different part of the country from where I grew up and spend my time,” Craigo explained. “I like the history at the place, and of course, Seneca Lodge.”
He has been slowly inching his way up finishing orders – bouncing back from a rough 2011 that saw a big crash with Tim Paul at Watkins Glen, and then a trip to the hospital in Canada after he got hit in the helmet with a flying wing at Mosport as an innocent bystander to a huge turn one incident (he ended up being okay).
“This year we are concentrating on finding those few extra tenths,” Craigo continued. “I would love a podium and hope eventually to get in an endurance car for something like the 24 Hours of Daytona or even Le Mans.”
Craigo started karting at the age of 10, and then stopped when he went off to college, but was quick to say both his mother and father were SCCA racers before he was born.
“My Dad bought a car to have us work on when I was home from college. He drove and I crewed, it was a great way to spend time with my Dad; and also, the best hobby ever.”
In his free time, when not racing or working his day-job as a medical sales representative, Craigo spends his time carving up the Colorado mountains on a snowboard. In the summer, when not at F2000 events, he brews his own beer.
A self-described food fanatic, Craigo said he was grateful to be part of an elite group that is the F2000 Series that very few can say they are involved in.
“The top tens last year were an honor,” he added. “It is a privilege to run with everyone in the Series.”