MRTI: O’Ward, Herta show IndyCar mettle in fighting for Indy Lights crown

By Sep 3, 2018, 4:00 PM EDT
Photo: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography
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The ultimate goal of the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, and the Mazda Road to Indy ladder system as a whole, is to help produce future stars for the Verizon IndyCar Series.

And the 2018 Indy Lights season potentially produced a pair of them.

Patricio O’Ward and Colton Herta quickly distanced themselves from the 2018 Indy Lights field in the first half of the season. O’Ward won three of the opening four races (Race 1 on the streets of St. Petersburg, and both races at Barber Motorsports Park), while Herta won four in a row (both races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, the Freedom 100, and Race 1 at Road America) immediately after.

What’s more, they often found themselves battling each other at the front of the field. They dueled for the win in the Freedom 100, battled each other the entire weekend at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and did battle again this past weekend at Portland International Raceway.

Colton Herta just edged Patricio O’Ward to win the 2018 Freedom 100. Photo: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography

In total, they finished on the podium together 10 times in 2018, going 1-2 seven times.

And critically, while their battles were often close and intense, each driver kept their mistakes to a minimum. Perhaps O’Ward’s only glaring mistake all year came in Race 2 at St. Pete, when he overshot Turn 4 and slid off into the runoff area. It allowed Santi Urrutia to take the win, while O’Ward was relegated to seventh.

And Herta, whose 2017 season was marked with lots speed but also plenty of on-track incidents, saw a significant improvement in his own race craft. Indeed, the 18-year-old Herta harnessed his talent more often than not in 2018 to become a genuine title contender.

Unfortunately for Herta, his only glaring errors of the season likely cost him a shot at the championship. Herta crashed in Race 2 at St. Pete, and crashed again in qualifying on streets of Toronto – the Toronto wreck was especially costly as he suffered a broken thumb in the process, and he aggravated the injury in a subsequent crash in Race 1.

Regardless, Herta certainly cut down on his errors in 2018. However, he previously explained that his mindset didn’t change that much – he just adapted to the circumstances he faced in 2018.

“Not much has changed. The mindset obviously is still the same because, especially with a (seven car field), you need to win races and you need to win quite a few of them to win the championship. (Staying out of trouble is about) just kind of settling in and knowing that a second or third place, or even a fourth or fifth place, isn’t terrible to take every now and then,” he told NBC Sports back in June in discussing his growth as a driver.

The O’Ward/Herta rivalry was again on full display this past weekend in Portland. Saturday’s Race 1 presented an opportunity for O’Ward to clinch the Indy Lights title ahead of Sunday’s Race 2, but Herta was certainly not going to make it easy.

Indeed, Herta sliced inside of O’Ward entering Turn 1 on Lap 5 to take the lead, showing that he was going to do everything in his power to keep the title going until Sunday’s finale.

However, O’Ward fired right back on Lap 12, making a similar move in Turn 1 to retake the lead.

It was a hard-fought battle between the young guns, who are also teammates in the Andretti Autosport camp, but despite slight contact when O’Ward retook the lead, their battle stayed relatively clean.

O’Ward explained afterward that he enjoyed racing against Herta, and that he hopes IndyCar teams took notice.

“It was hard racing: we both want to win. I knew I had the car and I just had to get around him. It’s been this way all year, just hard-fought races. We have been pushing each other so hard, and IndyCar owners have realized that. Hopefully you’ll see us both in IndyCar next year!” he expressed.

And that may happen sooner than later. NBCSN’s Robin Miller has reported, in a piece on RACER.com, that both O’Ward and Herta will be part of a two-car effort from Harding Racing at the INDYCAR Grand Prix of Sonoma to end the Verizon IndyCar Series season.

Coincidentally, Herta tested with Harding earlier in the summer, sparking speculation that he would be in an IndyCar before the 2018 season ended.

Regardless, both O’Ward and Herta showcased themselves as emerging stars in the 2018 season. O’Ward’s Indy Lights title guarantees him three starts, including the Indianapolis 500, in next year’s IndyCar season, while Herta had already started working on a possible IndyCar effort for next year.

And both O’Ward and Herta could be positioned to again race against each other in 2019…this time on the IndyCar grid.

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With throaty roar, NASCAR Next Gen Camaro is taking Le Mans by storm on global stage

Associated PressJun 8, 2023, 4:00 PM EDT
Le Mans 24 Hour Race - Car Parade
Chris Graythen/Getty Images
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LE MANS, France — The V8 engine of the NASCAR Chevrolet Camaro has a distinct growl that cannot go unnoticed even among the most elite sports cars in the world at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

When the Hendrick Motorsports crew fired up the car inside Garage 56, NASCAR chairman Jim France broke into a huge grin and gave a thumbs up.

“The only guy who didn’t cover his ears,” laughed seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson.

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France has been waiting since 1962 – the year his father, NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., brought him to his first 24 Hours of Le Mans – to hear the roar of a stock car at the most prestigious endurance race in the world.

A path finally opened when NASCAR developed its Next Gen car, which debuted last year. France worked out a deal to enter a car in a specialized “Innovative Car” class designed to showcase technology and development. The effort would be part of NASCAR’s 75th celebration and it comes as Le Mans marks its 100th.

Once he had the approval, France persuaded Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear – NASCAR’s winningest team, manufacturer and tire supplier – to build a car capable of running the twice-around-the-clock race.

The race doesn’t start until Saturday, but NASCAR’s arrival has already been wildly embraced and France could not be more thrilled.

“Dad’s vision, to be able to follow it, it took awhile to follow it up, and my goal was to outdo what he accomplished,” France told The Associated Press. “I just hope we don’t fall on our ass.”

The car is in a class of its own and not racing anyone else in the 62-car field. But the lineup of 2010 Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller, 2009 Formula One champion Jenson Button and Johnson has been fast enough; Rockenfeller put down a qualifying lap that was faster than every car in the GTE AM class by a full three seconds.

The Hendrick Motorsports crew won its class in the pit stop competition and finished fifth overall as the only team using a manual jack against teams exclusively using air jacks. Rick Hendrick said he could not be prouder of the showing his organization has made even before race day.

“When we said we’re gonna do it, I said, ‘Look, we can’t do this half-assed. I want to be as sharp as anybody out there,” Hendrick told AP. “I don’t want to be any less than any other team here. And just to see the reaction from the crowd, people are so excited about this car. My granddaughter has been sending me all these TikTok things that fans are making about NASCAR being at Le Mans.”

This isn’t NASCAR’s first attempt to run Le Mans. The late France Sr. brokered a deal in 1976, as America celebrated its bicentennial, to bring two cars to compete in the Grand International class and NASCAR selected the teams. Herschel McGriff and his son, Doug, drove a Wedge-powered, Olympia Beer-sponsored Dodge Charger, and Junie Donlavey piloted a Ford Torino shared by Richard Brooks and Dick Hutcherson.

Neither car came close to finishing the race. McGriff, now 95 and inducted into NASCAR’s Hall of Fame in January, is in Le Mans as France’s guest, clad head-to-toe in the noticeable Garage 56 uniforms.

“I threw a lot of hints that I would like to come. And I’ve been treated as royalty,” McGriff said. “This is unbelievable to me. I recognize nothing but I’m anxious to see everything. I’ve been watching and seeing pictures and I can certainly see the fans love their NASCAR.”

The goal is to finish the full race Sunday and, just maybe, beat cars from other classes. Should they pull off the feat, the driver trio wants its own podium celebration.

“I think people will talk about this car for a long, long time,” said Rockenfeller, who along with sports car driver Jordan Taylor did much of the development alongside crew chief Chad Knaus and Greg Ives, a former crew chief who stepped into a projects role at Hendrick this year.

“When we started with the Cup car, we felt already there was so much potential,” Rockenfeller said. “And then we tweaked it. And we go faster, and faster, at Le Mans on the SIM. But you never know until you hit the real track, and to be actually faster than the SIM. Everybody in the paddock, all the drivers, they come up and they are, ‘Wow, this is so cool,’ and they were impressed by the pit stops. We’ve overachieved, almost, and now of course the goal is to run for 24 hours.”

The car completed a full 24-hour test at Sebring, Florida, earlier this year, Knaus said, and is capable of finishing the race. Button believes NASCAR will leave a lasting impression no matter what happens.

“If you haven’t seen this car live yet, it’s an absolute beast,” Button said. “When you see and hear it go by, it just puts a massive smile on your face.”

For Hendrick, the effort is the first in his newfound embrace of racing outside NASCAR, the stock car series founded long ago in the American South. Aside from the Le Mans project, he will own the Indy car that Kyle Larson drives for Arrow McLaren in next year’s Indianapolis 500 and it will be sponsored by his automotive company.

“If you’d have told me I’d be racing at Le Mans and Indianapolis within the same year, I’d never have believed you,” Hendrick told AP. “But we’re doing both and we’re going to do it right.”

Le Mans 24 Hour Race - Car Parade
Fans gather around the NASCAR Next Gen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 that is the Garage 56 entry for the 100th 24 Hours of Le Mans at the Circuit de la Sarthe (Chris Graythen/Getty Images).

General Motors is celebrating the achievement with a 2024 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Garage 56 Edition and only 56 will be available to collectors later this year.

“Even though Chevrolet has been racing since its inception in 1911, we’ve never done anything quite like Garage 56,” said GM President Mark Reuss. “A NASCAR stock car running at Le Mans is something fans doubted they would see again.”

The race hasn’t even started yet, but Hendrick has enjoyed it so much that he doesn’t want the project to end.

“It’s like a shame to go through all this and do all this, and then Sunday it’s done,” Hendrick said. “It’s just really special to be here.”