page_title: Sarah Fisher
section_title: 2008–2010
hierarchical_section_title: Sarah Fisher / Racing career / 2008–2010
caption_attribution_description: Sarah Fisher at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Pole day qualifications for the 2009 Indianapolis 500.
context_page_description: Sarah Marie Fisher is an American retired professional race car driver who competed in the Indy Racing League and the Indianapolis 500 intermittently from 1999 to 2010. She also raced in the NASCAR West Series in 2004 and 2005. Fisher took part in 81 IndyCar Series events, achieving a career-best finish of second at the 2001 Infiniti Grand Prix of Miami—the highest placing for a woman in the IRL until Danica Patrick's victory in the 2008 Indy Japan 300. In 2002, Fisher was the first female driver to win a pole position in a major American open-wheel race and competed in the Indianapolis 500 nine times, more than any other woman.
  Fisher was born into an Ohioan family with a background in racing; she began competing at the age of five when her parents entered her in a quarter-midget race before progressing to karting three years later. She won three World Karting Association championships and she subsequently progressed into sprint car racing, where her success was moderate. Fisher made her IRL debut at the final race of the 1999 season. During her 11-year professional career, sponsorship problems limited her participation in the series.
context_section_description: Fisher left Dreyer & Reinbold at the conclusion of the season to establish Sarah Fisher Racing with her husband Andy O'Gara, father-in-law John O'Gara and agent Klint Briney in February 2008. She drove part-time in the No. 67 Dallara IR-05 Honda HI7R car. To compete in the Indianapolis 500, Fisher relied on fan funding and had to secure $1 million from sponsors to enter the race after funding from an energy drinks company failed to materialize. She qualified in 22nd place. In the race, Fisher was collected by Tony Kanaan after he spun exiting turn three on the 106th lap. She finished 30th. Afterward, she expressed concerns to ESPN reporter Jamie Little about not being able to enter any more events that year due to sponsorship issues. Fisher eventually obtained financial support for the Kentucky and Chicagoland races. She finished 15th in Kentucky after her rear-right suspension broke while battling Danica Patrick in turn one. At Chicagoland, she bruised her right ankle in a heavy collision with a SAFER barrier due to a mechanical fault, finishing in 24th place. With 37 points, she was 34th in the final standings.
  In January 2009, Fisher received funding from her primary team sponsor to enter four oval-track events in the season: Kansas, Indianapolis, Kentucky and Chicagoland. She did not race a full schedule due to budgetary constraints caused by the global financial crisis that downturned the American economy. After finishing 13th in Kansas, she received additional sponsorship funding to compete at Texas and Homestead-Miami. She qualified 21st at the Indianapolis 500, finishing a career-best 17th place. By starting, she broke the record for the most starts by a woman in Indianapolis 500 history with eight. She received the Scott Brayton Award, voted on by the media and presented to the driver who best exemplified "the character and racing spirit of the late driver Scott Brayton". Fisher's best result for the rest of 2009 was a 12th-place finish at Kentucky. Her final championship placing was 25th, accruing 89 points.
  Although the press initially reported that Fisher would compete in the 2010 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg for the first time since 2007, she chose to forgo the race and the following Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park and replace herself with fellow American driver Graham Rahal, persuading her primary sponsor that Rahal was ideal for her team. The two-race agreement reduced Fisher's 2010 schedule from nine to seven rounds. Thus, her first race of 2010 was at Kansas, where she finished 17th after a season-best qualifying start of 14th. At the Indianapolis 500, Fisher had a career-worst start of 29th; she finished the race 26th after she was collected in a lap 124 multi-car crash. Fisher's best result of the season was a 15th-place, which she achieved in Texas as well as in Chicagoland. She ended the season with a 22nd-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Fisher was 26th in the drivers' standings with 92 points. She looked for a full-time driver to replace her because she thought her driving was taking away from her ability to adequately run the team. Fisher left open that she would still run a part-time schedule the next season. In November, however, she announced her retirement from racing, and driver Ed Carpenter replaced her in the No. 67 car for the 2011 season.
caption: Fisher during qualifying for the 2009 Indianapolis 500
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