18-year-old rookie Colton Herta took home the win in Sunday’s Indycar Classic at Circuit of the Americas in what was only his third NTT Data Indycar Series start. A late-race caution that came out for a Felix Rosenqvist spin, which occurred after Herta had made a green flag pit stop, shuffled the field around, as many cars had not yet pit. One such car was the one driven by Alexander Rossi, who dropped from 2nd to 14th in the whole cycle. Will Power, who had dominated the race up to that point, lead all 45 laps up to the point of the issue, which relegated Power to a last-place finish. Herta led the final 15 laps in the 60 lap event to take the win, pulling away from Josef Newgarden and Ryan Hunter-Reay on the final restart. “Just to be up with the names of people that have won (a) race, I’m going to live and die an Indy car winner, which is spectacular in itself,” Herta said. “Yeah, it’s a great record at a young age. To be standing up here kind of feels surreal. We were not expecting (to win). I think we were going to get a podium (top-three finish) — I think we had the pace for that — but holy crap, man! … It’s spectacular!” (Courtesy of parts.autoweek.com)

The debut of the Indycar Classic at Circuit of the Americas provided a great show for the fans, and will hopefully become a staple on the Indycar circuit. I was fortunate enough to attend the race, and I hope I can go back again next year. Kudos to the NTT Data Indycar Series and COTA for putting on an incredible show on the racetrack, and making the event a fan-friendly experience.

Sources:
“IndyCar COTA Race Results: Colton Herta Becomes Youngest IndyCar Winner in History.” Autoweek, 24 Mar. 2019, parts.autoweek.com/article/indycar/indycar-cota-race-results-colton-herta-becomes-youngest-indycar-winner-history.

Written on April 2nd, 2019