Indycar driver leads virtual workout

At Vegas facility founded by Henderson team owner

For those who still don’t feel comfortable returning to their local gym amid the coronavirus, Indycar team owner Sam Schmidt of Henderson and his drivers are offering an alternative.

Oliver Askew, who steered Schmidt’s Arrow Mclaren Chevrolet to a ninth-place finish in the Indycar season opener at Texas Motor Speedway, will host an online virtual workout at 3 p.m. Thursday in conjunction with the Indianapolis Healthplex and Schmidt’s Conquer Paralysis Now foundation. Pato O’ Ward, 12th at Texas, will hold a similar session in the near future.

The Driven Neurorecovery Center in downtown Las Vegas, which recently reopened after being shut down by COVID-19, also is involved in the special events that can be accessed through the Instagram pages of the Indianapolis Healthplex and the two drivers.

“People don’t think Indycar drivers are in good shape,” said Schmidt, who uses a wheelchair as a result of an offseason test crash shortly after earning the only driving victory of his Indycar career at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 1999. “A lot of it is mental; therefore they have to be in good physical shape to retain that mental focus for 2½ or 3 or 3½ hours.”

Schmidt got in his own workout Wednesday at the Driven facility he founded 18 months ago to help those with disabilities improve their physical, mental and emotional health.

He said the benefits to working out at the center as compared to home are numerous.

“The ability to work with the trainers 1-on-1, 2-on-1, on a much broader base of equipment,” said Schmidt, whose race team has served as a springboard for many of the Indycar series’ top drivers, including 2019 Indianapolis 500 winner Simon Pagenaud. “Also, it’s somewhat emotional when you see everybody here and that you’re not only one in the situation.”

Schmidt said the facility, which also caters to the psychological needs of its clients, has doubled and tripled down on recommended precautions to keep those clients safe and healthy since reopening June 15.

“Everybody who works out here and gets services here is compromised,” he said. “So we have to be extra careful.”

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.

ABOVE: Indycar team owner Sam Schmidt, center, undergoes neuromuscular electrical and vibrating stimulation administered by activity-based trainers Anthony Proano, left, and Caleb Pitman at the Drivenneurorecovery Center.

L.E. Baskow Las Vegas Review-journal @Left_eye_image LEFT: Schmidt, left, and Angel Frechette, program coordinator for the Driven Neurorecovery Center.