"It's very easy to distort the media interest into a false reality," Walker said before the Indy 500. "She's competed in 13 IRL races and scored one third place and one second place. And now she's entering her second Indy 500 with the closest field in the history of the race. She absolutely must keep that reality in check."
Following Fisher's dramatic crash on May 27, many of those comments swung around 180 degrees as reporters and race fans publicly questioned her ability to run with the big boys. Fisher would prefer to answer those questions with a win in Texas this weekend.
While she is struggling to balance her personal and public lives in the unflinching glare of an avid media, she does make concerted efforts to keep her image and ego smaller than life. "There are more movie stars than race-car drivers," she says. "I don't belong in the elite group unless I can demonstrate the same level of talent that every other driver does. I don't deserve any special treatment or considerations. I have to earn the right to drive just like everyone else."
"There are astronauts, there are firefighters, and then there are Indy race-car drivers," says Bob Reif, senior vice president of marketing for the IRL. "It takes something special to race three-fourths of an inch apart at 240 miles an hour, flat out through the straightaway with your head exposed."
If the danger and skill involved in race-car driving aren't enough to keep Fisher humble, the competition will. This year, she found herself competing in the Indy 500 against living legends like Michael Andretti, Al Unser Jr., Tony Stewart, Arie Luyendyk, and Robby Gordon, among others. And doing so in front of 500,000 live fans and millions more watching on television around the world.
"It's easy to become intoxicated by the history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and by the drivers competing in this year's Indy 500," Walker says. "Good drivers respect good drivers. But having said that, if Sarah doesn't want to beat every one of them, she shouldn't be here."
Fisher recognizes that her team and her track standing will fall into jeopardy if she doesn't perform at the top of her ability, regardless of the competition. To build a long-lasting, meaningful career, she must strike a balance between ambition and respect, intensity and perspective. She must listen intently to the advice offered by racers with more experience and crashes under their belt, and she must continue to prove herself by qualifying and racing consistently well. Above all, she must always be ready and willing to rewrite history by becoming the first woman to win the Indy 500.
"Getting here was the easy part," Walker says of Fisher's impressive starting position at this year's Indy. "Now we just have to go out and consistently beat the boys."
Learn more about Sarah Fisher and Walker Racing online.
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