Bryan Herta Autosport

Last updated
Bryan Herta Autosport
BHA Hyundai 1 WGI23 04.jpg
Founded2009
Team principal(s) Bryan Herta
Current series IndyCar Series
Michelin Pilot Challenge
Sports Car Championship Canada
Former series Indy Lights
Global Rallycross Championship
Current drivers Flag of the United States.svg Marco Andretti
Flag of Colombia.svg Gabby Chaves
Flag of the United States.svg Mason Filippi
Flag of the United States.svg Harry Gottsacker
Flag of the United States.svg Michael Lewis
Flag of the United States.svg Ryan Norman
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Mark Wilkins
Website http://www.bryanhertaautosport.com/

Bryan Herta Autosport is an American auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series and the Michelin Pilot Challenge. It is owned by former IndyCar driver Bryan Herta. The team won the 2011 Indianapolis 500 with driver Dan Wheldon. [1]

Contents

In 2016, Herta's entry was merged into the Andretti Autosport organization, with Alexander Rossi driving the team's No. 98 car for Andretti Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian . [2] The team, collaborating with Andretti Autosport won the 2016 Indianapolis 500. In 2018, Rossi moved to the main Andretti Autosport team and Marco Andretti switched from the main Andretti team to the Herta-assisted entry. In 2019, Marco Andretti became a part-owner of this entry, forming Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Marco Andretti & Curb-Agajanian.

The team competed as Bryan Herta Rallysport in the Red Bull Global RallyCross Championship from 2015 until the series folded at the end of 2017. In 2019, the team, as Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian, joined the Michelin Pilot Challenge in the TCR class. The team ran the Hyundai Veloster N TCR in its inaugural season in the series and drivers Michael Lewis and Mark Wilkins won the TCR championship.

IndyCar

Debut season

The team's first season of competition was in 2009 with North Carolina native Daniel Herrington, driving car #28. Through most of the season, 5th place at St. Petersburg was his best result, but Herrington changed that when he won his – and the team's – first Indy Lights race at Chicagoland. The team fielded a second car for A1GP Team Brazil's Felipe Guimarães in three mid-season road course events. Driving car number 29, Guimarães finished 3rd, 4th, and 2nd respectively at Watkins Glen, Mid-Ohio, and Sonoma. Herrington finished 7th in points after 12 Top 10s in the 15-race season, and Guimarães was 23rd overall despite competing only 3 times.

Two-car team

For 2010 they ran full-time Indy Lights programs for second-year drivers Sebastián Saavedra and Stefan Wilson. Despite ranking 5th in the championship, Saavedra quit the team after qualifying 12th for the Drive Smart Buckle Up 100 at Kentucky in September. He was replaced by BHA's 2009 driver Daniel Herrington for the race, in which he finished 12th. [3] Saavedra had won at Iowa in June and posted 5 Top 5s and 7 Top 10s. The team's other driver, Stefan Wilson, scored 3 Top 5s and 8 Top 10s – including a season and career best of 3rd on the wet streets of St. Petersburg, Florida  – but had to miss the road race at Infineon Raceway in favor of American Joel Miller while sponsorship issues were resolved. [4] He also had to give way to 2008 Freedom 100 winner Dillon Battistini at Homestead. [5] Each substitute driver finished 9th in his respective race. Saavedra and Wilson, each of whom missed two races, finished 8th and 11th in the championship respectively. In a season that had shorter fields than in recent years, BHA's late-season replacement drivers Herrington, Battistini, and Miller – with 2 starts each – ranked 21st, 22nd, and 23rd in that order.

Bump Day miracle

The team also qualified for the 2010 Indianapolis 500. Saavedra crashed in Turn 1 with just over an hour left on Bump Day in hopes of improving from the bubble position (33rd). At about 5:30 Saavedra was bumped by Tony Kanaan. Soon after, rookie Mario Romancini withdrew his time and improved – his Conquest Racing team were bumped in 2009 when the track became quicker – prompting Paul Tracy and rookie Jay Howard to follow suit. Conversely, Howard and Tracy failed to improve their efforts and their new speeds were slower than that of Saavedra, whose speed was never withdrawn, and was being checked for possible injury at nearby Methodist Hospital when he learned he had qualified. [6] Born on June 2, 1990, Saavedra became the first IndyCar starter born in the 1990s. [7] Team owner Herta jokingly referred to his low budget Indy 500 effort as "'Two Men in a Truck' Racing". His IndyCar debut ended 100 miles early in an accident in the South chute. Curt Cavin of The Indianapolis Star reported that several other IndyCar races were possible for the team in 2010, but nothing materialised.

2011

BHA's car that won the 2011 Indianapolis 500 with Wheldon Dan Wheldon 2011 Indy 500.jpg
BHA's car that won the 2011 Indianapolis 500 with Wheldon

On March 21, BHA announced their signing of Angolan driver Duarte Ferreira, [8] the first Angolan driver in Indy Lights history, to drive car number 28. The team announced their 2011 IndyCar Series season plans on March 25. 2005 Indianapolis 500 winner and season Champion Dan Wheldon, who was a teammate of Herta at Andretti-Green Racing from 2003 to 2005, won the 2011 Indianapolis 500 for the team. It was announced that the team may run additional IndyCar races in 2011. [9] At the final race of the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Wheldon was killed in an accident involving 15 drivers driving for Sam Schmidt Motorsports, which red flagged and ultimately canceled the race. BHA fielded regular Sam Schmidt Motorsports driver Alex Tagliani for the season finale in the No. 98 car who was not involved in the incident.

The car Wheldon drove in the Indianapolis 500 had been crashed at the Firestone Twin 275s Race 1 by Wade Cunningham, and was not used the rest of the season; that car was returned to the 2011 Indianapolis 500 winning livery and fully restored, with it taking a ceremonial lap at the 2012 Indianapolis 500 along with Wheldon's 2005 winning car, owned by Andretti Autosport.

Duarte Ferreira finished eighth in the final Indy Lights points with a best finish of third at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The team also fielded a second entry for Bruno Andrade in five road and street course races. Andrade had a best finish of fourth at Baltimore and finished 17th in points.

2012–2013

Alex Tagliani continued his association with the team, now sponsored by Barracuda Networks, with the team rebranded as Barracuda Racing. Due to a lack of pace from the Lotus engine, BHA cancelled its contract and switched to Honda, and the team chose to skip travelling to Brazil to prepare for the Indy 500. The engine switch improved the team's performance significantly: Tagliani qualified on the pole for the Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway and advanced to the Firestone Fast Six – the final round of road course qualifying – in Belle Isle, Toronto, Edmonton and Mid-Ohio. Tagliani finished 17th in points with a best finish of fifth at the Edmonton Indy where he led the most laps.

BHA, then using the name Barracuda Racing, returned for the 2013 IndyCar Series season with Tagliani driving and Honda power. Tagliani was relieved of driving duties after thirteen races and replaced by Luca Filippi and J. R. Hildebrand, who had also been let go from Panther Racing earlier in the season. In 2013 the team also fielded an Indy Lights car for Chase Austin in the Freedom 100 and Axcil Jefferies at Mid-Ohio and Houston.

2014

In 2014, the team lost Barracuda Networks as a full season sponsor. Despite testing Filippi, the team chose 2012 Star Mazda champion Jack Hawksworth Hawksworth qualified second at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, where he achieved his first top-ten finish in his IndyCar Series career, finishing seventh. He then went on to earn his first podium during the second race at the Grand Prix of Houston, finishing third. Hawksworth finished the 2014 season seventeenth in the championship points.

2015

In 2015, the team hired reigning Indy Lights champion Gabby Chaves and had full-season sponsorship from Bowers & Wilkins. Chaves had two top-ten finishes throughout the season and finished sixteenth in his first Indianapolis 500 race. Chaves was awarded the Indiana Dairy Farmers "Fastest Rookie" for having the quickest average qualifying speed for the Indianapolis 500. He was also awarded the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year honors, as well as the Sunoco Rookie of the Year for the IndyCar Series championship standings. Chaves also finished second in the TAG Heuer "Don't Crack Under Pressure" award, given to the driver who gained the most cumulative spots from qualifying to finish over the season; Chaves finished ahead of his qualifying position in every race but one, and took the checkered flag at every race except the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway, where he led 31 laps – the only laps he led in the 2015 season – but he was forced to retire 3 laps early with mechanical issues, while he was in the lead.

2016

Having fallen to insolvency, lack of adequate funding or a sufficiently well-heeled pay driver, Herta's entry was merged into the Andretti Autosport organization, with Alexander Rossi driving the team's No. 98 car. [2]

Global RallyCross Championship

On April 16, 2015, the team announced their intention to field a team in the Global RallyCross Championship (GRC) under the name Bryan Herta Rallysport. [10] The following day, GRC veteran rally driver Patrik Sandell and former NASCAR K&N Pro Series West driver Austin Dyne were hired to race for the team, driving the No. 18 Kobalt Tools and No. 14 Castrol Magnatec GTX cars respectively. [11] [12] Collete Davis was also announced to drive a GRC Lites entry for River Racing, falling under the Bryan Herta Rallysport umbrella. In August 2015, CUTTWOOD Vaping Juice made its debut on Dyne's car as the new primary sponsor for the remainder of the 2015 season.

Sandell and Dyne scored five podium finishes between them during the 2015 season; Sandell took four podium finishes in five races, including a victory at Detroit, en route to eighth in the drivers' championship. Dyne took a second-place finish at Daytona, as he finished behind Sandell in the standings, in ninth place.

Racing results

Complete IndyCar results

(key)

IndyCar Series results
YearChassisEngineDriversNo.12345678910111213141516171819PosPos
Bryan Herta Autosport
2010 SAO STP ALA LBH KAN INDY TXS IOW WGL TOR EDM MOH SNM CHI KTY MOT HMS
Dallara IR-05 Honda HI7R V8 Flag of Colombia.svg Sebastián Saavedra (R)292333rd29
2011 STP ALA LBH SAO INDY TXS MIL IOW TOR EDM MOH NHA SNM BAL MOT KTY LSV 1
Dallara IR-05 Honda HI7R V8 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Dan Wheldon 98128th75
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Alex Tagliani C 2 15th296
Team Barracuda – BHA
2012 STP ALA LBH SAO INDY DET TXS MIL IOW TOR EDM MOH SNM BAL FON
Dallara DW12 Lotus DC00 V6 t Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Alex Tagliani 9815262117th272
Honda HI12TT V6 t 12109716105109820
Barracuda Racing
2013 STP ALA LBH SAO INDY DET TXS MIL IOW POC TOR MOH SNM BAL HOU FON
Dallara DW12 Honda HI13TT V6 t Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Alex Tagliani 981011191224232122232417171024th180
Flag of Italy.svg Luca Filippi (R)1622101930th53
Flag of the United States.svg J. R. Hildebrand 161125th112
Bryan Herta Autosport
2014 STP LBH ALA IMS INDY DET TXS HOU POC IOW TOR MOH MIL SNM FON
Dallara DW12 Honda HI14TT V6 t Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jack Hawksworth (R)9821151272019141663DNS151361610151517th366
2015 STP NOL LBH ALA IMS INDY DET TXS TOR FON MIL IOW MOH POC SNM
Dallara DW12 Honda HI15TT V6 t Flag of Colombia.svg Gabby Chaves (R)98171516161516189101520111612111415th281
Andretti Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian
2016 2 STP PHX LBH ALA IGP INDY DET ROA IOW TOR MOH POC TEX WGL SNM
Dallara DW12 Honda HI15TT V6 t Flag of the United States.svg Alexander Rossi (R)98121420151011012156161420118511th430
2017 2 STP LBH ALA PHX IMS INDY DET TEX ROA IOW TOR MOH POC GAT WGL SNM
Dallara DW12 Honda HI15TT V6 t Flag of the United States.svg Alexander Rossi 981119515875722131126361*217th494
2018 2 STP PHX LBH ALA IGP INDY DET TEX ROA IOW TOR MOH POC GAT POR SNM
Dallara DW12 Honda HI15TT V6 t Flag of the United States.svg Marco Andretti 9891261013124914111610117142559th392
Andretti Herta Autosport with Marco Andretti & Curb Agajanian
2019 3 STP COA ALA LBH IMS INDY DET DET TEX ROA TOR IOW MOH POC GAT POR LAG
Dallara DW12 Honda HI19TT V6 t Flag of the United States.svg Marco Andretti 981361413132616610231021151510131416th303
2020 TEX IMS ROA IOW INDY GTW MOH IMS STP
Dallara DW12 Honda HI20TT V6 t Flag of the United States.svg Marco Andretti 98142222192210132315232025222020th176
  1. ^ The final race at Las Vegas was canceled due to Dan Wheldon's death.
  2. ^ In conjunction with Andretti Autosport.
  3. ^ In conjunction with Andretti Autosport and Marco Andretti.

Infiniti Pro Series/Indy Pro Series/Indy Lights

(key)

Indy Lights results
YearChassisEngineDriversNo.123456789101112131415PointsPosition
2009 STP LBH KAN INDY MIL IOW WGL TOR EDM KTY MOH SNM CHI HMS D.C.T.C.D.C.T.C.
Dallara Nissan VRH Flag of the United States.svg Daniel Herrington (R)2875106714969966111123837th
Flag of Brazil.svg Felipe Guimarães (R)2934210723rd
2010 STP ALA LBH INDY IOW WGL TOR EDM MOH SNM CHI KTY HMS D.C.T.C.D.C.T.C.
Dallara Nissan VRH Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Stefan Wilson (R)283617771257461427811th
Flag of the United States.svg Joel Miller (R)94123rd
Flag of Colombia.svg Sebastián Saavedra 29123491*3146515113038th
Flag of the United States.svg Daniel Herrington 124421st
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Dillon Battistini 94422nd
2011 STP ALA LBH INDY MIL IOW TOR EDM TRO NHA BAL KTY LSV D.C.T.C.D.C.T.C.
Dallara Nissan VRH Flag of Angola.svg Duarte Ferreira (R)28871413125108983106113238th
Flag of Brazil.svg Bruno Andrade (R)291161512411217th
2012 STP ALA LBH INDY DET MIL IOW TOR EDM TRO BAL FON D.C.T.C.D.C.T.C.
Dallara Nissan VRH Flag of the United States.svg Troy Castaneda (R)289153719th
Flag of the United States.svg Nick Andries (R)131726th
Flag of Norway.svg Anders Krohn 1993420th
2013 STP ALA LBH INDY MIL IOW POC TOR MOH BAL HOU FON D.C.T.C.D.C.T.C.
Dallara Nissan VRH Flag of the United States.svg Chase Austin 2882417th
Flag of Zimbabwe.svg Axcil Jefferies (R)755611th
2014 STP LBH ALA IMS INDY POC TOR MOH MIL SNM D.C.T.C.D.C.T.C.
Dallara Nissan VRH Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lloyd Read (R)2811111191091015611th6th
Flag of the United States.svg Ryan Phinny (R)111271069112th

Complete Global Rallycross Championship results

(key)

Supercar

YearEntrantCarNo.Driver123456789101112GRCPoints
2015 Bryan Herta Rallysport Ford Fiesta ST 14 Flag of the United States.svg Austin Dyne FTA
6
DAY1
2
DAY2
7
MCAS
4
DET1
6
DET2
6
DC
8
LA1
15
LA2
11
BAR1
9
BAR2
8
LV
7
9th277
18 Flag of Sweden.svg Patrik Sandell FTA
11
DAY1
9
DAY2
10
MCAS
2
DET1
9
DET2
1
DC
2
LA1
3
LA2
4
BAR1
DSQ
BAR2
10
LV
13
8th328
2016 Bryan Herta Rallysport Ford Fiesta ST 18 Flag of Sweden.svg Patrik Sandell PHO1
2
PHO2
4
DAL
1
DAY1
8
DAY2
8
MCAS1
4
MCAS2
C
DC
2
AC
2
SEA
11
LA1
5
LA2
3
5th436
2017 Bryan Herta Rallysport Ford Fiesta ST 2 Flag of the United States.svg Cabot Bigham MEM
6
LOU
7
THO1
8
THO2
DNS
OTT1
7
OTT2
8
INDY
9
AC1
8
AC2
6
SEA1
SEA2
LA
4
10th473
19 Flag of the United States.svg Austin Cindric MEM
LOU
THO1
THO2
OTT1
OTT2
INDY
AC1
AC2
SEA1
8
SEA2
4
LA
11th102

References

  1. Graves, Gary (May 30, 2011). "Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon enjoys moment in spotlight". USA Today. Retrieved May 31, 2011.
  2. 1 2 Cavin, Curt (February 18, 2016). "Andretti Autosport adds fourth car for IndyCar season". The Indianapolis Star . Karen Ferguson, Gannett Company . Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  3. Sulka, Mike (September 5, 2010). "Saavedra Suddenly Leaves Bryan Herta Autosport Indy Lights Team". PaddockTalk.com. Paddock Talk. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  4. "Bryan Herta Autosport signs Joel Miller for Sonoma". Motorsport.com . Motorsport.com, Inc. August 18, 2010. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  5. Stringfield, Ryan (September 27, 2010). "Battistini Signs with Bryan Herta Autosport". Junior Open Wheel Talent. Junior Open Wheel Talent LLC. Archived from the original on 2010-10-05. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  6. "Bump Day at Indy produces twists, turns". IndyCar Series . Brickyard Trademarks, Inc. May 20, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  7. "Drivers - Date of Birth". ChampCarStats.com. ChampCarStats. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  8. BHA Confirm Angolan Driver Ferriera [ permanent dead link ]
  9. Sulka, Mike (March 25, 2011). "Wheldon, Herta Team Up In IndyCar Effort". PaddockTalk.com. Paddock Talk. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  10. "BRYAN HERTA ANNOUNCES NEW TEAM FOR RED BULL GLOBAL RALLYCROSS SERIES". Global RallyCross Championship . April 16, 2015. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  11. "PATRIK SANDELL AND KOBALT TOOLS JOIN BRYAN HERTA RALLYSPORT FOR RED BULL GLOBAL RALLYCROSS". Global RallyCross Championship . April 17, 2015. Archived from the original on May 26, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  12. "AUSTIN DYNE JOINS BRYAN HERTA RALLYSPORT FOR RED BULL GLOBAL RALLYCROSS". Global RallyCross Championship . April 17, 2015. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2015.