Sarah Fisher

Sarah Marie Fisher (born October 4, 1980) is an American retired professional race car driver who competed in the Indy Racing League (IRL) (now IndyCar Series) and the Indianapolis 500 intermittently from 1999 to 2010. She also raced in the NASCAR West Series (now NASCAR K&N Pro Series West) in 2004 and 2005. Once described as "the poster child of the IRL", 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 2008 Indy Japan 300 victory. Fisher was the first woman to claim a pole position in a major American open-wheel race and had nine starts in the Indianapolis 500—the most for a woman in the race. 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 achieved early success with three World Karting Association championships and later moved into sprint car racing, where her success was moderate. Fisher debuted in the IRL at the final race of the 1999 season. During her 11-year professional career, sponsorship problems limited her participation in the series. In 2008, Fisher established and drove for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing until her retirement at the end of the 2010 season. In retirement, Fisher focused on operating her team full-time and fielded drivers Ed Carpenter and Josef Newgarden, both of whom achieved modest success with the team. She retained ownership of the team until she merged it with Ed Carpenter Racing to become CFH Racing for the 2015 season. In 2016, Fisher sold her stake in CFH Racing to focus on a full-time career in business in Indiana but remained with the team to help with sponsorship development. That year, she was hired as the IndyCar Series' official Safety Car driver, a role she currently shares with former driver Oriol Servià.