Circuitous Route Takes Herta to Winston West

Bryan Herta has gone more than 233 mph around California Speedway, but when he takes the green flag today, he will have rookie stripes on the back of his car.

Herta, who drove a champ car in CART for eight seasons and is perhaps best remembered for getting passed by Alex Zanardi in the corkscrew at Laguna Seca, makes his stock car debut in the NASCAR Winston West Series, starting 16th on the grid for the Pontiac Widetrack Grand Prix 200.

Herta is one of several open-wheel talents -- Max Papis, Memo Gidley and Alex Barron come immediately to mind -- who don’t have rides this season. The Valencia native beat the bushes trying to find something, anything.

“I thought I had a deal with Pat Patrick, then Bobby Rahal [in CART],” Herta said. “I came closer than most people will ever believe to racing for Jordan in F1. I’ve never had so many opportunities that looked like they were going to happen and didn’t.”

So Herta goes from almost Formula One to Winston West?

“I wanted to try a stock car, and [car owner] Bill McAnally gave me an opportunity,” Herta said. “I thought this would be a good place to do it because I know the track, it’s a Winston Cup weekend so all the right people are here. I thought I’d give it a shot.”

No doubt, Herta’s inability to get sponsorship or a ride in a major series played a role, “but this is something I’ve been looking at for a couple of years now,” he said. “I’ve been going to Charlotte and some Cup races on off weekends for the last two years, really looking at it, trying to learn about it and figuring out the best way to come in.”

If Herta’s experiment pans out, he will join Tony Stewart, John Andretti, Robby Gordon and Christian Fittipaldi as CART or IRL drivers who moved to Winston Cup.

Papis could be next after recently testing with Ray Evernham.

Herta said he hopes to get into some Busch and ARCA races before the season ends.

“I need to learn,” Herta said. “I need to know what a track bar adjustment or two pounds of air pressure does to a car so that when I get an opportunity in a Busch car, I’m ready to take advantage of it.”

Herta is driving a car that Austin Cameron drove in 2001 but went unused last season. Cameron, who began treatment Wednesday for cancer, is replaced this week by Eric Norris, last year’s series and event champion.

All the learning has put Herta in an unusual position.

“You always get anxious and nervous before a race, but I’ve probably been more anxious and nervous during the week leading up to this race,” said Herta, who won twice in champ cars at Laguna Seca. “Usually, it’s the few hours before you get in the car. For me, it’s been all week.”

The deal with McAnally is for this race week only.

“We’ll talk after this weekend,” Herta said. “It was a big gut check with the Austin [health issue]; it was a big shock for everybody.”

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Winston Cup regulars Kevin Harvick and Michael Waltrip took the top two qualifying positions for today’s Busch Series race, the CaliforniaSpeedway.Com 300.

Eighteen drivers broke the track qualifying record, set in 2001 by Bobby Hamilton Jr., at 179.198 mph. Harvick led the way at 183.941 and was nearly a half-second faster around the two-mile D-shaped oval than Waltrip, who was second at 181.745 mph.

Ron Hornaday, Harvick’s teammate for Richard Childress Racing, was third and David Reutimann fourth. Carlos Contreras, driving for HRT Motorsports, became the first Mexican to qualify for a Busch race. He qualified 30th and will start alongside Kerry Earnhardt in the 15th row.