Just a little more than a month ago, Sarah Fisher was living her dream as she unveiled her own IndyCar team.
The team was a true Mom-and-Pop operation involving Fisher, her husband, Andy O’Gara, and her father-in-law, longtime IndyCar mechanic Johnny O’Gara.
The team purchased all the necessary equipment, including a Dallara race car and a Honda engine to make this her best Indy 500 yet with sponsorship promised by an energy drink, ResQ, which had promised her the proper funding necessary to make the race.
Fisher estimated it costs close to $1 million to make her IndyCar effort happen, so when the sponsor failed to send in the money, it put Fisher and her family in a personal financial problem.
“Yeah, dudes, I’m broke,” Fisher said with a laugh after qualifying (22nd) for her seventh Indianapolis 500 on Saturday with a four-lap average of 221.246 miles per hour.
“A lot of stress and a lot of hours went into this,” Fisher said. “I qualified my car today, and it is my car. I have a feeling of pride being able to do that. As far as taking out aggression on sponsorship contracts that didn’t come to fruition, a lot of boxing has come into play for that.”
It’s been quite a struggle for Fisher and her family just to get to this point, every day expecting a check to arrive or money to be transferred into her account only to discover it hasn’t happened.
“My husband and I haven’t filed for divorce yet,” Fisher said. “Not that we will. It’s just been stressful on both of us because we’ve put all of our efforts and energies into this project. We’ve had our moments and that is more stressful than anything.
“When a sponsor says they are going to do something and they don’t in a husband-and-wife effort, that puts a strain on your relationship. But we’re through it and today was a very proud day for both Andy and I.”
Fisher continues to look at the numbers on the books and said the team is still in the red.
“It is what it is. I love racing, and I don’t care,” Fisher said. “I’ve been at Ground Zero before, and I’ve had to start all over, and I’m not afraid to do it again. No, I haven’t gotten a straight answer from them, and I don’t think we ever will. The only answer I’ve gotten from them is that it’s still coming. I can’t talk about what I’m doing legally, but it’s going to get intense.
“Right now, I’m focused 110 percent on this effort during the month of May, and we will focus on what we are going to do later. Regardless of them coming through, we are qualified.”
Fisher has been able to put together a small collection of associate sponsors that have helped fund her team and has had fans come up to her in the garage area and give her cash and checks to help her make the race.
A little here and a little there really helps Fisher and her team.
“We came in with a splash for the media and were able to support it on track,” Fisher said. “We’ve stuck to the basics. We’ve been able to get above $5,000 from fans. Every time somebody gives me something, I hand it off to either my dad or Johnny O (O’Gara) and say, ‘here is more petty cash.’ Now we can afford water this week.
“It’s amazing that people do that. A couple people have walked up and written checks for, like, $1,000 and said this is out of their personal savings account, they love what I do, and they want to help. It makes me pretty emotional that I have a fan base that would want to do that.”
Fisher has done a good job of not throwing up her hands and saying, “Forget it.”
“It’s a good thing you guys don’t go home with me at night,” Fisher said. “It’s stressful, and I try to do a really good job because as an owner, you are a leader, and I’ve got all these guys working for me, and if I’m broken down emotionally then they are going to be. If I say, ‘why me?’ then they are going to have a bad attitude.
“As a leader, I have to keep as big a focus as I can. Without my family, I wouldn’t be able to do this.”