¦ October 8, 2010
DAY AT THE RACES HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY
2010 Schedule Ends on a Hot Note

Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation ended its 2010 Day at the Races season with a wonderful but HOT event at the Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida on October 1.  With temperatures soaring to over 100 degrees the heat kept several away, but those who joined us at the track had an awesome time!

Almost 50 guests from several chapters of  the Spinal Cord Injury Support Group of Florida, Endless Possibilities, HealthSouth of Miami, Veterans Hospital of Miami, Wounded Warriors and others fought the heat with a vengeance.  Everyone received race weekend tickets with parking, as well as gift bags from Nurse Core, United Medical Providers and SSPF.

Our first stop of the day was a delicious lunch in the Andretti Hospitality Tent.  Drivers from Sam Schmidt Motorsports, including Pippa Mann (who took the pole for the second consecutive time), J.K. Vernay (Indy Lights Series Champion), Wade Cunningham (finished 3rd in the race) and Phillip Major stopped by to chat and pose for photos, while autographing hats and hero cards for everyone.  Firestone’s Firehawk “flew in” to pose for photos and hand out complimentary Firestone T-shirts.  Sam Schmidt spoke about life before and after his accident, then participated in a question & answer session about his paralysis and the always exciting world of racing.

A tour of  garages was next on the agenda, with the chance to see some of the big time drivers and their racecars, including Dario Franchitti, Helio Castroneves, Alex Lloyd (a former Sam Schmidt Motorsports driver), Scott Dixon, Dan Wheldon and several others. 

The tour continued through the Indy Lights garage with the opportunity to see the SSM crew in action and grab some much-needed bottled water.  Then we headed to the pits to watch qualifications and practice.  Up close and personal is always an exciting part of the day as everyone moved up near the wall to watch the cars zoom past - less than 5 yards away!

Sadly enough the day came to an end, but not without last words about the day and hugs until next time….with hopes there will be a next time soon!  (The 2011 IndyCar schedule does not include Homestead, but they will probably return in a future year.)

The day could not have been possible without the graciousness of Andretti Autosport, United Medical Providers (Monica Hilton), Firestone, Lucas Oil, Honda, Homestead Miami Speedway, Ryan Gebauer, Sue Krinsky and Ron Walling (SCISG-Florida), Barbara Hurwitz and Barry Lowitz (Nurse Core) and many others.  Thank you for all your support and for making it such a memorable day for everyone!