Beyond the Flag
Fansided

IndyCar: Colton Herta rumored to leave Harding Steinbrenner Racing after 2019

By Asher Fair

FORT WORTH, TEXAS - JUNE 06: Colton Herta of the United States, driver of the #88 GESS Capstone Honda, drives during practice for the NTT IndyCar Series DXC - Technology 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 06, 2019 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)
FORT WORTH, TEXAS - JUNE 06: Colton Herta of the United States, driver of the #88 GESS Capstone Honda, drives during practice for the NTT IndyCar Series DXC - Technology 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 06, 2019 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Rookie Colton Herta has been rumored to leave Harding Steinbrenner Racing once the 2019 IndyCar season concludes and seek a ride elsewhere.

Colton Herta quickly burst onto the IndyCar scene by winning in just his third career start and his second start of his rookie season at Circuit of the Americas, and he did so in just the second race for the newly formed Harding Steinbrenner Racing team.

But after the 17-race 2019 season concludes, the 19-year-old Valencia, California native has been rumored to leave the team and seek a ride elsewhere, as many expected.

Here is what Herta had to say about the matter, according to Autosport.

"“There’s a lot of talks about what I’m going to do next year, none of which I really want to say yet. I think it would be great to stay with the same team next year but it doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen, I can tell you that.”"

Should this be the route that Herta takes, it is unclear what would happen to Harding Steinbrenner Racing, which were previously rumored to fold even before the 2019 season ended due to a lack of funding before they secured sponsorship for the remainder of the season.

More from IndyCar

While Herta’s future would also be uncertain in a way, it is certain that many other teams would be interested in pursuing him. His contract already binds him to Andretti Technologies, and Harding Steinbrenner Racing formed a technical alliance with Andretti Autosport ahead of the 2019 season.

Harding Steinbrenner Racing team co-owner George Michael Steinbrenner IV was also the co-owner of his entry in Indy Lights when he drove for Andretti Autosport in the 2017 and 2018 seasons, so he could very well go with Herta wherever he ends up going next year, especially if he ends up moving to Andretti Autosport as their fifth full-time driver.

Meanwhile, McLaren made clear that they were interested in Herta even before announcing their partnership with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports to enter the series full-time next year as the Chevrolet-powered Arrow McLaren Racing SP.

Herta has had an impressive rookie season thus far, although his results haven’t always matched his speed. His average starting position of 7.46 is the fifth best among all 19 full-time drivers, but his average finishing position of 15.00 is the fifth worst.

Additionally, the difference between these two numbers of -7.54 is the worst among all 19 full-time drivers, and the second worst is only -3.31 (Team Penske’s Will Power, average starting position of 6.38 and an average finishing position of 9.69). With five top eight finishes in the season’s first 13 races, Herta sits in 14th place in the championship standings.

Top 10 IndyCar drivers of all-time. dark. Next

If Colton Herta leaves Harding Steinbrenner Racing at the end of the 2019 IndyCar season, for which team will he end up driving next year? Will George Michael Steinbrenner IV be a partner in his new entry if he leaves the team?