Herta Grabs Dominant IndyCar Victory At St. Petersburg

Colton Herta celebrates in victory lane after winning Sunday’s NTT IndyCar Series race on the St. Petersburg Street Circuit. Photo: Chris Owens

Colton Herta put the disappointment of a tough season opener behind him to dominate the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday, earning his first NTT IndyCar Series victory of the season.

Herta led a race-record 97 of 100 laps from the pole in the No. 26 Honda to win by 2.4933 seconds over two-time series champion Josef Newgarden. Simon Pagenaud finished third on the 14-turn, 1.8-mile temporary street circuit.

Herta’s average speed was 96.552 mph in a race slowed by just three full-course cautions for nine laps. All 24 drivers in the starting field coped with air temperatures in the low 80s and high humidity, sapping every bit of their fitness over one hour, 51 minutes in the cockpit.

“What a great job by everybody,” Herta said. “Sorry, I can barely talk, I’m so winded. I’m so happy we did this, so happy to rebound from Barber and get the momentum going for the season that we need, which is a championship season.”

Front-row starter Jack Harvey ended up fourth, while Scott Dixon finished fifth.

The strong finishes for Herta and Newgarden erased memories of a rugged season opener for both last Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park. Herta finished 22nd and Newgarden 23rd in the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama after Newgarden spun on the first lap and collected multiple cars, including Herta’s machine.

Barber race winner Alex Palou finished 17th on Sunday, but kept the championship lead, 67-65, over Will Power, who rallied from a 20th starting spot to finish eighth.

Herta, who started the race on the Firestone “red” alternate tires, chose Firestone “black” primary tires on his final pit stop on lap 67. Newgarden was forced to use the “reds” on his final stop on lap 67 since he started on “blacks” and used another set of primary tires on his first stop.

It appeared tire strategy would be moot three laps after those final stops, as Herta was on cruise control and led Newgarden by 9.4390 seconds on lap 70. But rookie Jimmie Johnson spun and clipped the inside wall in turn 3 on lap 73, triggering the second full-course caution and evaporating Herta’s big lead.

On the ensuing restart on lap 76, Newgarden and his grippier alternate tires made a run at Herta but couldn’t get close enough to pass. But then Ed Jones, James Hinchcliffe and Pato O’Ward made contact in turn 4 on lap 79, triggering the final full-course caution on lap 80.

Two-time defending St. Petersburg race winner Newgarden got another chance to make a run at Herta on the restart on lap 83, but Herta held him off. Newgarden stayed close to Herta in a gripping, all-American duel for the next 10 laps, but Herta kept his cool and pulled away gradually for victory over Newgarden.

“He’s so good around here,” Herta said of Newgarden. “I was nervous because he was on those new red tires. I thought they were going to be better. But they ended up being similar (to the primary tires), so I was able to hold him off.”

“We lost a little too much ground on that second stint to capitalize on the reds,” said Newgarden. “Then we had the caution, which almost gifted us another chance. I just didn’t want to overextend myself today. I felt like I had close to an opportunity, but Colton was really good. He was doing a great job on the restarts.

“Congrats to Colton. It’s a great rebound for both of us. I felt bad about what happened last week, so really happy he got back on it today and had a very deserved victory. I wish we could have fought him a bit more. We were just lacking a little bit.”

It was the fourth career victory for Herta, 21, in his third season in NTT IndyCar Series. He matched the series win total of his father, Bryan Herta, who competed from 1994-2006 and now calls race strategy for his son for Andretti Autosport.

“That was awesome,” Herta said. “I love that he’s on my radio.”

The first oval events of the season are next on the NTT IndyCar Series schedule, with a doubleheader next weekend at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday and Sunday.

NTT IndyCar Series
St. Petersburg Street Circuit – St. Petersburg, FL
Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – April 25, 2021
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1. (1) Colton Herta, Honda, 100, Running
2. (3) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 100, Running
3. (4) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 100, Running
4. (2) Jack Harvey, Honda, 100, Running
5. (8) Scott Dixon, Honda, 100, Running
6. (15) Takuma Sato, Honda, 100, Running
7. (16) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 100, Running
8. (20) Will Power, Chevrolet, 100, Running
9. (7) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 100, Running
10. (5) Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, 100, Running
11. (14) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 100, Running
12. (17) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 100, Running
13. (18) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 100, Running
14. (13) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 100, Running
15. (9) Graham Rahal, Honda, 100, Running
16. (19) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 100, Running
17. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 99, Running
18. (12) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 99, Running
19. (6) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 99, Running
20. (21) Ed Jones, Honda, 99, Running
21. (11) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 98, Running
22. (23) Jimmie Johnson, Honda, 95, Running
23. (24) Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 67, Off Course
24. (22) Max Chilton, Chevrolet, 18, Mechanical