IndyCar: Where will Colton Herta end up driving in 2020?

Colton Herta does not expect to return to Harding Steinbrenner Racing for the 2020 IndyCar season. Where will he end up driving next year?

Harding Steinbrenner Racing rookie Colton Herta took the IndyCar world by storm when he secured the first victory of his career in just his third start earlier this season at Circuit of the America, becoming the youngest winner in IndyCar history at the age of 18 in doing so.

His victory in this race was Harding Steinbrenner Racing’s first victory in just their second start since becoming Harding Steinbrenner Racing before the 2019 season began.

However, the 19-year-old Valencia, California native has been rumored to leave the first-year team after the 2019 season concludes.

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Despite the fact that he sits in 14th place in the championship standings and ranks third among the four full-time rookies, Herta has shown tremendous pace throughout the season. In addition to his victory, he took the pole position for the race at Road America, and his average starting position is 7.46, the fifth best among active drivers.

Should he leave Harding Steinbrenner Racing like he is expected to, there would be plenty of teams out there that would be more than willing to sign him.

One of those teams are Arrow McLaren Racing SP. Even before they announced their full-time entry to IndyCar next season via a partnership with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports as a Chevrolet-powered team, McLaren were targeting Herta for their potential team, and Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team co-owner Sam Schmidt confirmed his interest in the youngster as well.

Arrow McLaren Racing SP have not yet confirmed their driver lineup for next season, although James Hinchcliffe, one of Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ current two drivers, has been tipped to return to the team. Whether or not this happens or if he retains his ties to Honda remains to be seen.

However, the most likely option for Herta is Andretti Autosport, effectively as their fifth full-time driver since all four of their drivers from this year have been confirmed for next year.

Herta is essentially already Andretti Autosport’s fifth full-time driver because of the technical alliance that the team formed with Harding Steinbrenner Racing ahead of the 2019 season, and Herta’s contract itself binds him to Andretti Technologies.

He is under contract through at least next season as it stands right now, so assuming they would be able to field a fifth entry for him, he should end up there, and realistically speaking, he would have no reason to look elsewhere.

After 2018 Indy Lights champion Patricio O’Ward, who drove for Andretti Autosport en route to winning last year’s Indy Lights championship, was cut by Harding Steinbrenner Racing ahead of the 2019 season due to a lack of funding, Andretti Autosport offered him a ride as their fifth driver for eight of the season’s 17 races.

O’Ward ultimately turned down this offer, but the fact is, Andretti Autosport were prepared to carry through with it.

With Honda set to power two fewer entries in the series next season as it stands right now following the Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports-McLaren partnership with Chevrolet, securing a fifth engine lease for a full season shouldn’t be an issue for the sport’s top Honda team even if Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing end up confirming a third Honda-powered entry for next year like they have rumored to.

It is also worth noting that Harding Steinbrenner Racing co-owner George Michael Steinbrenner IV has ties to Andretti Autosport beyond his team’s current technical alliance with them. He was a partner in Herta’s Indy Lights entry with the team in Herta’s two seasons in the series in 2017 and 2018.

Should Herta leave Harding Steinbrenner Racing at the end of the 2019 season like he is expected to, it is unclear what would happen to the team, but Steinbrenner sticking with Herta seems almost certain, especially if Herta’s destination ends up being Andretti Autosport. It really works both ways, as the possibility of Herta and Steinbrenner sticking together in itself makes Herta landing at Andretti Autosport even more likely as well.

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Where will Colton Herta end up driving in the 2020 IndyCar season? Will he end up at the likely destination of Andretti Autosport, or will he leave the organization to sign with a rival team, possibly Arrow McLaren Racing SP?