Sam Schmidt on Life After the Crash That Changed Everything | Racers Unchained with Paul Tracy

Sam Schmidt was a rising IndyCar star, 5th in points, a race winner, teammates with Arie Luyendyk, when a testing crash in January 2000 left him paralyzed from the neck down and unable to breathe on his own. Doctors said he'd never walk or talk again. 25 years later, he's built one of the most successful teams in Indy Lights history, co-owned an IndyCar team with Dan Wheldon and later Arrow McLaren, developed a car he steers with his head and mouth that's hit 213 mph, and in April 2021, walked his daughter down the aisle in a custom exoskeleton nine months in the making. On this episode of Racers Unchained, Paul Tracy sits down with Sam to talk about the crash, the recovery, the technology that gave him back a piece of control, why he believes anyone can do anything if they're willing to put in the work, and what it's really like to rebuild a life and a career from the ground up. 8:04 Sam reveals his dad was paralyzed in a racing accident in Mexico when Sam was 11 13:18 The 1999 testing accident begins — Sam describes the crash that broke his C3 vertebra 17:05 Waking up in the hospital and hearing the prognosis for the first time 21:13 Why Sam started his foundation — seeing other patients without the same support system he had 24:00 "I gotta do something in racing" — starting his own team just 9 months after the accident 28:25 The Arrow Corvette project begins — first time driving 170 mph at Indy with no arms or legs 34:29 Elon Musk, Neuralink, and the future of curing paralysis 36:47 Robert Wickens' injury and the pivot toward intensive rehabilitation 42:33 The biggest thrill of his life: walking his daughter down the aisle in the exoskeleton Follow RACER on YT:    / @racer.hq   Follow RACER.Podcasts on IG:   / racer.podcasts   Follow RACER.HQ on IG:   / racer.hq   Follow RACER Network on IG:   / racer_network   Follow host Paul Tracy on IG:   / paultracyofficial   #SamSchmidt #PaulTracy #IndyCar #Indy500 #racing #motorsports #RACERpodcast