USA TODAY International Edition
Herta holds off Indy points leader Palou
MONTEREY, Calif. – Despite heavy pressure from the NTT IndyCar Series championship leader midway through Sunday’s race, Colton Herta led nearly flag- to- flag at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, grabbing the fifth win of his still- young career.
The 21- year- old Andretti Autosport driver finished 1.9747 seconds clear of race runner- up Alex Palou, who in turn strengthened his title race chances over Pato O’Ward, who finished fifth. Coming into Sunday, Palou was 25 points clear of the Arrow McLaren SP driver in the race for the Astor Cup and padded that by 10 more to 35 with just the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach next Sunday left to decide the fight.
“It was amazing,” Palou said of his runner- up finish Sunday. “I was surprised we were really competitive. We didn’t have enough for the win, but we did as much as we could. It was Herta and Andretti’s day today, and I’m happy with P2.”
Added O’Ward: “All weekend, we didn’t really have it. I truly feel like we absolutely used every ounce of energy and pace this car had. I’m happy that we honestly really maximized what we had, though I’m disappointed the guy we’re trying to catch outscored us again. All we can do in Long Beach is win and let everything else fall as it may.”
After a lap 2 caution, where Herta’s teammate Alexander Rossi darted inside Sunday’s
pole- sitter in Turn 5 and then spun after the pair touched wheels, the 95- lapper ran green the rest of the way. Just 12 laps into the action, Herta had created a 6- second gap on the rest of the field, but Palou, who started fourth, began to reel in the eventual winner of IndyCar’s last two races at Laguna Seca.
After the pair’s first of three pit stops, Palou trailed Herta by 2.6 seconds on lap 23. The Spaniard had cut into that lead by more than a second early into their third stints, edging within a half- second of Herta by lap 55 when the leaders began to hit traffic waiting to be lapped of Max Chilton, Felix Rosenqvist and Jimmie Johnson.
While trying to get around the slower cars, O’Ward managed to claw his way back from a 24- second deficit of the lead on lap 47 to 16.7 seconds by lap 61 through the bulk of the Mexican driver’s third stint. At that moment, it looked as if O’Ward might have something for the leaders, but he fell back over his final stint, passed by Graham Rahal and Romain Grosjean for places O’Ward wasn’t able to make up by the race’s end.
In one of the key moments of the race, Herta managed to get around Rosenqvist on lap 59, allowing the driver of the No. 26 Honda to work back up his gap on Palou before they would pit for the final time. With 15 laps to go, Herta’s gap on second place was back up to 6.8 seconds and too large for the Ganassi driver to chip away at before the checkered flag.
Herta passed his father ( and strategist), Bryan, in career wins. Like Bryan, Herta has won twice at Laguna Seca, both going back- to- back.
“I have no clue ( what it is about Laguna Seca). I enjoyed racing here so much,” the younger Herta said. “I’m just so happy to have done it. It’s my favorite track in North America. I love it so much.”