Fisher Becomes the First to Pole

Sarah Fisher climbed from her car, broke into a mile-wide smile and buried her face in her hands.

The 21-year-old driver, in her fourth season in the Indy Racing League, became the first woman to win the pole position in a major auto race Saturday when she nudged Billy Boat from the top spot in qualifying for the Belterra Casino Indy 300 at Sparta, Ky.

“I’ve never been this excited to race. Just get me in the car!” she said. “It’s amazing how much fun you have when things are going right.”

Fisher, who left Walker Racing after last season, was without a ride until she joined Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and teammate Robbie Buhl and finished fourth at Nazareth, Pa., in her first start this season.

She led four laps late in the race at Michigan two weeks ago before finishing eighth.

“Being a woman in racing is nothing I’ve ever looked at seriously. I’ve always just been a driver,” said Fisher, who in 1999 became the youngest driver in IRL history.

While Fisher became the first woman to take the pole in a major series, Shawna Robinson won poles for a NASCAR Busch Series race in 1994 at Atlanta and a 2000 ARCA event in Michigan.

Boat, who in 1998 set an IRL record with six poles, qualified at 221.364, with Felipe Giaffone next at 220.430 and Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves fourth at 220.387. Sam Hornish Jr., knocked off the pole by Boat, was next at 220.341.

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Mike Bliss raced to his fourth NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory, shooting to the front on a late restart and holding off Rick Crawford in the Federated Auto Parts 200 at Nashville Superspeedway in Gladeville, Tenn.

Bliss, whose Chevrolet started from the pole but fell to third, took advantage of Jason Leffler’s 135th-lap accident that resulted in the second of three caution periods. Bliss, who won $45,385 plus a $10,000 pole-winner’s bonus, averaged 129.442 mph.

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Burney Lamar of Sacramento posted his second consecutive victory with a wire-to-wire win in the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series’ Auto Club 150 before 6,262 at Irwindale Speedway.

Lamar started in fourth but jumped into the lead on the green flag, holding off Auggie Vidovich Jr.

In the 75-lap Southern California Auto Club main event, Kevin Wood held off Todd Burns. The second-place finish enabled Burns to increase his lead on Tim Huddleston in the championship race to 46 points.

Michael May won his fifth race of the season as he dominated the 75-lap American Race Truck feature race.

Tony Solorzano

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Mike Faria made up for a long day with the shortest ride of the night to win the four-lap scratch main event at Costa Mesa Speedway.

Driving from Reno in a caravan that encountered car trouble, Faria took nine hours instead of seven to reach the Orange County Fairgrounds. Although the three-time national champion struggled early and failed to make the handicap main event, he took home the evening’s top prize, outgating Scott Brant.

Bryan Yarrow of Vacaville won the eight-lap handicap main event. David Lynch of Moreno Valley won the Support main event, and Rohn Zellner of Huntington Beach won the Support B main.

Martin Henderson