Harding Steinbrenner Racing's Colton Herta has become the youngest winner in IndyCar history after clinching his maiden victory in the IndyCar Classic at the Circuit of the Americas.
Herta had been running on a similar pace with Team Penske's Will Power and Andretti Autosport's Alexander Rossi for the majority of the race and a caution period saw the 18-year-old jump to the front of the field after Power and Rossi failed to pit.
With 10 laps to go, Herta was able to pull away from Penske's Josef Newgarden and manage the gap as the race restarted to put his name in IndyCar history in just his third start.
Newgarden had to settle for second despite having copious amounts of push-to-pass left on the restart but was unable to do anything about the pace of Herta in the final laps. The Nashville-born racer remains at the top of the championship after the opening two rounds.
Ryan Hunter-Reay ended the race where he started in third place; the 2012 series champion was unable to keep up with Power, Rossi, and Herta throughout most of the race and his steady pace allowed him to reclaim the third sport at the end.
The previous holder of the record for the youngest IndyCar race winner in Graham Rahal enjoyed a solid race throughout the IndyCar Classic. He made up several places from his starting position of 10th to finish just outside the podium in fourth.
Four-time series champion Sebastien Bourdais stormed through the field after starting in 17th place after a tough qualifying session, the Frenchman put on several tough passes on his rivals to cross the line in fifth place, showing he still has plenty to give in the #18 Sealmaster Honda.
Like his rivals in front of him, Marco Andretti also made up several places over the 60-lap race having qualified a lowly 20th place and ended the race in sixth in the #98 US Concrete entry.
Takuma Sato was very stealthy over the course of the race and also picked up places throughout the race after starting 14th. The Japanese driver made it a double points finish for Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan racing after finishing in seventh.
Patricio O'Ward made a superb start to his season with Carlin Racing after crossing the line in eighth place in only his second IndyCar start, the Mexican driver pulled several hard moves on his rivals all without having completed the 'Spring Training' test in February.
Rossi was caught out by a late race caution period for the crash involving Chip Ganassi's Felix Rosenqvist having not made his final stop while challenging Power for the lead. After making his final stop under caution, the Californian driver lost numerous places and a late race charge to the end of the race saw him finish ninth.
In his expanded race program for 2019, Jack Harvey was able to make it a second consecutive top 10 finish for the #60 Meyer Shank Racing entry after a tough race having started from 23rd on the grid.
Having led almost every lap of the race until his final stop, Power's race ended in disaster during his final stop under the caution period, as the Australian driver pulled away from his pitbox, a driveshaft snapped which meant his afternoon was over and he lost out on the $100,000 prize on offer for the driver who could claim pole position and the race victory.
Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist suffered from tyre wear issues throughout the race which saw them fall back down through the field. Dixon ended the race in 13th after starting sixth.
Rosenqvist's race ended in the wall on the inside of the track between Turn 19 and 20 after connecting with the #5 of James Hinchcliffe.
Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsport's day looked set to have both Hinchcliffe and the #7 of Marcus Ericsson inside the top 10. However, Ericsson lost places due to the caution period and Hinchcliffe dropped down the field to repair his front wing after connecting with Rosenqvist.
The next race is at Barber Motorsports Park for the Honda Grand Prix of Alabama on April 5-7.
