INDIANAPOLIS – Sarah Fisher received the honor of being the first driver to turn a lap on the new Indianapolis Motor Speedway Dirt Track on Wednesday afternoon, participating in a media event and test session ahead of next week’s Driven2SaveLives BC39 presented by NOS Energy Drink.
Fisher, piloting brother-in-law Kyle O’Gara’s No. 67 Big Machine Vodka midget, turned a handful of laps around the quarter-mile dirt oval set inside the third turn of the historic 2.5-mile speedway.
While it wasn’t necessarily a learning day for the actual event next week, Wednesday’s activities still left the nine-time Indianapolis 500 starter smiling from ear to ear after getting the chance to go back to her dirt-track racing roots for an afternoon.
“The test day was just halfway there (to what the experience will be),” noted Fisher. “We were really just there to demonstrate what the cars look like to a lot of the media in Indianapolis, but I think the racing will be on the top (groove). The banking is pretty nice up there and I think, by the time they get the water laid down, it’ll be really good.
“The race being at night will help as well; it will preserve the water that’s in the track and should make for good racing,” Fisher continued. “We’re excited to be a part of this race with three cars and looking forward to it.”
O’Gara will drive one of three Sarah Fisher-Hartman Racing Development entries during next week’s BC39, teaming up with all-time USAC National Sprint Car Series winner Dave Darland and Pennsylvania Posse member Ryan Smith, who has spent time on the road with the All Star Circuit of Champions.
The 23-year-old spent time soaking in the moment of being the first team to lap the dirt at IMS.
“It’s a huge honor for us as a team, that we got the call from Doug Boles at IMS and Levi Jones at USAC to come and do this deal,” said O’Gara. “Obviously, we’re the closest team to the track location-wise and we do a lot in the Speedway community … but it was really good to get that call. It wasn’t much of a learning day for us; it was more to get the show out into the media more, but things like that do pay off.
“It’s going to be a big show next week,” O’Gara added. “We can’t wait to show IMS and the surrounding community what it’s all about. Sarah hadn’t been in one of these cars since the last test here with Tony (Stewart) in 2016 … so it was cool to see her smile. She enjoys dirt racing as much as anybody.”
Fisher, who grew up running dirt sprint cars, has been an advocate of IMS’ dirt-track vision ever since the Speedway put a temporary facility together in 2016 for Stewart’s impending retirement.
“I was one of the ones who kept leaning on Doug (Boles, IMS track president) to get it done,” Fisher grinned. “This is my background. I came from dirt. I’ve run sprint cars with wings, so I love dirt racing and I love the Saturday night crowd. These are my people.”
The inaugural Driven2SaveLives BC39 presented by NOS Energy Drink will take place Sept. 5-6 as a lead-in to Brickyard 400 weekend at IMS. Thursday night’s 39-lap feature will pay out a winner’s purse of $15,000 – one of the richest prizes in midget racing.
