Time running out to find a sponsor for Indy 500

Thursday, April 20, 2006 | 7:43 a.m.

If it's April, Sam Schmidt must be wearing out the battery in his cell phone.

Schmidt, a longtime Henderson resident, is spending another spring working the phones in an attempt to line up sponsorship to field a car at the Indianapolis 500. This spring, however, the calls have not been producing the anticipated results.

"We've thrown a lot of things against the wall and really haven't got them to stick," Schmidt said. "We've got a number of associate sponsors that want to participate for sure ... we just haven't totally put the funding package together."

Schmidt even has a driver waiting in the wings - fellow Henderson resident Richie Hearn - should he nail down the funding. Schmidt has fielded Hearn each of the past four years at Indy, including a sixth-place finish in 2002.

Last year, Schmidt was able to secure sponsorship (from Meijer stores and Coca-Cola) early enough to run the entire month of May at Indy. Hearn qualified 20th on the grid and was running a lap off the pace when he made contact with Scott Dixon midway through the race and finished 25th.

"Basically, Richie is on hold and the team is on hold and everybody's on pins and needles," Schmidt said. "We want to do it - we want to be a part of it - (but) I have somewhat resolved myself that if we don't get the sponsorship and we can't do it right, we just shouldn't do it.

"Unfortunately, with everybody running Hondas and effectively having equal equipment and really the competition rising to the level that it is now, unless you have a certain amount of funding raised before you start the process, there's so much risk that you can't even be remotely competitive."

With a little more than two weeks before practice is to begin for the 90th running of the race, Schmidt said he hasn't given up hope that he'll be at Indy next month for the fifth time as a car owner.

"Other than last year, with Meijer and Coca-Cola, we didn't have a clue what we were doing and never even expected to be in the 500, and we've always managed to put a deal together," Schmidt said. "It has been an uphill battle ... but we're not giving up."

Gotta travel

Apparently, the phrase "Gotta Race" means more to veteran NASCAR driver Ken Schrader than just a title to his newly released autobiography.

Schrader, 50, plans to compete in five races in four days in three states beginning with this evening's NASCAR West Series race at Phoenix International Raceway. Schrader also plans to compete in Friday's NASCAR Busch Series event and Saturday's Nextel Cup race at Phoenix, an ARCA race Sunday afternoon in Salem, Ind., and a Sunday night dirt Late Model race in Danville, Ill.

Between Nextel Cup, Busch and short-track events, Schrader already has competed in 26 races this season.

Also noted:

The number of Indianapolis 500 starts Sam Schmidt made as a driver

Schmidt's best finish in the Indy 500 as a driver

NASCAR Cup races won from the pole at Phoenix International Raceway (19 races), the site of Saturday's Subway Fresh 500