When I was (wrongly) cited for speeding in Montana some twenty-five years ago, I made sure I went back there for my court hearing to fight it. It got thrown out by the judge in less than a minute who totally agreed with me that going Vmax on a totally deserted stretch of I-90 during perfect visibility and weather conditions in a new Audi S4 was indeed 'a rate of speed no greater than is reasonable and prudent'. Oh, the good old times... Seeing that overzealous officers' face when the judge lectured him on how Germans do this all the time on 'the autobahn' was well worth the inconvenience.

Since you missed your hearing and didn't pay, you now have a warrant. As others have mentioned, this warrant will not bear any consequences unless you return to the jurisdiction where the citation was issued and get stopped again.
However, I`d really rather pay the fine and get it done with unless you really cannot afford it.
This is no longer the good old paper-record times where these things tend to be forgotten after awhile. While you won't get arrested upon entry to the US, this could have other negative consequences you can't even oversee today. I`m sure that if the state has entered that warrant into any of the national crime databases you won't qualify for Global Entry, for example.

edit: As a foreign visitor with a foreign drivers' license, getting denied at car rentals will not happen. These checks are only an issue with US drivers' licenses.