Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Schmidt ready to hang up his owner's hat, drive only

Brian Hilderbrand's golf notebook appears Tuesdays. His motor sports notebook appears Fridays. You can reach him at [email protected] or 259-4089.

As one of the few owner/drivers in the Indy Racing League, Sam Schmidt has had to wear more hats than Jeff Gordon during a victory-lane celebration.

In addition to driving his gold-and-red Dallara/Aurora 11 weekends of the year, the 34-year-old Henderson resident has had to beat the corporate bushes for enough sponsorship dollars to fund his race team.

But as he concludes he first full season in the IRL with this weekend's Las Vegas 500K at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Schmidt is seriously considering retiring his owner's cap and hiring himself out as a driver.

"We like the way we do things and, ultimately, we'd like to get two, two and a half million dollars and (continue to) do it ourselves because we feel like we can be competitive," he said.

"That being said, the bottom line is that I want to drive a race car so if an opportunity came along with another team that I felt was a better situation than what we have now, I'd have to look at it -- I'd be a fool not to."

Not that Schmidt would be entirely comfortable answering to an owner after calling his own shots for the the past year and a half.

"I can't really relate what it would be like just to show up and drive the car," he said. "I think I'd be at least 25 percent more effective as a driver if I didn't have to worry about trying to find money.

"Right now, I probably wouldn't mind trying it the other way, driving for somebody. On the other hand, then you're an employee and if you don't perform, you can get fired."

The highlight of Schmidt's season came at the Indianapolis 500 in May. After a pair of top-10 finishes at Walt Disney World and Phoenix to start the season, Schmidt qualified sixth fastest for the Indy 500 and started on the outside of the second row.

Schmidt was running in the top 10 for the first 48 laps but made contact with Davey Hamilton on lap 49 and crashed.

His qualifying effort at Indianapolis was a perfect example, Schmidt said, of what his race team is capable of given the proper preparation. Indy was the only race this season where Schmidt was able to test before the race.

"That was really the only opportunity that we've had to do it right and we rolled out of the trailer quick," Schmidt said.

In the ensuing races since Indy, Schmidt has been plagued by myriad mechanical failures and has failed to post a top-10 finish, although he maintains he has had a top-10 car. Since going to Indianapolis standing fifth in the series points, Schmidt has slipped to 17th coming into Sunday's season finale.

Nonetheless, Schmidt said he believes with the proper funding, there is no reason he shouldn't be able to run in the top 10.

"We feel like this year has been a great experience but by the same token, we also realize we need to add a couple major pieces to the puzzle: testing, a couple key personnel and motor development," he said. "That all takes money.

"As far as next year, the only thing that is for sure right now is that I'm not going to try and do it next year on the budget we did this year."

* NASCAR: Reigning Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon established a modern-era record last weekend at Charlotte with his 15th straight top-five finish. Gordon will be attempting to capture his third straight $1 million bonus of the season in Sunday's Winston 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Gordon, Jeff Burton, Dale Jarrett, Dale Earnhardt and Jeremy Mayfield are eligible for the bonus if they can win the race. ... Geoff Bodine is scheduled to make his 500th career Winston Cup start when he takes the green flag in Sunday's Winston 500. ... Bobby Labonte might be a good bet to win Sunday's race. In the two restrictor-plate races run this season, Labonte finished second in the Daytona 500 and won the DieHard 500 at Talladega in April.

* CART: Chip Ganassi, owner of the Target/Chip Ganassi Racing team, has hired Formula One test driver Juan Pablo Montoya to replace Alex Zanardi, who is leaving the team to drive in the F1 series. Montoya, 23, recently clinched the FIA Formula 3000 championship and also served as the official test driver for the F1 Winfield Williams team. Terms of the three-year deal were not disclosed. ... CART sources have hinted that this week's announcement that Team Kool Green owner Barry Green and driver Paul Tracy of Las Vegas have agreed on a contract extension was a public relations move to counter recent negative publicity. Green and Tracy were fined $5,000 each for "not maintaining proper behavior and sportsmanship" as the result of an altercation in the pits during last weekend's Texaco Grand Prix of Houston. Green was upset that Tracy made contact with race leader (and teammate) Dario Franchitti that resulted in Tracy being knocked out of the race. Green grabbed Tracy and the two exchanged heated words before crew members separated the two.

* IRL: The Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Regional Transportation Authority will provide special bus service for the Las Vegas 500K. On Saturday, hourly service from the Downtown Transportation Center to LVMS will run from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. On Sunday, 30-minute service from the DTC to the speedway will run from 5:30 a.m. to about 6:30 p.m. The final run will originate one hour after the race conclusion. The fare is $1 each way. ... Series points leader Kenny Brack stands to earn more than $1.6 million if he wins Sunday's Las Vegas 500K. Brack would earn $1 million for winning the season championship, a $500,000 bonus from Pep Boys for winning races this season at Charlotte, Atlanta and Las Vegas, and at least $100,000 for the winner's share of the race purse. ... One of the more unique promotions being held in conjunction with this weekend's IRL season finale is Shelby American's putting contest. The first fan who can sink three putts in a row from 100 feet will win a Shelby Series 1 automobile, valued at $107,000. The contest will be held Sunday on the LVMS midway beginning at 8 a.m.

* BACKMARKERS: The Las Vegas motorcycle team of Nick Pearson and Russ Pearson, riding for KTM Racing, finished first overall and first in Open Pro Class at last weekend's "Vegas to Reno" off-road race. The Pearsons finished the 520-mile race in 8 hours and 44 minutes. Las Vegans Rob MacCachren and Danny Anderson took first in the 1000 Professional Class for cars while Troy Herbst of Las Vegas and A.J. Martin and Jim Smith of Orange, Calif., placed fourth in the 1500 Professional Class.

The U.S. Open of Supercross, the richest single race in the history of AMA Supercross, will be held Saturday and Sunday at MGM Grand Garden. The world's top Supercross riders will compete for a $100,000 first-place check from a $250,000 purse. The U.S. Open of Supercross will use a two race format: the first race will be held Saturday evening, the second on Sunday afternoon. Riders will be scored as they would in a two-moto AMA National Championship race, with the overall winner taking home $100,000. The event will be broadcast live Saturday at 10 p.m. on Speedvision and Sunday at 3 p.m. on Fox Sports Net. ... The 17th annual International Jet Sports Boating Association Skat-Trak World Finals begin Sunday in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., with competition in the entry-level Novice Class. The Pro-class racing will be held next Saturday and Sunday.

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