Fisher’s IndyCar team building headquarters in Speedway

Sarah Fisher

Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing plans to build a $2.7 million headquarters in the heart of Speedway’s new Main Street to house her IndyCar Series race team.

Fisher and team co-owner Wink Hartman, who came aboard in April to provide financial backing, announced Thursday that they hope to break ground on a two-story, 37,000-square-foot facility in February.

The shop could be completed in September and will be constructed just north of the Italian-based racing company Dallara, which builds chassis for the racing series.

Fisher’s new building will more than double the size of her current space on Rockville Road, which she leases. The larger digs will enable the team to bring in-house certain operations such as painting and carbon-fitting of car bodies that now is outsourced.

The additional work should expand the team’s work force from 17 to 25 by the end of the year, Fisher said.

She chose to be a part of Speedway’s redevelopment of its Main Street and locate near Indianapolis Motor Speedway to help attract more visitors.

“I really believe that NASCAR has done an incredible job making their sport a destination for their fans," she said. “Hearing what Speedway was doing on Main Street, with Dallara being there, I really liked the idea of making IndyCar a destination outside of the Indy 500."

Plans for Fisher’s new building include a retail shop and interactive area for visitors.

Speedway officials broke ground in November 2009 on the first phase of a $500 million redevelopment project they hope will transform the small town into a year-round racing-themed destination. Initial work involved $6.7 million in road improvements to Main Street, laying the foundation for redevelopment.

The ambitious redevelopment includes more than 350 acres from Main Street to Holt Road and from 16th to 10th streets, just south of IMS.

In all, 2.5 million square feet of new development could be constructed, which could return a 10-year economic impact of up to $5.2 billion and more than 2,000 jobs, Speedway officials say. More at IBJ.com