Q&A: Sarah Fisher and John Lewis.

"Unfortunately for us it was pretty cold there when I got to drive the two-seater, so Brian [Barnhart] was always chirping in my ear, 'Hey, keep it slowed down, keep it slowed down.' But we went an average of about 153mph to 155mph with each of the passengers, and then they told me we went 166mph with the president of the [Motegi] Speedway." - Sarah Fisher

Host Kimberly Miller: Thank you very much, and thank you to all the journalists who have joined us today. I'd like to welcome John Lewis, the director of operations from the Indy Racing League, and Indy Racing League driver Sarah Fisher. Thank you both for joining us today.

They have just returned from a trip to Japan, a weeklong trip to Japan. I'm sure they're exhausted, but we appreciate them taking time to join us today to talk about the first test for the Indy Racing League at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit, which is in Motegi, Japan, just outside of Tokyo.

They were there last week, and actually Sam Hornish, Jr. tested the car, and Sarah went over for some media opportunities and to give rides in the Indy Racing Experience two-seater car. Sarah, we'll start with you. Obviously, it was not a test in an Indy Racing League car, but you did get a feel for the track in the two-seater, so tell us what your initial thoughts are on Twin Ring Motegi.
S. Fisher: My initial impression is that the facility overall in general is a very nice facility. It's one of the most beautiful tracks that we visit, and as far as the racing surfaces goes, and the racing environment, it's a very wide track. I think there's a lot of room in Turn 1 and 2 for side-by-side, maybe even three-wide racing. In (Turns) 3 and 4 it's a bit more difficult because it gets tight and has a fairly big bump going into Turn 3, so it would make it more difficult to run side by side there.

But in general, it's going to be a facility that's going to provide the Indy Racing League to put on a show that we normally would.
K. Miller: Aside from the track and the racing conditions, what can you tell us about the area and the people and the reception that they gave you when you arrived?
S. Fisher: The people were incredible. They were very welcoming and very accepting to what we were doing and our racing and the enthusiasm that they have towards our participation in their racing facility, and everything that we're doing and they're doing, is great. I even pulled up to the hotel and there was a guy sitting there waiting there for an autograph when I first arrived in Twin Ring Motegi, and they just have a great deal of enthusiasm and are very excited to see us come back in April.
K. Miller: John, this is a big endeavour for the Indy Racing League. It's the sanctioning body's first time to race internationally, and it's going to take a lot in the way of logistics. What did you learn when you were over there this week? Was it really a good time for you to get a feel for what the league needs to take over, and not take over, and what it's going to take from a logistic standpoint?
J. Lewis: Yes, that was really the purpose of my trip. I spent the better part of three days meeting with representatives from each department with Twin Ring Motegi, and independent contractors such as Nippon Cargo Airways, that is who is going to carry our freight, and Mieko International, it's a company that is a forwarding company that will handle all of our goods. It's really just making sure we follow protocol with regard to shipping equipment and goods internationally.

Racing is no different from any other exporter, and we have to meet the requirements with regard to customs and consumables and hazardous material, so on and so forth. So my trip was to put names with faces and really get the documentation, to learn how to do all correctly.
K. Miller: Can you give the journalists an idea of just one example of something that might surprise them? One thing I'm thinking of is I received a call yesterday saying that the Media Relations Department needs to have a complete manifest done by today, all the way down to the last paperclip of what we're taking. What does it take to build the cargo? Is that something that the league will do, build containers for all of the material that goes over?
J. Lewis: The league is responsible for the, I call them racks, for lack of a better word. That is the piece of equipment that will allow us to stack the cars one on top of another so we can take two cars in the same amount of floor space as taking one car, and it's our responsibility to have those built and provided to the teams.

Then the league is in charge of building crates that meet all the requirements through the FAA, with regard to our equipment. The team responsibility is the same as any domestic event, or they will have to make sure that all of their goods are packaged properly and within a weight requirement for the shipping that's going to go over there.

As far as the biggest difference that I learned in that meeting is that the Japanese government owns every frequency that is in the airwaves over there. So we'll have to program every single radio that goes over there to a new frequency that is within a bandwidth that they will let us use. That will take a lot of time. The IRL alone has probably 120 to 150 radios that we use from medical to track safety to race control to operations that will have to be dismantled, reprogrammed, reassembled and then set back to its regular frequency when it comes back to get ready for the Indy 500 as soon as we get home.
K. Miller: One more thing on the logistics, the track itself: did you feel like it was very compatible with what the Indy Racing League needs as far as pit space and paddock space? Is the facility equal to what we race at on a regular basis?
J. Lewis: Absolutely. I don't know where they got their data, but in a couple of the dinner meetings they said that their construction process was about three-and-a-half years. If you go over there, you can tell they have either gotten drawings or taken photographs of racetracks here in the states, because the pit lane is identical.

The garages are very similar to what you would find at a place like probably Fontana, concrete floor, well lighted. They're connected together, very, very similar to what our requirements are here domestically.
K. Miller: Let's go back to Sarah for a minute. Sarah, as I mentioned earlier, you drove the Indy Racing Experience two-seater car, which I believe is a Dallara with a Chevrolet engine. Could you tell the media a bit about that car and how fast it goes, and maybe what the reaction of some of the riders were?
S. Fisher: Unfortunately for us it was pretty cold there when I got to drive the two-seater, so Brian was always chirping in my ear, 'Hey, keep it slowed down, keep it slowed down.' But we went an average of about 153 to 155 with each of the passengers, and then John told me we went 166 with the president of the Speedway. They were very excited to be in the car.

It's more of a numb feeling for one of the IRL drivers, mainly because the rear tires are much further back than one of our racing cars. But it does have a good feeling in it, and it's very controllable, very smooth. It's a good car. They've done a really good job with handling and characteristics, and the passengers seemed to enjoy it more from a wilder side, because they can feel the rear tires more so than the front tires. So they feel the car skipping along rather than feeling it pushing along, and it gives them a bit more of a thrill. The people in Motegi, their reaction to the rides were very positive and very exciting, and I'm sure they'll want more when we come back.
K. Miller: The trip started with a press conference in Tokyo, where there were about 450 attendees. From what we've been told the reception was just amazing from all the people that showed up for the press conference.

Then, I believe, on the first day of testing, there were approximately 130 journalists, which is a very large turnout for testing.

The event is actually scheduled for April 13. It will be the final event before the Indianapolis 500. At this point, we'll go ahead and take questions from the journalists.
Q: John, when you look at going overseas to race with the Indy Racing League, in a sense does this get away a bit from the original founding idea of the Indy Racing League, and that is racing in America and trying to bring up American drivers?
J. Lewis: I don't think so. The league is going into its seventh year, and the founding principles were definitely about opportunity and oval-track racing and American roots. But we've grown, obviously we've undergone a lot of change. Japan and Motegi came to us and said, 'We like your product. We think the Japanese people will like this product.'

And we heard their story; the negotiations weren't overnight. This was a several-year venture, and I think to limit ourselves to just the boundaries of the U.S. would be constrictive to business growth, and the opportunity and the timing was right.

We tracked media hits. We've tracked Web site hits, and everything has said that the Japanese public is very interested in the Indy 500 and the Indy Racing League, and the time is right for us to go over there and take our product abroad. It just happens to be that they're the first. Whether there will be more or we'll go someplace else, I don't know. But right now, with 15 domestic and one international, seems to be a good fit for us.
Q: It's almost as though you knew my next question was that Rockingham over in England and a couple of other ovals in Europe have been built. I was going to ask. Are you looking there as well?
J. Lewis: I would tell you that we're looking at every oval in the United States, and we're entertaining requests with regard to ovals overseas. But right now it's really important for us -- Sarah can probably speak on this better than I can -- but with regard to the team side, we've got to control our growth.

It will be very easy for the league to say, '2004 we're going to run 22 races, because there are facilities out there where we could do it.' But if you're a sponsor or an owner or a driver that is contributing to research and the raising of the funding and money, it's not really fair with that respect to say 16 races are going to cost you X, and then all of a sudden we're adding six next year; 'Hey, Smart Blade, we need X number million more.' So there is a responsibility on the league side to help control that.

To answer your question directly, yes. We're looking everywhere. We want to grow and be as big as we can be. However, it's not something we can just fly off and do at a moment's notice.
Q: And I will go to you, Sarah, and ask you as a driver who is looking for sponsorship, because every driver I know never has enough sponsorship, does going overseas, does going to Japan help your package?
S. Fisher: Overall it opens the doors because then that gives myself personal exposure to a different group of people who know a different group of people from there.

Just from going over and visiting with the folks from Motegi, they have a lot of business contacts, and we know that once they get to see the personal side of some of our drivers then maybe some of those opportunities would open up, whereas they wouldn't have because they didn't know our people and didn't know what we were about. So definitely the more venues we go to the more opportunities that are out there. It's just the ability to secure those opportunities and keep going with it.
Q: Are you good for this year, Sarah?
S. Fisher: Not yet. We're not solid yet. We still have some things to work out before we can make any kind of announcement.
Q: Sarah, my question is last year early in the season you were without a ride. Did you ever dream that after you got the opportunity at Nazareth, that seven months later you'd be appearing in Japan and be racing the following April in Japan?

S. Fisher: Still it's not secure that I'll be in Japan next year, as I don't have my deal signed yet. But it's very positive for me, so I can still be happy over the winter. I'm in a better place than I was last year. But it's just a dream come true for me as a driver, because I'm the typical American short-track oval person who came along and got the opportunity, and then has managed to stay afloat, and so as long as I can stay afloat that's as long as I'll race.
Q: John, how many cars will they take over there, each team, and are you going to limit the number of teams?
J. Lewis: That's all contractually governed by weight. If you're asking me what I think, I'm guessing most two-car teams will take four cars, that way they have a backup, but I don't think they all will. I think a team like Andretti Green, that's going to field three entries, may take five cars instead of six, just because that's less they have to take and ship. I'm planning right now, and I'm basing all my numbers -- I would like to take, I'd like to field 30 cars over there. I'm going to try and base my numbers off somewhere between 26 and 30, so that's what I'm working off at this point.
Q: To get 30, are you limited or everybody that will go over there will race, right?
J. Lewis: Yes, we govern that by pit lane length, and I think they had 31 pit stalls there; big pit stalls, too. It was nice.
Q: Where will you fly out of, Indianapolis, with the equipment and everything or will it be flown out of somewhere else?
J. Lewis: The equipment will be flown on two 747-charter planes. Again, that's Nippon Cargo Airlines out of Indianapolis directly to Narita. The personnel will fly out of Chicago so that's, generally speaking, ANA.
Q: Is that Narita?
J. Lewis: Narita.
Q: Is that near Tokyo?
J. Lewis: Yes, it's just outside Tokyo. The personnel is scheduled to fly out of Chicago, and there are four gateway cities that ANA, that's All Nippon Airways, operates out of. That's New York, Washington DC, San Francisco and LAX. I think Sarah and Lisa flew out of San Francisco. The rest of our crew flew out of DC.
Q: And they'll fly on that airline.
J. Lewis: Yes.
Q: What's the name of it again?
J. Lewis: It's ANA, All Nippon Airways.
K. Miller: While we're waiting for some more questions, John, is there anything specific that you know of, a good example of something you can't take because it's overseas? I'm thinking maybe something along the lines of safety equipment or something that you might use from the track where normally we would take ourselves?
J. Lewis: Aerosol. You cannot take aerosol products to Japan. That's the biggest one that jumps out.
K. Miller: What about other larger equipment like our safety trucks, things like that; will we use what's from Japan, from Twin Ring Motegi or will we take our own stuff?
J. Lewis: No, I've got to ship them. 8,000 pounds each.
K. Miller: Sarah, can you elaborate a bit on the culture over there? When you were there, first of all, was that your first trip to Japan?
S. Fisher: Yes, it was my first trip, and no, we didn't get to see a lot of anything but Twin Ring Motegi. We flew in right from the SEMA show where I just did appearances for Smart Blade and Raybestos, so we flew straight to Japan, and as soon as I got there I was up in the two-seater after a night of sleep so we didn't get to go to Tokyo of do any of those things.

So I really didn't get a feel for what Japan is all about, but I did get to see where Twin Ring Motegi is. I got a feel for those people, who are very, very appreciative. The Japanese folks, once they get to know you and know that you're a good person, they treat you with the utmost respect. I love the food, and I love everything about it, and I'm really looking forward to going back in April.
K. Miller: Will the time change or the jetlag affect you physically as a racecar driver, and how will you combat that?
S. Fisher: Not going over, going over is fine for me. It's just coming back that hurt me this time. My flight from San Francisco to Chicago, I think I was just on a plane with some bad germs or something and caught a cold or the flu. But going over to Japan is not bad as far a jetlag as long as you can arrive at a time that you can get onto their schedule immediately, which we did. On the third day it gets grudging, so hopefully we can go over a bit earlier and do some media and public relations stuff for the race.
Q: This is for both of you. How did you work with the interpreters? Were they pretty good, and do you think you'll know a few more words in Japanese by the time you go over in April?
J. Lewis: Yes, obviously, there's a delay. It's like you've got to hear everything twice. But this goes back to Ron's first question that he asked me. The American influence in Japan is much, much greater than what I ever anticipated. Sarah didn't get to go away from the racetrack too much, but there is English everywhere.

I was looking out my hotel room the first night I got there, and the first thing I noticed was across the street it says, Parking Garage. And I'm thinking to myself, there is nowhere in America where Parking Garage is written in Japanese. So with regard to translators, the staff I worked with, and Sarah worked with a lot of the same people, they understand what you're saying, and they comprehend it. Most of them could read English, but a lot of them just didn't speak it.

But we were always surrounded by a group, so having a translator or finding a translator or waiting for a translator to me was no problem at all.
S. Fisher: As far as working with the translators went, that was wonderful. I had two wonderful translators that worked with me for the those three days that I was there, and they word it word-for-word, everything you say. One of them, I forget her name, it's hard for me to pronounce, but she took notes on what I was saying and then would refer to her notes and translate it back on the interviews.

The only thing that was difficult for me is I'm not a very patient person. So you're sitting there for one interview, one interview normally takes 30 to 45-minutes, because everything that's said is repeated a couple times between the Japanese media person and the driver between the interpreter. It makes it a bit more difficult, a bit more time consuming.

But I think the patience that the people have for our activities in Japan, it really shows in that aspect, too, because they're very focused and they're willing to sit there just as long as our drivers are to get through interviews.
Q: One other thing, John, what about the family members of teams if they want to go over? How will that be handled?
J. Lewis: Each team gets an allotment of tickets per entrant, and then there's a deal with ANA, they're the Official Airline Carrier, that price point, which I don't know, but that price point will be offered to teams wishing to buy additional tickets. So your first 20 are carried. If you had 16-crew members and wanted to list a spouse or a friend or something on that list of 20, you can do so.

If you needed to get 22 tickets, your next two tickets that you would have to purchase are at that same rate of what the first 20 were provided. So I think that's a pretty fair deal with regard to teams wanting to make additional accommodations. They won't have to go through a different travel agent and try and find a different rate or different time.

The travel agency is arranged by Twin Ring Motegi, which handled Sarah's and my trip the first time will take care of additional personnel as well if teams choose to do that.
Q: Sarah, you say you haven't got anything signed for next year; you're working on it. With the influx of more teams and everything coming into the 2003 season, is it making it harder to put a deal through or is it easier?
S. Fisher: I would say there's no difference yet. I think once that they come and compete then it's going to be different. For myself as a driver, I don't think sponsorship hunting-wise it makes it any more difficult, but certainly securing a ride without having a sponsor back is much more difficult. But I would say in the end, there are a lot of drivers that are going to be coming in and out, and will be leaving the series too, so there will be much more room at that time.
Q: A question for John, occasionally we have some Japanese drivers at the Indy 500, do you see any one-offs, as they say, drivers in Japan wanting to run the Motegi race by themselves?
J. Lewis: We talked about that internally, that's a good question. Right now I don't, but it may be something that I'll have to address. The equipment still has to go so the teams are going to be governed by the same guidelines. But with regard to a driver doing a one-off in Japan, I'd probably just have to deal with that if the occasion arises.