Colton Herta gets real about slump as Andretti teammate Kyle Kirkwood continues fantastic IndyCar run

Colton Herta, who finished runner-up in the 2024 IndyCar championship, has opened up on his slump due to a volatile run in 2025. Contrarily, his Andretti Global teammate Kyle Kirkwood has won three races this season and is the only driver to beat Alex Palou, who has won the other five of eight races.

Ahead of the XPEL Grand at Road America, Herta spoke about his unfortunate run and Kirkwood's streak. He told reporter Bob Pockrass:

"Yeah, I mean it's unfortunate for us, but if it's not me that is winning, you want a teammate to win. You want somebody to take points out of Palou, which is the main thing. It's good to know that the team is winning, and that makes everybody happy and excited around the shop. But for me, you know, I need to start winning."

Kyle Kirkwood won his first race of the season on the streets of Long Beach, fending off Alex Palou. He took his other two victories in the last two races of the season at the Detroit GP and the Bommarito Automotive Group 500.

The Detroit win came on a weekend when Colton Herta began on pole position. However, after the first cycle of pit stops, Nolan Siegel dive-bombed Herta in Turn 4, unsettling the Andretti driver and also helping Kirkwood pass him at the same time.

Thereon, Kirkwood sustained the lead and won the race. Nonetheless, Herta finished P3 on the podium, his best result of the season. His only other Top 5 finish of the season had come in Thermal.

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Colton Herta shares defeated message after Road America qualifying

Colton Herta drives his No. 26 Honda during qualifying at the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America - Source: Getty

Colton Herta had a terrible outing in the qualifying session for the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America on Saturday (June 21). The Andretti Global driver failed to make it past Round 1.

His lap time of 1:45.2235s around the 4.048-mile circuit was only good enough to secure him a P8 spot among the 14 drivers in Group 2. Teammate Marcus Ericsson was quicker than him, yet could only secure P7.

The duo failed to make the Top 6, consisting of Lundgaard, McLaughlin, Malukas, Power, Rosenqvist and eventual pole-sitter Louis Foster. After the session, Colton Herta spoke with FOX reporter Jack Harvey (also an Indy 500-only driver this season) about his knockout.

"Yeah, pretty poor. Nothing to really be happy about, with that one," he said via IndyCar on X. "So, yeah, I don't really have much to say. I think we haven't been on it this weekend, unfortunately, and we need to find some stuff for tomorrow for sure."

Meanwhile, Kyle Kirkwood made it to the Fast 6 and secured a starting position of P3 for the 2025 XPEL Grand Prix at Road America. The race will start at 2:30 pm ET on Sunday (June 22).