Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
Sam Schmidt Motorsports, which was formed by Sam Schmidt in 2001, is the winningest team in Firestone Indy Lights history, recording 26 race victories and three driver championships.
The team earned its first Firestone Indy Lights championship in 2004. In a 12-race season, the team won six races with Thiago Medeiros and captured nine pole positions, eight by Medeiros and one by Travis Gregg.
Jay Howard captured the driver's championship in 2006 on the strength of two race victories and two pole positions, while the team finished second in the entrant championship.
In 2007, Alex Lloyd won the championship with eight victories in 16 races, including a record five consecutive victories to start the season.
Team owner Sam Schmidt made 27 career starts in the IndyCar Series as a driver, earning one victory and pole position, both achievements in his hometown of Las Vegas in September 1999 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway while driving for Treadway Racing. In January 2000, Schmidt became a quadriplegic due to injuries suffered in a testing crash at Orlando, Fla.
Schmidt, who endures more than 35 hours of physical therapy per week, puts his master's degree in international finance from Pepperdine University to work managing the marketing efforts for his team and the strategic direction of the Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation.
The foundation's mission is to help individuals overcome spinal-cord injuries and other related debilitating illnesses by facilitating scientific research, medical treatment, rehabilitation and technological advances. The foundation raises funds through the power of motorsports to improve quality of life and assure the best possible outcomes by touching individual lives. Every dollar raised in the foundation name goes to support the foundation and its missions.
Schmidt resides in Henderson, Nev., with his wife, Sheila, and their children, Savannah and Spencer.
In late-2012, Sam Schmidt and Ric Peterson, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Oculus Transport Ltd., announced the formation of a new partnership between the two as owners of SSM’s Firestone Indy Lights and IZOD IndyCar Series race teams.
