Fisher

INDIANAPOLIS -- Sarah Fisher, the third woman to drive in the Indianapolis 500, found a car for this year's race, signing Wednesday with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.

Fisher will drive the No. 23 car in the May 26 event and her primary sponsor will be Allegra, Dennis Reinbold said.

The first qualifying day for the Indy 500 is Saturday.

The 22-year-old Fisher had been without a car since Kroger, a retail grocery chain, withdrew its Walker Racing sponsorship after last season. Fisher asked for her release, which Walker Racing granted last month.

She filled in for the injured Robbie Buhl at an IRL race on April 21 in Nazareth, Pa., and finished fourth.

Going weeks without a team was a new experience for Fisher, who made the leap from high school to Indy-racing in 1999.

"I've never been at the point in my life where I had to work things out rapidly," she said. "Within two weeks time we were able to make this happen and it's just awesome."

Now Buhl, who finished 15th at Indy last year, and Fisher are teammates.

"We have a lot to offer Sarah and can put her in a competitive car," Buhl said. "We're excited to have a solid two-car effort at the speedway this year."

Fisher has crashed two straight years in the Indianapolis 500, finishing 31st each time.

Reinbold said Fisher's finish at Nazareth had little effect on his decision. He also wouldn't say whether she'll stay with the team past the Indy 500.

"Right now our focus is totally on Indianapolis," Reinbold said. "We had hoped to get things put together about a week or so ago, so we were really trying to focus on this. It would be a disservice to ourselves if we didn't do anything but focus on our best effort and try to go out and win this race."

Fisher's second-place finish in Homestead, Fla., last year was the top showing by a woman in Indy-car history. She earned two top-10 finishes and pushed her career earnings to more than $1 million.