Stay on Track

Demonstrate Resilience

At last year's Indy 500, Fisher finished 31 out of 33 cars because of an early accident. This year, she finished 31 out of 33 cars because of an early accident. This on-track consistency does not sit well with Walker, who places a premium on experiential learning. His credo for Fisher: Remember it. Retain it. Act on it.

"When you are young and fearless, you think you'll never get seriously injured in an accident," Walker says. "The truth is, you only have so many lives in racing. You must learn a lesson from each accident because the same mistakes will come back to bite you over and over again until you run out of lives."

Though she can't afford to dwell on the crash that took her out of the running at Indy this year, Fisher says that she and Walker took time after the race to evaluate all the factors leading up to that fateful spinout in turn two. Initially, they determined that the tires were too cold, and therefore, the car was too loose to keep from slipping on the track in banked turns. But the crucial factor wasn't a mechanical malfunction. Fisher herself was stretched too thin to perform well.

"I was pulled here, there, and everywhere in the days before the race," says Fisher, who participated in a marathon autograph session, city parade, and various interviews on the day before the Indy 500. "All of those engagements diverted my attention away from the actual race. From now on, I need to concentrate on delivering quality rather than quantity."

Walked couldn't agree more. In the days before a race, he advises drivers to concentrate on four things: concentration, control, decision making, and speed. Focusing on anything else -- like winning the race or even passing a rival driver -- will distract them from the goal at hand: finishing the race.

Says Walker: "Crashes are the thing you fear most in this business -- not necessarily because of the physical impact, but because of the psychological impact. They scar drivers mentally." Last weekend, Fisher took time off to clear her mind and prepare mentally for the race in Texas this Saturday. There, she will push herself to place well for Walker Racing and to overcome the problems that contributed to her calamity at Indy.

Practice Patience

Before joining Walker Racing in 2000, Fisher raced go-carts, sprint cars, and quarter midgets for nearly 15 years. She learned to race hard from beginning to end in short, intense competitions that hinged on adrenaline and guts. The IRL doesn't work that way. Not even the most experienced driver could sprint through all 200 laps of the Indy 500 -- nor would he want to.

Professional race-car drivers learn to temper speed with persistence and strategy to make well-timed pit stops, overtake drivers, respond to changing track conditions, and, ultimately, cross the finish line first. "A young driver has all the enthusiasm any driver could ever want," Walker says. "The challenge is leavening that enthusiasm with patience, so you don't go too fast too soon. You must learn the craft and apply it with confidence, rather than just rush into it."

When Fisher first joined Walker Racing, she tended to push the car and herself a little too far, Walker says. But just one year has taught the rookie to aim for a finish, rather than a win, and to take a measured approach toward racing.

"I'm learning to control my aggression so that I'm not pushing so hard at the start of the race that I'm worn out by the end," Fisher says. "Patience means plotting out your pit stops and communicating with your team, rather than worrying about letting another car slip by. Patience means thinking globally."

Resist Distractions

Public praise is a double-edged sword for Fisher, who de-emphasizes the fact that she is a young woman in a sport dominated by seasoned men. When asked about the drawbacks and benefits of infiltrating an all-male bastion, Fisher politely steers the conversation away from her gender and toward her passion for the sport.

"Sarah simply wants to be recognized, as every driver does, for her skills on the racetrack," Walker says. "Putting a lot of emphasis on the fact that she's female is slightly derogatory because it puts her ability behind her sex. Gender should not be the first recognizable point when you talk about Sarah Fisher."

Despite her reluctance to play media darling, Fisher has attracted a great deal of attention from the press. And before this year's Indy 500, casual fans and IRL diehards alike smiled to hear Regis Philbin and Bryant Gumbel predict great things from the girl in car number 15. Though exposure often brings more corporate sponsorships, Walker couldn't help but cringe as the glowing comments escalated before the race.