ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — At just 21 years of age, Colton Herta now has four career wins in the NTT IndyCar Series as he led from start to finish in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday.
The win is a vast improvement from his performance a week ago at Barber in which he was ousted from the race on the very first lap.
“What a great job by everybody,” Herta said. “I’m so happy to rebound from Barber and get the momentum for the championship that we need.”
The win is also the fourth for Herta and his father together as Bryan Herta works as his son’s crew chief. It also ties the number of wins his father had as a driver and is Andretti Autosports 66th win as a team.
Herta secured the pole position on Saturday, which played a huge role in his ability to stay out in front. He also opted to start on the softer red tires his opening stint of the race.
He had to keep Josef Newgarden in his rearview mirror all day long. Newgarden started third and was able to get around Jack Harvey, who started second and ended up finishing fourth.
Newgarden was also looking for a rebound performance this week after causing the wreck that ousted Herta a week ago at Barber,
“We lost a little too much ground in the second stint,” Newgarden said. “We had a chance after that second caution, but Colton was doing really good. Didn’t quite have the runs I needed but it was a great day. Great rebound for both of us.”
Simon Pagenuad was finished 3rd, Harvey fourth, and Scott Dixon finished fifth after starting outside the Top 10. Romain Grosjean finished 13th and Jimmie Johnson 22nd five laps down after spinning out twice.
It was a terrible day for Alexander Rossi, who said before the season that he wants to be in the running for a championship. His first two races have not been the start he wanted as he finished ninth at Barber and finished 21st at St. Pete.
His collision with Graham Rahal after the first round of pitstops spoiled his chances of having a good day.
“It was just one of those moments,” Rossi said. “I thought I gave Graham the room he needed and it didn’t work out that way.”
Alex Palou, who finished 17th, maintains a two-point advantage in the points over Will Power, who came home an impressive eighth after starting 20th. Scott Dixon is tied for Power and Herta moves to fourth five points back.
The series will head to Fort Worth, Texas in a week’s time as they get ready for a doubleheader on the first oval of the season at Texas Motor Speedway.
