Star Mazda Championship driver Zach Veach is blogging for RACER.com throughout the 2012 season.

I have to say, I'm extremely excited to be back on a permanent circuit! The street races are exciting for the fans and a really neat sight to see, but the real racing to me happens at places like Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and that's where we're at this weekend!

We're into the weekend straight from Baltimore, where we had two race events and Andretti Sports Marketing put on an amazing weekend for the city, the fans, and IndyCar. I really hope we get to race there again next year because the event as a whole was awesome! Just before that I was in Colorado for a few weeks doing some climbing and then had a "Be Miles Ahead" safe driving event.

Mazda Raceway has always been close to me for many different reasons, but the one that stands out the most is, going back to where it all started. In 2010, this is the track I competed in my first open-wheel race, and the very first place I finished on the podium in USF2000 with a third place. Just a year after that, I finished third again in my second ever star Mazda start when Andretti Autosport gave me the opportunity to run two races in Star Mazda alongside by full-time gig in USF2000. We are definitely going to be working hard to take a couple more steps higher on the podium for this weekend!

Mazda Raceway is by far one of my favorite tracks, mainly because of how fast it is! There are all of these fast, sweeping corners where being smooth and patient pays off, unlike a street course where you have to be really aggressive and throw the car around. Also, there is the corner this track is famous for that makes it a lot of fun, the Corkscrew, where one of the most impressive passes in open-wheel racing happened!

To say things have been crazy busy would be an understatement but we're staying focused and organized as the season winds down.With only three races left in this season, these two races at Mazda Raceway are going to be very intense, but I'm looking forward to it, and I'm ready to fight for the podium!

Hope to see you out at the track or follow along with us online.

-Zach

Star Mazda Championship driver Zach Veach drives the Andretti Autosport No. 77 K12/Mazda. For more on Zach, go to www.zachveach.com.