Sam Schmidt Motorsports is on the verge of winning the Firestone Indy Lights championship for the fourth time in the past seven years. But the team’s owner insists that he isn’t the one to praise. Instead, he says, continuity should get the credit.
Schmidt’s team has managed to keep together a group of talented engineers, managers and mechanics for an extended period of time. Rare for an IZOD IndyCar Series team; rarer still for a Firestone Indy Lights team.
When J.K. Vernay takes the green flag in Saturday’s Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka 100 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, he’ll clinch the 2010 championship and become part of Schmidt’s lore. The former IZOD IndyCar Series driver also won Firestone Indy Lights drivers championships with Alex Lloyd, Jay Howard and Thiago Medeiros.
The trick? Running a Firestone Indy Lights team as if it were an IndyCar team, with similar pay for top employees, a similar commitment to winning, and a similar plan to operate the team as a profitable business. “It took me a while to figure it out,” Schmidt said. “When I first started the team, we tried to go too big too fast, and it didn’t work. We had to reinvent the wheel, and that meant forming a base of talented employees who stayed with us over time. The driver is the only variable each year.”
Schmidt, engineer Tim Neff and team manager Chris Griffis form the core of the group that have been together for many years and the combination is on the cusp of winning its fourth drivers title since 2004. “Eighty percent of the guys on the team have been there for five years or better,” Schmidt says. “That’s not usually the norm on the Lights level. We treat the team as an IndyCar team that just happens to run Indy Lights. Other teams might develop engineers who then find the grass greener on an IndyCar team for more money or stability, but I look at it differently. We don’t give them a reason to leave our team and go elsewhere.”
In part, that’s because Schmidt fields cars for the Indianapolis 500 each year, but it’s also because he finds enough financial support to pay his employees salaries competitive with those offered by IndyCar teams. Why leave when you’re in a good situation – and you’re winning races and championships?
So when you see Vernay celebrate the championship when he takes the green flag at Homestead, you’ll also see Pippa Mann and Philip Major attempt to lock down top-10 finishes in the 2010 championship, while Wade Cunningham returns for a one-off for SSM.
Behind the scenes, though, you’ll see longtime Schmidt employees celebrate, too. People like Griffis, Neff, Randy Klein, Kent Boyer, Taylor Keil, Dave Higuera, Kevin Conley, Chris Finch, Jason Robb, Max Neyron and George Sladky – names familiar throughout the IndyCar community – will acknowledge yet another successful season with the premier team in Indy Lights. “When you get guys like that, it’s easy to attract the young talent,” Schmidt said. “It took me a long time to figure that out.”
The young talent has been flocking to Schmidt’s team since 2004. Current IZOD IndyCar Series drivers Lloyd, Howard and Ana Beatriz once were on the SSM roster. Other notable former Schmidt drivers include James Hinchcliffe, Jaime Camara, James Davison, Richard Antinucci, Leilani Munter, Gustavo Yacaman, Logan Gomez and Travis Gregg. Overall, the team has won 37 Lights races and 39 pole positions in seven seasons.
“Winning helps add to the fun,” Schmidt said. “We try to create an environment that people want to work in and not just collect a paycheck. We’re here for the long run. We’re committed to have the best program possible.”