IndyCar: Will Harding Steinbrenner Racing finish out the 2019 season?

By Asher Fair | Jun 6, 2019

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MAY 24: Colton Herta of the United States, driver of the #88 Harding Steinbrenner Racing Honda drives during Carb Day for the 103rd Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 24, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

There is growing concern about Harding Steinbrenner Racing’s lack of funding. Will the team finish out the 2019 IndyCar season?

Harding Steinbrenner Racing were originally set to field two cars on a full-time basis in the 2019 IndyCar season, a plan that they announced after announcing last September that Harding Racing would partner with Steinbrenner Racing to form Harding Steinbrenner Racing.

2018 Indy Lights champion Patricio O’Ward was set to drive the #8 Chevrolet (later the #8 Honda after the team announced an engine manufacturer switch) while 2018 Indy Lights runner-up Colton Herta was set to drive the #88 Honda. Both drivers made their IndyCar debuts in the 2018 season finale at Sonoma Raceway.

But not even one month before the 2019 season began, O’Ward and Harding Steinbrenner Racing had to part ways, as the funding simply was not there for the team to field a car for him on a full-time basis.

Now there is a concern as to whether there will be enough funding to continue to field the #88 Honda for Herta on a full-time basis.

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Herta had a hot start to his rookie season, as after finishing in eight place in the season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, he earned his first career victory in the season’s second race at Circuit of the Americas to become the youngest race winner in IndyCar history at the age of 18.

But in the six races that have been contested since then, the now 19-year-old Valencia, California native has not finished higher than 12th place, and he has finished in 23rd in worse in four of these races. He even endured a four-race stretch that was the worst four-race stretch for any driver since the 2011 season.

Harding Steinbrenner Racing have been able to bring on sponsors throughout the season, but their situation is still suboptimal to say the very least, and they are going to need more. According to RACER, crew members are even taking money from their own pockets to fund certain aspects of the #88 Honda, something that simply is not a long-term solution for the team.

Given the team’s situation, it is remarkable that Herta has been able to get as much speed out of the #88 Honda that he has so far this season. While his average finishing position is 17.0 and he sits in 15th place in the championship standings, his average starting position is 6.5, and he has not started a race outside of the top 11. He is currently on a four-race streak of top five starts.

Herta’s talent and the ties of Harding Steinbrenner Racing co-owner George Michael Steinbrenner IV to the New York Yankees should prove to be great selling points to potential sponsors to keep the team running through at least the end of the 2019 season. But there is no time to waste as far as securing sponsorship agreements is concerned for this to be a possibility.

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Will Harding Steinbrenner Racing be able to finish out the 17-race 2019 IndyCar season even with their recent funding issues? They are set to field the #88 Honda for Colton Herta in the season’s ninth race, the DXC Technology 600, this Saturday night under the lights at Texas Motor Speedway, after which time eight races will remain on the 2019 schedule.