Colton Herta


Colton Herta is an American open-wheel racing driver, and the son of IndyCar and Champ Car driver Bryan Herta. He is the youngest person to ever win an IndyCar Series race.

Career

Herta made his karting debut in 2010 at the age of 10, racing karts in the SKUSA and IKF series. Although he had been karting since the age of 6. He made his single-debut at 13, finishing second in the SBF2000 Winter Series. In 2014, he made his formula car debut in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, finishing 15th in the championship despite missing the opening weekend due to age requirements. In the same year, Herta made his International Formula racing debut in Sepang, Malaysia with the AsiaCup Series, taking part in one event where he won 1 race win and 3 podium finishes. Herta also made a one-off appearance in the Global RallyCross Championship Lites, being the youngest driver to compete in the series.
In 2015, he made his debut in the UK-based MSA Formula series, as the youngest driver and the only American on a grid that consisted mostly of Britons, and got his first win in the second race at Snetterton Circuit in August, thus helping the United States win the Nations Cup. He went on to collect three more victories over the course of the season, finishing third overall.
For 2016, he was planning to move to the newly renamed BRDC British F3 series, but was too young to compete at the opening round. Wanting to complete a full season he made the switch to the Euroformula Open Championship, staying with Carlin and finished third in points, with four victories, six podium finishes and five pole positions. Herta went on to compete in six British F3 events, earning three podium finishes including a victory at Brands Hatch.
In 2017 Herta joined forces with the newly formed Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing to pilot the 98-car in the Indy Lights Series. He started the year strong with a second-place finish in the first race at St. Petersburg street circuit and followed it up with a Sunday victory; Colton's first win in Indy Lights. He got his 2nd victory at the next event at Barber Motorsports Park, the series' 400th race. Herta won Rookie of the Year and finished 3rd in the drivers championship. In 2018, Herta remained in Indy Lights. He won four races, including all three held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Herta finished 2nd in points to his Andretti teammate Patricio O'Ward.
Herta participated in the 2019 24 Hours of Daytona in a BMW M8 GTE for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Colton, along with co-drivers Connor De Phillippi, Augusto Farfus and Philipp Eng, won the race in the GTLM class. For the 2019 IndyCar season, Herta is signed to drive the #88 Harding Steinbrenner Racing car in the IndyCar Series Herta was the first IndyCar Series driver born in the 2000s to start a race. On March 24, 2019, at the age of 18, Herta became the youngest-ever winner in IndyCar history by winning the IndyCar Classic at Circuit of the Americas. On June 22, 2019 at the age of 19, Herta became the youngest-ever pole-sitter by winning the P1 award at the REV Group Grand Prix at Road America.
Herta finished 7th in the opening round of the 2020 IndyCar season at Texas Motor Speedway.

Racing record

Career summary

* Season still in progress.

American open-wheel racing results

U.S. F2000 National Championship

YearTeam1234567891011121314RankPoints
2014JAY MotorsportsSTPSTPBAR
19		BAR
7		IMS
5		IMS
20		LOR
14		TOR
5		TOR
14		MDO
10		MDO
16		MDO
13		SNM
7		SNM
9		15th115

Indy Lights

IndyCar Series

* Season still in progress.

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

YearEntrantClassMakeEngine1234567891011RankPoints
2019BMW Team RLLGTLMBMW M8 GTEBMW S63 4.0 L Twin-turbo V8DAY
1		SEB
7		LBHMDOWGLMOSLIMELKVIRLGAPET
3		14th89
2020BMW Team RLLGTLMBMW M8 GTEBMW S63 4.0 L Turbo V8DAY
5		DAYSEBELKVIRWGLLIMMDOPETLGASEB11th*26*

* Season still in progress.