Bryan Herta

Bryan Herta
Bryan Herta
	Herta at the 2004 Indianapolis 500
Nationality	American
Born	May 23, 1970 (age 54); Warren, Michigan, U.S.
Indy Racing League IndyCar Series
Racing licence	FIA Bronze
Years active	2003–2006
Teams	Andretti Green Racing
Starts	58
Wins	2
Poles	3
Best finish	8th in 2005
CART Championship Car
Years active	1994–2001, 2003
Teams	A. J. Foyt Enterprises; Chip Ganassi Racing; Team Rahal; Walker Racing; Mo Nunn Racing; Zakspeed/Forsythe Racing; PK Racing
Starts	121
Wins	2
Poles	7
Best finish	8th in 1996 & 1998
Previous series
2005–2006; 1992–1993; 1990–1991	A1 Grand Prix; Indy Lights; Barber Saab Pro Series
Championship titles
1993; 1991	Indy Lights champion; Barber Saab Pro Series champion

Bryan John Herta (born May 23, 1970) is an American race strategist and former race car driver. He currently runs his own team, Bryan Herta Autosport in the NTT IndyCar Series and is the strategist for the #27 Andretti Autosport in the same series.^[1] His team won the 2011 Indianapolis 500 with driver Dan Wheldon and the 2016 Indianapolis 500 with driver Alexander Rossi. He is the father and former strategist of IndyCar driver Colton Herta.

Racing career

CART/Champ Cars/IndyCars

Herta enjoyed considerable success in the lower formulae, winning the Barber Formula Ford and Barber Saab Pro Series, and dominating the 1993 Indy Lights championship with Tasman Motorsports, race engineered by Gerald Tyler.

He graduated to IndyCar racing in 1994 with team owner A. J. Foyt, where he had several promising races before suffering a season-ending injury at Toronto.

In 1995, Herta was hired to drive for Chip Ganassi Racing. Despite a pole at Phoenix, the association was unsuccessful, with Herta managing only a 20th place in the series standings while his teammate Jimmy Vasser finished 8th. Even so, Herta landed a top ride with Team Rahal for the 1996 season.

During the next few years, Herta developed a reputation for his prowess on road courses, especially at Laguna Seca Raceway. In 1996, he was the leader until the last lap, when Alex Zanardi made a pass through the "Corkscrew" chicane and took the victory. Herta, who rarely qualified below the first row at Laguna Seca, won two events at the circuit in 1998 and 1999. At the height of Herta's career, fan interest in the Shell-sponsored driver was dubbed "Hertamania" by team owner David Letterman.

In the opening laps of the 1998 event at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin's Road America circuit, Herta was involved in a major accident. In the 4-mile (6.4 km) road course's fifth turn, Herta got too close to the back of the car of co-owner Rahal, and spun out into a paved runoff area, facing oncoming traffic. A few seconds later, Alex Barron slid into the front of Herta's car and rode up on top of it. Both drivers were uninjured; Herta reported that Barron's car had actually hit his hands, only inches from his face.

From 2000 to 2003, Herta drove for a variety of Champ Car teams including Forsythe Championship Racing, Mo Nunn Racing, and PK Racing, but never quite regained his form from the late 1990s. In 2002 Herta drove an F1 car for the first time, piloting a Minardi at the "Thunder in the Park" event held at Donington Park. This led to speculation that he would test and even race for Minardi in F1.^{[citation needed]}

IRL IndyCar Series

After dabbling in sports cars, he revitalized his open-wheel racing career by substituting for an injured Dario Franchitti halfway through the 2003 IRL season.

In just his third IRL start, Herta picked up his first IndyCar Series win at Kansas Speedway for Andretti Green Racing. He was retained in an expanded four-car squad in 2004, usually running development engines. On July 31, 2005, Herta took his second IndyCar Series win, defeating AGR teammate Dan Wheldon in a close finish in the Firestone Indy 400 at the Michigan International Speedway.

In early 2006, he drove at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and Fundidora Park for A1 Team USA in the A1 Grand Prix series before returning to Andretti Green for the IRL season.

As of 2006, Herta has started in the Indianapolis 500 five times (1994–1995, 2004–2006) with three top ten finishes, including a best of 3rd in 2005. Bryan has his helmets painted by AliveDesignCo.com

Sports cars

On October 31, 2006, Herta was confirmed as a driver for Andretti Green Racing's new Acura Le Mans prototype program for the 2007 American Le Mans Series season. He shared the car with Marino Franchitti, brother of his former teammate Dario Franchitti. On January 3, 2007, it was announced that Dario would also drive a limited ALMS programme with both Marino and Herta. Herta finished the season 7th in driver points with 1 class win. He also drove for A1 Team USA. At the event in Australia, Herta scored a 10th-place finish.

After racing

Since retiring from racing, Herta served as a driver coach for Vision Racing and founded a Firestone Indy Lights Series team named Bryan Herta Autosport, which has a technical alliance with Vision Racing's Indy Lights team. In 2009, the team fielded a full-time entry for Daniel Herrington. The team campaigned Sebastián Saavedra for eleven races of the 2010 Firestone Indy Lights season and the Indianapolis 500. In 2011 the team fielded a car for Dan Wheldon in the 2011 Indianapolis 500 which resulted in a stunning victory, and a full-time entry in Indy Lights for Duarte Ferreira.

For the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series season, Alex Tagliani ran the 500. The team switched to a Honda powered DW12 in May 2012 for the remainder of the season.

In 2016 Herta partnered with Michael Andretti as a co-owner and won the 2016 Indianapolis 500. Their car was driven by series rookie Alexander Rossi.

Herta's son, Colton, is also a racing driver, and made his IndyCar debut in 2019 with Harding Steinbrenner Racing. In March 2019, Colton became the youngest ever IndyCar winner in the second round at the Circuit of the Americas.^[2]

Personal life

Herta and his wife Janette Michele (née Fountaine) have three children: Calysta, Colton, and Caden.^[3]

Career racing results

American Open Wheel

(key)

Indy Lights

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Rank	Points
1992	Landford Racing	PHX 16	LBH 13	DET 7	POR 7	MIL 6	NHA 4	TOR 1	CLE 2	VAN 5	MDO 4	NAZ 3	LS 2	5th	120
1993	Tasman Motorsports	PHX 2	LBH 3	MIL 1	DET 2	POR 4	CLE 1	TOR 1	NHA 13	VAN 1	MDO 1	NAZ 1	LS 1	1st	213

CART results

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	Rank	Points	Ref
1994	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Lola T94/00	Ford XB V8 t	SRF	PHX	LBH	INDY 9	MIL 10	DET 9	POR 27	CLE 13	TOR DNS	MIS	MDO	NHM	VAN	ROA	NZR	LS						23rd	11	^[4]
1995	Chip Ganassi Racing	Reynard 95i	Ford XB V8 t	MIA 10	SRF 15	PHX 20	LBH 26	NZR 23	INDY 13	MIL 24	DET 27	POR 26	ROA 14	TOR 27	CLE 2	MIS 15	MDO 5	NHM 19	VAN 16	LS 25					20th	30	^[5]
1996	Team Rahal	Reynard 96i	Mercedes-Benz IC108C V8 t	MIA 10	RIO 13	SRF 17	LBH 12	NZR 11	500 15	MIL 14	DET 13	POR 26	CLE 5	TOR 6	MIS 2	MDO 4	ROA 5	VAN 6	LS 2						8th	86	^[6]
1997	Team Rahal	Reynard 97i	Ford XD V8 t	MIA 10	SRF 22	LBH 6	NZR 7	RIO 6	STL 22	MIL 15	DET 7	POR 21	CLE 3	TOR 17	MIS 5	MDO 24	ROA 11	VAN 8	LS 6	FON 21					11th	72	^[7]
1998	Team Rahal	Reynard 98i	Ford XD V8 t	MIA 8	MOT 28	LBH 3	NZR 8	RIO 4	STL 23	MIL 11	DET 21	POR 3	CLE 13	TOR 5	MIS 10	MDO 25	ROA 23	VAN 22	LS 1*	HOU 8	SRF 10	FON 15			8th	97	^[8]
1999	Team Rahal	Reynard 99i	Ford XD V8 t	MIA 12	MOT 23	LBH 3	NZR 22	RIO 13	STL 23	MIL 25	POR 6	CLE 6	ROA 15	TOR 15	MIS 20	DET 9	MDO 21	CHI 8	VAN 24	LS 1*	HOU 5	SRF 4	FON 14		12th	84	^[9]
2000	Walker Racing	Reynard 2Ki	Honda HR-0 V8 t	MIA	LBH 5	RIO 20	MOT	NZR	MIL	DET															18th	26	^[10]
	Mo Nunn Racing		Mercedes-Benz IC108F V8 t								POR 16	CLE 9	TOR 18	MIS	CHI	MDO	ROA	VAN
	Forsythe Championship Racing		Ford XF V8 t																LS 4	STL	HOU	SRF	FON
2001	Zakspeed Forsythe Championship Racing	Reynard 01i	Ford XF V8 t	MTY 16	LBH 10	TXS NH	NZR 21	MOT 21	MIL 22	DET 15	POR 14	CLE 3	TOR 18												22nd	28	^[11]
2001	Forsythe Championship Racing	Reynard 01i	Ford XF V8 t											MIS 5	CHI 21	MDO 25	ROA 24	VAN 17	LAU 27	ROC 15	HOU 13	LS 12	SRF 18	FON 25	22nd	28	^[11]
2003	PK Racing	Lola B02/00	Ford XFE V8 t	STP	MTY	LBH	BRH	LAU	MIL	LS 11	POR	CLE	TOR	VAN	ROA	MDO	MTL	DEN	MIA	MXC	SRF				25th	2	^[12]

CART career summary

Year	Team	Wins	Points	Championship Finish
1994	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	0	11	23rd
1995	Chip Ganassi Racing	0	30	20th
1996	Team Rahal	0	86	8th
1997	Team Rahal	0	72	11th
1998	Team Rahal	1	97	8th
1999	Team Rahal	1	84	12th
2000	Forsythe/Walker/Mo Nunn	0	26	18th
2001	Forsythe Championship Racing	0	28	22nd
2003	PK Racing	0	2	25th

2 wins, Best championship result: 8th

IndyCar Series results

Year	Team	Chassis	No.	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Rank	Points	Ref
2003	Andretti Green Racing	Dallara IR-03	27	Honda HI3R V8	HMS	PHX	MOT	INDY	TXS 5	PPIR	RIR 14	KAN 1	NSH 12	MIS 19	STL 21	KTY 3	NZR 3	CHI 3	FON 22	TX2 5		13th	277	^[13]
2004		Dallara IR-04	7	Honda HI4R V8	HMS 13	PHX 7	MOT 14	INDY 4	TXS 19	RIR 4	KAN 5	NSH 18	MIL 9	MIS 6	KTY 9	PPIR 9	NZR 8	CHI 2	FON 17	TX2 16		9th	362	^[14]
2005		Dallara IR-05		Honda HI5R V8	HMS 14	PHX 7	STP 4	MOT 5	INDY 3	TXS 10	RIR 8	KAN 15	NSH 22	MIL 6	MIS 1	KTY 19	PPIR 12	SNM 13	CHI 14	WGL 8	FON 11	8th	397	^[15]
2006		Dallara IR-05		Honda HI6R V8	HMS 13	STP 4	MOT 6	INDY 20	WGL 13	TXS 11	RIR 6	KAN 13	NSH 11	MIL 7	MIS 11	KTY 10	SNM 10	CHI 15				11th	289	^[16]

IndyCar Series career summary

Year	Team	Wins	Points	Championship Finish
2003	Andretti Green Racing	1	277	13th
2004	Andretti Green Racing	0	362	9th
2005	Andretti Green Racing	1	397	8th
2006	Andretti Green Racing	0	289	11th

2 wins, best championship result: 8th

Indianapolis 500

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
1994	Lola T94/00	Ford XB V8 t	22	9	A. J. Foyt Enterprises
1995	Reynard 95i	Ford XB V8 t	33	13	Chip Ganassi Racing
2004	Dallara IR-04	Honda HI4R V8	23	4	Andretti Green Racing
2005	Dallara IR-05	Honda HI5R V8	18	3	Andretti Green Racing
2006	Dallara IR-05	Honda HI6R V8	16	20	Andretti Green Racing

Complete American Le Mans Series results

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Rank	Points
2002	Panoz Motor Sports	LMP900	Panoz LMP01 Evo	Élan 6L8 6.0L V8	M	SEB ovr:8 cls:7	SON ovr:3 cls:3	MID ovr:4 cls:4	AME ovr:Ret cls:Ret	WAS ovr:6 cls:6	TRO ovr:4 cls:4	MOS ovr:5 cls:5	MON ovr:6 cls:6	MIA ovr:11 cls:8	PET ovr:5 cls:5			10th	153
2003	Team Nasamax	LMP900	Reynard 01Q	Cosworth XDE 2.6L Turbo V8 (Bio-ethanol)	G	SEB ovr:Ret cls:Ret	ATL	SON	TRO	MOS	AME	MON	MIA	PET				NC	0
2007	Andretti Green Racing	LMP2	Acura ARX-01a	Acura 3.4L V8	M	SEB ovr:2 cls:1	STP ovr:21 cls:7	LNB ovr:6 cls:6	TEX ovr:2 cls:2	UTA ovr:Ret cls:Ret	LIM ovr:7 cls:6	MID ovr:10 cls:7	AME ovr:9 cls:7	MOS ovr:5 cls:3	DET ovr:19 cls:8	PET ovr:Ret cls:Ret	MON ovr:6 cls:4	13th	98
2008	Andretti Green Racing	LMP2	Acura ARX-01b	Acura 3.4L V8	M	SEB ovr:18 cls:6	STP ovr:6 cls:5	LNB ovr:6 cls:4	UTA ovr:8 cls:7	LIM	MID	AME	MOS	DET	PET	MON		24th	38

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2002	Panoz Motor Sports	David Brabham Jan Magnussen	Panoz LMP01 Evo	LMP900	90	DNF	DNF

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	DC	Points
2005–06	USA	GBR SPR	GBR FEA	GER SPR	GER FEA	POR SPR	POR FEA	AUS SPR 15	AUS FEA 10	MYS SPR 10	MYS FEA 7	UAE SPR	UAE FEA	RSA SPR	RSA FEA	IDN SPR	IDN FEA	MEX SPR 6	MEX FEA 13	USA SPR 9	USA FEA Ret	CHN SPR	CHN FEA	16th	23

References

^ "Andretti swaps IndyCar strategists for Herta, Kirkwood". us.motorsport.com. 2023-04-01. Retrieved 2023-08-01.
^ Malsher, David (March 24, 2019). "COTA IndyCar: Herta becomes series' youngest ever winner". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
^ "Honda Newsroom". 14 December 2023.
^ "Bryan Herta – 1994 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
^ "Bryan Herta – 1995 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
^ "Bryan Herta – 1996 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
^ "Bryan Herta – 1997 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
^ "Bryan Herta – 1998 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
^ "Bryan Herta – 1999 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
^ "Bryan Herta – 2000 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
^ "Bryan Herta – 2001 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
^ "Bryan Herta – 2003 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
^ "Bryan Herta – 2003 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
^ "Bryan Herta – 2004 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
^ "Bryan Herta – 2005 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
^ "Bryan Herta – 2006 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 2, 2023.

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by Rob Wilson	Barber Saab Pro Series Champion 1991	Succeeded by Robert Amren
Preceded by Robbie Buhl	Indy Lights Champion 1993	Succeeded by Steve Robertson

[1] "Andretti swaps IndyCar strategists for Herta, Kirkwood". us.motorsport.com. 2023-04-01. Retrieved 2023-08-01.

[2] Malsher, David (March 24, 2019). "COTA IndyCar: Herta becomes series' youngest ever winner". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved March 25, 2019.

[3] "Honda Newsroom". 14 December 2023.

[4] "Bryan Herta – 1994 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.

[5] "Bryan Herta – 1995 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.

[6] "Bryan Herta – 1996 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.

[7] "Bryan Herta – 1997 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.

[8] "Bryan Herta – 1998 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.

[9] "Bryan Herta – 1999 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.

[10] "Bryan Herta – 2000 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.

[11] "Bryan Herta – 2001 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.

[12] "Bryan Herta – 2003 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.

[13] "Bryan Herta – 2003 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 2, 2023.

[14] "Bryan Herta – 2004 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 2, 2023.

[15] "Bryan Herta – 2005 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 2, 2023.

[16] "Bryan Herta – 2006 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 2, 2023.

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v t e Andretti Global
Owner	Michael Andretti Marco Andretti (NTT IndyCar No. 98) Mike Curb & Cary Agajanian (NTT IndyCar No. 98) Bryan Herta (NTT IndyCar No. 98) Ryan Walkinshaw (Supercars No. 2 and No. 25)
NTT IndyCar drivers	Colton Herta (No. 26) Kyle Kirkwood (No. 27) Marcus Ericsson (No. 28) Part-time: Marco Andretti (No. 98)
Formula E drivers	1. Jake Dennis 17. Norman Nato
Indy Lights drivers	Louis Foster (No. 26) Hunter McElrea (No. 27) Jamie Chadwick (No. 28) James Roe Jr. (No. 29)
IMSA Sportscar Championship drivers	No. 10 Filipe Albuquerque, Marcus Ericsson, Brendon Hartley, Ricky Taylor No. 40 Louis Delétraz, Jordan Taylor, Colton Herta, Jenson Button No. 43 Jarett Andretti, Gabby Chaves, Scott Hargrove, Thomas Preining No. 45 Graham Doyle, Danny Formal, Kyle Marcelli, Ashton Harrison
Extreme E drivers	No. 23 Timmy Hansen, Catie Munnings
Supercars drivers	Ryan Wood (No. 2) Chaz Mostert (No. 25)
Notable former drivers	Fernando Alonso Michael Andretti Kurt Busch Mike Conway Devlin DeFrancesco Dario Franchitti Robby Gordon Romain Grosjean Bryan Herta Ryan Hunter-Reay Tony Kanaan Carlos Muñoz Danica Patrick Sting Ray Robb Takuma Sato Paul Tracy Jacques Villeneuve Dan Wheldon Justin Wilson Stefan Wilson
Indianapolis 500 wins	1995 (Villeneuve) 2005 (Wheldon) 2007 (Franchitti) 2014 (Hunter-Reay) 2016 (Rossi) 2017 (Sato)
National Championships	1995 (Villeneuve) 2004 (Kanaan) 2005 (Wheldon) 2007 (Franchitti) 2012 (Hunter-Reay)

v t e Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Personnel	Bobby Rahal David Letterman Mike Lanigan Ben Spies (Rahal Ducati MotoAmerica)
IndyCar drivers	(15) Graham Rahal (30) Pietro Fittipaldi (45) Christian Lundgaard (75) Takuma Sato (part-time)
Former drivers	Bobby Rahal Mike Groff Raul Boesel Bryan Herta Max Papis Kenny Bräck Casey Mears Jimmy Vasser Michel Jourdain Jr. Buddy Rice Roger Yasukawa Vítor Meira Danica Patrick Paul Dana Jeff Simmons Scott Sharp Ryan Hunter-Reay Alex Lloyd Oriol Servià Jay Howard Bertrand Baguette Pippa Mann James Jakes Mike Conway Luca Filippi Zachary Claman DeMelo Spencer Pigot Jordan King Santino Ferrucci Oliver Askew Jack Harvey Katherine Legge Conor Daly Jüri Vips
Former personnel	Carl Hogan
Indianapolis 500 wins	2004 (Rice) 2020 (Sato)
National Championships	1992 (B. Rahal)