Colton Herta Bio
Colton Thomas Herta (born March 30, 2000) is an American racing driver from Santa Clarita, California, best known for becoming the youngest person ever to win an IndyCar Series race. After spending his early career climbing through karting, junior formula series, and the Indy Lights ladder, Herta debuted in the IndyCar Series in 2018 and quickly became one of the most exciting talents in American open-wheel racing. Following the 2025 season, he is set to compete in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for Hitech TGR with support from Cadillac, while also serving as a test driver for the Cadillac Formula One Team.
Early Life and Background
Colton Thomas Herta was born on March 30, 2000, in Santa Clarita, California. He grew up in a household shaped by motorsport, as the son of former IndyCar and Champ Car driver Bryan Herta. That family connection gave him an early view of professional racing, and he began karting at the age of six, although he did not make his competitive karting debut until 2010 in the SKUSA and IKF series at age ten.
Herta balanced school with a busy karting schedule, often traveling to regional events on weekends. When he turned 13, he stepped into single-seater racing and finished second in the SBF2000 Winter Series, an early sign that he could adapt quickly to cars. He was also described as the youngest driver to compete in the Global RallyCross Championship Lites during a one-off appearance in 2014.
Path to NASCAR
While Colton Herta is widely associated with IndyCar and open-wheel racing, his path through the sport mirrors the kind of junior ladder that many top NASCAR drivers once traveled. He moved from karting into USF2000, then across the Atlantic to British junior formulas, before returning to the United States for the Indy Lights series. Each step gave him more experience with high-speed oval and road course racing, the same core skills used in NASCAR’s national series.
Along the way, Herta built a reputation as a fast, aggressive driver who could win on street circuits, road courses, and ovals. That versatility, combined with backing from Andretti Autosport, kept his name linked to potential top-level opportunities, including a brief connection to Formula One testing programs with McLaren and Red Bull’s AlphaTauri interest. His story remains one of the more unusual open-wheel paths, but it shares the same building blocks that shape many leading stock car drivers.
Colton Herta Career
Early Career (2014–2016)
Herta made his professional racing debut in 2014 in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, finishing fifteenth in the championship despite missing the opening weekend due to age requirements. The same year, he raced in the AsiaCup Series at Sepang International Circuit, where he picked up one win and three podium finishes. In 2015, he moved to the UK-based MSA Formula series as the youngest driver and the only American on the grid, earning his first win at Snetterton Circuit and helping the United States win the Nations Cup.
For 2016, Herta planned to race in the BRDC British F3 series but was too young for the opening round. He instead switched to the Euroformula Open Championship with Carlin, finishing third in points with four victories, six podium finishes, and five pole positions. He also contested six British F3 events, earning three podiums and a win at Brands Hatch, which helped him secure a return to the United States and a drive in Indy Lights.
Indy Lights Breakthrough (2017–2018)
In 2017, Herta joined the newly formed Steinbrenner Racing to drive the No. 98 car in the Indy Lights Series. He opened the year with a second place at St. Petersburg before taking his first Indy Lights victory the next day. He added another win at Barber Motorsports Park in the series’ four-hundredth race, earned Rookie of the Year honors, and finished third in the championship.
Herta returned to Indy Lights in 2018 and won four races, including all three events held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway: both races of the GMR Grand Prix and the Freedom 100 on the oval. He finished second in points behind Andretti teammate Patricio O’Ward, which set the stage for a late-season IndyCar Series debut at Sonoma in September 2018 with Harding Racing.
IndyCar Breakthrough (2019–2020)
For the 2019 IndyCar season, Herta signed to drive the No. 88 Harding Steinbrenner Racing car and became the first driver born in the 2000s to start an IndyCar race. On March 24, 2019, at the age of eighteen, he won the IndyCar Classic at Circuit of the Americas, becoming the youngest-ever winner in IndyCar history. He later earned the youngest-ever pole at Road America, won again at Laguna Seca, and finished seventh in points, narrowly missing Rookie of the Year honors to Felix Rosenqvist.
In 2020, Herta continued with the No. 88 car, now with extra backing from Andretti Autosport. He placed seventh at the Texas opener, finished eighth at the Indianapolis 500, and won the second of two races at Mid-Ohio on September 13, 2020. He added a runner-up finish at the Indianapolis road course, finishing third in points with seven top-fives across fourteen races.
Andretti Autosport Era (2021–2024)
Going into 2021, Herta moved to the No. 26 Andretti Autosport with Curb Agajanian car, backed by Indianapolis 500 sponsor Gainbridge. He earned three wins that season, including a street circuit breakthrough at St. Petersburg and a dominant performance at Laguna Seca where he led all but one lap from pole. He also charged from fourteenth to win at Long Beach and finished fifth in the championship standings.
Herta struggled early in 2022, including a crash while leading at Long Beach, but rebounded to win the GMR Grand Prix. He signed a multi-year contract extension with Andretti Autosport that was later extended through 2027. In 2023, he collected three top-five finishes, took back-to-back poles at Mid-Ohio and Road America, and led the most laps at Road America before dropping to fifth on strategy, ending the year tenth in points.
The 2024 season brought a major step forward. Herta opened with five consecutive top-five finishes, took his first oval pole at Iowa, and won at Toronto to end a two-year winless streak. At the Nashville Superspeedway finale, he scored his first oval victory, finishing second in the 2024 IndyCar Series championship to Alex Palou, his highest points total to that point.
Cadillac and Formula 2 Era (2025–Present)
Following the 2025 season, Herta left Andretti Autosport and the IndyCar Series to pursue a path toward Formula One with the new Cadillac Formula One Team. He was announced as Cadillac’s test driver for 2026, with the goal of earning the super license points needed for a race seat. Cadillac and Hitech Grand Prix confirmed that Herta would join their Formula 2 outfit for the 2026 season, where a top-eight finish would secure the 40 points required for a 2027 FIA Super License.
Earlier in his career, Herta had already sampled Formula One machinery. He signed with McLaren as a development driver in 2022 and completed his first test in a 2021 car at Portimão. Red Bull later attempted to bring him to AlphaTauri for 2023, but the FIA declined to grant a super license exception. Herta’s move to Formula 2 and a Cadillac test role marked the next step in that long-running Formula One pursuit.
Notable Races and Milestones
Herta’s most iconic moment came at Circuit of the Americas in 2019, when he became the youngest-ever IndyCar race winner. He added another milestone at Road America later that year as the youngest pole-sitter in series history. More recently, his first oval win at the Nashville Superspeedway in 2024 and his dominant Laguna Seca run in 2021 stand out as defining performances that showed his growth as an all-around open-wheel driver.
Colton Herta Career Wins
Across his career, Colton Herta has built a varied win list that spans karting, junior single-seaters, Indy Lights, and the IndyCar Series. His biggest victories include the 2019 IndyCar Classic at Circuit of the Americas, the 2021 St. Petersburg, Laguna Seca, and Long Beach races, the 2022 GMR Grand Prix, and the 2024 Toronto and Nashville oval wins.
IndyCar Highlights
Herta’s verified IndyCar victories include the 2019 IndyCar Classic at Circuit of the Americas, the 2019 race at Laguna Seca, the 2021 St. Petersburg Grand Prix, the 2021 Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at Laguna Seca, the 2021 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, the 2022 GMR Grand Prix, the 2024 Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto, and the 2024 Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at the Nashville Superspeedway. He finished second in the 2024 IndyCar Series championship standings, his best result in the series.
Other Wins and Performances
Outside IndyCar, Herta has scored wins in karting, the AsiaCup Series at Sepang, the MSA Formula series in the United Kingdom, the Euroformula Open Championship, British F3, and the Indy Lights Series. He also won the 2022 24 Hours of Daytona in the LMP2 class with DragonSpeed and added an overall win at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2024 with Wayne Taylor Racing and Andretti Autosport, as well as a 2019 GTLM class win at the 24 Hours of Daytona with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
Colton Herta Family
Family Background and Racing Lineage
Colton Herta is the son of Bryan Herta, a former IndyCar and Champ Car driver who later became a team owner. Growing up in that environment gave Colton a clear view of professional racing from a young age and helped shape his path into the sport. The Herta family name has remained closely linked to American open-wheel racing through both driver and team roles.
Personal Life
Outside of racing, Colton Herta is a member of the indie punk rock band The Zibs, where he plays the drums. He formed the band in 2018 with high school friends Jon Graber and Chris Broadbent, balancing his music interests with his schedule on and off the track. He is American by nationality and was born and raised in Santa Clarita, California.
2025 Season Performance
The 2025 IndyCar Series marked Colton Herta’s final season in the series with Andretti Autosport, capping a run that began in 2018. Throughout the year, he remained a regular threat for podiums on road courses and street circuits while continuing to grow his comfort level on ovals, an area where he had previously shown steady improvement.
Herta’s 2025 campaign was also shaped by growing speculation around his future, as talks with the Cadillac Formula One Team intensified and his potential move to Formula 2 became clearer. His on-track performances were used as a platform to push for the super license points he would need for a future Formula One race seat, with each strong result adding momentum to that long-term goal.
Following the 2025 season, Herta left Andretti Autosport to take on his new roles with Cadillac in Formula One testing and Hitech TGR in Formula 2. Will Power was announced as his replacement in the IndyCar lineup, closing the chapter on Herta’s full-time IndyCar career and opening a new one focused on reaching the top level of international motorsport.
