Colton Herta is determined to end his winless streak. (Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
Last year’s GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course was one for the ages. Most notably, Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta had an unforgettable performance.
Herta survived the torrential rain, escaping with his No. 26 Gainbridge Honda in one piece after some near scary moments where his day could have ended.
In this case, Herta wowed the INDYCAR world by fighting through to win his seventh career race, which proved the be his only win of 2022.
Fast forward to 2023 where Herta reflected on his victory leading up to Saturday’s GMR Grand Prix where, once again, rain will likely throw a huge curveball to him and the 26 other competitors.
“It’s hard to remember everything because so much was going on in that one. If I nitpick, I would prefer a little bit of an easier time and hopefully a win that’s a little bit more straightforward,” said Herta during Tuesday’s virtual press conference.
“It was an interesting race, a lot going on. Split strategies almost the whole time. Guys not sure if they could be on wets or slicks. Luckily we made those calls better than everybody else, we were able to take the win there.”
Weather being an intricate role in any INDYCAR race adds an extreme challenge in how race strategy can be made. Herta explained it is the most difficult part, no matter how much preps are done leading up to the race.
“There’s really nothing that you can do to prepare for these situations from the team’s aspect,” said Herta. “Obviously I can watch video on races in the rain or I can watch the onboard from last year and kind of get an idea of where you want to be out on the track when it’s raining.
“As far as the strategy, you really have to go on the fly. The weather systems are great, but they’re not always completely 100% reliable, so you can’t fully go off of that. You need a little bit of intuition when it comes to it.”
Knowing it has been a year since his last INDYCAR victory, nothing will be more enriching for the 23-year-old than to go back to the top step of the podium before the 107th Indianapolis 500.
“We’ve been in the hunt. Obviously we know how to win races,” said Herta. “This weekend’s the best place to start it. Hopefully we can get a win here. But it is annoying to have basically a year without a win.”
Herta’s lone INDYCAR win of 2022 was in the GMR Grand Prix. (Joe Skibinski | Penske Entertainment)
Another change since his last win was made this year when Colton’s father and long-time race strategist Bryan Herta changed roles in the organization. After the season opener at St. Petersburg, Bryan became Kyle Kirkwood’s strategist where the pair won at Long Beach last month.
Due to the change, Scott Harner became the new voice for the younger Herta. While some drivers have various results when changes are made, he said that it has not made much of a difference as Harner provides similar traits that Bryan had on Colton.
“Scott has been very similar as far as the way he speaks. It’s very clear and whatnot,” said Herta. “So it hasn’t been too big of an adjustment with how things have gone so far. It really hasn’t been too big of a difference, to be honest.”
After four rounds, Herta currently sits 10th in points as the entire team has shown massive improvements with Kirkwood already winning and Romain Grosjean having strong performances all season.
Being the senior driver of the organization, Herta (who is in his fifth full-season in INDYCAR) said the environment at Andretti Autosport has been good, especially with how much gains they have made compared to last year where Herta and Alexander Rossi scored a win apiece on the IMS Road Course.
“It’s good because the last thing you want inside the team is to get to the point where people are hiding stuff from each other or whatnot. I never really have been part of anything like that,” said Herta.
“Everyone is happy. Ideas are flowing always inside the truck. The biggest thing is everyone is open with each other. They’re transparent. If you ask them a question, they’ll answer it to the best of their ability that they know how instead of leaving some of the good bits out.
“It’s been great team dynamics so far this year.”
Herta finished 14th at Barber Motorspors Park. (Riley Thompson | The Podium Finish)
Going back-to-back at Indianapolis comes a long way for his quest towards that elusive Astor Cup at season’s end in Laguna Seca four months from now.
“That’s the goal. But it’s so difficult in this series to win a championship without wins. You have to be aggressive, and when there is an opportunity to win you have to really take it. It’s probably the hardest championship in the world as far as going from race to race,” Herta explained.
“Everybody has an opportunity to win. The teams are so freaking close, especially this year it seems like obviously Andretti and McLaren have taken a step up. Now there’s really four teams that are just constantly in the fight. You add in all the stragglers that have good cars on the off weekends and whatnot, it makes it super competitive.”
Live coverage of the 85-lap race begins Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC as Herta looks to continue Andretti Autosport’s ongoing resurgence.
