Indianapolis prides itself as the “Racing Capital of the World.”

This weekend, however, the city will be a primary focus of attention in college football as the undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes battle the Wisconsin Badgers in the BIG 10 Championship Game at sold-out Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis.

When it comes to “The Ohio State University” and its impact on the college football landscape, there is no more vocal supporter of the Buckeyes in the NTT IndyCar Series than driver Graham Rahal. The son of 1986 Indianapolis 500 winning driver and three-time CART champion Bobby Rahal was born and raised in Ohio and is proud of his support for the Buckeyes.

But it’s actually former driver and current INDYCAR team owner Bryan Herta who has a closer connection to the Buckeyes. Herta actually attended Ohio State as a student while climbing the racing ladder.

Now a co-owner of the Andretti Herta Autosport entry in the NTT IndyCar Series driven by Marco Andretti, Herta is also a two-time Indianapolis 500-winning team owner, both wins coming in “100th” celebrations.

The first was in 2011 when the late Dan Wheldon won the 100th Anniversary Indianapolis 500. Five years later, it was then-rookie driver Alexander Rossi winning the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 in 2016.

Although he was born in Warren, Michigan and his father attended the University of Michigan, Herta chose Ohio State where he majored in economics.

“I went to Ohio State, I was a full-time student at Ohio State, I was born in Michigan and my dad went to Michigan,” Herta said. “Definitely, when Michigan plays Ohio State, I’m rooting for the Scarlet and Gray.

“I was an economics major. I did not make it to the finish line on that one. I was still enrolled at Ohio State when I started racing in Indy car. All through Indy Lights and then into Indy car, I realized I could no longer do both.

“If I had gotten my degree, maybe I’d be a great economics professor.”

Although Herta fell just short of getting his degree from Ohio State, his college years have had a lasting impact on his career as both a race driver and later as a team owner.

“There is a discipline to learning that benefits you, no matter what you do,” Herta explained. “Whether you use your degree, or not, there is a discipline to learning how to study, how to apply yourself, how to meet deadlines for tests, how to meet deadlines for projects. All of that is the same in any business venture. I think the educational experience really helped me a lot on the business side of racing, even though the particular subject I studied wasn’t directly related to racing.”

As an Ohio State student, Herta started third and finished fourth in the Indy Lights Series race at Mid-Ohio in 1992. The next year, Herta won the race at Mid-Ohio starting from the pole for Tasman Racing.

From there, Herta was a test driver at Newman Haas Racing, then joined AJ Foyt Racing in 1994. The following year, he moved over to Chip Ganassi Racing. He won his first pole at Phoenix in 1995, finished second that year at Cleveland and starting second and finished fifth at Mid-Ohio.

In 1996, Ohio-based Team Rahal hired Herta to drive the Shell car in CART. He finished fourth at Mid-Ohio that year and drove into Victory Lane at Laguna Seca in 1998 for his first career CART win. It was the first of two-straight wins for Herta at Laguna Seca.

He joined team owner Michael Andretti’s INDYCAR team in 2003 and scored a victory at Kansas Speedway that year and Michigan International Speedway in 2005 when he won from the pole.

Time has moved on and Herta is now more famous as the father of 19-year-old driver Colton Herta. But his time in Ohio brings back special memories to the man and his family.

“Ohioans still have the Rahal home team to root for and maybe a little bit, the Hertas, too, because we did spend time there,” Bryan Herta recalled. “Even though we live in California now, it was our home for many years and we still feel a great fondness towards the area.

“I’m humbled to be claimed as a hometown guy for so many races.”

Herta is also very proud of his son, who won two races and three poles in his first season in the series in 2019. The younger Herta stays neutral in rivalry between his father and grandfather, which has been dominated by Bryan’s Ohio State in recent seasons.

“They are so against each other,” Colton said. “They are always placing bets on the all the different football and basketball games. Whenever there is a game, my father is cheering for Ohio State.

“I don’t really care who wins, it’s just whoever I want to wind up more that day – my dad or my grandfather.

“My girlfriend goes to Southern California, so I have to be a big of USC fan for her.

“But I only care about racing.”