"International races": When Colton Herta laid out his 'dream scenario' for IndyCar in 2025

Colton Herta has achieved immense success in IndyCar at a young age. And though he has yet to conquer many circuits, especially ovals, the Andretti Global driver wants IndyCar to expand its boundaries into new territories beyond North America.

IndyCar hasn't raced outside the North American continent since 2013, when it traveled to Brazil for the Sau Paolo Indy 300 for the fourth and last time. When Colton Herta appeared on an episode of 'Off Track with Hinch and Rossi' in September, host Alex Rossi asked him about his 'dream scenario' for the 2025 IndyCar season. The No. 26 driver replied:

"International races. There's a few reasons why international races are so good for IndyCar. They are not paid for by the teams. Usually, it's the promoter or the city or the country is supplying with a whole bunch of millions of dollars for us to go racing there and it's profitable for IndyCar and IndyCar teams to do so. You know, if we can have some of these, maybe just two outside of North America, and kinda hopefully grow it from there."

Herta cited the audience's overwhelming responses from when IndyCar raced in Australia, England and Brazil to back his argument.

"There's a huge market for IndyCar outside of the US. If you look at when they raced in Sao Paulo a few years ago, the crowds were insane. Every time they went to the Gold Coast, the crowds were insane. Racing at Rockingham in England, the places were always packed. If the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) can get 40,000 people on race day at Brands Hatch, I don't see why IndyCar can't at least match that and more likely double it."

IndyCar's international expansion was a hot topic in November when CEO Mark Miles expressed interest in holding a race in Australia in the future. However, his plans didn't find backing from Arrow McLaren CEO Zak Brown, who urged the series to cover more bases in America before heading abroad.

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Colton Herta eyes 2025 IndyCar title after bittersweet 2024 results

Colton Herta at the 2023 Grand Prix Of Long Beach - Source: Getty

Colton Herta secured a career-best second position in the IndyCar standings in 2024. He took 11 Top 5 finishes, including two wins - the first at the Indy Toronto and the second at the season finale in Nashville, which was his first breakthrough win at an oval.

Though he took a significant step towards his maiden championship after two consecutive seasons of finishing tenth in the standings, the California native wasn't satisfied.

"It’s never a successful season if you don’t win a championship or win the (Indianapolis) ‘500," Herta said (via IndyCar). "It’s hard to win in this series. It’s hard to demand wins. Just frustrates you when it doesn't happen, and it doesn't happen a lot more than it does happen, unfortunately for everybody."

"Just needing more consistent podiums. If we take that step next year what we did from last year to this year, it would (be) a huge improvement."

2025 could be a pivotal year in Colton Herta's racing career. If he secures fifth or higher in the standings, he could take his super license points tally over 40. This would make him eligible to race in F1 for the Cadillac F1 team in 2026, which he is already linked to.