Sarah's New Car

[TURN3]

I hope I didn't miss another thread mentioning this. I saw it on Twitter this morning and it is on Indycar.com. How cool for her, nice to see things happen for people that work and deserve. Congrats Sarah.

[garyshell]

Great story!

http://www.indycar.com/news/?story_id=14902


Surprise, Sarah By Dave Lewandowski - Indycar.com
Monday, August 1, 2009

A crowd of extended family and friends (and Indianapolis media) gathered to see Sarah Fisher's reaction when the blindfold was lifted and she saw the gray car with a red bow in the garage.

"Oh, my gosh!" was what they expected and received.

But this wasn't an event to present Fisher a new Acura MDX or Honda Accord in recognition of a birthday or other special occasion. The car is an unpainted 2009 Dallara chassis, lacking many of the details that distinguish it as a race car. It still brought the IndyCar Series team owner/driver to tears.

"That is so awesome. I got a new car," Fisher said. "I felt like I was on the 'Price is Right.' Imagine what we'll do now."

The first order of business is to prepare the chassis in oval configuration for the Firestone Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Oct. 10. Fisher also will compete in the PEAK Motor Oil & Antifreeze Indy 300 on Aug. 29 at Chicagoland Speedway in the team's seven-year-old car.

"I actually thought I was coming today to shoot a Dollar General commercial," said Fisher, who drives the No. 67 Dollar General entry. "To have a spare car, it means we can be more aggressive and be able to put it on the line even more. It will make a huge difference in our racing efforts.

"Maybe there's an option now to have a second car at Indy once the first car is in solid, and it makes a huge difference in preparation. We'll be able to have a better shot at doing some road course events or some short oval events. We're building, we have some really great people and we're lucky."
The chassis, estimated at $300k, was provided by Hartman Oil, a sponsor of the second-year team since May 2008. It was while Willis E. "Wink" Hartman was watching ESPN's "SportsCenter" that he first learned of Fisher and the fact that the team's primary sponsor for its first race had pulled out.
"I didn't really at the time think much about it," Hartman said. "It was one of those things that the next morning I was sitting out on the patio and I kept thinking about Sarah Fisher and somebody backing out on her. I didn't know her, but something told me somebody needed to help her."

Hartman did, and he and his wife, Libba, have become part of the extended family.

Hartman Oil Co., founded in 1920, is an independent oil and natural gas company involved in the development, acquisition and operation of oil and gas properties in Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and Oklahoma. It also operates drilling rigs, a service company and a trucking division.

"I consider Sarah a friend," said Hartman, the sole stockholder of the company. "I'm sure I could write a check and sponsor other race car drivers, but Sarah's relationship is more than race car driver or team owner. I find her very interesting and intelligent as a person. She's just a unique individual.

"It's people like Sarah that make the world great. It's been a great life for me and it's time I pass on some of the good fortune I've had on to others."

Good things come to good people!

Gary

[garyshell]

http://s3.amazonaws.com/twitpic/photos/full/23959486.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0ZRYP5X5F6FSMBCCSE82&Expires=1250538110&Signature=bkW9cCPEs%2FM2XSd0%2BkDWn3kz7pk%3Dhttp://s3.amazonaws.com/twitpic/photos/full/23959370.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0ZRYP5X5F6FSMBCCSE82&Expires=1250538299&Signature=vnTW%2FzNvIuNye7XP0jumMukpeSY%3D

[garyshell]

http://s3.amazonaws.com/twitpic/photos/full/23959370.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0ZRYP5X5F6FSMBCCSE82&Expires=1250538299&Signature=vnTW%2FzNvIuNye7XP0jumMukpeSY%3D

http://s3.amazonaws.com/twitpic/photos/full/23959486.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0ZRYP5X5F6FSMBCCSE82&Expires=1250538110&Signature=bkW9cCPEs%2FM2XSd0%2BkDWn3kz7pk%3D

http://s3.amazonaws.com/twitpic/photos/full/23959557.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0ZRYP5X5F6FSMBCCSE82&Expires=1250538515&Signature=bq91woZcqoDO2b8qdbFNwTyPdN4%3D

A couple of pictures from Sarah's twitter page about the new car.

Gary

[drewdawg727]

Didn't she have two cars at Indy this year?

[Chamoo]

Didn't she have two cars at Indy this year?

Nope, she had a deal to either rent or buy a second car if they could put something together with a sponsor or driver/sponsor, but their deadline passed before it could be done and they didn't proceed.

[Easy Drifter]

Good grief! A 7 year old tub!
I know the carbon fibre tubs have a longer shelf life than older composite tubs but 7 years! I don't know how often it has been raced but it has to be a bit of a flexi-flyer.
It makes her accomplishments even more impressive.

[chuck34]

Good grief! A 7 year old tub!
I know the carbon fibre tubs have a longer shelf life than older composite tubs but 7 years! I don't know how often it has been raced but it has to be a bit of a flexi-flyer.
It makes her accomplishments even more impressive.

The design may be old, but I believe this is a brand new tub. The article says 2009 Dallara. Maybe I'm missing something though?

Oh wait, are you saying the car she's using now is 7 years old? I guess I don't know what you are refering to, sorry.

[beachgirl]

Yes, the tub she has been using for the past 2 years is the 7 year old tub. Amazing.

[ChicagocrewIRL]

After reading this story I dispatched an e-mail of thanks to Mr. Willis Hartman, the president and owner of Hartman Oil. Their generous gift made this new car for Sarah possible. I know I can't buy an oil or natural gas rig but the best I could do was to say thank you. Thank You Mr. Hartman !!!

[call_me_andrew]

Christmas in July meets those annoying Lexus commercials... meets August.

[dataman1]

Local TV in Indy did a live shoot during the surprise reveal to Sarah. She was rather emotional which I would expect. It was a good piece. They aired it on the late night and morning news. I believe it was Channel 13, the NBC affiliate.

[nigelred5]

Well, there are good people with money left in the world, I mean the oil business. Good for Mr Hartman.

[SarahFan]

so..SO COOL!!!!

[ykiki]

It's quotes like these that tell us a lot about a man like Mr. Hartman.

"It was one of those things that the next morning I was sitting out on the patio and I kept thinking about Sarah Fisher and somebody backing out on her. I didn't know her, but something told me somebody needed to help her."
......
"It's been a great life for me and it's time I pass on some of the good fortune I've had on to others."

Thank you Mr. Hartman!!

[garyshell]

It's quotes like these that tell us a lot about a man like Mr. Hartman.

"It was one of those things that the next morning I was sitting out on the patio and I kept thinking about Sarah Fisher and somebody backing out on her. I didn't know her, but something told me somebody needed to help her."
......
"It's been a great life for me and it's time I pass on some of the good fortune I've had on to others."

Thank you Mr. Hartman!!

Yep! Does anyone have an email or snail mail address for this guy? We should start a letter campaign thanking him for his efforts!

Gary

[dataman1]

A quick google search found:

Hartman Oil Company, Inc.
10500 E. Berkeley Square Parkway
Suite 100
Wichita, KS 67206

Willis Hartman is President

[beachgirl]

Mr. Hartman's direct e-mail address at the company is

[email:3e5lrhpa]whartman@hartmanoil.com[/email:3e5lrhpa]


I already e-mailed my thanks to him last evening.

[Mark in Oshawa]

I just emailed him. Never emailed a CEO in my life about anything positive.....until now. What a great guy. Too bad he didn't have about 100 million laying around.

Sarah has NEVER really had the equipment or team behind her long enough for anyone to gauge her talent in Indy cars, but the woman raced sprint cars and won, so that says to me she deserves the attention.

Hey Danica....did Willis Hartman buy you a new ride??? lol...NO....

Atta boy Willis....

[garyshell]

beachgirl,

Thanks for the email link. I just emailed him too, to thank him for this gift and also his inital support of Sarah in her immediate hour of need when her primary sponsor left her high and dry. Sarah is a real inspiration by being an owner and a driver. And this man stepping in to help like this is a rare breed.

Gary

[penske15]

i was standing in the shop with andy o'gara when it came off the truck. the funny thing is, i had NO IDEA that it was a new chassis. he was telling me that i couldn't do a photo expose of the shop because they had this big surprise for sarah. :) it was starring me right in the face. hell, i was under the impression that they had two cars so i didn't even give it a second thought. silly me.

[NickFalzone]

I have to say, I was a little disappointed with her team's performance in Chicago. They did pretty well in Kentucky, and Sarah afterwards said that they had easily a top-5 car if they would have been able to qualify (rain). But Chicagoland they were pretty far back. Being extra cautious in the pack racing, or just lack of engineering?

[NickFalzone]

Penske good to have you on board, always good to have new members here and you seem to have a bit of an insider's perspective. One note about the photos, might want to resize them if it's not a big deal as they really mess up the board formatting.

[beachbum]

I have to say, I was a little disappointed with her team's performance in Chicago. They did pretty well in Kentucky, and Sarah afterwards said that they had easily a top-5 car if they would have been able to qualify (rain). But Chicagoland they were pretty far back. Being extra cautious in the pack racing, or just lack of engineering?She didn't have a great qualifying (stated as lack of all of the trick parts) and was stuck in a pack led by RHR who held up that pack until they lost the lead group and all were lapped. After an unfortunately timed caution, she dropped back a bit more, but eventually passed everyone a lap down. After that, she was caught in the middle pack and ran right with all of them from Carpenter to Helio and Patrick and passed a couple of them. Another factor was gearing. Stuck behind RHR, she ran in 5th and couldn't even hit the rev limiter. It was only when she was in the middle pack drafting she could even run 6th. So the gearing may have been a significant factor overall. But the car was fast as she had the 11th quick lap. Briscoe and Dixon had the 19th and 20th quick laps respectively, so track position was everything.

[penske15]

Penske good to have you on board, always good to have new members here and you seem to have a bit of an insider's perspective. One note about the photos, might want to resize them if it's not a big deal as they really mess up the board formatting.

no problem with the photos. i'll put up thumbs or something. i don't know how much of an insider i am, i just stick my big nose in thier business and either get a nice little tidbit....or a sore nose. sorry about the photos, i'll keep that in mind the next time i post.

[penske15]

She didn't have a great qualifying (stated as lack of all of the trick parts) and was stuck in a pack led by RHR who held up that pack until they lost the lead group and all were lapped. After an unfortunately timed caution, she dropped back a bit more, but eventually passed everyone a lap down. After that, she was caught in the middle pack and ran right with all of them from Carpenter to Helio and Patrick and passed a couple of them. Another factor was gearing. Stuck behind RHR, she ran in 5th and couldn't even hit the rev limiter. It was only when she was in the middle pack drafting she could even run 6th. So the gearing may have been a significant factor overall. But the car was fast as she had the 11th quick lap. Briscoe and Dixon had the 19th and 20th quick laps respectively, so track position was everything.

i'll have to agree with you on that. besides, they haven't been able to go full out for lack of destroying thier only car. when the new chassis comes on line they should show a marked improvement. andy did drop a little morsel on me that i thought was interesting. he said that he has fairly certian that dollar general was at the limit of what they could pony up and could NOT commit to a full season in 2010. then he turned and said "we're looking at running a second car for 10." SO, it leads one to believe that the do have sponsorship to run a second car just not enough to do all of the rounds for both cars. it'll be interesting to see who's on the sidepods in 2010, to say nothing of who is in the other car.

[Easy Drifter]

Remember she was still using the old very tired tub. It has to be a real flexi flyer. Just look at TK when AGR left him in an old chassis.
A very old saying was there were a lot of old fast Mclaren Can-Am cars (early tube frame) but no old fast Lola T70.s (tubs).
It still applies.

[penske15]

Remember she was still using the old very tired tub. It has to be a real flexi flyer. Just look at TK when AGR left him in an old chassis.
A very old saying was there were a lot of old fast Mclaren Can-Am cars (early tube frame) but no old fast Lola T70.s (tubs).
It still applies.
i agree. even with NO impacts on the tub, it has endured 7 years of teardowns and flexing. yea, i agree.