A NEMESIS SHAKEN OFF BY HERTA.

Byline: BILL SCHLOTTER Motor Sports

So many times during his five-year CART racing career, Bryan Herta had been poised to win.

So many times the Valencia product had been overtaken just short of the finish.

So many times the guy in the passing car had been Alex Zanardi.

That all changed Sunday on the twisting, 2.24-mile course at Laguna Seca near Monterey where Herta won the pole, led 81 of the 83 laps, and then held off a determined Zanardi over the final two laps.

And just like that, the 28-year-old Hart High grad had vindication and his first CART victory after 72 starts.

He's been smiling ever since. ``I'm really happy with this win for a lot of reasons,'' a still-giddy Herta said Thursday.

He was happy to get a win - any win, Herta said. And he was happy for his crew, his sponsors and his owner, Bobby Rahal, for keeping faith in him. And he was especially happy to have beaten Zanardi.

It was Zanardi who deprived Herta of victory at Laguna Seca in 1996.

Herta had the lead that year, was less than a lap away from victory and was thwarting every pass attempt by the charging Italian as the two wound through the twisting, turning course. Finally, in a corner called the corkscrew, a thoroughly frustrated Zanardi drove off the course, into the dirt and around a disbelieving Herta, then back on the track and on to victory.

And a year ago in Vancouver, Herta was leading again when Zanardi, a lap down at the time, bumped him off the track and out of contention.

At this year's Long Beach Grand Prix, Herta was leading with Zanardi closing hard in the final laps again. And with his tires all but worn to shreds, once again Herta was unable to hold off the two-time CART season champ.

Then in Friday's practice, the two mixed it up again, colliding in a corner in an accident that broke Herta's drive train.

So on Sunday, with two laps between him and victory, and Zanardi's red racer in his rear-view mirror again - Herta saw a chance at vindication.

``I said, `OK Herta. This is what you asked for: Zanardi on your tail with a few laps left.' '' Herta remembered. ``. . . At the corkscrew, I thought, `Please God, if I've got to run this thing off the end of the earth to keep him back, I'm going to do it.' ''

Zanardi was his usual probing, aggressive self over those final laps, trying to pressure Herta into a mistake. But to every Zanardi move, Herta had an answer Sunday, finally crossing the finish line 0.343 seconds ahead.

``It means a lot to me to have raced Alex the way we did,'' said Herta, who plans to move back to Valencia from Ohio during the offseason. ``I regard him as the best driver in the series, and to have won . . . makes me feel like it was a great accomplishment.''

And potentially a breakthrough. Rahal expects Herta to grow on the success. ``I'm so proud of Bryan and our team,'' Rahal said. ``I think this win will give our team lots of confidence to build on for the rest of the season and going into next year.''

As close as it gets: With two races remaining in Luxembourg and Japan, Mika Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher are tied for the Formula One series points lead with 80 each.

Looking for four: Indy Racing League points leader Kenny Brack will go for his fourth straight victory Sunday at the Lone Star 500 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Brack has a 23-point lead over Davey Hamilton in the IRL points race with one race remaining following this weekend. Tony Stewart is 25 points back.

Brack's three-race win streak is a record on the young circuit.

More streak talk: Ricky Rudd has won at least one Winston Cup race in each of the past 15 years.

But the veteran driver has been in something of a slump so far this season, with just three top-10 finishes (none in the top five). And he ranks just 23rd in season points.

With just seven races left, can he extend his streak to 16 season with a win? Rudd thinks he can.

``I'd like to keep it going,'' said Rudd, who has 19 wins in all, the last coming at last year's Miller 500 at Dover Downs, site of this week's Winston

Cup race. ``This is something special, and it means a lot.

``All I can do is go out and give 120 percent, and hope for the best.''

Substitutions: Ted Musgrave will drive the No. 13 First Plus Financial Ford in place of Dennis Setzer on Sunday. Hut Stricklin will drive the No. 77 Jasper Engines Ford for Robert Pressley, who broke his right shoulder blade in a crash last weekend.

Tucson bound: NASCAR's Southwest Featherlite Tour heads for Tucson, Ariz., on Saturday with Granada Hills' M.K. Kanke tied for second place and trailing points leader and defending series champ Steve Portenga by 133 points.

Tied with Kanke entering the Featherlite Trailers Manufacturing 125 is Colorado's John Metcalf. Four races remain in the 1998 season.

Duel in the desert: Steve Barlow of Thousand Oaks won the pro truck class of last weekend's SCORE Las Vegas Primm 300 off-road race. George Seeley Jr. of Glendale was second in Baja Bug class. Tim Braden of Chatsworth was second in stock mini trucks. Just 58 of the 128 vehicles to start the race finished.

Mighty midgets:Simi Valley drivers Rick Hendrix and Alex Harris continue to lead their USAC racing tours.

Hendrix has a 55-point lead over Bryan Stanfill in the Western States Midget standings. Harris leads Wally Pankratz by 107 points in the Three-quarter Midget standings.

Canyon Country's Jay Drake is in a much tighter battle for the National Midget season title. Drake leads Jason Leffler by just five points 770-765.

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