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Wednesday, September 5, 2001
It could have been a lot worse
By Sarah Fisher
Special to ABC Sports Online
Sarah Fisher has been in the Indy Racing League spotlight for the past month. After a crash with Davey Hamilton at the Casino Magic 500, Fisher came back to finish 18th. Earlier this year, she finished second in Miami, the highest finish ever by a female driver. Throughout the IRL season Fisher will be submitting race diaries to ABC Sports Online.
|  | | Sarah Fisher is enjoying her celebrity status on the IRL circuit. |
The days before the Casino Magic 500 race were pretty exciting. I was invited to be a guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on June 5, so the Indy Racing League flew me out to Los Angeles the day before. The Tonight Show arranged for limousine service to pick us up at the airport when we got in that night and put me up at the most beautiful hotel I've ever stayed in -- Shutters on the Beach, in Santa Monica.
A stretch limo picked us up at the hotel at 3:15 p.m. the day of the show and drove us to the NBC studios in Burbank. I was a guest that night along with Hugh Jackman (he was Wolverine in X-Men and is in the new movie Swordfish). Blues Traveler was the musical guest.
I had my own "Green Room." The staff of the show and Jay himself treated us real well. Jay came in and sat down with me and we talked about everything that would go on during my segment. He was great, and made me feel comfortable and at ease. The show went well, and I heard a lot of positive comments on it. The entire experience was awesome, and one I'll never forget.
A limo picked us up at the hotel on Wednesday morning and we flew to Dallas, where it was back to reality and race preparation. We got to the track early Wednesday afternoon and I had a meeting with my engineers about the weekend, then we went to a Kroger store autograph session that night.
On Thursday morning, I slept in so I could get used to the transition from a day race to the night race at Texas and we headed out to the track at around noon. We only got one practice session in that day instead of the scheduled two. That night, we had to qualify, and we ended up 18th on the starting grid.
Friday was a relatively easy day with practice and an autograph session on the Midway. It was great to see all the fan support. After the autograph session, we had seven security guards from the track escort us to the suite elevators, where I went and visited one of our sponsors, Valvoline. I got to meet Joe Gibbs up in the suite while I was there. He was very nice and chatted with me about his driver Tony Stewart, who helped me get through the crowd on race morning on my way to my car on the grid.
On race day, I slept in and got to the track at about 3 p.m. My new trainer, Shane, who works with Pit Fitt Training, brought me some excellent pasta for a light dinner and made sure I drank plenty of water before the race since it was extremely hot.
The race started at 7 p.m. and the track was pretty hot since the sun was still up at that time. My car was loose, but I kept it under control this time and we were working on a good balance after the first pit stop.
On Lap 73, I got caught up in an accident between Davey Hamilton and Jeret Schroeder. Just like the Atlanta race, I was the first car through the debris and I ran over some on the track, which damaged the right front suspension. The car stalled and it had to be towed back to the pits. My crew did an awesome job of fixing the damage in record time and I was back out on track after 24 laps.
Since we were so many laps down, there was no way that we could contend for the race win, but the car handled well, and we were running consistent 212-mph laps. We stuck in there until the end of the race and ended up finishing 18th.
My thoughts and prayers are with Davey Hamilton and his family as he recovers from his injuries.
If you'd like to send a card to Davey at Methodist Hospital the address is:
Davey Hamilton
Methodist Hospital
1701 N. Senate
Indianapolis, IN 46202
We'll see you at the next Indy Racing League race on Sunday, June 17 at Pikes Peak, Colo. (ABC, 4 p.m. ET).
IRL driver Sarah Fisher drives the No. 15 Walker Racing/Kroger Special. She pens a diary for ABC Sports Online throughout the season.
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 Davey Hamilton and Jeret Schroeder slam into the wall on lap 73.
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Scott Sharp wins under caution after Greg Ray and Eddie Cheever crash on the 196th lap.
avi: 2270 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Greg Ray comes out in front as the leaders go 3-wide late in the race.
avi: 1260 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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