Buhl

	Fisher

INDIANAPOLIS -- When Sarah Fisher was asked how she got up to speed so quickly in qualifying for the Indianapolis 500, she didn't hesitate with a response.

"Robbie," she said referring to teammate Robbie Buhl.

Buhl has been a semi-regular driver in the Indy Racing League since the series formed in 1996. He has made 46 IRL starts, won two races, had 23 top-10 finishes and now finds himself in the role of mentor.

Buhl has been here before.

He spent the early part of his career teaching at Skip Barber's driving school.

His new student is Fisher, a 21-year-old with a bright racing future.

"I do enjoy that," he said of being a mentor. "I enjoy that aspect of it, but not to the point of sacrificing what I do."

Sacrifices do not appear to be part of the equation.

On Saturday, Buhl qualified second and was within 0.310 of winning the pole in the tentative 33-car field on the 2½-mile oval.

Fisher qualified ninth with a speed that was about 3 mph faster than her best practice lap of the week.

While part of the explanation may be Buhl's lessons, Buhl believes a certain part is Fisher's growth as a driver.

"There's a lot that I've learned and I think that we've learned as a team that we can help her with," he said. "Because she's a racer, she's not afraid to drive the car in. We've just got to teach her to be patient."

A helping hand
Fisher began the season without a sponsor.

But she has since gotten some help from unexpected places.

Since signing with Dreyer and Reinbold, Allegra became her primary sponsor.

And on Sunday, it was announced, that Fisher also had some help from three fans -- Katie Harper, 6; Judy Harper, 13; and Amanda Dew, 13. All three are from Shorewood, Ill., and sold painted rocks and Kool-Aid to help raise money for Fisher.

They presented with her with the $62.77 Sunday at the speedway, and Fisher donated the money to Racing for Kids, an organization for which Buhl is the national spokesman.

On track

	McGehee

Robby McGehee , who fractured his lower left leg and a bone in his back in a crash May 5, hopes to be cleared to drive this week.

McGehee was the first driver to hit the "soft" walls at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and was initially believed to have walked away from the accident with a cut leg.

McGehee hopes to be cleared Monday, which would allow him to practice for four days before trying to qualify on Bump Day, the last of the three qualifying days at Indianapolis.

Safe bet?
The SAFER barriers, better known as "soft" walls, that were installed last week at the speedway, are among the five candidates for the Louis Schwitzer Award.

The award recognizes new concepts in racing technology.

The walls, which are called Steel and Foam Energy Reduction barriers, are being used for the first time in racing conditions this month. Already, three drivers -- Robby McGehee, P.J. Jones and Mark Dismore -- have crashed hard into the walls. McGehee had small fractures in his back and lower left leg, Jones broke a vertebrae and Dismore had a concussion.

Track officials, however, believe the walls prevented more serious injuries.

Also nominated for the Scwitzer Award are the Chevy Indy V8 engine, the Dallara chassis update kit, the Infiniti Indy 35 A/E engine and Delphi accelerometers, which test the motion of a driver's head during impact.

The winner will be announced Friday.

Pit stops