Colton Herta finished second in IndyCar’s Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, crossing the line less than a second behind Scott Dixon.
Herta was able to be in that position due to a forceful move on Josef Newgarden in the final hairpin that some felt deserved a penalty.
The California-native was running in third, directly behind Newgarden with 10 laps to go when he misjudged his braking zone into the slowest corner on the circuit.
Herta hit the back of Newgarden’s car squarely, with just enough force to lift his rear wheels off the ground right as he was getting back on the throttle. The loss of traction caused anti-stall mode to activate, and left the two-time champion waiting for the system to reset for multiple seconds.
Herta and Palou drove around Newgarden before he was able to get going again, effectively ending his chances at challenging for the win.
The Team Penske veteran called on the radio to demand a penalty, but none came from race control and he finished the race in fourth position.
Speaking to media after the race, Herta said that he was almost expecting to receive a light penalty for the move.
“I would have been surprised with a drive-through or something like that,” said Herta. “I would not have been surprised if they moved me behind him. It was borderline.
“The problem wasn’t the hit. It was when he landed, he went into anti-stall. That’s what killed it. If he doesn’t go into anti-stall, nothing happens, we all stay in the line. I may have a chance at the end of the front straight. Really no difference.
“Yeah, a penalty, I would have been surprised to see something like a drive-through. I think you could call to rotate back [behind Newgarden on track], but then that would mean Alex [Palou] would be second.
“In this sport we don’t need him doing more,” he concluded jokingly.
Newgarden confronted Herta in person after the two climbed from their cars. Herta apologized for the hit, but obviously was not sorry that he kept the position after making the pass.
Because the incident was not investigated during the race, there will be no penalties coming and the results will stand as they crossed the line.
Herta continued his explanation later on and described how he came into contact with Newgarden’s car.
“Ideally you want to exit the corner as straight as possible to get the best run onto the straight. You do that by opening up the entry. But it slows down your speed so much on the entry.
“If you’re not doing that every lap, it’s tough to kind of gauge on how fast he was going to be going there. He opened it up. Ultimately it’s his right to do that. It’s my right to not run into the back of him there. But that’s why he did it.
“He went wider. He did a different line to get a better exit to hopefully get a run on to Scott [Dixon]. In doing that he was a lot slower mid corner.
“I think he had the right to [confront me after the race]. I mean, I wouldn’t have been happy if it went down… Yeah, ultimately it is what it is. I just misjudged it. I apologized to him.”
