Sarah Fisher: Crash at Indianapolis 500

Part of what reminded me about watching the 93rd Indianapolis 500 race this last weekend actually was Sarah Fisher's appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to promote the upcoming race. As usual, Fisher came off very sweet and gave a fun interview (hard not to when your foil is Jon Stewart, after all) and much was made of how she was the first woman to be racing an eighth Indy 500...not bad, girlfriend. Well as you probably know by now, Fisher didn't win (though she finished 17th on the lead lap, and overall ranked 25th with a total of 30 points). While I have yet to dig up QUALITY video of Sarah Fisher footage from this year's Indy 500, I can present you with her unfortunate collision with Tony Kanaan from the 2008 Indianapolis 500. Take a look.

What appears to have happened here is Kanaan's teammate Marco Andretti muscles Kanaan out to the wall to avoid bumping his partner, and in turn that pushed Kanaan out to the gray area, and eventually Kanaan hits the wall, which in turn allows an oncoming Sarah Fisher to run into him in a T-bone collision. Fisher had little time to react, and unfortunately Fisher becomes a casualty. (The best place to take a look at the collision is right around the 2:00 mark). Tough break for Fisher that year, as 2008 marks her Indy debut as not just a driver but as an owner with her self-owned team, Sarah Fisher Racing, which was operating primarily out of pocket on a low budget. Understandably, she is quite emotional when she gives her post-race interview at the 5:45 mark. Despite such tragedies, Fisher has nothing to be ashamed of--she has made an indelible mark on what has historically been a "boys only" sport and has done so with talent and class.