Yahoo Autos Herta’s string of bad luck continues into its third week at Road America
As the old saying goes, “If it wasn’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all,” and Andretti Global’s Colton Herta has been living that line as his last three races have gone in every direction except the one he wants.
It started with a solo crash during the Indianapolis 500 that left the Californian bristling in 23rd place; he was on pole the weekend after in Detroit, but cartoon anvils rained down throughout the rain—to complement the actual rain that fell—and he went from first to 19th at the finish. The newest kick to the crotch came courtesy of Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, who punted Herta on the opening lap in Turn 1 and spun his No. 26 Honda from his second place starting spot to 26th among the 27 drivers in the Road America race.
Herta refused to give in to the adversity and got to sixth place at the finish, which was positive in one aspect, but far short of what he envisioned for the day.
“[I’m] mad, disappointed. The team did a great job again today, but this is three weekends in a row for me where I had a really good chance of winning, and whether the last three weeks it was self-inflicted or not, for one reason or another, we’re just standing here mad again, which does not feel good,” Herta told RACER.
The lack of penalty for Newgarden also added to his sour mood after climbing from the car.
“I would think that [one was deserved]. I got dumped to the back, almost lost a lap, and then it put me in the back with those guys, and then I got dumped again on the next restart, so I was just super frustrated,” he added.
“What came out of it, which actually helped us get to the front, was all those yellows; [we] were able to get into the pits and have so much more fuel than everybody that we could overcut by six laps, and we were able to show the true pace of this [car]. Twenty-seventh, up to about I’d say 24th, then back to 27th and then back up to sixth — you have to be somewhat proud about that, but I’m just not happy at all, really.”
How does Herta plan on releasing the three weeks of frustration? How about a visit to a famous local Elkhart Lake pub tonight with friends.
“I’m gonna go to Siebkins and drink beer,” Herta said, still cracking his post-race smile.
