INDIANAPOLIS - While Annika's Army swarmed the tees, fairways and greens Thursday at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, Sarah Fisher went about her business preparing for Sunday's Indianapolis 500, drawing no more attention than most of the other 32 drivers.
Annika Sorenstam is the first woman to play in a PGA event since Babe Didrikson in 1945. Fisher is the first woman to run Indy since, well, last year. She has been in the top 20 for three years in final Indy Racing League standings.
And she hardly was a novelty when she ran her first Indy in 2000; Janet Guthrie did it in 1977-79, finishing as high as ninth, and Lyn St. James finished 11th in the first of her seven Indy 500s from 1992-2000. "I think (Sorenstam's) attitude is excellent in that she wants to be there and she wants to further her abilities," Fisher said. "I know if there was a WIRL and I'd won everything in the WIRL, I'd look for a new challenge. That's essentially what Annika's doing."
Apart from hoping Sorenstam will be competitive in the Colonial (Thursday she was, shooting 1-over 71) and wishing her well, Fisher has pretty much avoided the gender debate. For one thing, she said, "when you put on a helmet and get in the car no one can tell if you're a man or a woman. And the car sure can't."
PAINT JOB: It's not a Van Gogh or a Pollack; it's a Rutherford. Still, Leading to the Future probably will go for a nice bit of change at auction tonight.
Two-time Indy 500 champion Johnny Rutherford, a self-taught painter, did it; the work depicts him in his winning Chaparral in 1980 (he also won in '74), on the track along with two-time defending IRL champion Sam Hornish Jr. in his 2003 Panther.
One potential buyer is Hornish. He won't be at the auction, the proceeds of which benefit children's charities. But he said he hopes his mother, Jo Ellen, will put in the winning bid.
HOT STUFF: Kenny Brack turned the fastest lap Thursday, 228.707 mph, in the final practice for Sunday's race, "but in three days a lot of things can change with the track and the weather," he said.
"In the race, everything has to go your way; you definitely need a little luck, plus good pit stops, a good strategy and a strong car. I think we can produce most of that on Sunday." The last driver to turn the fastest Carburetion Day lap and win the race was Juan Pablo Montoya in 2000.
After Carburetion Day, a misnomer since Indy cars haven't had carburetors since the 1960s, Brack was preoccupied with some off-track business. He strapped on his rhythm guitar and he and his band, Kenny Brack and the Subwoofers, played for a crowd gathered near Gasoline Alley.
SPEED STANDING STILL: Rookie driver Buddy Rice's Cheever Racing Team won the Pit Stop Challenge, changing four tires and fueling in 8.8401 seconds to the 9.1341 Team Penske needed to do it for two-time Indy 500 defending champion Helio Castroneves.
LOW EXPECTATIONS: Jimmy Kite is starting in the middle of the last row Sunday. In three previous Indy 500s his best finish was 11th in 1998. Last year he missed the race when his car stalled in the pits during the final day of qualifying. What does he hope for this time? "I think we can finish 10th," Kite said.
