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The IndyCar race - It’s called “Herta-mania 2.0”…
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Colton Herta for Harding Steinbrenner got a bit of luck late in the race, with a Full-Course Caution that moved him from P4 to P1 but he drove to that P4 with a flawless drive all day that saw the 18-year-old keep the biggest names in the series behind him. And once in the lead he again kept the big dawgs behind him to the end. P2 was Josef Newgarden for Team Penske while P3 went to Ryan Hunter-Reay for Andretti Autosport.
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The race was dominated by two drivers all day, as Will Power for Team Penske led from pole and Alexander Rossi for Andretti hounded him the whole way. But the race, which was full of action, managed to stay green until late in the contest, and Power, Rossi and P3 Scott Dixon for Chip Ganassi had not yet stopped while Herta had, when James Hinchcliffe for Arrow SPM and Felix Rosenqvist for Chip Ganassi came together in Turn 18, slamming Felix into the wall at pit-in and bringing out a yellow.
The luckless Power not only lost the lead but was unable to leave the pits when he was finally allowed to pit under yellow, as his car would not move - out with a mechanical after leading all day long. Rossi was able to salvage a P9 from a P15 restart with a banzai drive in the final 10 laps, while Dixon slotted in P13.
A great race, this venue will be a fan favorite going forward.
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Notable:
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Herta is now the youngest driver to ever WIN an IndyCar race, beating a record held by Graham Rahal (P4 today) for eleven years.
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The other young rookie in the race, Pato O’Ward, gave Carlin a great finish in his IndyCar debut with a P8 and Jack Harvey gave Meyer Shank Racing another TOP TEN with his P10.
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Sebastien Bourdais for Dale Coyne took P5, Marco Andretti for Andretti Autosport took P6 and Takuma Sato ended up P7, while none of them wouold have predicted TOP TENS at the start of the day.
left to right, Sebastien Bourdais, Marco Andretti and Takuma Sato - P5, P6 and P7
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Here is your happy podium - That’s Josef Newgarden in P2 on the left, Bryan Herta in P1 in the Middle and Ryan Hunter-Reay in P3 on the right - Good 'ol boys!:
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With this result, here are the TOP TEN in points leaving Austin:
1 - Josef Newgarden 93
2 - Colton Herta 75
3 - Scott Dixon 57
4 - Alexander Rossi 53
5 - Graham Rahal 50
6 - Will Power 47
7 - Marco Andretti 45
8 - Ryan Hunter-Reay 42
9 - James Hinchcliffe 42
10 - Felix Rosenqvist 40
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The next race for the IndyCars is going to be the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park, April 5-7.
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