IndyCar: Colton Herta to drive for Harding Steinbrenner Racing in 2019

Colton Herta is set to compete full-time in IndyCar for the first time in the 2019 season driving for Harding Steinbrenner Racing.

It was announced yesterday that Harding Racing and Steinbrenner Racing will be teaming up to field two entries in the 2019 IndyCar season. These two entries are the #8 Chevrolet and the #88 Chevrolet. The #88 Chevrolet is set to be driven by 2018 Indy Lights runner-up Colton Herta.

Herta made his IndyCar debut in this past weekend’s season finale. In this race, the IndyCar Grand Prix of Sonoma, at Sonoma Raceway, the 18-year-old Valencia, California native put together a solid performance.

Herta qualified in 19th place for the 85-lap race around the 12-turn, 2.385-mile (3.838-kilometer) Sonoma Raceway road course in Sonoma Raceway, and he ending up finishing in 20th as the final driver on the lead lap.

Here is what Herta had to say about the opportunity to drive full-time for Harding Steinbrenner Racing in the 2019 IndyCar season, according to RACER.

"“It’s been amazing to get to know George, Hank and his family has been very supportive of my ambitions. I’m super happy to make the jump with Steinbrenner name, and Mike Harding as well. It’s cool to call yourself an IndyCar driver, but I don’t think it will probably sink in until the first practice next year at St. Pete.”"

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Meanwhile, 2018 Indy Lights champion Patricio O’Ward is set to drive the #8 Harding Racing Chevrolet next season.

Herta secured four victories and 13 podium finishes in the 17 races throughout the 2018 Indy Lights season, his second season as a full-time Indy Lights driver, en route to finishing in second place in the championship standings. He drove for Andretti Steinbrenner Racing, the team formed by a partnership between Andretti Autosport and Steinbrenner Racing, this season after driving for them last season as well. He secured two victories and seven podium finishes in 16 races last season en route to finishing in third in the standings.

Herta competed full-time in the U.S. F2000 National Championship in the 2014 season. He drove for JAY Motorsports and finished in 15th place in the championship standings after securing two top five finishes in the 12 of the season’s 14 races in which he competed.

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How will Colton Herta perform in his first season as a full-time IndyCar driver next year? The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida is scheduled to get the 2019 season underway on Sunday, March 10, 2019.

Herta finished in third and eighth place, respectively, in the two Indy Lights races on the streets of St. Petersburg this past season, and he finished in second and first, respectively, in the two Indy Lights races on the streets of St. Petersburg in the 2017 season.