Colton Herta got the win in the Freedom 100 Indy Lights race with a good strategy and an effective move in the last lap which allowed him to open a gap with Pato O’Ward.
Freedom 100 is the name given to the race held in the Indianapolis oval track, the only Indy 500 race on a Friday, also known as Carb Day. The ceremony started with 9 year-old Liamani Segura singing the American national anthem and with former IndyCar driver Arie Luyendyk Jr telling the drivers to start their engines.
Kellet started leading the race from pole position in spite of the attacks from Franzoni, whose tyres suffered severe degradation, forcing him to pit and losing 2 laps. This left Kellet, Herta, O’Ward and Urrutia as the candidates for the win.
With 5 laps to go and after only leading 3 laps, Herta overtook Urrutia on the outside, while O’Ward passed him on the inside and got the lead. Herta passed him two corners later, but Urrutia got the lead back with 2 laps to go.
This decision proved to be the wrong strategy, as he was overtaken by his rivals. Herta managed to open a big enough gap for O’Ward and Kellet to be unable to catch him. He got the win, as well as the million dollar prize. Urrutia was finally 4th ahead of Norman, Telitz, Hamilton and Franzoni.
