Sam Schmidt
{{short description|American racing driver}}
{{BLP Sources|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox racing driver
|name = Sam Schmidt
|image = Sam Schmidt - Carb Day 2015 - Sarah Stierch.jpg
|caption = Schmidt in 2015
|birth_date = {{bda|1964|8|15}}
|birth_place = Lincoln, Nebraska
|death_date =
|last series = IndyCar Series
|years active = 1997–1999
|teams = {{ubl|Blueprint Racing|LP Racing|Treadway Racing}}
|starts = 26
|wins = 1
|poles = 1
|best finish = 5th
|year = 1999
|prev series = USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series
|prev series years = 1995
}}
Samuel Schmidt (born August 15, 1964) is a former Indy Racing League driver and NTT IndyCar Series and Indy Lights series team owner. Schmidt's brief IndyCar career included a win in 1999, but an accident before the 2000 season left him a quadriplegic. Schmidt was a co-owner of the Arrow McLaren IndyCar team.
Racing career
After graduating from Pepperdine University, Schmidt became a successful businessman, eventually purchasing his father's parts company in 1989 at the age of 25.{{cn|date=September 2018}} He raced at a competitive amateur level, supported by his business income, but dreamed of someday driving in the Indianapolis 500. Schmidt first drove professionally in 1995 in the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series at the age of 31, where he won Rookie of the Year honors.{{cn|date=September 2018}}
File:Schmidt & Tagliani 20110521.jpg pole winner Alex Tagliani, who drove for Schmidt's team]]
In 1997 Schmidt made his first Indy Racing League start and became a rising star in the league. He raced three consecutive years at the Indianapolis 500, and earned his first race victory, from pole position, at Las Vegas in 1999.{{cn|date=September 2018}} He finished fifth in series points that year. During that offseason, while testing in preparation for the 2000 season, Schmidt crashed at Walt Disney World Speedway on January 6, 2000.{{cite news|title=Crash at Disney paralyzes IRL driver|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22795022/sam_schmidt/|first=Juliet|last=Macur|newspaper=The Orlando Sentinel|page=19|via=Newspapers.com|date=January 19, 2000|accessdate=August 14, 2018}}{{Open access}} The accident rendered him a quadriplegic, and put him on a respirator for five months.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqjcxJiPX9M], Sam's story, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, may 21, 2014 (video)
After leaving the hospital, Schmidt, no longer able to drive a racecar, realized he needed to find a new passion and follow it. Inspired by meeting tetraplegic Formula One team owner Sir Frank Williams, he founded Sam Schmidt Motorsports, which has become the most successful team in the history of the Indy Lights series,{{cn|date=September 2018}} winning the 2004 series championship with Thiago Medeiros, the 2006 title with Jay Howard, and the 2007 title with Alex Lloyd. Sam Schmidt Motorsports was a full-time IndyCar series team in 2001 and 2002, and continues to participate annually in the Indianapolis 500. In the Firestone Indy Lights series, as of August 2009 the team had posted 30 victories out of 100 starts.{{cn|date=September 2018}}
After acquiring the FAZZT Race Team IndyCar team in 2011, Sam Schmidt Motorsports returned full-time to the IZOD IndyCar Series, and on May 21, 2011, driver Alex Tagliani won the pole position for the Indianapolis 500, the first pole for the team.{{cn|date=September 2018}}
Career results
=Indy Racing League=
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"
! Year ! Team ! Chassis ! No. ! Engine ! 1 ! 2 ! 3 ! 4 ! 5 ! 6 ! 7 ! 8 ! 9 ! 10 ! 11 ! Rank ! Points ! Ref |
| rowspan=2| 1996–97
! Blueprint Racing !rowspan=2| Dallara IR7 ! 16 !rowspan=2| Oldsmobile Aurora V8 |NHM |LVS |WDW |style="background:#EFCFFF;"|PHX |style="background:#EFCFFF;"|INDY |style="background:#EFCFFF;"|TXS |PPI | | | | |rowspan=2 style="background:#CFCFFF;"| 27th |rowspan=2 style="background:#CFCFFF;"| 76 |
| LP Racing
!rowspan=3| 99 | | | | | | | |style="background:#EFCFFF;"|CLT |style="background:#EFCFFF;"|NH2 |style="background:#EFCFFF;"|LV2 | |
|---|
| 1998
! Dallara IR8 |style="background:#CFEAFF;"|WDW |style="background:#CFEAFF;"|PHX |style="background:#EFCFFF;"|INDY |style="background:#CFCFFF;"|TXS |style="background:#CFCFFF;"|NHM |style="background:#EFCFFF;"|DOV |style="background:#EFCFFF;"|CLT |style="background:#CFCFFF;"|PPIR |style="background:#EFCFFF;"|ATL |style="background:#EFCFFF;"|TX2 |style="background:#DFDFDF;"|LVS |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| 14th |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| 186 |
| 1999
! G-Force GF01C |style="background:#EFCFFF;"|WDW |style="background:#CFEAFF;"|PHX |CLT |style="background:#EFCFFF;"|INDY |style="background:#FFDF9F;"|TXS |style="background:#DFDFDF;"|PPI |style="background:#EFCFFF;"|ATL |style="background:#DFFFDF;"|DOV |style="background:#DFFFDF;"|PP2 |style="background:#FFFFBF;"|LVS |style="background:#EFCFFF;"|TX2 |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| 5th |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| 233 |
: 1 The 1999 VisionAire 500K at Charlotte was cancelled after 79 laps due to spectator fatalities.
Other
- Schmidt won $16,350 on Press Your Luck over the course of three episodes between January 2–4, 1985.{{cite AV media| url-status = live| archive-url = https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/o5jT0_8Zlg0| archive-date = 2021-12-11| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5jT0_8Zlg0| title = Press Your Luck Episode 332 Cydney/Sam/Jill | website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}{{cite AV media| url-status = live| archive-url = https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/vw8I70c1Lvc| archive-date = 2021-12-11| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw8I70c1Lvc| title = Press Your Luck #333 | website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}{{cite AV media| url-status = live| archive-url = https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/BF0oh0P9UKs| archive-date = 2021-12-11| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF0oh0P9UKs| title = Press Your Luck Episode 334 Sam/Rick/Esmeralda | website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}
- He established the Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation to further the cause of paralysis research, treatment and quality-of-life issues.{{cn|date=September 2018}}
- He was helped by Arrow Electronics to drive again by creating a 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray that is controlled with head movement, voice commands, and by mouth sip/puff actions.{{cite web|title=Sam Schmidt will get the first semi-autonomous driver's license|url=http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/sam-schmidt-will-get-first-semi-autonomous-drivers-license|publisher=Autoweek|accessdate=19 May 2018|date=26 September 2016|author=Wesley Wren}}{{cite web|last1=Weaver|first1=Matt|title=Paralyzed Sam Schmidt set to race 77-year-old Mario Andretti at Indianapolis|url=http://autoweek.com/article/indycar/paralyzed-sam-schmidt-set-race-77-year-old-mario-andretti-indianapolis|publisher=Autoweek|accessdate=19 May 2018|date=13 May 2017}}
- Schmidt currently serves on the board of directors for BraunAbility, a leading manufacturer of wheelchair accessible vehicles and other mobility solutions.
- Schmidt is co-owner of Speed Vegas motorpark.{{Cite web |date=2021-12-18 |title=SpeedVegas critic now CEO of high-speed operation |url=https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/speedvegas-critic-now-ceo-of-high-speed-operation-2498986/ |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=Las Vegas Review-Journal |language=en-US}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons}}
- [http://www.spmindycar.com Schmidt Peterson Motorsports] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906102055/http://www.spmindycar.com/ |date=2015-09-06 }}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20051214185525/http://www.samschmidt.org/ Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation]
{{Treadway Racing}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Sam}}
Category:Indianapolis 500 drivers
Category:IndyCar Series drivers
Category:IndyCar Series team owners
Category:Sportspeople from Lincoln, Nebraska
Category:People with tetraplegia
Category:Racing drivers from Nebraska
Category:Contestants on American game shows