Henderson’s Schmidt one of Indy’s feel-good stories

Friday, May 24, 2002 | 9:56 a.m.

Southern Nevada will be well represented in Sunday's Indianapolis 500 but the sentimental local favorite won't be driving in "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing."

Sam Schmidt, a Henderson resident, was not able to win an Indy 500 as a driver before a testing accident in January 2000 left him paralyzed from the chest down and confined to a wheelchair. Now a car owner in the Indy Racing League, Schmidt has two entries in the 33-car field for Sunday's race at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"It's extremely exciting," Schmidt said about fielding cars for drivers Richie Hearn of Henderson and Mark Dismore. "There would be nothing -- short of watching my kids being born -- that could be greater than to win this thing on Sunday and I think we definitely have a car capable of running up front all day."

That car, the No. 20 Dallara/Chevrolet, is driven by Hearn -- one of four drivers with ties to Southern Nevada who will be competing in the 200-lap race. Joining Hearn in the field for the 86th running of the Indy 500 are Las Vegas residents Jimmy Vasser and Paul Tracy and part-time Henderson resident Al Unser Jr.

Unser, a two-time Indy 500 winner, qualified on the outside of row 4; Vasser will start on the inside of row 7 and Tracy will start from the middle of row 10.

Schmidt, whose best finish in three Indy 500 starts as a driver was 26th in 1998, is confident that Hearn can contend for the win on Sunday.

"I think we've got an excellent chance to run up front and be competitive with Richie because he has had so much full-tank running," Schmidt said of Hearn, who was 28th fastest in practice Thursday. "Richie is very confident and feels like he has a great car.

"Mark, unfortunately, hasn't had any time to run on full tanks but he has a lot of experience here so we're going to put Richie's setup on Mark's car and ... I think he'll be fine, too."

Hearn, who qualified the No. 20 Grill-2-Go car after Dismore was involved in a practice accident two days before Pole Day, will start from the inside of row 8. Dismore qualified Schmidt's backup car on the final day of qualifying last Sunday and will start 33rd in the No. 99 entry.

"The guys on this team did such a fantastic job ... with Mark hitting the fence on Thursday right before qualifying -- it was really a turnaround," Schmidt said. "Richie stepped in and did a fantastic job; he only had about 50 laps and got the thing up to speed and put it in the show.

"We made the commitment to Mark that if he got cleared, we would be happy to put him in the backup car. We only have four full-time people and in between running Richie on full-tank setups, they worked all night to put the car back together for Mark. That whole thing was a huge process and a big accomplishment for the guys."

Schmidt said he will station himself between Hearn's and Dismore's pits during the race and will help both drivers with race strategy.

"My job will be to survey what everybody else is doing -- the other teams, the other pit stops," Schmidt said. "I'll primarily be making the calls on the 20 car but I'll be right next door to the 99 car. I've got other people technically calling the race and the data guys analyzing that stuff. I kind of survey what everybody else does and make decisions based on that."

All 33 drivers were on the track Thursday for the final day of practice before the Indy 500. Vasser, who will start his seventh Indy 500 on Sunday, was the fastest of the local drivers and seventh overall at 224.439 mph in the Miller Lite Rahal/Letterman Racing Dallara/Chevrolet.

"The Miller Lite car felt really good and we made it through the practice without any surprises," Vasser said. "I have said all month that I thought we had a pretty good car for the race; today bore that out to us as running in race setup we were seventh fastest.

"The car has been great in traffic and my crew has done a hell of a job this month. They have given me a car that will be competitive on Sunday. I think we are as ready for the race as we can be."

Unser, a veteran of 14 Indy 500s, was 14th fastest Thursday at 223.601 in the Kelley Racing Dallara/Chevrolet.

"I feel real good," Unser said after practice. "We did that (speed) on our own. The Corteco/Bryant Special's running real good and the team's doing a great job. Today's not really the day to show any of your cards."

Tracy, who will be making his fifth Indy 500 start, was 15th fastest in the final practice with a best lap of 223.561 in the Team Green 7-Eleven Dallara/Chevrolet.

"This month, we just haven't had the outright speed for qualifying but in race trim the car is pretty good," Tracy said. "We posted a good speed today and I think we are looking good for the race.

"My previous experience here at Indy doesn't really help because the cars and the drivers are totally different, so we are just learning. The only thing I'm going to do different Saturday night before the race is shower myself in milk, just to get ready for Sunday."

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