APRIL 28, 2021

(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Colton Herta (No. 26 Andretti Autosport Gainbridge Honda) scored his fourth INDYCAR victory in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday, which matched the same total his father, Bryan, achieved over his own 12-year career, except Colton needed just 34 races for his four wins, and he's a now championship contender at the start of his third full INDYCAR season. Herta delivered a dominant performance, starting from the pole and leading a race-record 97 of the 100 laps to win his first race with his father as his race strategist. Andretti Autosport paired the Hertas for the first time this year, dismissing previous father-son combinations that simply didn’t work in IndyCar. This one would work, Michael Andretti insisted, because Colton Herta is so calm and so collected, and Bryan Herta had been a master on the radio for both Alexander Rossi and Marco Andretti. So when two cautions created two late restarts for Colton Herta to hold off Josef Newgarden, Bryan Herta was asked if father or son was more nervous about the fate of the race. “Neither of us,” Bryan Herta said. The 21-year-old Herta was exhausted following the drive on a hot, high humidity day on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary course along the Tampa Bay. Both of his hands were blistered and he said after climbing from the car that he was winded several times. But he immediately recognized he’d tied his dad in the win column, and his beaming father acknowledged the kid is for real. “When he first moved to IndyCar, people asked me if he was better than I was,” Bryan Herta said. “They don’t ask me that anymore.” (Thank you to Jenna Fryer, AP)

(Photo by Joe Skibinski/INDYCAR)
Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Team Penske Hitachi Chevrolet) pushed Herta in the closing laps, but he clearly didn't have enough to make a serious run, finishing second. 
(Photo by Joe Skibinski/INDYCAR)
Simon Pagenaud (No. 22 Team Penske Menards Australian Gold Chevrolet) came home a strong - and much-needed - third after qualifying fourth.

(Team Penske)
Despite sustaining damage in an early wreck, and despite leading only one lap in Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Team Penske Ford) came through for an opportunistic overtime victory. Surging to the front on the final lap, after fellow Ford driver Matt DiBenedetto (No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford) abandoned the bottom lane and gave Keselowski a clear run to the front, Keselowski claimed his first victory of the season, the 35th of his career and his sixth at Talladega, tying Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. for second-most all-time at the 2.66-mile track. “The whole race, I had a couple of opportunities to take the lead, but I just kept thinking, ‘Man, just keep your car in one piece till the end,’" Keselowski said. "We’ve been so close here, and it just didn’t seem to want to come together here the last few years, and I’ve been on kind of a four-year drought here, but it’s nice to get number six. I would have never dreamed I’d tie Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. here. That’s something. Those guys are really legends. I’m just really proud of my team. We had an accident there early, and they recovered and got it fixed up to where I could keep running. My crew chief, Jeremy Bullins, had a lot of confidence. I told him (before pitting on Lap 173 of a scheduled 188), ‘I want to come in and put four tires on this thing,’ and he said, ‘Yep, go ahead.’ And that really helped a bunch at the end.” William Byron (No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) was second, extending his streak of top-10 finishes to eight races. Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell (No. 34 Ford) was third. (Thanks to Reid Spencer/NASCAR Wire Service)

(Trans Am by Pirelli)
Chris Dyson (No. 20 Chris Dyson Racing Altwell CBD Ford Mustang) won the Trans Am Series Presented by Pirelli West Coast race at Sonoma Raceway after the New York native drove from the back to the front of the 29-car field twice to claim his first West Coast victory. Three different class cars led during the 100-mile race, but it was Dyson in his 850HP TA car who claimed the checkered. As the drivers took the start command, high winds and hard rain started to fall. Race control called for two reconnaissance laps instead of the typical single circuit for drivers to examine the changing track conditions. After the first lap, pole-sitter Dyson pulled into the pits to switch from Pirelli slicks to wets, forfeiting his first-place start. Dyson took the green in last place and managed to work his way through the field to eighth before the first full course caution emerged about 10 minutes into the race. With the rain fading, Dyson returned to the pits for another tire switch, returning in 19th place. Another full course yellow mid-way through the race allowed Dyson to play catch up. With his Pirelli slicks getting up to temperature, Dyson’s average speed was about five seconds a lap faster than the leader’s, which allowed him to advance three positions in each lap until he took the overall lead on Lap 25 from XGT driver Simon Gregg. CD Racing finished one-two overall as its National series TA driver Humaid Masaood (No. 21 CD Racing Amamos LaVida Tequilla Ford Mustang) finished second overall and second in class after starting eighth. “What a special day,” Dyson said. “Sonoma has always meant a lot to me. My dad won one of his biggest IMSA races here in 1986. I grew up watching the race broadcast and even memorized the commentary. I always come out here with a little spring in my step. I fell in love with the place the first time I drove here, and this is my first time out here in the Trans Am car. To come out here and win in honor of the Pickett family is such a special day for us.” Dyson represented West Coast Trans Am Champion Greg Pickett in a collaboration with Pickett’s newest business venture Altwell CBD, giving Dyson’s No. 20 Ford Mustang a makeover from his traditional red and white Plaid livery to a yellow and white scheme for his West Coast tour. Dyson broke Pickett’s Sonoma Trans Am lap record during qualifying on Saturday, beating the standing time by more than two seconds. Pickett met Dyson in the winners’ circle to celebrate the victory. “Chris and I go way back, we’ve been competitors for a number of years and I spent a bit of time racing his father (Rob Dyson) in prototypes,” Gregg explained. “He’s been a dear friend of mine for a lot of years. I respect him as a person, a competitor and a father, and if anyone was to break my track record here at Sonoma, I am glad it was a Dyson.” Gregg (No. 59 The Peter Gregg Foundation Mercedes-Benz AMG) finished third overall and first in the XGT class. Gregg lost the lead on the opening lap to TA2 driver Sam Mayer before repaying the favor the following lap. The reigning West Coast XGT champion controlled the race until Dyson made a pass on his outside in Turn 1 on Lap 25 and then dropped to third after Dyson’s teammate Masaood edged himself into second 10 laps later. (Thanks to Trans Am Series Media)