Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Fisher hopes to be with new team for Indy 500

Wednesday, April 17, 2002 | 9:40 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

It took Sarah Fisher only three days with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing to realize that she would like to remain with the Indy Racing League team well beyond this Sunday's race at Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway.

Fisher, 21, was hired last Thursday to fill in this weekend for regular driver and co-owner Robbie Buhl, who continues to recover from a concussion suffered last month during qualifying for the IRL event at California Speedway.

During a break Tuesday during her first test with the team at Nazareth, Fisher said she hoped her arrangement with Dreyer & Reinbold would turn into more than a one-race deal. She said the team is working to try to secure sponsorship for next month's Indianapolis 500 and beyond.

"I sure hope so," Fisher said during a conference call. "I love this team. Just spending a couple days with them, they're a real tight-knit team and for the three days that I've worked with them, I already feel at home.

"Hopefully, we can get something put together (for Indy), but there isn't something put together right now. We're still trying to work on things and make as many contacts and friendships in the business as we can to try and make something work because I sure would love for this team to be my home."

Buhl said it was his hope that he could secure sponsorship for the team to run a second car -- perhaps for Fisher -- at Indy.

"Prior to me bashing my head in California, we had conversations with Sarah as well as some other drivers," Buhl said. "Where that's going to shake out, we don't know.

"But one thing we did think of (in hiring Sarah) is at least this is a good opportunity to get to know her better and for her to work with some of our crews guys if something does come together."

Fisher, who gained her release from Walker Racing last week after sitting out the first three IRL races because of a lack of funding, said she doesn't feel any added pressure to perform well this weekend in what could amount to a one-race audition.

"As everyone knows at Walker Racing, I put more pressure on myself than anyone around me," Fisher said. "It doesn't matter what car I'm in or who I'm driving for or what's at stake, I always want to win.

"The pressure I put on myself isn't about 'I've got to do well in this race to get a sponsor' or 'I've got to do well in this race to keep this ride' -- it's the idea of winning that drives me every race weekend. The idea of getting in a car and winning and doing the best that I can is the kind of pressure I put on myself."

Priestley, who served as a color commentator on IRL telecasts last season, has competed in various forms of racing including IMSA, the SCCA Pro Rally Series, the Magna Enduro Series and the FIA World Rally Championship. In 1998, he earned his first career victory driving a Grand-Am sportscar at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

"I'm really excited to be racing in the Infiniti Pro Series with what I deem the premier team in Indy Racing," Priestley said. "I will be on a rather steep learning curve at the beginning of the year but I think I'll catch up pretty quickly."

Priestley is best known for his portrayal of Brandon Walsh on the television series "Beverly Hills 90210."

CART announced that Andretti's car did not meet the minimum underbody height requirement of 2 inches. Both Team Motorola and Andretti were allowed to retain the Long Beach victory and all championship points earned in the event.

Mark Kinser finished third in the race and retained the series points lead by 21 points over cousin Steve Kinser. Defending WoO champion Danny Lasoski is third in the championship, 28 points off the lead.