IRL notes: Fisher holds her own against ‘boys’

Monday, Oct. 18, 1999 | 10:48 a.m.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Don't bet against Sarah Fisher to win next year's Rookie of the Year award in the Indy Racing League.

Fisher, the 19-year-old sprint-car driver from Commercial Point, Ohio, proved -- albeit briefly -- during Sunday's Mall.com 500 at Texas Motor Speedway that she is capable of running with the big boys.

Fisher, who qualified 17th in the 27-car field, more than held her own in her first IRL start before engine trouble ended her evening after only 66 laps.

"They said I broke a timing chain -- it just let go," a dejected Fisher said. "I think I was doing my job well even though we went a lap down."

Because of radically cooler track temperatures and residual moisture on the racing surface after Sunday morning's rain, IRL officials elected to start the field in single-file order, rather than the traditional two abreast, in the interest of safety. The single-file start and subsequent restarts made it easier for the the front-running cars to lap those running near the rear of the field.

Her brief stint on the track Sunday gave Fisher a reason to be optimistic about next year.

"I think we will be able to run well next year," Fisher said. "I'm a little upset now, but I really like the people that I'm around and I'm looking forward to racing next year."

Fisher will replace Robby Unser as the sole driver for Team Pelfrey in 2000.

* LITTLE AL UPDATE: Galles Racing team owner Rick Galles said Sunday he has scheduled an Oct. 27 press conference in Indianapolis to announce his team's plans for the 2000 IRL season.

Galles is expected to announce that Al Unser Jr. will move from CART to the IRL and drive a second car for Galles next season. Davey Hamilton of Las Vegas will continue to drive for Galles, as well.

If there was any question that Unser would be driving for Galles next season, Galles put an end to widespread media speculation with these post-race comments:

"We're going to make an announcement on the 27th of this month about what our plans are, and probably most of you (in the media) have an idea (what that announcement is).

"I was really hoping to make the announcement in Albuquerque, but we're doing it in Indy because our sponsors want us to make a big deal out of it."

Both Galles and Unser are from Albuquerque.

* TOP ROOKIE: With his sixth-place finish Sunday, Scott Harrington clinched the Sprint PCS Rookie of the Year award and a $50,000 bonus. Harrington edged Robby McGhee, who took 12th in the race, by 10 points for the award.

"Winning the rookie of the year title is just awesome," Harrington said. "We ran out of fuel before the first pit stop and we managed to fight our way back up to sixth.

"Winning this title means everything to me because this (Harrington Motorsports) team worked very hard despite having the lowest budget of any team on the IRL circuit."

* MEDICAL UPDATE: Three members of Tyce Carlson's Blueprint-Immke Racing team remained hospitalized Sunday night following a pit-road accident during Saturday's final practice session.

Eleven people were injured when Swedish rookie Niclas Jonsson's car spun in the pits and hit Carlson's car while his crew was practicing a pit stop.

Tracy Hash, Thomas Bose and Jeff Howerton remained hospitalized at three separate area hospitals. Hash, the most seriously injured, suffered a complex compound fracture of his left leg, just above the ankle, and remained in serious condition. Witnesses said Hash's foot nearly was severed in the accident.

Bose was upgraded from serious to fair condition with rib fractures and Howerton also was upgraded to fair condition with a broken right leg. Two other members of Carlson's crew, Greg Height and William Dyer, were released Sunday night from Dallas' Parkland Memorial Hospital.

Jonsson did not start Sunday's race because his car was severely damaged. Four members of the PDM Racing team volunteered to work on Carlson's crew for the race. Carlson finished in 13th place.

* RAY APOLOGIZES: Greg Ray offered a public apology to Mark Dismore before Sunday's race over comments Ray made on television after the two crashed during the Vegas.com 500 three weeks ago at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Ray, who blamed Dismore for intentionally taking him out of the race during the televised interview, retracted that statement after speaking with Dismore and Kelley Racing team owner Tom Kelley.

"I spoke with Mr. Kelley and Mark after that race and we pretty much narrowed it down to whose fault we think it was; we think it was his spotter," Ray said.