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IRL: Family of injured Schmidt encourages contributions to charity

12 January 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

INDIANAPOLIS - Well-wishers for injured Indy Racing standout Sam Schmidt are encouraged by the Schmidt family to send donations in Sams name to either CARA Charities or IRL Ministries in care of:

Ruthie Culbertson
Treadway Racing
6017 W. 71st St.
Indianapolis, IN 46278

Donations are encouraged in lieu of flowers and gifts.

Schmidt suffered a spinal injury in the accident in the 99-spec Treadway Racing G Force/Aurora/Firestone on Jan. 6 while participating in the league s Open Test at Walt Disney World Speedway. He is in serious but stable condition at Orlando Regional Medical Center after undergoing surgery Thursday night to fuse his C-3 and C-4 vertebrae. He is still suffering from some paralysis.

Indy Racing stars joining the show: Indy Racing League stars Scott Goodyear, Davey Hamilton, Sarah Fisher and Robby McGehee will appear at Pennzoil Motorsports 2000 from Jan. 14-16 in Philadelphia.

One of the largest motorsports shows in the country, Pennzoil Motorsports attracts more than 40,000 fans who want to get a break from the offseason and see some of their favorite drivers and cars. In addition to drivers and cars from national series such as the Indy Racing League, the show also features displays from dozens of short tracks in the Northeast, along with local stars and racing machines.

Fisher will be at the show from 2-4 p.m. on opening day, Jan. 14, in Autograph Alley. McGehee will meet fans in Autograph Alley from 5-7 p.m. Jan. 15 and will then serve as a celebrity judge in the popular Ms. Motorsports contest that night. Hamilton will be in Autograph Alley from 1-3 p.m. Jan. 16. Goodyear will be on hand at various times Jan. 16.

The Indy Racing League will have a large display at the show, including a show car, and all four drivers are expected to sign autographs at the display at various times on the days of their appearances, in addition to their time in Autograph Alley.

The Pennzoil Motorsports Show takes place at the Fort Washington Expo Center in the Philadelphia suburb of Ambler, Pa. The location is at Exit 26 of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Cheever, friends to hit links for charity: 1998 Indianapolis 500 winner Eddie Cheever Jr. is the chairman of the Eddie Cheever & Friends Drive for Children charity golf tournament Jan. 24 at the Isleworth Country Club in Orlando, Fla.

The tournament is raising money for the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children & Women in Orlando. Among the celebrities playing in the event are Orlando resident Cheever, fellow Indy Racing standout Buzz Calkins and legendary golf instructor David Leadbetter.

Registration starts at 8 a.m. Jan. 24, with a $10,000 Putting Contest sponsored by Cadillac running from 8-10:15 a.m. The starting time for the tournament is 10:30 a.m. A silent auction also will be conducted, with all proceeds going to the Palmer hospital.

The sold-out event has already raised more than $75,000 in sponsorship commitments and participant fees. The tournament is presented by Kvaerner Construction in association with The Isleworth Foundation.

League executive honored: Dave Moroknek, director of licensing and consumer products for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Indy Racing League, was recently named to License! magazines "40 Under Forty" list.

The magazine honored forty of the licensing industrys top executives under the age of 40 in its November 1999 issue.

Moroknek created the IMS Properties licensing program, which oversees merchandise sales for the Indy Racing League, Indianapolis 500, Brickyard 400 and the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis. He also developed the off-site Brickyard Authentics retail stores. With 90 licensees working with Moroknek, sales of IMS-related merchandise is increasing by triple digits annually.

Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit The Racing Photo Museum and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.