Oriol Servia ponders the question, savoring and digesting it, before offering an answer.

“If you were to describe your career in one sentence, what would you say?” Knowing that he can’t possibly answer the question – or any question – in a single sentence makes the question and response all the more interesting.

Finally, he answers. “I’d say I’ve been like a cat that hasn’t quite used all of his lives.”

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One sentence. Fantastic. Properly done. Good answer. But you know there’s more. He knows there’s more. He can’t help it. He takes another breath and continues.

“I’ve been given yet another opportunity, and that’s what keeps me going," he says. "I get another chance, and that seems to be what has defined my career. Just when it looks like things are at their worst, something good happens and I keep going.”

Meet Oriol Servia. Part racer, part optimist, part shape-shifter, part feline. And for a moment, part baseball player as he'll throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the game Aug. 30 between the Baltimore Orioles (get it, Oriol and Orioles?) and Chicago White Sox at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Just when one of his best efforts – a fourth-place finish in the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series standings highlighted by a runner-up finish in the inaugural race on the streets of Baltimore – turns to dust, he finds another opportunity, lands on his feet, and presses forward with Panther/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.

His ability to adapt has become his most remarkable trait. Race fans are familiar with other top drivers in IndyCar racing – Dario Franchitti, Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Will Power, Tony Kanaan – but Servia, a 38-year-old veteran with every bit as much talent as the aforementioned, often gets lost in the mix.

He enters the Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT with four top-10 finishes, including a fourth in the Indianapolis 500 and at Milwaukee. The 2-mile course has been altered slightly -- removing the frontstretch chicane and widening the right-hand Turn 1 -- at drivers' request.

“A first-time venue won’t be perfect and it’s good to see their will to make it better," Servia said. "I love chicanes but that chicane was just too slow and abrupt so it wasn’t providing a good show for the fans. It will be better for the straight line to be faster and more passing."

A little history

So who is Oriol Servia? A mechanical engineer, for one. A Spaniard whose parents are rally racing legends in their homeland. An avid motocross rider. A collector of fine art who honors fellow Spaniard Salvador Dali with the paint schemes on his helmet. And a constantly smiling, always upbeat character who brightens the mood around him.

Did we overlook anything? “Yes,” he says, grinning broadly. “I am not a tall man.”

OK, so the 5-foot 5, 147-pound Servia is in his 12th season at the top level of North American open-wheel racing with his fifth team in the past four years – he sat out the 2010 season while searching for a ride – coming off the surprising fourth-place finish in 2011 for Newman/Haas Racing, which suspended its operation following the season.

Servia quickly rebounded, landing with the veteran IZOD IndyCar Series team co-owned by Dennis Reinbold and former IndyCar driver Robbie Buhl.

It’s his 11th team since he broke into Champ Car in 2000 as the reigning Indy Lights champion. Eleven teams in 11 seasons. The uncertainty of Servia’s situation has become his dramatic backdrop; his never-ceasing optimism is his defining characteristic.

“When I got the call about Newman/Haas, I must admit I wasn’t always so optimistic about the situation,” Servia said. “At first I thought, ‘Oh, boy, here we go again. I have to start over again.' This has happened to me again and again, and the only way you can respond to it is with optimism. You have to believe that something good will come of it. I kept the faith, and, sure enough, something good came from it. I got another opportunity. That’s what keeps me going.”

It always has. The son of Spanish rally champion Salvadore Servia and his navigator wife, Montse, Oriol Servia showed world-class skill early in his go-karting career. But his parents insisted he attain a college degree. The rule was simple: No education, no racing. So off to Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya he went. Four years later, degree in mechanical engineering in hand, he resumed his racing career.

“At the time, I wasn’t really thrilled about that idea,” he says. “I wanted to race, but my parents insisted I get an education. Thanks to them, I was able to get one. It’s actually quite helpful to me in terms of how I understand the car and how I'm able to communicate that to my engineers. What you learn through engineering his to solve problems. In racing you have to do that constantly. It’s been very beneficial to me throughout my career.”

Eventually he landed Stateside, where he was an immediate hit in Indy Lights, finishing seventh in the championship in 1998 and winning it all the following year. From there, the whirlwind of teams and good/bad breaks began in earnest. His best season (2005) was typical of his career. He raced for two teams (Newman/Haas and Dale Coyne Racing), won at Montreal and finished second in the final drivers’ standings.

“That’s been the way my entire career has been,” he says, maintaining the optimism. “But there’s always something behind the next door. In Dreyer & Reinbold, I’ve been lucky to find a team that’s very committed and serious about what they’re doing. I’m confident in this group and what we can accomplish together. It’s another chapter in my career, and I can’t wait to turn the next page.”

The optimism carries over to his goals. Servia has lofty plans. He wants a championship. He wants to win the Indianapolis 500. He knows that both are possible, even for a mid-major team and a driver known more for his journeyman career than anything else.

“The Indy 500 is my ultimate goal, and I know it’s possible,” he says. “The great thing about that race is that it requires so many elements that have to come together at the same time. You have to have speed, but you also have to have strategy. It’s entirely possible for a team that’s not one of the biggest to win Indy. It’s also possible for the same thing to happen with a championship. We were very close last year with a team that didn’t have the budget of the bigger teams. That’s what keeps me going. I know it can be done.”

He also knows that he’s improving with each passing race. It’s what propels him to continue.

“The day I don’t improve is the day I reconsider what I’m doing,” he says. “That’s what this is all about for me. I’m still getting better and still learning about my craft. That’s what motivates me. I’m still improving.”