Saul Fischel

Saul Fischel (born April 8, 2000) is a race car driver from Deerfield, Illinois. He is known for winning the 2018 TM Lights championship despite missing the first three rounds of the championship due to age restrictions. Fischel's 9 wins in a single TM Lights season is a record, beating the previous record of 7. Fischel is a third generation driver in the TM Master Cup series, but both his father, David, and grandfather, Gal, only competed on road courses and have a total of 9 starts between them. David Fischel is more known for a 4-year career in the GP1 World Championship which ended in 1997, and a brief stint in American open wheel and TM Master Cup racing afterwards.

2019
It was less of a surprise, and more of a formality, that Fischel would get a prime TM Master Cup series ride. He signed a deal to drive for Lenard International to partner Cameron Taylor after Luciano Soveral walked out on the team immediately after the 2018 Round of Decatur.

Fischel's sponsorship package allowed for a more rigorous training and testing program than what is usual in any category. All of his major TM Lights sponsors followed him into the TM Master Cup series, but his car's primary sponsor will still be the Shafer Group, a company his father is still affiliated with since retiring from driving. Because of his pedigree and testing program, many, including Fischel himself, to predict that he would start the season strongly.

"They keep telling me that TM Lights is a training ground... but I knew I was ready for this. I've always been ready for my debut." Fischel said in an official press release. "I'm here because I'm one of the best in the world. I'm not going to say I can win this championship on my first try, but I've done that with everything else. I got good genes, I guess."

Many were curious if Fischel could back up his own hype, and he delivered almost immediately. Fischel qualified on the front row for his debut in the 2019 Round of San Antonio and nearly won the race, only to be pipped by Adrien Devereux with a handful of laps remaining. He followed it up with a strong outing in Los Angeles, only to suffer a puncture late in the race which dropped him several laps down. A near run-in with oncoming traffic went unnoticed to many.