¦ December 10, 2011
SAM SCHMIDT WINS 2011 INTERNATIONAL MOTORSPORTS INDUSTRY ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Prestigious Award Presented During Annual International Motorsports Industry Show (IMIS)

   Sam Schmidt received the second annual IMIS Achievement Award award this month in Indianapolis. Chip Ganassi, who won the first IMIS Achievement Award last year, presented Schmidt with the honor along with Randy Bernard, president of INDYCAR, and Chris Paulsen, president of C&R Racing and a founder of IMIS.

"The International Motorsports Industry Show is for hardcore racers," Paulsen said. "Sam is the definition of a hardcore racer. After his driving career ended unexpectedly, he became one of the most successful and respected team owners in INDYCAR. He's given a lot of young drivers their first break into INDYCAR racing and his record in Firestone Indy Lights competition is unmatched. It's an honor to present him with the second International Motorsports Industry Show Achievement Award."

Sam Schmidt, of Henderson, Nevada, was a top-notch driving talent in IZOD IndyCar Series competition and winner of the 1999 IndyCar race in Las Vegas.  Then, prior to the 2000 racing season, he was rendered quadriplegic with a C-3/4/5 spinal cord injury sustained in a testing accident at Walt Disney World Speedway in Orlando, Fla.

In 2001, he formed Sam Schmidt Motorsports (SSM), capturing 46 race wins and five Indy Lights championships so far (Thiago Medeiros, 2004; Jay Howard, 2006; Alex Lloyd, 2007; J.K. Vernay, 2010 and Josef Newgarden, 2011). For the past nine years, Schmidt has also fielded cars in the IndyCar Series' premier race, the Indianapolis 500. In 2011, SSM driver Alex Tagliani won the pole position for the Indy 500 while his teammate, Townsend Bell, qualified fourth.  The team now competes full time in IndyCar Series.  

The Sam Schmidt Motorsports IndyLights program is recognized worldwide as the premier avenue for a young driver determined to follow an upward career path.  Several drivers who have competed for SSM in Indy Lights competition have moved up to race in the IndyCar Series, including Lloyd, Ana Beatriz and James Hinchcliffe.

Following his accident in 2000, Sam Schmidt took the passion and commitment that made him one of America's top race car drivers and focused it on creating a broader awareness of spinal cord injuries and the research necessary to find treatment and cures.
 
The Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation (SSPF) was formed later that same year to raise the necessary dollars to increase awareness of spinal cord injury/paralysis and the impact it has on the patient and family, for medical research to develop cures and effective therapeutic treatments and, most importantly, to provide newly injured patients and their families with the psychological support and resource information to help them lead productive lives and to keep the family intact.

"This is a tremendous honor for me to win the International Motorsports Industry Show Achievement Award," Schmidt said. "It's very humbling and is really an award for all of our employees who work so hard to build championship-winning racecars. It meant a lot to me to have Chip and Randy there to present the award, as well. I just can't thank everyone enough for this honor.."