By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
If the crowd in attendence Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway says anything, Colton Herta is arguably the fan favorite of the NTT IndyCar Series.
After a win at Circuit of the Americas in March, the 19-year-old rookie has grabbed the attention of the series fan base, ending his first Indianapolis 500 qualifying run Saturday with a round of cheers after piercing 230 mph off the first lap.
Jumping into the Fast Nine on that opening run, the Harding Steinbrenner Racing driver took notice of the fan reaction as he coasted down pit lane following his run.
“It was pretty cool to hear the fans cheering,” Herta said. “I heard they went wild for the first lap at 230 as well. That’s really cool to hear.”
Son of series winner Bryan Herta, Saturday was a special day for Colton, who qualified for the race run by his father five times. The car is making it fun.
“It’s been incredible,” he said. “I’ve been very satisfied in the car all month. Maybe the times didn’t show it in practice but I never had a doubt we wouldn’t be super quick.
“On no-tow times, we were right up there. That just confirmed that all the hard work that everyone has been doing is starting to pay off.”
Herta appreciates the evolution of the team since the start of the season with support from Andretti Autosport, saying it has a strong base for the years to come.
“People can say it’s the Andretti connection, but the guys who were here before were finding things that were close to what Andretti was doing,” he said. “Would they have been as good as Andretti? I don
“It’s always tough as a first-year team to jump in and be competitive. It’s a really tough series.”