The easy winner of the sponsor race was 19-year-old Sarah Fisher, a tomboy sweetheart and instant media darling. Yes, she's a driver with legitimate potential, but her cute Look Pa, I'm Playin' With The Big Boys! charm meant instant human interest for us media types — or would you rather read about carburetors for a month?

No one expected her to win her first 500, but if you're a corporate sponsor, you can't really count on getting your logo on the winning car. So why not get your name on the car that every news crew at the track will be cutting to for weeks?

Hah! As a driver she may have been an underdog, but in the PR battle Sarah and her machine left tire marks on the butts of dozens of other drivers. Sarah was the face of this year's Indy 500 in endless TV interviews and People magazine articles.