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Wednesday, September 5, 2001
Another big step
By Sarah Fisher
Special to ABC Sports Online
Finishing second at Homestead on Sunday was a big step for me. It was the first second-place finish of my career. Now, it's just a matter of moving on up the ladder. There's only one more place to go.
|  | | Sarah Fisher is now as close as possible to becoming the first female to win an IRL race. |
We started the race in seventh place, and we kind of laid back and let everybody spread out for a while and maintained our pace. Each and every yellow was called right on cue for each of our pit stops, so it laid perfectly into our race.
The last pit stop we made, Greg Ray actually had driven through my pits to get to his, because his were right in front of me. I came in right behind him, but that was really the only real action that happened during the race. Everything else went pretty smoothly.
With 10 laps to go, I passed Eliseo Salazar going into turn three for second place, and that's how it finished.
It was great going head-to-head with Sam Hornish Jr., who won his second race in a row, at the end. He and I started our careers in one avenue and then we both split different ways. I went on and raced short-track, sprint car and midget racing, and he went to race Formula 3000. It's really great to see that there are two different ways to get back to the same series, and to a level of motorsports that's on top.
All of the young drivers did really well on Sunday, which I think is an indication that there's just a lot more talent coming to the front. There are a lot more younger drivers that not only have a lot of talent, but they're starting to get some good experience under their belt, which is crucial if you want to compete.
Last year was our rookie year, and we learned an incredible amount. We still haven't maximized all we've learned, at least I haven't. I still have a ways to go, but it's at the point now where we're lucky to have a great team -- Walker Racing is one of the best teams out there -- and to have the backing and support that we do is certainly going to help us compete.
The key for me to stepping up and winning my first race is being able to complete a race without making any errors whatsoever. I made one big error on Sunday -- I missed a gear on our last restart, and that's when Sam got by me. That hurt us tremendously, because I think if Sam would've been behind me that entire restart, than we would have had a much better chance at bringing home the victory.
To win, you have to have absolutely no errors. Hopefully, I can have that perfect race in the near future, but Sunday was still a big step for me and my team.
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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 Sarah Fisher makes her move to pass Eliseo Salazar and claim second. (ABC Sports)
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