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Sarah
Fisher was born to win and is determined to compete
against the very best in
auto racing. At just 23 years
old, she is already in her fourth consecutive season of
IRL IndyCar Series Competition, racing against the world’s
best drivers. Her commitment to excellence has made her
one of racing’s most admired figures among fans and
drivers alike. Sarah has been voted the IRL’s Most Popular
Driver the past three seasons in a row.
In 1999, after a successful season
competing in three different midget car series, where she
picked up two track records and five feature wins, Sarah
set her sights on the Indy Racing League. At the time, she
was the youngest
person ever to pass the Indy Racing League Rookie Test and
went on to race in her first IRL IndyCar Series event
later that year at Texas Motor Speedway starting 17th and
finishing 25th due to a timing chain failure that ended
her day at lap 66.
The following season, Sarah drove for open-w heel
veteran Derrick Walker’s IRL IndyCar Series team and also
ran eight races in the Indy Racing Northern Light Series.
In May 2000, she became just the third woman and one of
the youngest drivers ever to compete in the world’s
greatest race – the Indianapolis 500. Later in the season,
Sarah made history yet again at Kentucky Speedway,
becoming the youngest person to lead laps during an IRL
IndyCar event and the youngest woman to ever stand on a podium with her third-place finish in that event. In 2001,
Sarah claimed a second-place finish at the IRL’s inaugural
race at Homestead Miami Speedway the best result ever by a
woman in Indy-style racing.
Sarah was hired by D reyer
& Reinbold Racing in early 2002 to drive the #24 Purex/Aventis
car in place of injured driver Robbie Buhl for the IndyCar
Series contest at Nazareth Speedway, finishing fourth.
Based on this finish, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing formed a
second team around Sarah for the 2002 season. That May,
she became the fastest woman qualifier ever for the
Indianapolis 500 with a four-lap average speed of 229-plus
miles per hour.
A few months later, Sarah became the first woma n
to ever qualify fastest for a major North American
open-wheel event capturing the pole and setting a new
track record at Kentucky Speedway. She led the first 26
laps of the race and finished eighth. Despite competing in
10 of 15 races, Sarah tied her career best finish in the
IndyCar Series Championship finishing 18th in the point
standings.
Sarah
Fisher was born in Columbus, Ohio on October 4, 1980. She
was exposed to life at the track at an early age. Her
parents would take young Sarah to the track to watch her
father drive sprint cars.
Sarah’s first racing experience came as a 5 year-old when
her parents fitted her for her first race car – a
quarter-midget. She raced quarter-midgets and go-karts
until she was a teenager, winning the 1991, 93 & 94 World
Karting Association Grand National Championships, the 1993
Circleville Points Championship and the 1994 WKA Grand
National Championship.
By the time she was 15, Sarah was racing Winged Outlaw
Sprint cars winning the 199 5
Dirt Track Racing Round-Up Rookie of the Year. She had a
very successful career racing Outlaw Sprint cars. In 1997,
she was named to the 62-race All-Stars Circuit of
Champions series, earning a second place finish at Eldora
Speedway.
In 1998, Sarah and her father and then-crew chief Dave
sought out new challenges in the world of asphalt midget
racing. Sarah raced in ARCA, NAMARS and USAC sanctioned
events, a competitive schedule that helped prepare her for
life in the IRL.
Sarah’s achievement on the track is only eclipsed by her
performance in the classroom. Education has always played
an important role in her life. Her parents Dave and Reba
both hold bachelors degrees from Ohio State University.
Reba is a middle-school teacher and Dave puts his
Mechanical Engineering degree to work in the family
business, Fisher Fabrication.
Sa rah
graduated seventh in her class with honors and a 4.178
grade point average from Teays High School in 1999. She
attends college on a part-time basis Pursuing business
undergraduate degree in marketing.
Sarah contributes guest columns for ESPN Online’s
weekly coverage of the IRL and is AOL TV’s on-site
correspondent every race weekend.
Sarah has been a guest or profiled on a variety of
television programs including The Tonight Show with Jay
Leno, Live with Regis and Kelly, Real Sports with Bryant
Gumbel, N BC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, Good Morning
America, and CBS This Morning.
She has also appeared in the pages of People, Teen People,
Cosmo Girl, Seventeen, Glamour, Mademoiselle, Sports
Illustrated and many other magazines.
Sarah has also been the subject of features stories in USA
Today, The Washington Post, New York Post, and other major
U.S. newspapers.
When she is not racing, Sarah makes her home in
Indianapolis where she enjoys renovating her home under
the watchful eyes of her two cats Dallara and Kinko.
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