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As Driver And Then Owner, Schmidt Sees Progress
By Tim Harms
indyracing.com
Tuesday Aug 24, 2004
Sam Schmidt has come full circle. As the Indy Racing League nears its 100th race on Aug. 29 at Nazareth Speedway, Schmidt has progressed from driving in a support series to driving in the premier series to owning a team in the premier series and is now back as a team owner in the support series.
Schmidt raced a U.S. Formula Ford 2000 at Walt Disney World Speedway in January 1996 in a race that preceded the inaugural IRL event.
“I won the support series race that day in 1996 in an F2000 car, so I kind of feel like I’ve been there since the beginning,” Schmidt said. “I went to the (Indianapolis) 500 that year, checked it out, did all the leg work, and started in 1997.
“We pretty much did our own deal, found our own sponsorship. It certainly wasn’t a fully funded deal, but it was fun.”
Schmidt debuted in the IRL at Phoenix International Raceway in March 1997, the Series’ seventh race. He finished 10th. The Las Vegas native returned to run the full season in 1998, earning a second-place finish in the season finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Schmidt came back for another full season in 1999 and captured his first victory at his home track on Sept. 26. That race was his second-to-last in the driver’s seat as he suffered paralyzing injuries in a practice crash the next spring.
It didn’t take long for Schmidt’s love for racing to bring him back to the racetrack. By 2001, he was an IRL team owner.
“We started that in February 2001 and have learned a lot since,” Schmidt said. “We ran the IRL in 2001 and 2002, and just didn’t have the right budget to be competitive.”
In 2002, Schmidt found the perfect fit as the IRL developed its own support series, the Menards Infiniti Pro Series.
“The support series has turned out to be a really good fit for me," he said. "I enjoy working with drivers coming up through the way I did, through road courses or Formula 2000 or what have you. I think that’s really my biggest thing that I can bring to the team is the fact that I was a driver and I can help bring somebody up from a different series and get acclimated to this pretty quick.”
Under Schmidt’s guidance, the Sam Schmidt Motorsports team has become one of the strongest. After 25 top-10 finishes in the first two seasons, the team recorded four consecutive victories with driver Thiago Medeiros in 2004.
Through it all, Schmidt has been proud to be associated with the IRL.
“It’s obviously pretty spectacular (to reach 100 races)," he said. "I remember specifically back in 1996 there was a lot of speculation as to whether the IRL would even survive. Champ Car had all of the owners, all of the teams. It’s really amazing to see in such a short time period it’s almost been a complete reversal of teams and key parties, etc. They’ve got to be proud in the fact that they’ve been able to accomplish that.”
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