"Just plain hard to drive": Colton Herta lays out how the Indianapolis Motor Speedway differs from IndyCar's road courses

Colton Herta is one of the highly regarded drivers in IndyCar currently but has never won the elusive Indianapolis 500. Subsequently, in an interview with the newly appointed President of IndyCar, Doug Boles, the 24-year-old revealed how the 2.5-mile super speedway was different from the road courses on the calendar.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway is understood to be the home of the premier open-wheel racing championship in the US. The 2.5-mile track has hosted 108 Indy 500s over the past century, and winning the fabled race guarantees a driver's name to be etched in the sport's history.

The track features four quarter-mile turns with a 9.2° bank angle for each turn. This enables drivers to take the corners almost flat-out at speeds of over 220mph.

Colton Herta revealed that the challenge posted by the track is matched by no other race. The 200-lap race requires drivers to stay on their toes for the whole duration as one mistake could scarily end their race, as he said (via Indianapolis Motor Speedway):

"I think the thing that's different from from that to a road course is just the precision is times a thousand that you need in an IndyCar. But if you turn in just that little bit too late and whatnot, you're never going to make it down to the apex. On a road course, you can just slow down more and you'll make it down there, but at Indianapolis you're so light on downforce, the conditions are so hard to master, and the track's just plain hard to drive. Even though it can somewhat look easy from our perspective, you know it's extremely hard, and we're always on our toes." (3:30 onwards)

Herta has participated in six Indy 500s since 2019.

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How has Colton Herta fared at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Colton Herta at the INDYCAR Series The 107th Indianapolis 500 - Source: Getty

Though the Andretti driver has won around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway once in 2022, this win was achieved at the road course version of the legendary track. In his six race starts at the Indy 500, Colton Herta has never won the elusive race.

In his rookie Indy 500 race in 2019, he DNFed out of the race and was classified last in the pecking order. Herta had a better outing the next year as he claimed his first top-10 finish at the track as he finished eighth on the road.

However, this finish remains his best to date at the 2.5-mile track. In his four subsequent outings, Colton Herta had a best result of ninth, which he achieved in 2023.

The 24-year-old's latest try at the Indy 500 saw him starting on the fifth row, but his race ended early as he DNFed out of the race due to a collision this time.