Sports 20 years later: The crash that shattered dreams and left IndyCar’s Sam Schmidt a quadriplegic January 5, 2020 Dana Hunsinger Benbow, Indianapolis Star Comments Off on 20 years later: The crash that shattered dreams and left IndyCar’s Sam Schmidt a quadriplegic He was 11 when his dad was paralyzed in a racing accident. Then, Sam Schmidt crashed at the peak of his IndyCar career. He looks back on two decades.