AVONDALE, Louisiana – After both of his drivers took two of the positions on the podium, including James Hinchcliffe’s victory and James Jakes’ third-place finish, Verizon IndyCar Series team owner Sam Schmidt looked like a genius for hiring those two drivers over the off-season after Simon Pagenaud left for Team Penske.
But as the confetti continued to fly in victory lane at NOLA Motorsports Part following the Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana, Schmidt gave all the credit to others.
“I’m a genius for hiring the guys that I hire and putting this team together,” Schmidt said. “There could have been a lot of fallout with the driver change and what happened in the offseason but to pick up where we left off last year is fantastic.”
Consider that over the offseason Schmidt Peterson Motorsports entire operation had been gutted and the team was in Victory Lane in Sunday’s second race of the season and it’s quite an impressive accomplishment.
“It says a heck of a lot about our team, frankly,” Schmidt said. “We had a few big losses in the offseason with driver (Pagenaud), engineer (Ben Bretzman, who moved with Pagenaud to Penske) and team manager (Rob Edwards, who took over as vice president of race operations at Andretti Autosport). To bounce back like this says a tremendous amount about the morale and the connection all these guys have together.
“This truly is a family.”
After spending three seasons with Andretti Autosport Hinchcliffe was happy to return to Schmidt’s IndyCar team. He drove in Indy Lights for Schmidt and that ultimately helped Hinchcliffe get his IndyCar start with Newman Haas Lanigan Racing in 2011.
Hinchcliffe was able to repay Schmidt for his confidence with a victory in just the second race of his return to the team.
“It's awesome driving for Sam and for Ric, being the Canadian team owner, and a team owner that I raced for in Indy Lights,” Hinchcliffe said. “He really helped bring me into this world and taught me about oval racing and the IndyCar world in general. So to have come full circle and get back to race with him was great.
“It's funny, I never even actually won a race for Sam in Lights. All my wins came the following year. It's definitely a lot better ‑‑ I'd much rather do it at this level and give him one of these because he deserves it. All the guys deserve it and all the guys on the stand that made that call. That's not an easy risk to take, but we did it, and it paid off. So they deserve this one, for sure.”
It also was a huge boost to Honda after Chevrolet swept the top six positions in the season-opening race at St. Petersburg, Florida on March 29.
“We’ve never wavered on our support and partnership of Honda and there are only more great things to come,” Schmidt said. “We are making good fuel mileage. To win the Indy GP last year as the inaugural race and this inaugural race is fantastic.”
Prior to Sunday’s victory Hinchcliffe had won three races for Andretti Autosport but his last win came at Iowa in 2013. He was able to drive to the victory by conserving fuel and using a one pit-stop strategy in what turned out to be a timed race because of six caution flags for 26 laps in the 47-lap race.
Jakes finished third using a completely different strategy after he overcame a spin on Lap 20 when Jack Hawksworth crashed in Turn 13 on a restart.
“I might give the third-place trophy to Ric,” Schmidt quipped, referring to his co-owner Ric Peterson. “That’s what is super about James finishing third. We went with two different strategies on the stand and it was rather unintentional. He could have won this race if it had finished under green so it’s fantastic.”
For Jakes, the likeable part-time fashion model from Leeds, England, his third-place finish was an example of overcoming adversity.
“We got hosed yesterday in qualifying after advancing out of our session but they canceled it,” Jakes said. “Then we had the spin. But you have to be patient because things can happen. We are working our butts off and move on to Long Beach. I’m just happy to be here with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. I knew it was a competitive team coming in and called a great round of strategy. We needed this – a first and a third is great for them and hopefully the first of many.
“We’re going to make it a fight and that is the best. Joining this team was a great opportunity and it’s paid off. We have a bit more work to do but we are up to the challenge.”
And it shows how competitive the Verizon IndyCar Series is as the smaller Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team is a threat against the Power Teams of Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing in every contest on the schedule.
“We're not the mass volume as the organizations like Penske or Ganassi or even Andretti, but the group of guys that he's put together there is a great testament to Sam,” Jakes said. “He's a great inspiration. He's there first thing in the morning and leaves late at night, and he loves it. When you see him in the position he is, he inspires everybody around him, and it's great to be part of that.
“I think the credit just goes all to him because he's put this great group of guys together. When times are hard, everybody knits together. And when we have great days, like today, it just all works out. But he knows what he's doing, and hopefully as we said earlier, this will be the start of many for the team.”
With his two drivers joined by second-place finisher Helio Castroneves of Team Penske on the podium, Schmidt was already looking ahead to the next race – Sunday’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
“It will be tough to top this next week at Long Beach but I can’t wait,” Schmidt said. “There will be one heck of a party tonight but the guys have to get on the road for Long Beach, now.”