Sarah Fisher Money Woes

[cosworth151]

I wonder if I'm a jinx.

Right after my favorite F1 team, Super Aguri, went under from money problems that started when a deadbeat title sponsor defauted on them, the same thing is happening to my favorite IRL team.

Sarah Fisher Racing is still waiting for the money from sponsor ResQ energy drink to arrive.

"They're saying, 'Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow.' There comes a certain point of, 'Is it going to be tomorrow or not, guys?' There's nothing dishonest, and they're good people. We just have to figure out a resolution."

Asked if she plans a formal announcement if sponsor ResQ energy drink finally delivers a check, Fisher said: "I won't have to. I'll be running through the garage screaming, 'The drinks are on me! The drinks are on me!' "

Fans voted her the IRL's most popular driver for three consecutive seasons (2001-03), and Fisher also was the first woman to win a pole position. She has the fastest Indy 500 qualifing time of any woman.

Fisher believes she has marketable qualities that counter Patrick's glamorous persona.

"I'm the girl next door, and I can relate to everybody in some sense," said Fisher, a native of Commercial Point, Ohio, about 15 miles south of Columbus. "I feel I'm a normal person who gets to do a really cool job. I'm just a country girl who gets to race Indy cars. I don't have pots of gold."

Female pioneers Lyn St. James and Janet Guthrie (the first woman to race at Indy), predicted Fisher might receive a jolt of sponsor interest after Patrick's win last month. But Fisher said the victory "hasn't had any upside" for her team's budget.

What if the worst happens and she gets neither primary sponsor money nor the minimum $270,000 guaranteed every starter in the race?

"Then I guess we'd just have to liquidate assets, pay everybody and start again at square one," she said.

She has long-standing relationships with AAA and Tag Heuer, among others, and Thursday added Milwaukee-based Direct Supply as an associate sponsor. "We're piecing together what we can," she said.


Sources: Indy Star Tribune, USA Today, Sarah Fisher Racing

[Dare]

Please don't become a fan of mine Cos,things
are bad enough as it is

[Steven Roy]

Am I the only one who thinks it's funny she needs to be rescued because ResQ have not come to her rescue? 

Maybe I have just read too many Wiz jokes

[Alianora La Canta]

She should sue the drinks company for a Trade Descriptions Act breach (or whatever the American equivalent is). ResQ are hopeless at rescues...

[cosworth151]

A really good piece from Bob Kravitz of the Indy Star newspaper about Sarah's funding problems:

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080512/SPORTS15/805120362/1004/SPORTS

She isa also accepting donations:

http://www.sarahfisher.com/5-12-08Donations.pdf

[Dare]

Don't know if anyone saw Sunday's rained out show.
They interviewed many of the drivers.

It's the first time I saw AJ Foyt the IV up close and
in person,I don't know how he gets his visor down,
you talk about a snozz