IndyCar: Colton Herta’s maiden victory was no fluke

By Asher Fair | Mar 26, 2019

SONOMA, CA - SEPTEMBER 15: Colton Herta, driver of the #88 Harding Racing Chevrolet (Photo by Jonathan Moore/Getty Images) /

Colton Herta earned the first victory of his IndyCar career in just his second race as a full-time driver. But his victory was no fluke.

Entering Sunday’s IndyCar Classic at Circuit of the Americas, which was the first ever IndyCar race at the 20-turn, 3.41-mile (5.488-kilometer) road course in Austin, Texas, Harding Steinbrenner Racing rookie Colton Herta had only competed in two IndyCar races, including only one as a full-time driver.

After finishing in second place in the 2018 Indy Lights championship standings, Herta made his IndyCar debut in the 2018 season finale driving for Harding Racing. After qualifying for this race in 19th place, he drove his #88 Chevrolet to an underwhelming 20th place finish.

Just days later, Harding Racing formed a partnership with Steinbrenner Racing, the team that had formed a partnership with Andretti Autosport in Indy Lights to field an entry for Herta in the 2017 and 2018 seasons, to become Harding Steinbrenner Racing.

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Herta was then confirmed as the full-time driver of the #88 Chevrolet, which later became the #88 Honda when the team announced that they would switch their engine manufacturer from Chevrolet to Honda, for the 2019 season.

In just his second start of the 2019 season, Herta found himself in victory lane as the youngest winner in IndyCar history.

Herta, who hails from Valencia, California, won the IndyCar Classic at the age of 18 years and 359 days old. Graham Rahal had held this record since he won the 2008 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on the streets of St. Petersburg at the age of 19 years and 93 days old.

But while Herta took the lead of this race, which he did not relinquish afterward, due to a timely caution flag period, his victory was anything but a fluke.

When IndyCar tested at Circuit of the Americas last month before the season began, Herta topped the speed chart in the first three of the four test sessions. He finished in second place behind 2018 IndyCar championship runner-up Alexander Rossi of Andretti Autosport, which formed a technical alliance with Harding Steinbrenner Racing ahead of the 2019 season, in the fourth and final session.

In addition, Herta qualified in fourth place for the IndyCar Classic, and he ran in the top three for much of the race, even prior to the timely caution flag period that allowed him to lead the field to the green flag upon the conclusion of the race’s lone caution flag period.

For the season opener, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Herta was slated to advance to the Firestone Fast Six in qualifying, but he was issued a penalty that resulted in him starting the race in 11th place as opposed to somewhere in the top six. He went on to move up a few positions through the field in the race itself en route to finishing in eighth.

With two races down and 15 remaining on the 2019 schedule, Herta sits in second place in the championship standings with 75 points. He trails only 2017 IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden, who drives for Team Penske and has scored 93 points so far this year by winning the season opener and by finishing behind Herta in second in the season’s second race.

Herta has what it takes to compete at the front on a consistent basis throughout his rookie season and possibly for many years to come. His maiden IndyCar victory was no fluke, and all of the evidence backs that claim.

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How many more victories will Colton Herta earn in his rookie IndyCar season and throughout the course of his career in the sport? With one victory in just two starts as a full-time driver, the future certainly looks bright for the teenager.