91 Facts About Sarah Fisher

Sarah Fisher raced in the NASCAR West Series in 2004 and 2005.

In 2002, Sarah Fisher was the first female driver to win a pole position in a major American open-wheel race and competed in the Indianapolis 500 nine times, more than any other woman.

Sarah Fisher was born into an Ohioan family with a background in racing; she began competing at the age of five when her parents entered her in a quarter-midget race before progressing to karting three years later.

Sarah Fisher won three World Karting Association championships, and she subsequently progressed into sprint car racing, where her success was moderate.

Sarah Fisher made her IRL debut at the final race of the 1999 season.

In 2008, Fisher established and drove for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing until her retirement at the end of 2010.

In retirement, Fisher focused full-time on Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, with drivers Ed Carpenter and Josef Newgarden achieving modest success with the team.

Sarah Fisher retained ownership of the team until she merged it with Ed Carpenter Racing, creating CFH Racing in 2010.

In 2016, Sarah Fisher sold her stake in CFH Racing to focus on a full-time career in business in Indiana but remained with the team to help with sponsorship development.

Sarah Marie Fisher was born on October 4,1980, in Columbus, Ohio.

Sarah Fisher's grandparents owned a go-kart track in Richwood and her uncle was a local engine builder.

Sarah Fisher was taken by her parents to the local race track to watch her father compete.

Sarah Fisher was given her first car, a Barbie pedal vehicle, at age four.

Sarah Fisher's father devised a schedule to enter her at small, indoor tracks during the winter, and both her parents supported her early racing career.

Sarah Fisher cited Jacques Villeneuve, Steve Kinser and Dave Blaney as her racing heroes.

When Sarah Fisher turned eight, she began racing go-karts in her age group on the East Coast of the United States, and learned of how karts worked from her father.

Sarah Fisher joined the World Karting Association, winning the Grand National Championship four times in 1991,1993 and 1994; she was Circleville Points Champion in 1993.

Sarah Fisher was introduced to endurance karting in 1994, learning endurance and patience, and reinforcing her smooth driving style.

Sarah Fisher disliked the school because it focused mainly on the media and preparing the body and mind to drive and not on what the driver is doing inside the car.

Sarah Fisher competed in all 62 races of the 1997 ASCoC, gaining a season-best finish of second at Eldora Speedway.

Sarah Fisher's father broke his arm at the start of the 1998 season, preventing him from rebuilding two engines to allow Fisher to continue racing.

Sarah Fisher's parents visited multiple tracks to sample three divisions of asphalt racing and they decided to enter her into the United States Auto Club Midget division, which was the most competitive form of racing they saw.

Sarah Fisher drove in Automobile Racing Club of America and National Alliance of Midget Auto Racing-sanctioned events on asphalt ovals in the Midwestern United States.

Sarah Fisher won five feature races of the 23 she entered and broke Winchester Speedway's lap record.

That year, Sarah Fisher graduated seventh overall in a class of 178 with honors and an A average from Teays Valley High School in Ashville, Ohio.

Sarah Fisher achieved a grade point average of 4.178, earning induction into the National Honor Society, and took 30 post-secondary credits at Columbus State Community College.

Sarah Fisher enrolled at The Ohio State University in August 1999 to pursue a part-time undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering before she received a telephone call following the first day of classes inviting her to test an Indy Racing League car.

Sarah Fisher signed a three-year contract to drive for Pelfrey on August 24,1999, and passed an IRL-sanctioned rookie test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway supervised by former driver Johnny Rutherford six days later, becoming at the time the youngest person to do so.

Sarah Fisher chose not to enter the US F2000 National Championship, a series in which several IRL drivers participated to further their careers.

Sarah Fisher made her IRL debut at Texas Motor Speedway, qualifying in 17th place, making her the youngest person to take part in an IRL event.

Sarah Fisher finished the race in 25th place, having driven into the pit lane after 66 laps to retire with a failed timing chain.

Team owner Derrick Walker sought a young driver who could appeal to both fans and his sponsors; he felt Sarah Fisher was the ideal person.

Sarah Fisher worked with four-time Indianapolis 500 winner and driver coach Al Unser.

Sarah Fisher missed the season's first race at Walt Disney World Speedway but finished 13th at Phoenix International Raceway.

Sarah Fisher's inexperience sometimes dropped her to the back of the running order in a race, and some drivers felt she was a risk in traffic.

Sarah Fisher ended the year 18th in the drivers' standings and fans voted her Open Wheel Magazine Driver of the Year in the IRL category.

Sarah Fisher remained with Walker Racing for 2001, and was the first woman to compete full-time in the IRL.

Two races later, at Pikes Peak International Raceway for the Radisson Indy 200, Sarah Fisher came tenth, her second and final top-ten finish of 2001.

Sarah Fisher finished no better than 11th in the final six races, and was 19th in the drivers' standings with 188 points.

Sarah Fisher was voted by fans as IRL's Most Popular Driver for the second successive year.

However, Sarah Fisher had received enough sponsorship funding at Indianapolis to finish the season.

Sarah Fisher did not start the Firestone Indy 225 at Nazareth Speedway because of a severe back contusion from a serious accident.

Sarah Fisher finished her 14-race season 18th in the points standings, scoring 211 points, because she drove an underpowered car and had difficulty remaining on the same lap as the race leader.

Two months later, Sarah Fisher entered the Indianapolis 500 in Kelley's No 39 Dallara Toyota Indy V8 entry after they received sponsorship for the event.

Later that year, Sarah Fisher made her stock car racing debut, entering a NASCAR West Series race in the No 20 Bill McAnally Racing car at Phoenix after Richard Childress Racing owner Richard Childress asked Bill McAnally if she could fill in for Kerry Earnhardt, who was competing in a Cup Series event at Talladega Superspeedway.

Sarah Fisher drove a Chevrolet Monte Carlo for RCR's development program through NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program in the full 2005 NASCAR West Series after Childress offered her a contract to drive for Bill McNally Racing.

Sarah Fisher declined offers to race in the 2005 Indianapolis 500 so she could keep a promise that she made to Childress and NASCAR president Mike Helton to refrain from doing Double Duty, and wanting to avoid sending a message that she was not committed to NASCAR.

Sarah Fisher began the season with a 20th-place finish in the United Rentals 100 at Phoenix.

Three races later, Sarah Fisher had her first lead-lap finish, coming in 12th in the Autozone Twin Championships before earning her first top-ten result, an eighth in the King Taco 150 at Irwindale Speedway.

Sarah Fisher had top-ten finishes at Pikes Peak, Thunderhill Raceway and Mesa Marin Raceway for a final championship standing of 12th with 1,471 points.

Sarah Fisher's results made her eligible for the exhibition Toyota All-Star Showdown, where she finished 11th.

Sarah Fisher was named the NASCAR West Series Rookie of the Year and fans voted her the Most Popular Driver.

Sarah Fisher secured the seat by staying in contact with the team through her engagement with tire changer Andy O'Gara, as well as attending several IndyCar races throughout 2006.

Sarah Fisher finished in her starting position of 12th after car setup problems.

Sarah Fisher ended the event in 16th, giving her a two-race points total of 32.

Sarah Fisher finished the year 25th in the drivers' standings.

The first and best road-course finish of Sarah Fisher's career was a 15th-place result at the Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg, the season's second round.

Sarah Fisher finished 17th in the drivers' championship with 275 points.

Sarah Fisher drove part-time in the No 67 Dallara IR-05 Honda HI7R car.

Sarah Fisher eventually obtained financial support for the Kentucky and Chicagoland races.

Sarah Fisher finished 15th in Kentucky after her rear-right suspension broke while battling Danica Patrick in turn one.

In January 2009, Sarah Fisher received funding from her primary team sponsor to enter four oval-track events in the season: Kansas, Indianapolis, Kentucky and Chicagoland.

Sarah Fisher did not race a full schedule due to budgetary constraints caused by the global financial crisis that downturned the American economy.

Sarah Fisher received the Scott Brayton Award, voted on by the media and presented to the driver who best exemplified "the character and racing spirit of the late driver Scott Brayton".

Sarah Fisher's best result for the rest of 2009 was a 12th-place finish at Kentucky.

At the Indianapolis 500, Sarah Fisher had a career-worst start of 29th; she finished the race 26th after she was collected in a lap 124 multi-car crash.

Sarah Fisher's best result of the season was a 15th-place, which she achieved in Texas as well as in Chicagoland.

Sarah Fisher ended the season with a 22nd-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Sarah Fisher was 26th in the drivers' standings with 92 points.

Sarah Fisher looked for a full-time driver to replace her because she thought her driving was taking away from her ability to adequately run the team.

Sarah Fisher left open that she would still run a part-time schedule the next season.

Sarah Fisher formed an partnership with businessman and oil tycoon Wink Hartman in late 2011, and the renamed Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing team began competing in the IndyCar Series full-time from 2012 onward.

In 2015, Sarah Fisher returned to competitive racing by entering the Chili Bowl; she had watched her brother-in-law participate at the race in 2014.

Sarah Fisher reached the C-Features portion of the tournament and was eliminated at that stage after finishing sixth in its first race.

That year, Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing merged with Ed Carpenter Racing to form CFH Racing.

In January 2016, Sarah Fisher entered her second Chili Bowl, driving the No 67SF car.

Sarah Fisher was eliminated after failing to finish high enough in the I-Main Division heat to advance further in the tournament.

Also in January 2016, Sarah Fisher sold her share in CFH Racing that month but stayed on to help the renamed Ed Carpenter Racing with sponsorship development, working with the team's existing partners.

Sarah Fisher focused on establishing a business venture, the Speedway Indoor Karting track in Speedway, Indiana, which began operations three months later.

In September 2018, Sarah Fisher was part of a group of former team owners that purchased the defunct Whiteland Raceway Park in Whiteland, Indiana.

In March 2016, Sarah Fisher accepted an offer by IndyCar's president of competition and operations Jay Frye to be its pace car driver for 14 out of 16 races, after the aging Johnny Rutherford retired for all but two events.

Sarah Fisher was the sole driver of the pace car for 2017, but she shared the duties with former driver Oriol Servia in 2018, since she was not available for every race.

Sarah Fisher continued to drive the pace car at the Indianapolis 500 the following years.

Amy Rosewater of USA Today noted that Sarah Fisher was called "the poster child of the IRL" in its formative years.

Sarah Fisher was the first female driver who had experience in midget and sprint car racing to compete at the Indianapolis 500.

In June 2002, Sarah Fisher lent her support to the Girl Scouts' campaign "Girls Go Tech", which encourages young women to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Sarah Fisher worked with the ALS Association Indiana Chapter in late 2011, raising more than $25,000 in a fundraiser in Beech Grove, Indiana to promote awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis after an employee of Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing was diagnosed with the disease.

Sarah Fisher co-wrote a book titled "99 Things Women Wish They Knew Before Getting Behind the Wheel of Their Dream Job" in 2010.

Sarah Fisher entered Butler University in 2000, studying part-time for a degree in mechanical engineering but leaving before she finished her course because of the demands of her racing schedule.

Sarah Fisher enrolled at Ellis College of the New York Institute of Technology for a short time.

Sarah Fisher married front-left tire changer Andy O'Gara on September 15,2007, at St Roch Catholic Church in front of members of the IndyCar community.