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Wednesday, September 5, 2001
Looking to reel in victory
By Sarah Fisher
Special to ABC Sports Online
It's the start of my second season in the Indy Racing Northern Light Series and I'm really looking forward to going racing again.
This year, we have a few changes on our team, the main one being hiring a new engineer, Mike Wright. He brings a lot of good experience to the team. I'm already relating really well to him , but it took a few races for Rob Edwards, my engineer from last season, and I to start gelling. So once that process is underway, we'll be "spot-on as a team", as (team owner) Derrick Walker would say.
|  | | Sarah Fisher waits in the pitt during the 2000 MCI WorldCom Indy 200 in Phoenix, Arizona. |
I learned two important things last year that will help me this year.
First of all -- number one -- is patience. Patience in driving the racecar. Patience in business. Patience in everything! When I was racing 60 times a year in sprint cars you had to get everything done quickly. In this series, you need to have time to sit back and evaluate things a little longer so you are able to make better decisions.
I've also experienced first-hand the way a driver needs to handle himself or herself in front of sponsors, media and fans. That's a necessity in this sport. Everything that is required of a professional driver is very important and takes a lot of time, and I've learned to be prepared for all that.
The second important thing that I learned is that communication is key. Without communication, you're never going to win. Our team has done a wonderful job at this already, and if we keep that up, it will help us out this season on our way to victory.
I've also grown in the way I approach my debriefing with my engineer and Derrick. At the beginning of last year, I gave too little of the type of information they needed to make the car better, but now I'm able to give them the kind of feedback they need. I'm also now able to provide some insight into the changes we are planning to make.
In the week leading up to the race, I make sure I drink a lot of water, I continue my workouts, and I meet with the engineering staff to go over our plan of attack for the weekend. We also do some "hot" pit stops outside the shop with my crew guys to get ready for the weekend. Because you have such a limited amount of time when you get to the track, you really need to be prepared before you get there. That's really important.
I've started college this year too. I go part-time and it's been tough. I took a year off from school last year to make sure that my racing career would be solid, and I lost a little of the knowledge of how I balanced my time between school and racing, so it's been a little difficult to get back in the groove. School is very important to me, and I plan to continue it, but racing is still my number one priority.
Overall, at the end of the 2001 season, I expect we will have a race win. We had the potential last year to do that on a couple of occasions, in particular at Kentucky, and I think this year with the right things happening on the track, we'll get there. I also expect us to have a top-ten finish in the points standings at the end of the year, so make sure to watch us at Phoenix this Sunday at 4 p.m. on ABC!
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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