STOCKTON
— Sarah Fisher is far from Indianapolis Motor Speedway and driving around
Stockton
99 Speedway is much different than racing in the Indy 500.
2005 "99"
Schedule
Sarah Fisher At Stockton 99
Here's a Story about
some fans and Sarah Fisher
Scott Linesburgh
Record Staff Writer
Published Sunday, May 1, 2005
STOCKTON
— Sarah Fisher is far from Indianapolis Motor Speedway and driving around
Stockton 99 Speedway is much different than racing in the Indy 500.
But Fisher would rather be in Stockton because she wants to be a stock car driver.
Fisher drove in the Great American Race last year, but left the Indy Racing League last season to accept an offer from famed NASCAR team owner Richard Childress to drive a Grand National West car. Fisher came to Stockton on Saturday to compete in the 150-lap Grand National main event. The Grand National and NASCAR Southwest Tour races were not completed at press time.
Fisher, 24, is still adjusting to driving a car with fenders, but she doesn’t regret the decision.
"It’s
something that I always felt I would eventually do. Every driver wants to try
different things, and I wanted to race stock cars," Fisher said. "A great
opportunity came up, and I took advantage of it."
Fisher is driving for Bill McAnally Racing, a team which is associated with Childress and participates in NASCAR Drive For Diversity program. Fisher is a member of DFD, and she eventually plans to move up to the Nextel Cup division.
She has one top-20 finish in her first three Grand National starts, and said it’s taking some time to get used to the bigger, bulkier cars.
"This is the beginning of
the process and there’s still a lot to learns," Fisher said. "The biggest thing
I’m picking up is braking patterns. You don’t use your brakes a lot in the
open-wheel cars, and that’s a big difference. But I think things are going
well."
Fisher began racing on the IRL circuit in 1999, and in 2000 became only the third woman to race in the Indy 500. Childress first offered Fisher a NASCAR ride a few years ago, and there was an open invitation to her anytime she wanted to try.
"It was always tempting, and
I just felt this was the time to try something new," Fisher said.
Sarah Fisher fans photo, courtesy pmichael hassler
