News:

4-1-2005
Schmidt not letting paralysis get in way of his racing team

April 1, 2005

Schmidt not letting paralysis get in way of his racing team

BY MARK DECOTIS
FLORIDA TODAY

Sam Schmidt is many things -- a husband, a father, a racer, a businessman and a quadriplegic -- but even more impressive is the strength of his spirit, his conviction and his competitiveness.

That Schmidt, 40, is confined to a wheelchair as a result of injuries suffered in an accident at the Disney World Speedway in 2000, has changed everything. But in the end, Sam Schmidt is still Sam Schmidt.
"People that have known me all my life say I haven't changed a bit," Schmidt said while preparing for Saturday's Infiniti Pro Series St. Petersburg 100. The race is being run in conjunction with Sunday's Indy Racing League St. Petersburg Grand Prix.

Schmidt has been an owner in the Pro Series since 2002 -- he is fielding three cars -- and Sam Schmidt Motorsports is the defending champion.

"I'm still the same person," he said. "I still have the same thought process, I still have the same attitude."

And that attitude is centered on competing, and winning, as would be expected from a racer.

It's racing that keeps Schmidt's inner fires, the same fires that spurred him to a successful IRL driving career, burning at full force.

"What used to take 30 minutes to get up, shower and get out the door now takes two hours," he said. "You have to find something that's worth the two hours of effort, and for me it was racing. That's why I threw myself back into it.

"I'm very competitive, none of that's changed with the injury."

Schmidt's lifelong passion within a passion has been racing in the Indianapolis 500, something he has done three times as a driver and four times as a car owner.

This week he secured sponsorship from Meijer grocers and Coca-Cola to field driver Richie Hearn, a deal he believes is strong enough to allow his team to be a contender come May 29.

He would have it no other way. After all, he began racing at age 5.

In fact, it is his love for the sport that has helped him reconcile the cruel hand it dealt him.

"There's something inherent in all professional athletes, especially race car drivers," Schmidt said. "To get to a certain level, you have to be really competitive, you have to be really motivated, and you have to have a certain attitude.

"When I got hurt I realized I was following my dream. I didn't look at it like racing put me in a wheelchair. I looked at it like I was somewhat fortunate that I got hurt doing something that I love as opposed to 99.9 percent of the disabled community, it's of no choice, or a freak accident, a diving accident or getting hit by a drunk driver. Those are all circumstances that I think I would have a hard time dealing with my injury and I would have a hard time getting over the negative side of it."

And as hard as Schmidt works at racing, he toils equally as diligently on behalf of The Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation working to raise awareness and money toward finding a way for himself, and others, to get back on their feet.

"I'm pretty honest about it," Schmidt said of the foundation. "It's a means to an end. When I started to evaluate what it's going to take for me to get out of this wheelchair, I couldn't do it myself. That was pretty frustrating because all of my life there's been a direct correlation between the amount of work and energy and thought and direct result. It was quantifiable," he added.

"You do X,Y, Z, here should be the outcome, whether it's racing, whether it's business, whether it's family, whatever. With the paralysis, it's much bigger than me. We've ridden on Christopher Reeve's coattail for a long time. Unfortunately, with his passing, we've got to step it up. We've got to do more work."

Schmidt admits there is a self-interest in foundation work: "I want to be able to walk my daughter down the aisle, 17, or 20 years down the road, or whatever it is and the foundation is what's going to help me do that," he said. But he also is cognizant of the benefits the continuing research might some day be able to provide.

"The way I look at it, hopefully, whether it's 10 or 15 years down the road, hopefully there'll be a procedure I can do to gain more mobility, quality of life, whatever it is, and we are going to take hundreds of thousands of people with us, that's an added bonus."

Contact DeCotis at 242-3786 or e-mail [email protected]