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Truck hauling Colton Herta's race car to Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg catches on fire

trailing hauling IndyCar on fire
Posted at 5:26 AM, Mar 11, 2020
and last updated 2020-03-11 07:31:40-04

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — A semi-truck hauling an IndyCar race car to the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg caught on fire early Wednesday morning on I-275.

The truck was carrying Colton Herta's #88 car and pit equipment for his Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport team.

It is unknown if the flames damaged the race car that could prevent it from being used in this weekend's season-opening IndyCar series race.

RELATED: Grand Prix of St. Petersburg kicks off March 13

Officials say most of the pit equipment in the truck was severely damaged by the fire.

Several lanes of I-275 near Ulmerton Road in St. Petersburg were closed while crews battled the flames.

Herta is in just his second full season racing in the IndyCar series. The 19-year-old became the youngest person to ever win an IndyCar race when he took the checkered flag at age 18 at the IndyCar Classic at Circuit of the Americas in March 2019.