Herta Wins the Pole Position with a New Track Record at Long Beach

Colton Herta pulverized the track record by nearly a second to win the NTT P1 Award for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Saturday, leading three Andretti Autosport cars in the Firestone Fast Six. Southern California native Herta’s top lap was 1 minute, 5.3095 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda to earn his first pole of the season and eighth of his career. That lap crushed the track record of 1:06.2254 set by Helio Castroneves in April 2017, as air temperatures were about 20 degrees cooler than the infernal high 90s during practice Friday. “As a young kid, I always dreamed of becoming an INDYCAR driver, and that was because of this race,” said Herta, 22. “To get the win last year was amazing, and we checked another box with the pole. It feels incredible.” Herta will look to continue his mastery of recent NTT INDYCAR SERIES races in the Golden State with a fourth consecutive win in California on Sunday. He won last September at Long Beach and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, and he also finished the 2019 season with a victory at Laguna. The series didn’t race in California in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Live coverage of the 85-lap race starts at 3 p.m. (ET) Sunday on NBC, Peacock Premium and the INDYCAR Radio Network.