She is Sarah Fisher, the survivor.
In 2000, when she first showed up and ran at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, she was a fresh-faced 19-year-old. But this month she landed here with her husband, her own team and the promise of a sponsorship check from an energy-drink company.
That check has never arrived, which has left her a waif among the rich and powerful who carry names like Penske, Andretti and Ganassi. Yet she has remained undaunted and has qualified her car for the field that will start the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.
“I have a feeling of pride to be able to do that,” she said.
She committed her life savings to create Sarah Fisher Racing, and now she’s making ends meet only with the help of small donations from admiring fans.
“I would have to say it’s about five grand right now,” Fisher said. “It’s just funny. Every time someone hands me something, I hand it off to either my dad or my father-in-law and say, ‘Here you go. Here’s more petty cash. We can have water this week.’
“It’s been amazing that people do that. I’ve had a couple of people that are more well-to-do that have written checks for like a thousand dollars, saying, ‘Here, this is from my own personal savings account. I love what you do. I love you being a role model for my kids, and I want to help.’
“It makes me pretty emotional to think I have a fan base like that.”
Neither Roger Penske nor Michael Andretti nor Chip Ganassi depend on handouts to finance their teams, yet that is just what Fisher has been left to do as she prepares to face them in her seventh 500. She does have some solid support. Direct Supply, Hartman Oil and IUPUI have came to her aid, and she makes sure to point them out as “good sponsors.”
Yet their contributions have hardly allayed money concerns, nor have they eradicated the tension between her and Andy Garcia — her husband and chief mechanic.
“My husband and I haven’t filed for divorce yet,” Fisher said. “Not that we will.
“It’s just been stressful because both of us have put all our efforts and energies into this project, and we’ve had our moments. That’s more stressful than anything. When a sponsor (identified by the Indianapolis Star as ResQ energy drink) says they’re going to do something and they don’t, and it’s a husband-and-wife effort, that puts a little bit of a strain on your relationship. [But] I have to keep as big a focus as I can.”
She has done that gracefully all through this month, which is stressful even for drivers not saddled with concerns like paying bills and making payroll and a check allegedly in the mail.
Fisher knows a lawsuit may be coming, but she declines to discuss that. She also knows she has little chance to win the 500, but that does not deter her either.
Fisher is a wife and an owner and set to ride again in the 500, which makes it all so different from the time she showed up here as a blithe teenager.
“It’s hard to compare the first time I was here with the first time as an owner,” she said. “I have to say I’m a lot stronger mentally, and for that I’m more proud.
“To come here as a teenager and to qualify, that’s what Graham Rahal is living all month. It’s a very unique thing to do and something you should be really proud of. And to come here as both an owner and driver, I think my family’s so proud of me that no one can talk. My dad is on the verge of tears, and everybody’s just so happy. I’m sure there’ll be beverages this evening.”
But there is one last question — about how much this effort is costing — before those beverages can be poured.
“Close to a million dollars, if not a million,” she said. “Yeah, dudes. I’m broke.”
Yet that hardly matters. She is Sarah Fisher, the survivor.
————
smyslenski@tribune.com
Lineup in Scoreboard
