Herta's junior career established him as a formidable talent in American single-seater racing. He won both the Barber Formula Ford and the Barber Saab Pro Series before dominating the 1993 Indy Lights championship with Tasman Motorsports, with race engineering provided by Gerald Tyler. That title earned him a graduation to the main IndyCar field in 1994.
Herta made his CART debut in 1994 with team owner A.J. Foyt, showing promise before a season-ending injury at Toronto curtailed his year. For 1995 he moved to Chip Ganassi Racing — alongside teammate Jimmy Vasser — but despite a pole position at Phoenix, the association did not produce the results either party hoped for, and Herta finished twentieth in the championship while Vasser placed eighth. He landed a more competitive drive with Team Rahal for 1996.
Over the following years Herta built a reputation as one of the finest road-course drivers in American open-wheel racing, particularly at Laguna Seca Raceway. In 1996 he held the lead at Laguna Seca until the final lap, when Alex Zanardi executed his famous pass through the Corkscrew chicane to take victory. Herta responded by winning at the same venue in both 1998 and 1999. The level of fan enthusiasm around him during this period was such that team co-owner David Letterman's organisation described it as "Hertamania."
In 1998 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, Herta was involved in a serious accident in the circuit's fifth turn. After spinning into a paved runoff area facing oncoming traffic, Alex Barron's car slid into the front of Herta's and rode up over it. Both drivers escaped without injury, though Herta later noted that Barron's car had struck his hands only inches from his face.
From 2000 to 2003 Herta drove for several Champ Car teams including Forsythe Championship Racing, Mo Nunn Racing, and PK Racing, but did not consistently recapture his late-1990s form. In 2002, during the Thunder in the Park event at Donington Park, he drove an F1 car for the first time — a Minardi — which briefly generated speculation about a possible F1 test or race drive that ultimately did not materialise.
Herta revived his open-wheel career by substituting for an injured Dario Franchitti partway through the 2003 IRL season with Andretti Green Racing. In just his third IRL start he won at Kansas Speedway, and he was retained by the team for an expanded 2004 programme. On July 31, 2005, he recorded his second and final IndyCar victory in the Firestone Indy 400 at Michigan International Speedway, edging out AGR teammate Dan Wheldon at the finish.
At the Indianapolis 500 specifically, Herta started five times across his career — in 1994, 1995, 2004, 2005, and 2006 — recording three top-ten finishes including a best result of third in 2005.
In early 2006 Herta also drove for A1 Team USA in the A1 Grand Prix series at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and Fundidora Park before returning to Andretti Green for the IRL season. He also competed in the American Le Mans Series from 2007 with Andretti Green Racing's Acura LMP programme, sharing with Marino Franchitti.
After retiring from driving, Herta founded Bryan Herta Autosport, initially fielding entries in the Firestone Indy Lights Series with a technical alliance with Vision Racing. The team's profile grew rapidly. In 2011 Herta entered Dan Wheldon in the Indianapolis 500 — the result was a stunning victory, Wheldon's second 500 win and the team's first. For the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series season the team ran Alex Tagliani at Indianapolis before switching to a Honda-powered DW12.
In 2016 Herta partnered with Michael Andretti as co-owner for the Indianapolis 500 entry driven by rookie Alexander Rossi. Rossi's fuel-conservation strategy, executed with Herta's input, produced a victory that confirmed the team's ability to win at the highest level.
Herta subsequently worked as race strategist for Andretti Autosport, serving in that capacity for the No. 27 entry in the NTT IndyCar Series. He also served as strategist for his son Colton Herta's teammate Kyle Kirkwood.
Herta and his wife Janette Michele have three children: Calysta, Colton, and Caden. His son Colton made his IndyCar debut in 2019 with Harding Steinbrenner Racing and became the youngest ever IndyCar race winner in the series' second round that season at the Circuit of the Americas. Colton subsequently progressed to Formula 2.
Bryan Herta's career spans every dimension of American open-wheel motorsport: championship-contending driver in CART, race winner in the IRL, and Indianapolis 500-winning team owner on two separate occasions with two different drivers. His Laguna Seca victories remain among the most fondly remembered road-course performances of the CART era, while his team's back-to-back 500 victories in 2011 and 2016 established Bryan Herta Autosport as one of IndyCar's most respected organisations.
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