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Monday, May 14
Fisher keeps her head at Indy
By Gordon Engelhardt
Scripps Howard News Service
INDIANAPOLIS – Short and slight at 5-foot-3 and 120 pounds, Sarah
Fisher is still tough.
Tough enough to take a humorous approach to her head nearly
swiveling around like Linda Blair's in "The Exorcist." Tough enough
to make light of sleep deprivation.
|  | | Sarah Fisher is slated to start on the fifth row at Indianapolis. |
Fisher had to wave off her first qualifying attempt for the
Indianapolis 500 on Saturday midway through her second lap because her
headrest popped out of place and got stuck in the air intake.
"It wasn't by choice we had to yellow flag that," said Fisher,
who qualified later with a speed of 222.548 mph.
She was asked how she regrouped and regained her emotional edge.
"Other than the fact that my helmet nearly pulled my head off..."
said the 20-year-old Fisher, pausing to laugh.
But she didn't need much time to pause and reflect. She simply
climbed back into the cockpit.
"Really there isn't that much emotion," said Fisher, who last
year became the third woman to race in the Indy 500. She joined Janet
Guthrie and Lyn St. James, who retired earlier this month. She also
became the third-youngest driver to compete at Indy, male or female.
"I'm a pretty patient person. To be honest, I haven't eaten very
much. Definitely my nerves are calmed down a lot now and I'm ready for
the race."
When asked what she was going to do to prepare for the race, she
said: "I'm going to go home and sleep a lot. I haven't had much sleep
in the last week."
"Then I'm going to meet with the engineers and plan for 500 miles.
This is a very long race. The car can go completely the opposite of
what it started out. We have to have a plan of attack for when that
happens.
No longer a curiosity, Fisher gained instant credibility by
finishing a career-best second place in the Indy Racing League's
Infiniti Grand Prix of Miami on April 8, nearly chasing down eventual
winner Sam Hornish.
She shows no signs of youthful arrogance in her approach to Indy.
"I'm not sure if we can win right now," said Fisher, who
qualified 19th last year at the Indy 500, but finished 31st. She and
St. James crashed after 71 laps, giving politically incorrect males
plenty of ammunition. "We're definitely planning and strategizing to
win the race, of course, everybody is. But there's a lot of
competition out there.
"What we got on the run was all we had. We even got a little more
than we thought we would have. I'm very hard on myself, because there
are a lot of drivers out there like Tony (Stewart), Gil (de Ferran)
and Michael (Andretti) who have amazing talent. This year is harder
compared to last year because the competition has stepped up about 10
notches, but I'm definitely having a lot more fun this year."
Even after her head was nearly pulled out of its sockets.
Gordon Engelhardt writes for The Evansville Courier in Indiana.
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