Sarah Fisher Takes Infiniti to Fourth Place at Nazareth

NAZARETH, Pa. (April 21, 2002) – Infiniti-powered drivers turned in one of their best combined finishes Sunday in the Firestone Indy 225 at Nazareth Speedway in Nazareth, Pa.

Three Infiniti-powered cars finished among the top 10, including Sarah Fisher's fourth-place finish as a replacement driver for Robbie Buhl. Other Infiniti drivers and their finishing positions were Eddie Cheever Jr. (seventh), Shigeaki Hattori (10th), Laurent Redon (15th) and Tomas Scheckter (21st).

Fisher stepped into Buhl's Team Purex/Aventis/Dreyer & Reinbold Infiniti-powered G Force while Buhl recovers from a concussion. She raced to fourth place behind winner Scott Sharp, second-place Felipe Giaffone and third-place Gil de Ferran.

"Robbie has had such great success here, and his experience was such a tremendous advantage for me," Fisher said. "I've never worked with such an awesome driving coach. One of the reasons it was so great is that he can feel it. You can see it in his eyes."

Buhl is expected to return to the car for the Indianapolis 500. Practice for the 86th running of the famous race begins May 5 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Pole qualifying is scheduled for May 11, with the race set for May 26.

Infiniti driver Tomas Scheckter was held overnight for observation Sunday at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, Pa., in stable condition after his car crashed on the 121st lap. Scheckter suffered a lung contusion and a concussion reported Dr. Henry Bock, Indy Racing League director of medical services.

QUOTES: SARAH FISHER (No. 24 Team Purex/Aventis/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing G Force/ Infiniti/Firestone): "It's been such a fantastic week. The team has been awesome, the car handled great, and my engineer, John Martin, knew exactly what we needed to do. We almost had a little trouble getting banged around out there, but my spotter kept me where I needed to be. The Infiniti engine gave us the power all day, especially in the last pass. It's the best low-torque engine I've ever driven. The team has been unbelievable all week, and after being out of the car for seven months, today there's nowhere else I'd rather be."

EDDIE CHEEVER (No. 52 Red Bull Cheever Racing Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone): "The car was running very well. I had a terrible qualifying run, of my own doing, that put me behind the eight ball from the beginning, but the car was strong. There was no reason to get excited at the start of the race. The balance got better and better as we ran. On the last pit stop we fell back several positions. The crew has been under the gun this season repairing cars and has not been able to focus on their pit work as they should have. But the Infiniti engine ran very strong, and the mechanics put together some well-prepared cars, so we're pretty happy with that.”

SHIGEAKI HATTORI (No. 12 EPSON Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone): "At the beginning of the race, the car had a big push. We had made a couple of changes in the pits, and then the car was good. I enjoyed the race."

LAURENT REDON (No. 34 Mi-Jack Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone): "It was not a very good race. On the restart I touched Barron because they didn't go green, and they all braked. I braked, but it was not enough, and I touched the rear tires, and then I spun. I had to come in, and we lost four laps. It was impossible to get it back. The car was good, but you know how it is when you have some problems. There's nothing you can do."