It has been 799 days since Colton Herta has tasted champagne in Victory Lane, which came in a monsoon of a race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in May 2022
He has been competitive for the majority of the 41 races over that stretch. When including his pole-winning run in Saturday’s qualifying bout on the streets of Toronto, he has amassed six starts from the top spot and an additional three from the front row. He has also scored five podiums during that time, including three runner-ups.
All of that is part of why Herta is keen to put an end to a long drought and walk to the top step of the podium after 85 laps around the temporary street circuit on Sunday.
“That's the bad thing about getting poles, you can only break even,” said Herta, driver of the No. 26 Andretti Honda. “You can't go further up (smiling).
“But it's something that I want really bad. It's been brutal to not have a win in a year and a half. We've had pace and we've been doing the right things. I think three second-place finishes, a couple thirds, a bunch of top fives.
“We're putting ourselves in positions to win, but it hasn't fallen our way for one reason or another. But I'm excited for tomorrow. It's good to have another teammate up there that we can work on with strategy and help each other out.
“It should be a fun and exciting race for everybody. Giant windows, a two-stopper, a lot of strategy to come into play, which if you're starting up front you don't want. But it's how this race is. It's always exciting.
“Hopefully it's another exciting one and we can capitalize on the opportunities and have a win tomorrow.”
While there is plenty of confidence for Andretti’s well-rounded driver no matter what track discipline the IndyCar Series is competing at, there is some additional swagger brought out when it comes to driving around the bumpy and tight street circuits.
“I think it's been the last few years Andretti has been very, very strong on street courses,” Herta said. “This year in particular seems to be another step.
“So it's great for us. I already love, like, street courses the most out of all the tracks I think that we do. I think it's the toughest single lap that you'll put together all year, is on a street course.
“When you get a pole here, it's very rewarding, or at any street course that we go to.”
For a driver that hasn’t won in over a year-and-a-half, Herta isn’t feeling the pressure; having led every session that might help him sleep “a bit easier” tonight.
“This race is crazy with the strategy... big window,” he added. “IndyCar races like that tend to be crazy. There's a whole bunch of different ways to win this race.
“Obviously, it's still a big advantage starting up front, and that should help us. You can never take anything for granted in IndyCar racing. It doesn't matter where you start.
“We have fast race cars. That's the biggest thing. We checked that box. Everything else, we just need that hope comes our way.”
