From Autosport - Schmidt may quit series.

[FarboudGTS]

As read in Autosport this morning...

"Team owner Sam Schmidt says his outfit could be forced out of the IRL next year........."We just can't do it the way we did this year," he said. "It's another couple of million dollars next year over what it was this year.".......

Sorry if this is old news - first i'd heard of it - although it was probably expected

hope this isn't a sign of things to come for teams such as Boat/Conquest/Bradley/310 aswell

if Schmidt drops to IPS - where does that leave Treadway?

[Heath Hamilton]

get a sponsor then...thats what makes the racing world turn....

i feel like a lot of IRL teams cry about not having a bigname sponsor, sometimes doing more crying than searching....

you don't need to have Lite, Bud or Marlboro...there are lots of other untapped potential sponsors that are on the smaller side, but big enough to fund an IRL team....

c'mon now....

[ghost]

I think the only ones who know how hard these smaller teams are searching for sponsorship are the smaller teams themselves.

Just because Cahill, Conquest,SSMS, etc. don't have big sponsors doesn't mean they haven't been searching.

[mesquite]

Originally posted by FarboudGT1:
<STRONG>As read in Autosport this morning...

"Team owner Sam Schmidt says his outfit could be forced out of the IRL next year........."We just can't do it the way we did this year," he said. "It's another couple of million dollars next year over what it was this year.".......

</STRONG>

Doesn't surprise me. Wasn't Bradley the guy to speak up first about this? Basically saying "bye, bye small spec series, it's cut throat now".

The positive is ... you'll now have drivers like Kanaan, Franchitti, and Takagi fill those voids. Pretty good trade if you ask me.

[IndyJim]

For years and years, Indy Car racing for the most part has had owners that were indepdently wealthy, and loved the sport. Linsdey Hopkins was a great example. Sponsorship just helped defray some of the cost.

I think any team that is forced to try and run in the black without a Sugar Daddy is going to have a tough time in this market.

So we need to have a new Fox show on this fall. "Who Wants to Run an Indy Car Team". Have 10 multi millionairres compete to see who will get to own and run a race team. If any of us had 50mill in the bank, earning 10 percent interest on average a year, would you want to be an owner of an indy car team? I sure would.

[Fueler]

if Schmidt drops to IPS - where does that leave Treadway?

It leaves Treadway just as screwed up as they are now, but with even less sponsorship. With the exception of the efforts of Ricky for his won car, Sam has provided a lot of the funding to Treadway this season.

[Spike]

Originally posted by Heath Hamilton:
<STRONG>get a sponsor then...you don't need to have Lite, Bud or Marlboro...there are lots of other untapped potential sponsors that are on the smaller side, but big enough to fund an IRL team....

c'mon now....</STRONG>

And it's just that easy.

Reminds me of the old Steve Martin routine: "How to Be a Millionaire and Never Pay Taxes.

First, you get a million dollars . . ."

[Dreyerfan]

Schmidt also said he hated the IPS,
but hes got two to three cars in that series.


**** be back next year I almost gaurantee with Richie Hearn drivin.

[flagman]

Originally posted by Fueler:
<STRONG>

It leaves Treadway just as screwed up as they are now, but with even less sponsorship. With the exception of the efforts of Ricky for his won car, Sam has provided a lot of the funding to Treadway this season.</STRONG>

I don't know where you are getting this BS. Sam has not given Fred a single dollar towards his team. Fred pays to put Sam Schmidts name on the car, why, because it is a charity and it is a tax write-off. I think you'll find you have the supporter and supportee switched around.

On a side note, Fred will run 2 cars at Texas, 1 Grill-to-Go and 1 Radio Shack.

[Fiorentina 1]

That would be too bad.