“My dad and I have a lot of special memories”: When Colton Herta honored his father Bryan with a special tribute livery

The Andretti Global driver Colton Herta once spoke about his relationship with his father, Bryan Herta. He spoke about how he and his father had a lot of special memories at Laguna Seca during his special livery launch in 2023.

Bryan Herta is a former American racing driver, and he drove for teams like Andretti Green Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing, and A.J. Foyt Racing, to name a few. He also took part in the Indianapolis 500 five times and has finished in the top ten thrice. He currently serves as the #27 Andretti Global driver Kyle Kirkwood's strategist.

In 2023, Colton Herta drove a special livery that paid tribute to his father's first career win in the series, which took place in 1998 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Herta also won back-to-back at the track and never qualified below the front two rows.

The #26 Andretti Global driver had also spoken about the significance of the car. He said (via Andretti Global):

“My dad and I have a lot of special memories at Laguna Seca. The Gainbridge throwback livery is a great way to celebrate the 25th anniversary of my dad’s win. I’m excited to showcase it in front of our fans in a few weeks.”

Earlier that year, Colton Herta had surprised his father with a drive in the actual car that he won his first race in. Like his father, Herta also took back-to-back victories at the Laguna Seca track in 2019 and 2021. In 2020, the race at the Lagna Seca track was cancelled due to the pandemic.

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When Colton Herta broke his winless streak at Toronto

In 2024, Colton Herta spoke about his race in Toronto after he took the victory and ended his winless streak. He had started the race from pole position and led 81 out of the 85 laps of the race.

Herta had put on a dominant display throughout the race. While talking to the media post-race, he had spoken about his emotions after the race win. He said, ( via Total Motorsports)

“We needed this so bad. We’ve been competitive all year, but we just haven’t been able to get the final result. It was a big day.”

“We’ve been knocking on the door to win for so long. Forty-one starts without a win is a long time, and it’s been disappointing for us. We are a team that demands perfection. I’m so happy. The Gainbridge Honda was incredibly fast,” he added.

Colton Herta had finished the race 0.3469 seconds ahead of his Andretti Global teammate, Kyle Kirkwood. He had also dominated all the practice sessions and recorded the fastest laps across all three sessions. This had also marked Andretti Global's first 1-2 finish after the rebranding that took place in 2023. Herta also put an end to his 40-race winless streak and took his eighth career win.