WASHINGTON -- Imagine if Sergio Garcia was reduced to 10 pro golf events a year due to financial constraints.

Or try this one guys -- Anna Kournikova not being able to play in tournaments due to a lack of sponsorships.

	Fisher has had difficulties finding sponsors to keep her on the track.

Well, welcome to Sarah Fisher's world. Fisher, who last August became the first woman in auto racing history to win a pole position at a major race, has been voted the most popular driver in the IRL Indy Car Series the last two years.

Yet until last week, Fisher did not have a sponsorship deal to race in Sunday's season-opening IRL event, the Toyota Indy 300 in Homestead, Fla.

Fortunately for Fisher, WeGotGear -- a woman-owned corporate promotional firm that also sells outdoors wear -- will be the primary sponsor for Fisher's No. 23 Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone at the race near Miami. Two years ago as a 20-year-old rookie, Fisher finished second at the Homestead race.

The good fortune is yet another twist in the tumultuous career of the personable 22-year-old from Commercial Point, Ohio. Fisher has found success on the track much easier than fighting the financial battles off it.

"I guess I'm like the small-market driver with a big name,'' Fisher said in an interview earlier this week. "It's disappointing to year after year go through these battles for sponsors and funding. But unfortunately in this sport, you can have all the ability in the world but if unless you have a major corporation behind you or come from a really rich family, it just won't matter. I'm struggling just to maintain my spot.''

Budget woes limited Fisher to 10 of 14 IRL races (only six for her Dreyer & Reinbold team) last year, yet she still finished a respectable 17th out of 51 drivers on the points list. Her $369,965 in winnings (21st in IRL) is merely a drop in the bucket of the cash needed to keep an elite racing team going.

"The big teams might have 15 or 20 people as a crew and engineers,'' Fisher said. "We've got six. That makes a big difference.''

These financial worries have left Fisher with a clear goal for this season.

"Of course winning is what we're all about but just being at each race is the most important thing of all,'' Fisher said. "I mean I didn't have a car for five or six months last year. And that was the toughest thing of all.''

It's that fear of not being able to race -- not crashing or even dying -- that Fisher fears most.

"I mean if I can't drive a car, I have no idea what I would do for a living. I don't have any fallback plan. How would I live? I honestly don't know. I'd guess I'd go back to school and try to get an engineering degree or something so I could get back into it that way. Racing is all I've ever done.''

That dates back to 1985 when she started racing quarter midget cars at age five. Go-karts came next three years later and sprints after that. Then on through the ranks until making her IRL debut in 2000, when she became the third youngest driver ever to qualify for the Indy 500 at age 20.

Still, Fisher refuses to consider herself a trailblazer.

"I'm not out here to be putting my feet in the sand,'' she said. "I just love to race. It's what I do. I never really heard much (criticism) when I was younger. My dad pretty much got all of that.''

Fisher cites her third-place finish at the Kentucky Indy 300 in 2000 as her career highlight.

"It was my first time making the podium so it was a real thrill,'' Fisher said.

A bigger thrill for Fisher would be an infusion of cash for her team. The WeGotGear deal runs only for this weekend's race but Fisher thinks her team has enough to get to Indianapolis for the 500 on May 25, the IRL's fourth race of the season.

"It's kind of a makeshift plan,'' Fisher said. "We're pinching pennies to get there.''