Commercial Point. Fisher's grandparents owned a go-kart track in Richwood and her uncle was a local engine builder. She grew up in Commercial Point, a small farming village south of Columbus, and was educated at Columbus School for Girls from preschool to third grade. As a young child, Fisher tried several sports, including soccer, swimming, and gymnastics; auto racing was the one thing that appealed most to her. She was taken by her parents to the local race track to watch her father compete. Fisher was given her first car, a Barbie pedal vehicle, at age four. She began racing at age five when her parents fitted her into a blue and white quarter-midget car she used for three years. Fisher's father devised a schedule to enter her at small, indoor tracks during the winter, and both her parents supported her early racing career. She cited Jacques Villeneuve, Steve Kinser and Dave Blaney as her racing heroes. When Fisher turned eight, she began racing go-karts in her age group on the East Coast of the United States, and learned of how karts worked from her father. She joined the World Karting Association (WKA), winning the Grand National Championship four times in 1991, 1993 and 1994; she was also Circleville Points Champion in 1993. Fisher and her family viewed her karting days as a family activity, not as a precedent to progression in the sport. She was introduced to endurance karting in 1994, learning endurance and patience, and reinforcing her smooth driving style. Fisher's father raised the seat in her car by and cut down on its front to improve her visibility, and she won the 1995 Dirt Track Racing Round-Up Rookie of the Year award. In late 1995, John Bickford, the stepfather of Jeff Gordon, recommended Fisher to the Lyn St. James Foundation Driver Development Program and paid for all expenses. Fisher disliked the school because it focused mainly on the media and preparing the body and mind to drive and not on what the driver is doing inside the car. Not long after, her father purchased a sprint car and she drove eight World of Outlaws races. The following February, Fisher progressed to a car and raced locally with the All Star Circuit of Champions (ASCoC) during the season. She competed in all 62 races of the 1997 ASCoC, gaining a season-best finish of second at Eldora Speedway. Her