¦ September 8, 2006
Schmidt gets a wild ride

Thursday, September 7, 2006
By Tim Harms
(Reprinted from indycar.com)

Sam Schmidt’s plane took off from a small airport in Wheeling, Ill. Moments later, the Indy Pro Series team owner “thought he was going to end up in China.”

The former IndyCar Series driver had the experience of a lifetime on Sept. 7, going up in one of the airplanes used in the Klein Tools Air Show.
“We did everything,” Schmidt said. “We did a couple loops. We did several spins. We went vertical and did a stall and came back down straight towards the Earth. I thought I was going to end up in China. Then probably the topper to it all, we flew upside down for probably a good minute-and-a-half. It was just a wild experience.”

The experience came about from a conversation Schmidt had with Rick Klein in St. Petersburg, Fla. earlier this year. Klein is the father of Indy Pro Series driver Jonathan Klein, and his company, Klein Tools, is a major supporter of teams in the Indy Pro Series and IndyCar Series.

“Down in St. Pete, they were giving rides to all of their sponsors.” Schmidt explained. “I was sitting there watching the show with Rick and said, ‘You know, one of the biggest disappointments about being paralyzed is that a month after I got paralyzed I was all set up and supposed to go on an F-14 out at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. When I got paralyzed, a few months later I’m thinking, ‘Damn, I missed my flight.’’ So I told that story to Rick down in St. Pete, and he said, ‘Hey, we’ll get you in that thing no matter what it takes.’

“I can’t thank Rick Klein enough. It was kind of an emotional experience yesterday. It was definitely one to check off the all-time list.”