CXC Simulations, ARROW partner to provide Sam Schmidt shot at iRacing - MotorSportsTalk

Verizon IndyCar Series team co-owner Sam Schmidt has long been an inspiring figure for his determination, persistence and support of the series – and the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires – for 15-plus years since he was paralyzed in an accident while testing at Walt Disney World Speedway.

Schmidt has also returned to the cockpit by way of the SAM (Semi-Autonomous Motorcar) Project on two occasions, initiated by ARROW Electronics, to drive a modified 2014 Corvette at speed around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and streets of Long Beach, Calif. for demonstration runs.

Los Angeles-based CXC Simulations was tasked with integrating the highly-developed SAM 2.0 control systems – infrared motion-sensing cameras that read movement of the driver’s “hat” to steer, the breath-sensing “mouthpiece” to accelerate and brake, and the computers and sophisticated software that convert their output to car control actions – with CXC’s custom engineered hardware and software for the Motion Pro II simulator.

CXC Simulations’ Founder and CEO, Chris Considine in front of the modified Motion Pro II that Sam Schmidt will race in the iRacing Pro Race of Champions on December 16, 2015 – at CXC’s headquarters. Photo: CXC Simulations

“It was a natural for us,” says Chris Considine, CEO and founder of CXC, “the challenge of interesting new technologies, the chance to work with very high-tech partners, and the fact that it concerned a kind of driver training, what we’re known for, was perfectly in line with the core interests and principles of our company.”

Now, Schmidt’s taking those skills to an active race for the first time, as part of the fifth annual iRacing Pro Race of Champions.

The event occurs on Wednesday night at 9 p.m. ET, broadcast on iRacingLive, and will donate $2500 to the Justin Wilson Children’s Fund in the name of the winning driver.

Schmidt will join a stacked field that is scheduled to include Timmy Hill, Trevor Hopwood, Alex Gurney, Chris Dymond, Spencer Pumpelly, Tommy Kendall, Nick Tandy, Dominic Cicero, Ron Capps, Michael Self, Benny Simonsen, Michael Lewis, Joe Osborne, Barry Waddell, Igor Sushko, Stefan Wilson, Scott McGlaughlin, Bradley Philpot, Kyle Kaiser, Justin Bell and Ryan Eversley, with others possible.

Competitors will race digital versions of the GT3 class BMW Z4 for 20 laps on iRacing’s laser-scanned replica of the Watkins Glen International “Cup” circuit (avoiding the Boot).

“It’s an honor for not only myself, but also my entire team,” said Considine. “I am humbled that I have been able to contribute to Sam being able to essentially complete the impossible by racing again. This is a huge step forward in technology, but even more so for how innovation will make huge strides in changing the lives of those affected by paralysis.”

A teaser video for the event is linked below:

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INDIANAPOLIS — The first Indy 500 victory for Josef Newgarden also was the richest in race history from a record 2023 purse of just more than $17 million.

The two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion, who continued his celebration Monday morning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway earned $3.666 million for winning the 107th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

The purse and winner’s share both are the largest in the history of the Indianapolis 500.

It’s the second consecutive year that the Indy 500 purse set a record after the 2022 Indy 500 became the first to crack the $16 million mark (nearly doubling the 2021 purse that offered a purse of $8,854,565 after a crowd limited to 135,000 because of the COVID-19 pandemic).

The average payout for IndyCar drivers was $500,600 (exceeding last year’s average of $485,000).

Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske, whose team also fields Newgarden’s No. 2 Dallara-Chevrolet, had made raising purses a priority since buying the track in 2020. But Penske but was unable to post big money purses until the race returned to full capacity grandstands last year.

The largest Indy 500 purse before this year was $14.4 million for the 2008 Indy 500 won by Scott Dixon (whose share was $2,988,065). Ericsson’s haul made him the second Indy 500 winner to top $3 million (2009 winner Helio Castroneves won $3,048,005.

Runner-up Marcus Ericsson won $1.043 million after falling short by 0.0974 seconds in the fourth-closest finish in Indy 500 history.

The 107th Indy 500 drew a crowd of at least 330,000 that was the largest since the sellout for the 100th running in 2016, and the second-largest in more than two decades, according to track officials.

“This is the greatest race in the world, and it was an especially monumental Month of May featuring packed grandstands and intense on-track action,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said in a release. “Now, we have the best end card possible for the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500: a record-breaking purse for the history books.”

Benjamin Pedersen was named the Indy 500 rookie of the year, earning a $50,000 bonus.

The race’s purse is determined through contingency and special awards from IMS and IndyCar. The awards were presented Monday night in the annual Indy 500 Victory Celebration at the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis.

The payouts for the 107th Indy 500:

1. Josef Newgarden, $3,666,000
2. Marcus Ericsson, $1,043,000
3. Santino Ferrucci, $481,800
4. Alex Palou, $801,500
5. Alexander Rossi, $574,000
6. Scott Dixon, $582,000
7. Takuma Sato, $217,300
8. Conor Daly, $512,000
9. Colton Herta, $506,500
10. Rinus VeeKay, $556,500
11. Ryan Hunter‐Reay, $145,500
12. Callum Ilott, $495,500
13. Devlin DeFrancesco, $482,000
14. Scott McLaughlin, $485,000
15. Helio Castroneves, $481,500
16. Tony Kanaan, $105,000
17. Marco Andretti, $102,000
18. Jack Harvey, $472,000
19. Christian Lundgaard, $467,500
20. Ed Carpenter, $102,000
21. Benjamin Pedersen (R), $215,300
22. Graham Rahal, $565,500*
23. Will Power, $488,000
24. Pato O’Ward, $516,500
25. Simon Pagenaud, $465,500
26. Agustín Canapino (R), $156,300
27. Felix Rosenqvist, $278,300
28. Kyle Kirkwood, $465,500
29. David Malukas, $462,000
30. Romain Grosjean, $462,000
31. Sting Ray Robb (R), $463,000
32. RC Enerson (R), $103,000
33. Katherine Legge, $102,000

*–Broken down between two teams, $460,000 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, $105,500 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports