Sarah Fisher to try NASCAR

[rustyfan]

Didn't see this posted elsewhere, and since there might be an interest in getting some info on what Fisher is up to these days I decided to post it here;

From Jayski:

Sarah Fisher to make NASCAR debut at Phoenix

Open-wheel star Sarah Fisher has been named to drive for Bill McAnally Racing in the Subway 150 NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series race at Phoenix International Raceway on Oct. 3. Fisher - who has raced four seasons in the IRL IndyCar Series - will be making her NASCAR debut, driving the #20 NASCAR Select by NAPA Filters Chevrolet.

"We are excited to have Sarah be a part of the team at Phoenix," said BMR President Bill McAnally. "This is a great opportunity for BMR to work with a talented young driver from the open-wheel ranks. She should provide an interesting perspective and some valuable input into our program."

Fisher, who progressed through the sprint car and midget car ranks to the Indy Racing League, was voted the IRL's Most Popular Driver the past three seasons. The 23-year-old resident of Indianapolis, Ind., scored a career-best runner-up finish in the IRL IndyCar Series at Homestead-Miami in 2001 and won the pole at Kentucky in 2002. In 2000, she became only the third woman in history to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.

"I'm really excited to be making my NASCAR debut," Fisher said. "It's a great opportunity. I've been working hard to prepare for this." Fisher will join BMR at Phoenix as a teammate to Austin Cameron, who is currently second in the championship standings.

Update #1: Fisher is filling the seat temporarily vacated by Kerry Earnhardt, who will be at Talladega Superspeedway next week for a Nextel Cup race. Earnhardt is a son of the late Dale Earnhardt. McAnally initially was going to replace Kerry Earnhardt with Clint Boyer, who drove the car at PIR earlier this season. But Nextel Cup car owner Richard Childress, who helped get Earnhardt the ride with the West Series team, called McAnally last week and asked if he would be interested in putting Fisher in the car.

"Richard asked me what I thought about it, and I thought it was OK," McAnally said. "I think she could be real good for our series, and I think our series could be real good for her. I'm looking forward to it."

Update #2: Sarah Fisher, a 23-year-old Indy-car racer, could be headed for a NASCAR Busch [Childress?] ride next season if her tryout in a NASCAR-West race at Phoenix Oct. 3 goes well. Fisher tested at Caraway Speedway in a Kevin Harvick car a few weeks ago and was impressive..

[Kicking-back]

A lower level series like this could be good for her to gain experience.

She's certainly not up to IndyCar standard these days.

[marcus]

well I hope she does well , I also hope that im getting coverage of this race cause I will tune in to see how she goes

[evo]

An we've lost another one Man I wish I were a top level sprint car driver. Wouldn't I be rare when I found a way to get an IndyCar ride.

[Kicking-back]

Originally posted by evo
An we've lost another one

She's hardly a great loss to IndyCar.

Sarah couldn't get sponsorship to buy a drive, and she's never proved to be worth hiring on merit.

[GP Racer]

I do hate to lose any driver to NASCAR, but I have to agree with you KB, she won't be the biggest loss the IRL will ever have.

She's a great personality, and a great ambassador for IndyCar racing, but eventually you have to prove yourself on the track, and for the most part, she really hasn't.

I do suspect though, that we might not have seen the last of her...

[D.R.T.]

Didnt she win the most popular driver for many years. In that sense its a loss

[gttouring]

well she was very approachable and a good fan to driver bridge of reality not the untouchable and i am a rock star mentality many drivers get.
Busch will work out for her, but doesn't it get really hot in the car? I thought her big drawbackas a racer was she didn't have the endurance to stick out th concentration many of the others did. and busch will magnify this - of course the G forces won't be as high so perhaps it could swing the other way...as a fan of someone so brave and real, now i have to watch her busch races. as if i don't wacth enough racing, and try doing so much of my own...
you wonder where is my life, until you realize your living it..

[rustyfan]

The IndyStar has an update on Sarah Fisher:

Fisher to drive NASCAR West full time

Sarah Fisher is putting her Indy Racing League career on hold to go stock-car racing.

NASCAR car owner Richard Childress announced Tuesday that he has hired Fisher to drive the full 11-race season in the West Series, a regional NASCAR division. She'll drive for Bill McAnally Racing with Childress' backing as part of NASCAR's diversity program.

Childress said Fisher also will be entered in two Busch Series races later this season.

Asked if her Indy-car career is over, Fisher said: "I'm not ready to say that yet. I prefer to say my stock-car career is beginning."

Fisher has run in four Indianapolis 500s and has been voted three times by fans as the most popular driver in the IRL.

In October, Fisher ran in a West Series race in Phoenix, finishing 21st (retiring due to mechanical problems).

[JohnSSC]

I will agree that from a talent standpoint this is not huge. It is huge though from a PR standpoint. IRL as much as CC is clawing for positive press and TG supporting Sarah in finding a full-time ride would have been great for the Series.

Note that NASCAR has it's own diversity program - they are diligent in trying to broaden their fan base and they know that driver's attract fans. Sarah has a great personality and even if her results are somewhat mediocre she will attract a positive light to herself, her team and NASCAR. I will go a step further and say that now that she doesn't have to spend her time chasing dollars, her results may not be that mediocre! She will now be able to "arrive and drive."

Meanwhile TG and the Three Amigos fiddle while Rome burns in that their diversity program consists of seeing how many drivers from different parts of the world can find the money to come race in IRL/CC.

[Kicking-back]

Well, if its about a "diversity programme", IndyCar has a new "token woman" this season - and she's a much better driver than Sarah.

[JohnSSC]

Oh, I don't disagree there, K-B! It is just that when you have a driver of Sarah's popularity it would make sense to help her get a full-time ride.

Danica would be there on merit I believe but Rahal is canny and knows how much she will bring to the team in attention and then hopefully sponsor $$. He is as shrewd as any in the business right now with the exception of Penske (in N America, that is).

[Kicking-back]

But wasn't Sarah only popular (essentially in a survey of limited worth) because she was a woman....?

[BootsOntheSide]

Hopefully Danika will be so successful that the fact that she's a woman will cease to be an issue before long. I'd agree that she's probably a better driver than Sarah (although, and this is admittedly off-topic, I'd rather see a secon D&R car than a third Rahal car).

[Refutation]

Sarah won't be able to claw off of the "I'm a woman in a mans world" hype,since there will be three or four other woman running Busch Series races this year.

[JohnSSC]

True enough Refutation, we will see what she has as far as driving ability this time around. I think she will do better than some expect.

[rustyfan]

Apparently she was running well before the mechanical problems ended her day in that earlier West race she tried, so yeah, I agree that she might surprise some people.

[PaulSands]

Difficult to prove yourself when you dont get the drives..2004 how many IRL outings did she have?

[muggle not]

ANY team that the IRL loses will be missed. I for one am glad to see Sarah get a shot at Nascar. The West Series is a good place for her to start......and she should have good equipment and the team to accompany it. And as someone mentioned, she will not have to worry about finding sponsorship.

[rustyfan]

NASCAR.com has a good article about Sarah and her thoughts on the move to stock-cars full-time;

LINK - Fisher eager to drive 'anything with fenders'

[JohnSSC]

NASCAR West does some road courses on their schedule, do they not?

But yes, it seems to be a good "starter" series for her.

[rustyfan]

Originally Posted by JohnSSC

NASCAR West does some road courses on their schedule, do they not?

But yes, it seems to be a good "starter" series for her.

I know they've done Laguna Seca in the past, but I don't think they'll do any road courses this year. This is the 2005 schedule:

Jan 30 - Phoenix International Raceway
Apr 10 - Mesa Marin Raceway
Apr 21 - Phoenix International Raceway
Apr 29 - Stockton 99 Speedway
Jun 18 - Rocky Mountain Raceway
Jul 23 - Irwindale Speedway
Jul 30 - Evergreen Speedway
Aug 13 - Stockton 99 Speedway
Aug 21 - Pikes Peak International Raceway
Sep 03 - California Speedway
Sep 17 - Douglas County Speedway

Must admit I'm not sure what the specs on some of the tracks are (Stockton 99, Rocky Mountain & Douglas County, to be more specific).

[JohnSSC]

For some reason I thought they appeared at Infineon Raceway as well - thanks for the list though!

[StickShift]

They also used to be a support race for Cart at the PortlandIR.

[BootsOntheSide]

Regardless of her talent, Sarah is a big loss to the IRl, especialyl if Danika Patrick fails to take off in the same way with the fans.