Girl, 18, passes IRL test, but won’t race at LVMS

Thursday, Sept. 2, 1999 | 10:30 a.m.

Sarah Fisher passed her Indy Racing League rookie test Wednesday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but the 18-year-old sprint-car driver will not make her IRL racing debut in this month's Vegas.com 500 at LVMS.

While Fisher was impressive in her first stint in an Indy car, running a top lap of 204.8 mph, she said she will test later this month at Texas Motor Speedway and attempt to qualify for the Lone Star 500 at TMS in October.

"I'm real excited about getting (my IRL license), but I don't think we'll be here to race," Fisher said after logging 105 laps in Robby Unser's Team Pelfrey car. "We have to sit down and look at what's going on and evaluate our situation.

"You have to surround yourself with the right people and I think three weeks is (not enough time) to find a really, really good, hard-working team."

Although Fisher was given clearance by IRL director of racing operations Brian Barnhart to attempt to qualify for the Vegas.com 500 on Sept. 26, Fisher said she was not disappointed about having to delay her IRL debut.

"I was really anticipating (racing here), but it's not a disappointment because everything that we've been in, we've tested at least four or five times and I've gotten so many laps and we'd go to the races and we'd be prepared and everything was in place -- and it's not in place right now.

"It would be wrong to get in there and have a team that's not capable of winning the race or at least finishing in the top 10 -- that would be wrong."

While she may be only 18 years old, former three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Johnny Rutherford said Fisher has the natural talent to be successful in the Indy car ranks.

"She's an exceptional talent," Rutherford, who was on hand to supervise Fisher's rookie test, said. "She has got a great deal of natural ability and moxie.

"She's just one of those rare talents ... she's proven that she's not afraid of the speeds and she showed an aptitude for having a feel for the car."

Barnhart, while approving Fisher to compete in the IRL, said he would like to see her get some more test time in the car prior to attempting to qualify for a race.

"While I was very impressed with her and we passed her in the test, there are some aspects of the race itself that the rookie test doesn't and cannot include," Barnhart said.

"I would just like to see her get some more seat time. But she did a great job and I don't have any hesitations about her (racing). She's got great potential and a world of talent."

Fisher, who has won three World Karting Association national titles, said she was thrilled to move one step closer to realizing her dream of driving in the Indianapolis 500.

"I definitely want to drive Indy cars -- I don't like stock cars because they don't give me chills," Fisher said. "Indy cars give you chills, I like them and I want to run them. I went out there today and said to myself, 'This is what I want to do.'

"I've just got to work towards that now, just like anything else I've ever done."