Colton Herta reacts on his radio after spinning in the opening lap of IndyCar Iowa Race 1 - “I don't think the tires are that bad”

Andretti Global star Colton Herta spun on Lap 1 at the 2025 IndyCar Iowa Race 1, officially known as the Synk 275, on Saturday, July 12. The Cadillac F1 prospect had a poor qualifying and started the race towards the back of the grid. After the warm-up laps, as the flag turned green, the Andretti driver lost the car, spun around, and reacted on his radio.

Colton Herta came into the 2025 season as a championship contender. However, it hasn't been a good year for the Andretti Global driver, who currently sits 7th in the championship standings, 213 points behind championship leader Alex Palou after 10 races.

Colton Herta finished as the runner-up in the IndyCar championship in 2024, but 2025 has been a year struck with bad luck and small errors. The American driver has had slow pit stops, crashes on Lap 1, and unforced errors, which have led to subpar results.

Herta had an issue with a slow pitstop while he was running with the leaders at St. Pete, a crash at the Indy 500 qualifying, and now the spin at the Iowa race 1. Colton Herta started the Synk 275 in P23 after a poor qualifying run.

Coming to the green lap, the race started, and the Andretti Global driver spun going into Turn 1 as he seemingly went too low into the corner and lost the car. Fortunately, Herta was able to stop the car from going into the barrier, cut across the grass patch, and rejoined at the back, but caused a caution, which slowed down the field.

After the first lap spin, Herta came on the radio and reported that his tires were fine despite the spin and off-track excursion. He said:

“I don't think the tires are that bad.”

The radio also confirmed that the spin was not because of a puncture, but an unforced error made by the 25-year-old driver. Herta rejoined the grid in last place and already made up a position on Jacob Abel by Lap 50.

Colton Herta's run at the 2025 IndyCar Race 1 at Iowa

Colton Herta has had nine starts at the Iowa Speedway and only took his first pole position at the circuit last year. The Andretti Global driver led the 2024 Race 1 for 86 laps before a caution came out, and he shuffled back to P2.

Herta ran P2 for the entirety of the race until the final stop, where an untimely caution messed up his race strategy and he finished P11, just outside the Top 10.

However, the 2025 qualifying has been a different story for the Andretti Global driver. Colton qualified P23 for Race 1 on Saturday and P19 for Race 2, Farm to Finish 275, on Sunday at Iowa.

Edited by Sumeet Kavthale