Colton Herta
Colton Herta | |||||||
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![]() Herta at the 2021 Grand Prix of Long Beach | |||||||
Nationality | ![]() | ||||||
Born | Santa Clarita, California, United States | March 30, 2000||||||
IndyCar Series career | |||||||
48 races run over 4 years | |||||||
Team(s) | No. 26 (Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian) | ||||||
Best finish | 2020 (3rd) | ||||||
First race | 2018 GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma (Sonoma) | ||||||
Last race | 2021 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach (Long Beach) | ||||||
First win | 2019 IndyCar Classic (Austin) | ||||||
Last win | 2021 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach (Long Beach) | ||||||
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Previous series | |||||||
2017-2018 | Indy Lights |
Colton Herta (born March 30, 2000) is an American open-wheel racing driver currently competing in the NTT IndyCar Series for Andretti Autosport 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.
Early years[]
Karting[]
Herta made his 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 debut at 13, finishing second in the SBF2000 Winter Series. In 2014, he made his formula car 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 in Sepang, Malaysia with the 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.
Racing in Europe[]
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.
Indy Lights[]
In 2017 Herta joined forces with the newly formed Andretti-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.
IndyCar[]
Also in 2018, Herta debuted in IndyCar at the season finale in 1Sonoma with Harding Racing.[6]
Harding Steinbrenner Racing[]
2019: Rookie Season[]
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. The driver won again at Laguna Seca, and finished 7th in the overall standings, just 5 points behind Rookie of the Year Felix Rosenqvist.
Andretti Autosport[]
2020: Sophomore Season[]
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.
2021: Three More Wins[]
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] The rest of the season proved to be a struggle for Herta. He would only 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 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 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]
2022[]
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.
Sports Car Racing[]
Herta participated in the 2019 24 Hours of Daytona in a BMW M8 GTE for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Colton, along with co-drivers Connor De Phillippi, Augusto Farfus and Philipp Eng, won the race in the GTLM class.
Racing record[]
Career summary[]
Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2012-13 | SBF2000 Winter Series | N/A | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 287 | 6th |
2013 | Pacific Formula F1600 | PR1/BHA with Curb-Agajanian | 15 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 413 | 1st |
2014 | GRC Lites | AD Racing | 1 | N/A | 0 | N/A | N/A | 16 | 15th |
U.S. F2000 National Championship | JAY Motorsports | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 115 | 15th | |
2015 | MSA Formula Championship | Carlin | 30 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 355 | 3rd |
2016 | BRDC British Formula 3 Championship | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 109 | 19th | |
Euroformula Open Championship | 16 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 199 | 3rd | ||
Spanish Formula 3 Championship | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 94 | 2nd | ||
Masters of Formula 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 13th | ||
2017 | Indy Lights | Andretti Steinbrenner Racing | 16 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 300 | 3rd |
2018 | Indy Lights | 17 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 447 | 2nd | |
IndyCar Series | Harding Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 37th | |
2019 | IndyCar Series | Harding Steinbrenner Racing | 17 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 420 | 7th |
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - GTLM | BMW Team RLL | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 89 | 14th | |
2020 | IndyCar Series | Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 421 | 3rd |
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - GTLM | BMW Team RLL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 79 | 9th | |
2021 | IndyCar Series | Andretti Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian | 16 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 311 | 5th |
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - GTD | Turner Motorsport | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 285 | 50th |
Complete Euroformula Open Championship results[]
(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 |
American open-wheel racing results[]
U.S. F2000 National Championship[]
Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | 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 |
Indy Lights[]
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 |
IndyCar Series[]
(key)
Year | Team | Chassis | No. | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | Harding Racing | Dallara DW12 | 88 | Chevrolet | STP | PHX | LBH | ALA | IMS | INDY | DET | DET | TXS | RDA | IOW | TOR | MDO | POC | GTW | POR | SNM 20 |
37th | 20 |
2019 | Harding Steinbrenner Racing | Honda | STP 8 |
COA 1 |
ALA 24 |
LBH 23 |
IMS 23 |
INDY 33 |
DET 12 |
DET 12 |
TXS 18 |
RDA 8 |
TOR 7 |
IOW 18 |
MDO 8 |
POC 16 |
GTW 9 |
POR 4 |
LAG 1 |
7th | 420 | ||
2020 | Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport | TXS 7 |
IMS 4 |
ROA 5 |
ROA 5 |
IOW 19 |
IOW 19 |
INDY 8 |
GTW 4 |
GTW 6 |
MDO 9 |
MDO 1 |
IMS 4 |
IMS 2 |
STP 11 |
3rd | 421 | ||||||
2021 | Andretti Autosport | 26 | ALA 22 |
STP 1 |
TXS 22 |
TXS 5 |
5th | 455 | |||||||||||||||
Andretti Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian | IMS 13 |
INDY 16 |
DET 14 |
DET 4 |
ROA 2 |
MDO 13 |
NSH 19 |
IMS 3 |
GTW 18 |
POR 8 |
LAG 1* |
LBH 1* |
|||||||||||
2022 | Andretti Autosport | STP TBD |
TXS |
LBH |
ALA |
IMS |
INDY |
DET |
ROA |
MDO |
TOR |
IOW |
IOW |
IMS |
NSH |
GTW |
POR |
LAG |
- | 0 |
Indianapolis 500[]
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 |
Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results[]
(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 |
LGA | LBH | VIR | PET | 50th | 285 |
References[]
- ^ "Herta switching to Andretti's Gainbridge-backed No. 26". RACER. 2020-12-08. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
- ^ Eubanks, Michael (2019-03-24). "Colton Herta wins inaugural IndyCar Classic at COTA, becomes youngest winner in series history". MotorSportsTalk | NBC Sports. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
- ^ Jackson, Connor. "Herta Crosses the Line on MSA Formula's Inaugural Season". thecheckeredflag.co.uk. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
- ^ Henbsy, Paul. "Carlin Announce Herta and Vaidyanathan for EuroFormula Open". thecheckeredflag.co.uk. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
- ^ Autoweek.com
- ^ https://www.indycar.com/News/2018/09/09-19-Harding-Steinbrenner-Racing-announcement
- ^ Malsher, David (March 24, 2019). "COTA IndyCar: Herta becomes series' youngest ever winner". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
- ^ "Colton Herta beats Newgarden to win IndyCar St. Petersburg - NBC Sports". MotorSportsTalk | NBC Sports. 2021-04-25. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
- ^ Ryan, Nate. "Colton Herta takes pole in starting lineup for inaugural Music City Grand Prix in Nashville". NBC Sports. NBC Universal. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
- ^ Ryan, Nate. "IndyCar results and points standings after inaugural Music City Grand Prix at Nashville". NBC Sports. NBC Universal. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
- ^ "Herta scores dominant victory at Laguna Seca". RACER. 2021-09-19. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
- ^ Ryan, Nate. "IndyCar results and points standings after Long Beach". NBC Sports. NBC Universal. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
External links[]
- Colton Herta driver statistics at Racing-Reference
- 2000 births
- Living people
- Sportspeople from Santa Clarita, California
- People from Valencia, Santa Clarita, California
- Racing drivers from California
- International Kart Federation drivers
- U.S. F2000 National Championship drivers
- Euroformula Open Championship drivers
- Formula 4 drivers
- British F4 Championship drivers
- BRDC British Formula 3 Championship drivers
- Indy Lights drivers
- IndyCar Series drivers
- 24 Hours of Daytona drivers
- Indianapolis 500 drivers
- Carlin racing drivers
- Harding Steinbrenner Racing drivers
- Andretti Autosport drivers