Wednesday, May 19, 2004 | 9:28 a.m.
Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at [email protected] or (702) 259-4089.
Sam Schmidt, a Henderson resident and Indy Racing League Infiniti Pro Series team owner, said he is considering fielding a car in this month's Indianapolis 500.
Last year, Schmidt leased a car from IRL team owner Roger Penske and entered fellow Henderson resident Richie Hearn in the 500. Hearn started 28th and finished in the same position after an accident on lap 62. Hearn finished sixth in the 2002 Indy 500 while driving for Schmidt.
"I would think there's a similar probability to what we had last year," Schmidt said. "Obviously, it's important to have 33 cars in the 500."
Only 26 drivers qualified for the May 30 Indy 500 through the first two days of qualifying. There are three drivers with confirmed riders who are expected to make the field in Sunday's final time trials, and IRL team owners and unemployed drivers are scrambling to put together deals to fill the 33-car field.
Schmidt, who competed in three Indy 500s as a driver before he was paralyzed in a testing accident in January 2000, would not say whether he was trying to put together a deal with Hearn for this year's race.
"We're obviously talking to some people (and) there are a lot of rumors flying around," Schmidt said. "We'd love to do it, but we don't want to do it in a last-minute ... unsatisfactory manner. If we can do something similar to what we did last year, then we'll do it. Otherwise, we'll just concentrate on the IPS deal."
Schmidt rightfully is more focused on Saturday's Infiniti Pro Series Futaba Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His drivers, Thiago Medeiros and Arie Luyendyk Jr., are first and fourth in the series standings, respectively, and are coming off a 1-2 finish at Phoenix International Raceway in March.
"We really have the cars to beat, I think, at the Freedom 100," Schmidt said. "That's kind of our short-term picture -- that we really need to win that race.
"The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is still the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I think we've put a lot of emphasis on this Freedom 100; I guess it wouldn't be like winning the Indy 500 as an owner or driver, but it would be pretty darn close. It's our biggest race of the year."
"We've got a good shot a making history by winning both races, and that's the goal," Gordon said Tuesday. "We had the schedule worked out to do it all, but by taking two races off the schedule I think we'll be better prepared for Indy and Charlotte.
"We didn't qualify where we wanted to at Indy, but I have complete faith in my guys that by race time we'll have one of the cars to beat. They're doing everything we ask of them and now, as the driver, I need to run as many laps as possible in order to have a great car for the race."
Schmidt, who is a quadriplegic as a result of his January 2000 accident, formed the foundation that carries his name to help individuals overcome spinal-cord injuries and other related debilitating illnesses by facilitating scientific research, medical treatment, rehabilitation and technological advances. The foundation raised more than $1 million last year.
Schmidt said he remains "totally optimistic" that there will be a cure for paralysis "in my lifetime, if not a whole lot sooner."
The series is introducing a new qualifying format for the race. Drivers randomly will be split into two groups for Friday's qualifying session, with each group running for 15 minutes. The top five in both sessions then will battle for the day's best time and one championship point. All cars go out at once for a 30-minute session on Saturday, with the top 10 times (or top nine on Saturday plus Friday's leader) running seven laps in an effort to win the pole.
Paul Tracy, a Las Vegas resident, is the defending champion of the Monterrey race. The 2003 Champ Car champion also is the series points leader by virtue of his victory in the season-opening Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
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