MONTEREY, CALIF. -- In March, he competed in the 12 Hours of Sebring. In April, he drove in the Winston West stock car series at Fontana, Calif. Last Saturday night he finished fifth in his Indy Racing League debut at Texas Motor Speedway. This weekend, he's back in a Champ Car as Championship Auto Racing Teams makes its annual stop at Laguna Seca, Calif.

Bryan Herta -- have helmet, will travel.

"I knew I was going to be racing this weekend, I just didn't know where until this morning," said Herta late Wednesday after being notified he wouldn't have to sub for Dario Franchitti this weekend in the IRL show at Pikes Peak, Colo., and would be freed up to drive for Craig Pollock's CART team here.

"I'm getting to be the king of the one-offs and I'm getting as good at making seats as I am at driving."

The 33-year-old open wheel veteran, who also tested a Formula One car last year for Minardi, doesn't necessarily relish all this ride hopping and, by all rights, belongs in CART where he spent most of the past 10 years.

Despite the fact he's always been strong on road courses and street circuits, which now comprise 70 percent of CART's schedule, Herta hasn't had a full-time seat in Champ Cars since 2000.

But this could be the opportunity he needs to rejoin the series he loves. Pollock's first-year team has a competent crew but rookie Patrick Lemarie isn't getting the job done.

Pollock's PK Racing sports veteran engineer John Ward, crew chief Chris Schoefield and a new Lola with the same Ford-Cosworth everyone in CART runs this season.

"They have some good people (PK Racing) but I haven't been in a Lola since 1994 and I haven't been in a Champ Car for almost two years," he said.

"The potential is there but whether we can unlock it in one weekend remains to be seen."

Herta's track record at Laguna Seca is impressive, having finished second-first-first-third from 1996-99 plus capturing three pole positions. From his Barber Dodge to Indy Lights to first five years in CART, he never qualified off the front row on this scenic layout.

"Laguna definitely suits my driving style," he continued. "I tend to carry a lot of speed into the apex (of the corner) and that's always good at Laguna and Cleveland.

"A lot of people think I can just jump into any car at Laguna and be up front. But it's not that easy. It takes a good car and I usually have one."

	Herta filled in for AGR's Dario Franchitti at Texas last weekend and also practiced at Indy.

He's hoping this turns out to be much more than a one-shot deal.

"Craig's team keeps saying they want to run a second car the rest of the year and that's what interests me," said Herta, who did a nice job of subbing for the injured Franchitti last Saturday night at Texas.

"I want to see how it goes this weekend and take it from there."

Only two of the other 19 current CART starters have triumphed here -- Paul Tracy and Jimmy Vasser.

Tracy, who won here in 1993 and 1994, opened 2003 with three consecutive wins but has fallen into second place in the point standings following a DNF at Germany and a loose wheel at Milwaukee which cost him a sure podium.

"It's funny how things go sometimes. Early in my CART career, I won two years in a row (1993-94) at Laguna Seca and I've only come close to getting back on the podium once since then," said Tracy. "Laguna is tough on cars and drivers alike. Plenty of elevated areas, lots of twists and turns and, of course, The Corkscrew, which really shakes the cobwebs. I always look forward to the challenge of racing at Laguna because it's one of those tracks with a lot of history.

"Every year, I tell myself that I'm going to get back to my winning ways at Laguna, and maybe this is the year. There's no doubt we're all disappointed at Team Player's when we see that we now have to play catchup in the drivers' standings. As competitive as this series is, you simply can't afford to have even the slightest slip-up because the points you lose are so hard to recover."

Michel Jourdain, coming off his first CART victory at Milwaukee, owns a 10-point lead over Tracy and 11 over Bruno Junqueira but has never fared well on the 2.2-mile road course.

"Leading the points is a testament to all the hard work the Gigante team is doing and I've had a great car every week," said Jourdain, whose best showing here in seven previous tries has been ninth. "The only time it really matters to be on top of the points is when you are driving out of Fontana after the race. Don't get me wrong, it is better to be on top than behind at this point of the season, but I try not to get too excited about the points lead because we still have 13 races to go.

"Wins are great, but podium results are the key."

Rookie Sebastien Bourdais has two wins and a pair of poles already and should definitely be one of the favorites this weekend along with Newman-Haas teammate Junqueira.

Robin Miller covers open wheel racing for ESPN and ESPN.com.