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Bryan Herta
Herta at the2004 Indianapolis 500
Nationality	American
Born	Bryan John Herta (1970-05-23)May 23, 1970 (age 55) Warren, Michigan, U.S.
Related to	Colton Herta (son)
Indy Racing LeagueIndyCar Series
Racing licence	FIA Bronze
Years active	2003–2006
Teams	Andretti Green Racing
Starts	58
Wins	2
Poles	3
Best finish	8th in2005
CARTChampionship 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 in1996 &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 theNTT IndyCar Series and is the strategist for the #27Andretti Autosport in the same series.^[1] His team won the2011 Indianapolis 500 with driverDan Wheldon and the2016 Indianapolis 500 with driverAlexander Rossi. He is the father and former strategist of IndyCar driver and his sonColton Herta.

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

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

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

During the next few years, Herta developed a reputation for his prowess on road courses, especially atLaguna Seca Raceway. In 1996, he was the leader until the last lap, whenAlex 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 in1998 and1999. At the height of Herta's career, fan interest in the Shell-sponsored driver was dubbed "Hertamania" by team ownerDavid Letterman.

In the opening laps of the1998 event atElkhart Lake, Wisconsin'sRoad 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 includingForsythe Championship Racing,Mo Nunn Racing, andPK 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]}

After dabbling in sports cars, Herta revitalized his open-wheel racing career by substituting for an injuredDario Franchitti halfway through the2003 IRL season.

In just his third IRL start, Herta picked up his first IndyCar Series win atKansas Speedway forAndretti 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 and final IndyCar Series win, defeating AGR teammateDan Wheldon in a close finish in theFirestone Indy 400 at theMichigan International Speedway.

In early 2006, Herta drove atMazda Raceway Laguna Seca andFundidora Park forA1 Team USA in theA1 Grand Prix series before returning to Andretti Green for the IRL season.

Across his career, Herta started in theIndianapolis 500 five times (1994–1995, 2004–2006) with three top ten finishes, including a best of third in 2005. Herta had his helmets painted by AliveDesignCo.com.^{[citation needed]}

On October 31, 2006, Herta was confirmed as a driver forAndretti Green Racing's newAcuraLe Mans prototype program for the2007 American Le Mans Series season. He shared the car withMarino Franchitti, brother of his former teammateDario 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 seventh in driver points with one class win. He also drove forA1 Team USA. At the event inAustralia, Herta scored a tenth place finish.

Since retiring from racing, Herta served as a driver coach forVision Racing and founded aFirestone Indy Lights Series team namedBryan Herta Autosport, which has a technical alliance with Vision Racing's Indy Lights team. In 2009, the team fielded a full-time entry forDaniel Herrington. The team campaignedSebastián Saavedra for eleven races of the 2010 Firestone Indy Lights season and theIndianapolis 500. In 2011 the team fielded a car forDan Wheldon in the2011 Indianapolis 500 which resulted in a stunning victory, and a full-time entry in Indy Lights forDuarte 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 withMichael Andretti as a co-owner and won the2016 Indianapolis 500. Their car was driven by series rookieAlexander Rossi.

Herta's son,Colton, is also a racing driver, and made his IndyCar debut in2019 withHarding Steinbrenner Racing. In March 2019, Colton became the youngest ever IndyCar winner in the second round at theCircuit of the Americas.^[2]

Herta is now the race strategist of his son's teammate,Kyle Kirkwood.

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

(key)

2 wins, Best championship result: 8th

2 wins, best championship result: 8th

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

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

• Herta's official site
• Herta's profile from IndyCar.com
• Bryan Herta Autosport's official site
• Bryan Herta on A1 TEAM USA Official Site
• Bryan Herta's helmet painter

• 1970 births
• Living people
• Racing drivers from Detroit
• IndyCar Series drivers
• Champ Car drivers
• Indianapolis 500 drivers
• Indy Lights champions
• Indy Lights drivers
• A1 Team USA drivers
• Sportspeople from Warren, Michigan
• 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
• American Le Mans Series drivers
• IndyCar Series team owners
• Barber Pro Series drivers
• Chip Ganassi Racing drivers
• Andretti Autosport drivers
• Mo Nunn Racing drivers
• Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing drivers
• A. J. Foyt Enterprises drivers
• Forsythe Racing drivers
• A1 Grand Prix drivers
• KV Racing Technology drivers
• Tasman Motorsports drivers
• Walker Racing drivers
• David Price Racing drivers

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