Herta Completes May Sweep with Victory in Breathtaking Freedom 100

Colton Herta became the first Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires driver to sweep all three races during the Month of May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, capturing a spellbinding Freedom 100 on Friday.

Herta, the son of Indianapolis 500 veteran and Verizon IndyCar Series team owner Bryan Herta, edged Patricio O’Ward by .0281 of a second in a race that featured 20 lead changes among five drivers, both event records. Herta, 18, from Valencia, California, also won the two races May 11-12 on the IMS road course in the No. 98 Andretti Steinbrenner Racing entry owned by George Michael Steinbrenner, the grandson of former New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

“It's so cool,” Herta said. “I didn't really realize how cool it was until I got to kiss the bricks. Both my dad's IndyCar wins (as team owner), I held off here because I didn't deserve it. Now I finally deserved it. Damn, that's so cool.

“I feel like I just got a little bit of a taste, and now I want to go win the ‘500’ next year.”

O’Ward, Herta and Santi Urrutia were three-wide crossing the Yard of Bricks with the white flag in the air to start the last trip around the oval in the 40-lap race. Pole sitter Dalton Kellett tried to expand the party to four cars entering Turn 1 but wisely backed out.

Herta took the lead in Turn 1 and maintained a gap of approximately one car length on O’Ward through Turn 2 and down the back straightaway into Turn 3. Herta kept the gap through Turn 4, but O’Ward darted to the outside on the front straightaway, with the checkered flag in the air, hoping to edge Herta at the line.

But the move fell just short, and Herta seized his third victory of the Indy Lights season. Kellett ended up third in the No. 28 Andretti Autosport entry, .1500 of a second behind Herta.

“I tried to position myself the best I could for the last lap,” O’Ward said. “But I just got the wash coming out of Turn 4. My car was facing directly toward the wall. I had to lift.

“Dalton was behind me. I got a nice little tow from Colton. It just wasn't enough to get him at the line. We barely missed it by a wing.”

The jousting over the final lap allowed Urrutia and Norman also to position themselves for a chance at victory, which also ended up short. Urrutia placed fourth in the No. 5 Belardi Auto Racing entry, .2464 of a second behind Herta. Norman was fifth in the No. 48 Andretti Autosport entry, .3303 of a second behind the winner.

There were no caution periods in the race, which featured an event-record average speed of 191.422 mph.

The race featured a breathtaking 119 on-track passes in 40 laps, as the field started dicing from the green flag and never let up. Passes for position and the lead were made inside and outside in turns, with packs of four and five cars marching around the 2.5-mile oval, often inches apart.