Herta’s rare glimpse of perfection
Every now and then in IndyCar, a driver, car and team’s strategy and pitstops are so close to perfection that the combination is unbeatable, and leaves the majority of opponents with no answers. Last year that happened with Scott Dixon at Texas Motor Speedway and Will Power in Mid-Ohio race one. In 2019 there was similar dominance from Alexander Rossi at Long Beach and from rookie Colton Herta at Laguna Seca.
And now Herta’s done it again. Last weekend, the #26 Andretti Autosport Dallara-Honda took pole by a quarter of a second, and then led 97 of the 100 laps of the 1.8-mile street/runway course at St Petersburg to score his fourth career victory. He’s 21, he’s matched the victory tally of his father Bryan who this year has become his strategist, and he’s a title contender.
Herta Jr was wiped out in Josef Newgarden’s lap-one carnage at Barber Motorsports Park the previous week, but last Sunday Herta held off that same Team Penske driver, who afterwards described him as Andretti Autosport’s “top gun” and one of Penske’s biggest threats.
This wasn’t news to
