HERTA READIES FOR POSSIBLE INDY RUN.

Byline: TIM HADDOCK Motor Sports

Valencia's Bryan Herta gave Robby Gordon a day off at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Wednesday.

Herta, a Hart High of Newhall graduate, will be Gordon's backup driver in the May 25 Indianapolis 500.

Turning laps at the 2.5-mile oval for the first time since 1995, Herta posted a fast lap at 225.380 mph, the 20th-fastest of the day.

``I was able to get comfortable and run flat out,'' Herta said. ``We started with a lot of downforce and then trimmed it out a little.''

Gordon plans to race in the Indianapolis 500 and the NASCAR Winston Cup Coca-Cola 600 in North Carolina on the same day. Herta was tabbed as Gordon's backup driver at Indianapolis in case either race is delayed. Herta will take over driving duties in Gordon's Andretti Green Racing Honda at Indy if Gordon has to leave the race early.

Gordon also drives the No. 31 Chevy for Richard Childress Racing on the NASCAR Winston Cup Series.

``I needed to run some laps at Indy because if something happened with the weather and Robby couldn't start or couldn't finish the race, you don't want to jump in there without having some laps,'' Herta said.

In addition to preparing for the Indianapolis 500, Herta has been in France testing his Team Nasamax entry in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Herta will be driving a LMP-900 class car fueled by agriculturally produced bio- ethanol in the June endurance race.

During one of the test sessions in France, Herta spun and crashed into a tire wall. The car suffered damage to the front and rear suspension, rear crash box, rear wing, tail, side pods and gearbox. But Herta was unhurt in the accident.

The Team Nasamax crew was able to repair the car and have it back on the track before the end of the test session Sunday.

Herta's driving teammates, Robbie Stirling and Romain Dumas, were able to turn some laps in the car during the test session.

``You've got to say we've gone through so much, we've covered so much ground, and we know so much more for the race and the guys have jelled into a real work unit,'' Herta said.

Dumas set the team's best lap of the test session in 3 minutes, 57.472 seconds, 20th-fastest of the cars testing Sunday.

``It's a testament to the crew that they managed to get the car out before the end of the session with the amount of work there was to be done,'' team technical director John McNeil said.

--NASCAR Busch Series: Former Saugus Speedway champion Ron Hornaday Jr. is right in the mix of a tight battle for the NASCAR Busch Series championship.

Hornaday Jr. finished 15th in the Busch Series race at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway on May 2 and moved within 57 points of series leader Todd Bodine.

Hornaday, who entered the Richmond race second in points, 99 behind Bodine, is now fourth in the Busch Series standings.

Still, Hornaday's No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevy has won four of the past five races at Gateway International Raceway in Missouri, site of today's Busch Series race.

``It's really close to what you need at Richmond,'' Hornaday said about Gateway. ``You have to get the car to turn in the middle of the corner and off. You carry a lot of speed into the corners here because of the long straights. Once you get into the corner, the car has to be able to roll through the center and then turn off the corner. The bottom is the best place to be when you're out front. You can race side-by-side but there isn't a lot of banking, so you put a lot of trust in the car you're racing.''

Hornaday's record at Gateway is also impressive. He has two top 10s at the track, a sixth in 2000 and a second-place finish in which he led the most laps in 2002.

``Track position is a key here,'' Hornaday said. ``When you are out front, it is really easy to drive the track. But if you get stuck back in traffic, it can be very hard to get by. Your car has to be perfect to race from the back at Gateway.''

--SCCA ProRally: Defending national driver's champion David Higgins won the rain-shortened SCCA ProRally series Rim of the World Rally in the Angeles National Forest.

Higgins, driving a Lancer Evolution for Team Mitsubishi, won for the second time in as many SCCA ProRally races. He won the Open Class division of the Rim of the World Rally, run last Friday and Saturday.

``The car is a joy to toss about on the slippery bits,'' said Higgins, who hails from the Isle of Man in Britain. ``And it has so much power and traction that the rocks and mud were never a real bother.''

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