Sam Schmidt has had a long and successful career at the top level of auto racing. From humble beginnings riding a mini-bike, to visiting Victory Lane as an Indy car driver, his success has continued as a team owner. The ownership side was instigated after a terrible crash in testing an Indy car at the oval in Orlando, Florida which left him a quadriplegic. His Indy Lights and Indy car team ownership has earned him accolades as he set records with his team’s success. You’ll still find Sam at the race track, and now he will also be known as an author, with his new book (No Finish Line) coming out on May 19, 2026. I met up with Sam during the 2026 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach where he graciously spent some time filling us in on his journey. Enjoy!

NOTE: Sam’s autobiography “No Finish Line” is currently available for pre-order and will be in stores on May 19, 2026. 

By Larry Mason

Copyright © 2026 Larry Mason

Photos Copyright © by Larry Mason (courtesy of Sam Schmidt and others listed below)

Sam Schmidt is smiling from the opportunity to drive the ARROW Electronics equipped Corvette at high speed.
Sam has been able to drive at high-speed on multiple race tracks thanks to the technology provided by ARROW Electronics.
Sam leading the field on his way to victory in the Indy car race at Las Vegas in 1999.
Sam Schmidt was happy that he scored his Indy car win at his home track of Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 1999.
Schmidt’s successful team ownership in the Indy Lights category is unmatched and here is Josef Newgarden along with Sam and the team after winning the championship in 2011.
Perhaps the biggest win in Schmidt’s career came as a team owner with Brian Herta (right of Sam with Honda logo polo) when Dan Wheldon earned his second Indianapolis 500 victory. Sam and his wife Sheila and kids Savannah and Spencer, enjoy the moment in Victory Lane with Wheldon.
Adding to his wealth of racing success, Sam Schmidt’s autobiography is a “must read for everyone” according to Mario Andretti. You can pre-order now and purchase at all the major bookstores starting on May 19, 2026.

Below is additional information on the book:
An inspirational memoir by the former IndyCar driver turned entrepreneur, race team owner and philanthropist, No Finish Line is Sam Schmidt’s account of leading the charge to find cures and treatments for spinal cord injuries after a racing accident left him paralyzed.

On January 6, 2000, Sam Schmidt, who had just won his first Indy Racing League competition in his adopted hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada, backed into a wall at the Walt Disney World Speedway in Orlando, Florida. He did so at around two hundred miles per hour, and as a result, Sam broke his neck. Airlifted to Orlando Regional Medical Center before being transferred to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, where he spent six months in rehabilitation before going home to his new life with his loving wife Sheila and two young children, Savannah and Spencer.

For over 25 years, Sam has learned to live paralyzed. But being a quadriplegic has not slowed him down. Almost immediately after his accident, he started a foundation that has raised millions of dollars for spinal cord injury and rehabilitation. He founded a racing team that’s won dozens of races and competed for championships. He’s driven cars again thanks to cutting-edge technology. His children have grown. He spoke at his son’s college graduation and danced on two legs with his daughter at her wedding.

Sam’s philosophy is you either get busy doing the work or you get busy waiting to die. For him, the latter is not an option. Indeed, Sam says he has done much more after (and because of) his accident than he would have otherwise. A former control freak, he has learned to delegate. A once-singularly-minded, self-described egocentric racer, he now lives to help others. The son of a driver who was also paralyzed from the sport, Sam has lived an astonishing, driven life. This is his journey.
Sam Schmidt was a driver in the Indy Racing League before suffering an injury in practice in January 2000 in which he sustained a C-3/4/5 spinal cord injury that left him a quadriplegic. He created the Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation (SSPF) that year to raise funds for medical research, innovative equipment used for rehabilitation, and quality-of-life issues. In 2014, the foundation was rebranded as Conquer Paralysis Now with a mission to cure paralysis while assisting those who are already disabled.