Harding Racing logo prior to partnership Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport was an auto racing team that competed in the

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, officially known as the NTT IndyCar Series for sponsorship reasons, is the highest class of American open-wheel car racing in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies sinc ...

. Founded as Harding Racing in 2017 by businessman Mike Harding, the team would form partnerships in 2019 with

Steinbrenner Racing Steinbrenner Racing is an American automotive racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series. The team is owned by George Michael Steinbrenner IV and Julia Steinbrenner. George and Julia are the children of the late co-owner and co-chairman of ...

and in 2020 with

Andretti Autosport Andretti Global is an American motorsports organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series, Indy NXT, Formula E, and joint entries in IMSA and the Australian Supercars Championship. Starting in 2026, Andretti will also operate the Cad ...

, the latter resulting in team equipment and personnel moving into Andretti's race shop. Harding's involvement would end after the 2020 season.

History

The team was founded as Harding Racing in 2017 by Mike Harding, with

Gabby Chaves Gabriel Chaves (born 7 July 1993) is a Colombian-American racing driver, currently competing in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the Michelin Pilot Challenge. He raced in the IndyCar Series and is the 2014 Indy Lights Champion. Raci ...

as driver for the Indy 500, Texas and Pocono, moving to full-time in 2018. Indy Lights driver

Santiago Urrutia Santiago Urrutia Lausarot (born 30 August 1996) is a Uruguayan racing driver. He currently competes in the World Touring Car Cup, driving for Cyan Performance Lynk & Co. He formerly competed in Indy Lights, and was the 2015 Pro Mazda series ch ...

was signed on a handshake deal to join Chaves at the team in 2018, but the team backflipped on the deal before the season started. In 2019, he would partner with Steinbrenner Racing, led by George Michael Steinbrenner IV, the son of the late

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

co-owner and co-chairman

Hank Steinbrenner Henry George Steinbrenner III (April 2, 1957 – April 14, 2020) was an American businessman who was a part owner and co-chairman of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was the older brother of the team's principal own ...

and a grandson of George Steinbrenner III. Steinbrenner IV had previously run an

Indy Lights Indy NXT (pronounced "Indy Next"), previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as INDY NXT by Firestone for sponsorship reasons. Indy NXT is the highest step on the Roa ...

program with childhood friend

Colton Herta Colton Thomas Herta (born March 30, 2000) is an American auto racing, racing driver who competes in the IndyCar Series, NTT IndyCar Series for Andretti Autosport, Andretti Global with Curb Agajanian Performance Group, Curb Agajanian. He is the yo ...

as driver, in a partnership with

. With the addition of Steinbrenner IV came Herta and a technical alliance with Andretti, that would see Andretti Technologies engineers be assigned to the No. 88. A planned second entry was intended for Herta's Lights teammate and rival

Pato O'Ward Patricio "Pato" O'Ward Junco (born 6 May 1999) is a Mexican professional auto racing driver who competes full-time in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren. He is the 2018 Indy Lights champion. He is signed to the Mc ...

, however due to a lack of funding (despite O'Ward carrying a 3-race scholarship for winning the Lights championship), the No. 8 Honda that O'Ward was slated to drive was never entered, and O'Ward would be released from his contract before the first race of 2019. Herta would win the second race of 2019, at

Circuit of the Americas Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a Grade 1 Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA-specification motor racing track and facilities located in Austin, Texas, United States. The facility is home to the Formula One United States Grand Pr ...

, but that did little to solve the team's continued budget issues. Herta had a contract with Andretti which superseded his contract with Harding, but with the requirement that Herta have a IndyCar Series race ride. Rather than lose the young driver to the newly formed

Arrow McLaren SP The IndyCar Series operation of McLaren, competing as Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team due to sponsorship, is based in Indianapolis and was founded by former IndyCar driver Sam Schmidt in 2001 as Sam Schmidt Motorsports (SSM). The team operates the N ...

, Andretti agreed to a deal that would see the HSR No. 88 entry absorbed into Andretti's shop after the 2019 season, with team equipment and some personnel being moved under the Andretti banner, but not before Herta would win again in the season finale at

Laguna Seca Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for sponsorship reasons) is a paved Racing track#Motorsport, road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and Motorcyc ...

. Larry Curry acted as the team manager and competition director. In November 2017

Brian Barnhart Brian Barnhart (born June 30, 1961) is an American motorsports executive. He is the general manager of Arrow McLaren, and is known for his past roles within the IndyCar Series paddock, holding various positions for race teams and as a race director ...

was named the team's president as the team prepared to join the series full time. Barnhart would be credited with securing the partnership with Steinbrenner/Andretti and eventual merger with Andretti amidst the teams budget issues. At 22-years old, Steinbrenner became the youngest car owner in IndyCar history.

Racing results

Complete IndyCar Series results

( key) * Season still in progress

IndyCar wins

References

{{IndyCar Series teams IndyCar Series teams American auto racing teams Auto racing teams established in 2017 Auto racing teams disestablished in 2020