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Wednesday, September 5, 2001
Confidence is growing
By Sarah Fisher
Special to ABC Sports Online
Our team left for Phoenix for the Pennzoil Copper World Indy 200 early Thursday morning and we arrived at about 1 p.m. Since I do have a new engineer in Mike Wright, my engineer from last year, Rob Edwards, also came to Phoenix so we could be as well prepared as possible. I spent the afternoon at the track talking to my engineers and discussing what our plan would be for practice on Friday and the rest of the weekend.
Thursday evening was spent at a driver autograph session in downtown Phoenix. All of the IRL drivers came. We were introduced to the fans and then all signed autographs from 7 - 9 p.m. That went very well. I also did some local radio station interviews while I was there. Afterwards, we drove home for a good night's sleep before the race weekend started. |  | | Sarah Fisher in the Walker Racing Special during Friday morning practice in preparation for the Pennzoil Copper World Indy 200. |
On Friday I arrived at the track at about 8 a.m. That morning we had our first drivers' meeting of the year. IRL VP of operations Brian Barnhart went over a lot of the expectations he has for the drivers and crew chiefs for the season. Some of the things that we as drivers need to keep in mind are things like being respectful of each other when we are out on the track and giving the line to the faster cars. Since Phoenix is a 1-mile oval, there are a lot of cars bunched together on the track, so to make the most of your allotted time, you need to practice that respect.
We were on the track for our first practice session around 11 a.m., and we started off pretty quick right out of the box. During the afternoon we took a turn in the wrong direction on the set-up of the racecar and didn't get it chased back until Saturday afternoon. That is to be expected, as we have new staff on board. It will take a little while to get our rhythm down as to what these cars need. Mike hasn't engineered IRL cars before, so he is dependent on my feedback and his gut instincts, but in the end we will be a force to be reckoned with.
On Friday afternoon, we had a huge press conference to announce the sponsorship of Kroger and the Proctor and Gamble family of products for my car for 2001, which definitely put a big smile on my face. The press conference went well, and it included Derrick and myself, Tim Waechter from P & G, Lisa Holtsclaw from Fry's (a division of Kroger) and Bob Reif from the IRL. We had a good media turnout and afterwards went outside the press conference room to unveil the new logos on the car. I went out for an early dinner at one of my favorite Phoenix restaurants (Raul and Theresa's), went swimming at the hotel pool for a bit, and was in bed by 9 p.m.
On Saturday, we had one practice session in the morning where we focused on qualifying. During qualifying, I only had one lap because the car failed technical inspection. This was somewhat discouraging, but I was able to keep my patience and cool. We waited it out until it was our turn to go. The experience I've had in the IRL in the past year has definitely helped me in that respect -- if you let things like that get to you, you will do worse, so you just need to look at the positives in every situation you are in.
When we had practiced dummy qualifying runs in the morning, my second lap was always faster, so it did hurt us to not have that second lap when we actually qualified. But I gave it my best for that one lap and we ended up in 21st starting position for the race on Sunday. That evening, I went out to dinner with some of my family and was in bed by 9:30 p.m.
On Sunday, we had a journalist and photographer from Sports Illustrated for Women who shadowed me for the entire day. They will be doing a photo essay/story for the July/August issue of the magazine. They took about 40 rolls of film of everything we did -- the morning warm-up, our pre-race meeting, driver introductions and the race. It will be a great story, but it was a little stressful. They got a great deal of access we hadn't ever given any one else before. However, you still need to meter that access with some privacy. You want to give them as much information as possible, but you don't want them to see what kind of shampoo you are using in the shower (which is Pantene, by the way).
Race day was a good one for me. Since it was the first race of the season it was great that I had Derrick Walker spotting for me. Rob Edwards being there was a big help, too. It was a privilege to have those two watching out for me at Phoenix. Last year both of them went to all of my races, but it won't be quite the same this year.
As for the actual race itself, everything was going very well, we were making steady progress up through the field, and we would have definitely had a top 10 finish if our engine hadn't blown up.
I can tell a big difference in my confidence level on the track this year. I can feel everything that the racecar is doing, and it's a great feeling. I can bring it into a corner sideways, and know everything it is going to do.
I finished in 17th position. I went out to dinner with my crew before taking the red-eye back to Indy. We have to schedule our flights like that in case there is a rain delay for the race, so we have extra time built in to our schedule. That kind of stinks, because I have class at 10 a.m. on Monday, but that's the way it goes.
At the airport, the Sports Illustrated for Women writer and photographer met us and took some more photos of the team-bonding atmosphere before we got on the plane.
The flight left at about midnight. It was a tough flight for me. I wasn't able to sleep at all. We got in at about 8 a.m. I was able to go home and get my schoolbooks and got to class in time, and even stayed awake, which amazed me!
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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