ALMS (ROAD ATLANTA) - VOICES OF PETIT: BRYAN HERTA

Andretti Green's Bryan Herta will make his first start at Petit Le Mans since 2002.

After five years away, Bryan Herta is back at Petit Le Mans. Andretti Green Racing will go for their second victory of the season in the American Le Mans Series' cornerstone event by bringing back Tony Kanaan and reigning Indy 500 and IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti to partner Herta. The trio made history at Sebring by winning in LMP2 for Acura's debut win in the Series and would like nothing more than to capture another crown jewel of endurance racing at Road Atlanta.

A deep field: "Because of the level of competition there are several good cars in the LMP2 class. We can't afford to run a pace or run our race. We have to attack for the entire distance in traffic and still protect the car and not make any mistakes. The level of competition is forcing us to push our limits - not just the car but the drivers more than we normally would."

Nice and fast: "In terms of speed, it will probably be the highest average speed on a full lap. It will take us close to 10 hours to run it. They've done a really nice job since I've been here five years ago. There are some nice improvements. The amenities are nicer for us as drivers and nicer for the fans too."

Welcome back: "I've only done it once before in 2002. It's a really good event. They get a nice turnout. There are good fans in Atlanta that come out to watch sports car racing. It's the second-to-last race of the season and our goal is to win another race before the year closes out. We have two more chances to do that and this is a good one."

The 10th running of Petit Le Mans, the annual 1,000-mile/10-hour endurance classic at Road Atlanta, is set for 11:15 a.m. ET on Saturday, October 6. SPEED will provide live coverage from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and again from 6:30 to 10 p.m. American Le Mans Radio and IMSA's Live Timing and Scoring will be available at americanlemans.com.