Colton Herta | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nationality | American | ||||||
Born | Colton Thomas Herta March 30, 2000 Santa Clarita, California, United States | ||||||
IndyCar Series career | |||||||
99 races run over 7 years | |||||||
Team(s) | No. 26 (Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian) | ||||||
Best finish | 2nd (2024) | ||||||
First race | 2018 Grand Prix of Sonoma (Sonoma) | ||||||
Last race | 2024 Music City Grand Prix (Nashville Superspeedway) | ||||||
First win | 2019 IndyCar Classic (Austin) | ||||||
Last win | 2024 Music City Grand Prix (Nashville Superspeedway) | ||||||
| |||||||
Previous series | |||||||
2017–18 2016 2016 2015 2014 | Indy Lights Euroformula Open Championship BRDC British Formula 3 Championship MSA Formula Championship U.S. F2000 Championship |
Colton Thomas Herta (born March 30, 2000) is an American racing driver who competes in the NTT IndyCar Series for Andretti Global with Curb Agajanian. [1] He is the youngest person to ever win an IndyCar Series race. [2]
He is the son of IndyCar and Champ Car driver Bryan Herta.
Herta made his competitive karting debut in 2010 at the age of 10, racing karts in the SKUSA and IKF series, although he had been karting since the age of 6. He made his single-seater racing debut at 13, finishing second in the SBF2000 Winter Series. In 2014, he made his professional racing debut in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, finishing 15th in the championship despite missing the opening weekend due to age requirements. In the same year, Herta made his international formula racing debut at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia with the Meritus-run AsiaCup Series, taking part in one event where he won 1 race win and 3 podium finishes. Herta also made a one-off appearance in the Global RallyCross Championship Lites, being the youngest driver to compete in the series.
In 2015, he made his debut in the UK-based MSA Formula series, as the youngest driver and the only American on a grid that consisted mostly of Britons, and got his first win in the second race at Snetterton Circuit in August, thus helping the United States win the Nations Cup. He went on to collect three more victories throughout the season, finishing third overall. [3]
For 2016, he was planning to move to the newly renamed BRDC British F3 series but was too young to compete at the opening round. [4] Wanting to complete a full season, he made the switch to the Euroformula Open Championship, staying with Carlin and finished third in points, with four victories, six podium finishes, and five pole positions. Herta went on to compete in six British F3 events, earning three podium finishes including a victory at Brands Hatch.
In 2017 Herta joined forces with the newly formed Steinbrenner Racing to pilot the 98-car in the Indy Lights Series. [5] He started the year strong with a second-place finish in the first race at St. Petersburg street circuit and followed it up with a Sunday victory; Colton's first win in Indy Lights. He got his 2nd victory at the next event at Barber Motorsports Park, the series' 400th race. Herta won Rookie of the Year and finished 3rd in the drivers championship.
In 2018, Herta remained in Indy Lights. He won four races, including all three held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (both races of the GP of Indianapolis and the Freedom 100 on the speedway). Herta finished 2nd in points to his Andretti teammate Patricio O'Ward.
In September 2018, Herta made his IndyCar Series debut at the season finale in Sonoma, driving for Harding Racing. [6]
For the 2019 IndyCar season, Herta signed to drive the No. 88 Harding Steinbrenner Racing car. Herta was the first IndyCar Series driver born in the 2000s to start a race. On March 24, 2019, at the age of 18, Herta became the youngest-ever winner in IndyCar history by winning the IndyCar Classic at Circuit of the Americas. [7] He qualified 5th for the Indianapolis 500, but retired after just four laps after a gearbox failure. On June 22, 2019, at the age of 19, Herta became the youngest-ever pole-sitter at Road America. He won again at Laguna Seca, and finished 7th in the overall standings, just 5 points behind Rookie of the Year Felix Rosenqvist.
Herta again drove the #88 car for Harding Steinbrenner Racing in 2020, with additional backing from Andretti Autosport. Herta finished 7th in the opening round of the 2020 IndyCar season at Texas Motor Speedway. He finished 8th at the Indianapolis 500. On September 13, 2020, Herta won the second of two races held at Mid-Ohio. He scored a runner-up finish at the Indianapolis road course's Saturday race. With seven top 5s in 14 races, he ranked third in points.
Going into 2021, Herta was seen as the strongest challenger in the Andretti stable to Scott Dixon for the IndyCar title. For 2021 Herta would move from the #88 Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Racing car to the #26 Andretti Autosport with Curb Agajanian car with backing from Indianapolis 500 title sponsor Gainbridge. Herta started his season caught up in an accident caused by Josef Newgarden in Alabama but earned his first win of the season at St. Petersburg, his first win on a street circuit. [8] He would secure two podium finishes before his second win of the season; a second-place at Road America and third place at the second round on the IMS Road Course. He was frequently beset by poor strategy, mechanical issues, and driving errors. Most notable of these was at the inaugural round in Nashville; Herta would qualify on pole position for the race, [9] lead most of the race, lost the lead under caution to Marcus Ericsson, and crashed out of the race attempting to take the lead back from Ericsson in the closing laps. [10] Herta was in place to win the race at Gateway but would have to retire the car due to a broken half shaft that happened during a pitstop. Herta would pick up his second win of the season at Laguna Seca, where he led all but one lap of the race to win from pole. [11] He finished the season off with a come from behind victory on The Streets of Long Beach when he started fourteenth and worked his way rapidly through the field to take the lead from Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon to win his third race of the season. He ultimately finished the season fifth in the championship standings. [12]
After intense speculation that he would be making a move to Formula One, Andretti Autosport and Herta announced that he would be racing in IndyCar in 2022, partnering Alexander Rossi, Romain Grosjean, and Devlin DeFrancesco. Herta struggled in the initial rounds of the season, including crashing after losing the lead at Long Beach, but picked up his first win of the season at the GMR Grand Prix. Herta was in place to win the second race at the IMS road course before a mechanical failure would cause him to have to retire the car for the day and his teammate Alexander Rossi would win.
Herta initially signed a multi-year contract to remain with Andretti Autosport, [13] though this would be later to be extended to 2027. [14] Herta's 2023 would end with 3 top-5 finishes, including a podium at Toronto. He also took back-to-back poles at Mid-Ohio and Road America, where he would also lead the most laps. Road America proved to be the closest Herta would come to a win in 2023, dominating the race before dropping to 5th due to a poor strategy call forcing him to save fuel in order to reach the finish. The season concluded with Herta 10th in the standings again after a tough second half including two DNFs at Nashville Street Circuit and the finale at Laguna Seca.
Herta started the season with five top five finishes in the first five races, including podiums at St. Petersburg and Long Beach. He struggled with bad luck and performance issues after the Indianapolis 500, though did manage to pick up another podium finish at Laguna Seca and his first pole position on an oval at Iowa. Herta finally broke through at Toronto, qualifying on pole and winning his first race in two years. At the final race of the season at the Nashville Superspeedway, Herta broke through and took his first win on an oval, securing second place to Alex Palou in the 2024 IndyCar Series championship standings, his highest points total yet. Herta also became the highest scoring Andretti Autosport driver in the modern IndyCar era since Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2012.
Herta participated in the 2019 24 Hours of Daytona in a BMW M8 GTE for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. He, along with co-drivers Connor De Phillippi, Augusto Farfus and Philipp Eng, won the race in the GTLM class.
Herta returned to Daytona participate in the 2022 edition, partnering fellow IndyCar drivers Pato O'Ward and Devlin DeFrancesco along with Eric Lux in an LMP2 entry for DragonSpeed. [15] The quartet won after Herta took the lead in the final 11 minutes of the race. [16]
In late 2022 Herta was confirmed as one of the drivers for the new BMW M Hybrid V8 prototype to be fielded by Rahal Letterman Lannigan racing during the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship.
In the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship, Herta drove the #40 Acura for Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport and earned his first overall win in the series at the 12 Hours of Sebring.
With the attempted purchase of Sauber by Andretti Autosport, Herta was the favorite candidate to join Formula One with Alfa Romeo for the 2022 season partnering Valtteri Bottas. He got to mold the seat and do a test with the simulator at the team's base in Hinwil, Switzerland, where according to multiple reports and Mario Andretti, [17] he set faster times than Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi, then Alfa Romeo's lineup. A preliminary agreement was reached with Ferrari to hold a 300 km test with a Formula One car so that Herta could participate in free practice in the United States, Mexico City and Sao Paulo Grand Prix. However, those tests never happened and the negotiations between Andretti and Sauber broke down at the end of 2021, the purchase never took place and Alfa Romeo signed Zhou Guanyu for 2022. [18]
In March 2022, Herta was signed by McLaren as a development driver in the 2022 season to test the MCL35M from 2021. [19] He took part in his first test drive from 11–13 July around Algarve International Circuit in Portimão, which results have said to have "seriously impressed" industry insiders. [20]
In 2022, Red Bull began to show interest in having Herta as an AlphaTauri driver for 2023. [21] Herta however lacked enough points to obtain a super license, which is necessary to be able to contest in Formula One. Red Bull began efforts to obtain it by asking the FIA to consider making an exception for Herta. [22] Red Bull reached an agreement with Alpine for Herta to be included in the tests with its Formula One cars in September in Hungary, which the French team was organizing to choose its driver in 2023. [23] [24] Alpine would accept, so that Herta could get some extra points in his super license and that the AlphaTauri driver, Pierre Gasly, was free to join the French team. [25] Ultimately the FIA's refused to make an exception for Herta, [26] Red Bull would abandon its efforts to bring the American driver to Formula One and Herta did not participate in the tests with Alpine. [27]
Herta plays the drums and is a member of indie punk rock band The Zibs, which he formed in 2018 with his high school friends Jon Graber and Chris Broadbent. [28]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)
Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | DC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2015 | Carlin | BHI 1 12 | BHI 2 4 | BHI 3 14 | DON 1 15 | DON 2 9 | DON 3 4 | THR 1 5 | THR 2 6 | THR 3 9 | OUL 1 3 | OUL 2 6 | OUL 3 Ret | CRO 1 6 | CRO 2 2 | CRO 3 14 | SNE 1 9 | SNE 2 1 | SNE 3 1 | KNO 1 5 | KNO 2 2 | KNO 3 2 | ROC 1 3 | ROC 2 7 | ROC 3 1 | SIL 1 2 | SIL 2 5 | SIL 3 2 | BHGP 1 2 | BHGP 2 5 | BHGP 3 1 | 3rd | 355 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)
Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | DC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Carlin Motorsport | EST 1 Ret | EST 2 5 | SPA 1 6 | SPA 2 5 | LEC 1 18 | LEC 2 EX | SIL 1 2 | SIL 2 Ret | RBR 1 1 | RBR 2 1 | MNZ 1 16 | MNZ 2 4 | JER 1 1 | JER 2 4 | CAT 1 2 | CAT 2 1 | 3rd | 199 |
Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | JAY Motorsports | STP | STP | BAR 19 | BAR 7 | IMS 5 | IMS 20 | LOR 14 | TOR 5 | TOR 14 | MDO 10 | MDO 16 | MDO 13 | SNM 7 | SNM 9 | 15th | 115 |
Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2017 | Andretti Steinbrenner Racing | STP 2 | STP 1 | ALA 10 | ALA 1 | IMS 12 | IMS 10 | INDY 13 | RDA 12 | ROA 3 | IOW 4 | TOR 4 | TOR 10 | MDO 2 | MDO 6 | GMP 3 | WGL 3 | 3rd | 300 | |
2018 | Andretti Steinbrenner Racing | STP 3 | STP 8 | ALA 2 | ALA 3 | IMS 1 | IMS 1 | INDY 1 | RDA 1 | RDA 2 | IOW 2 | TOR 7 | TOR 6 | MDO 2 | MDO 2 | GTW 2 | POR 2 | POR 4 | 2nd | 447 |
(key)
Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Team |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | Dallara | Honda | 5 | 33 | Harding Steinbrenner Racing |
2020 | Dallara | Honda | 10 | 8 | Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport |
2021 | Dallara | Honda | 2 | 16 | Andretti Autosport |
2022 | Dallara | Honda | 25 | 30 | Andretti Autosport |
2023 | Dallara | Honda | 21 | 9 | Andretti Autosport |
2024 | Dallara | Honda | 13 | 23 | Andretti Autosport |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Entrant | Class | Make | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | BMW Team RLL | GTLM | BMW M8 GTE | BMW S63 4.0 L Twin-turbo V8 | DAY 1 | SEB 7 | LBH | MDO | WGL | MOS | LIM | ELK | VIR | LGA | PET 3 | 14th | 89 | |
2020 | BMW Team RLL | GTLM | BMW M8 GTE | BMW S63 4.0 L Turbo V8 | DAY 5 | DAY | SEB | ELK | VIR | ATL | MDO | CLT | PET 6 | LGA | SEB 4 | 9th | 79 | |
2021 | Turner Motorsport | GTD | BMW M6 GT3 | BMW 4.4 L Turbo V8 | DAY 6 | SEB | MDO | DET | WGL | WGL | LIM | ELK | LGA | LBH | VIR | PET | 50th | 285 |
2022 | DragonSpeed USA | LMP2 | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 V8 | DAY 1† | SEB | LGA | MDO | WGL | ELK | PET | NC† | 0† | |||||
2023 | BMW M Team RLL | GTP | BMW M Hybrid V8 | BMW P66/3 4.0 L Turbo V8 | DAY 6 | SEB | LBH | LGA | WGL | MOS | ELK | IMS | PET | 24th | 274 | |||
2024 | Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport | GTP | Acura ARX-06 | Acura AR24e 2.4 L Turbo V6 | DAY 3 | SEB 1 | LBH | LGA | DET | WGL | ELK | IMS | PET 7 | 18th | 970 | |||
Source: [36] |
† Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship.
Bryan John Herta is an American race strategist and former race car driver. He currently runs his own team, Bryan Herta Autosport in the NTT IndyCar Series and is the strategist for the #27 Andretti Autosport in the same series. His team won the 2011 Indianapolis 500 with driver Dan Wheldon and the 2016 Indianapolis 500 with driver Alexander Rossi. He is the father and former strategist of IndyCar driver Colton Herta.
Marco Michael Andretti is an American auto racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 04 Chevrolet Silverado for Roper Racing and part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 17 Chevrolet SS for Cook Racing Technologies.
James Douglas Meredith Hinchcliffe is a Canadian race car driver and commentator best known for competing in the IndyCar Series.
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Alexander Michael Rossi is an American racing driver, who is set to compete in the IndyCar Series for Ed Carpenter. Rossi competed in Formula One at five Grands Prix in 2015. In American open-wheel racing, Rossi won the Indianapolis 500 as a rookie in 2016 with Herta; in endurance racing, he won the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2021 with WTR.
Conor James Daly is an American professional racing driver. He is best known for competing in the IndyCar Series, where he drives the No. 77 Chevrolet for Juncos Hollinger Racing. He also competes occasionally in NASCAR and has also raced in the GP2 Series, ARCA Menards Series, and Road to Indy.
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Devlin DeFrancesco is a Canadian-Italian auto racing driver who competes in the IndyCar Series for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. In January 2022, DeFrancesco won the 60th running of the Daytona 24, alongside his teammates Eric Lux, Patricio O'Ward and Colton Herta, in the LMP2 class.
Ryan Norman is an American racing driver. Norman is a former motocross rider and is currently competing in the Michelin Pilot Challenge, driving for Bryan Herta Autosport and won the 2020 IMSA TCR Championship for the team. He formerly drove for Andretti Autosport in Indy Lights with multiple wins and podiums, and ran a race in the IndyCar Series in 2021 with Dale Coyne Racing.
Oliver Clark Askew is an American racing driver. He is the 2019 Indy Lights champion.
Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport was an auto racing team that competed in the IndyCar Series. Founded as Harding Racing in 2017 by businessman Mike Harding, the team would form partnerships in 2019 with Steinbrenner Racing and in 2020 with Andretti Autosport, the latter resulting in team equipment and personnel moving into Andretti's race shop. Harding's involvement would end after the 2020 season.
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Kyle MacLean Kirkwood is an American auto racing driver. He currently drives the No. 27 for Andretti Autosport in the IndyCar Series.
The 2020 NTT IndyCar Series was the 25th season of the IndyCar Series and the 109th official championship season of American open wheel racing. The premier event was the 2020 Indianapolis 500. Josef Newgarden entered the season as the defending National Champion. Honda entered as defending Manufacturers' Cup champion for the second consecutive season. It was the first year under Penske management after they took over in late 2019.
The 2021 NTT IndyCar Series was the 26th season of the IndyCar Series and the 110th official championship season of American open wheel racing. The premier event was the 2021 Indianapolis 500, won by Hélio Castroneves. It was the second year under Penske management after they took over in late 2019. Scott Dixon entered his 21st season competing for a National Championship as the defending champion, but ultimately finished the campaign in fourth place.
The 2022 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was an IndyCar motor race held on February 27, 2022 at the Streets of St. Petersburg in St. Petersburg, Florida. It was the season opener of the 2022 IndyCar Series. The race lasted for 100 laps.
The 2021 REV Group Grand Prix at Road America was the ninth race of the 2021 IndyCar Series season. The race was held on Sunday, June 20, 2021, in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin at Road America, a 4.048 miles (6.515 km) permanent road course. The race went to the scheduled 55 laps to completion. At race's end, Álex Palou, driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, would take advantage of a disaster-stricken Josef Newgarden to win his second career IndyCar Series win and his second of the season. To fill out the podium, Colton Herta, driving for Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian, and Will Power, driving for Team Penske, would finish second and third, respectively.
Steinbrenner Racing is an American automotive racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series. The team is owned by George Michael Steinbrenner IV and Julia Steinbrenner. George and Julia are the children of the late co-owner and co-chairman of the New York Yankees, Hank Steinbrenner and grandchildren of George Steinbrenner III. The team currently fields the No. 29 Dallara Honda for Devlin DeFrancesco in conjunction with Andretti Autosport. George Steinbrenner is the youngest winning owner in INDYCAR history, which he achieved in 2019 when Colton Herta won the team's second race in the series at the Circuit of the Americas.