Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team owner Sam Schmidt says NASCAR driver Brian Vickers and the late Justin Wilson’s brother, Stefan, are still possibilities for the team’s third car in the Indy 500. The team owner, whose other candidates include – but are not confined to – trusty veteran Oriol Servia and Verizon IndyCar Series sophomore Gabby Chaves, said: ‘The same four or five guys have been circling the sandbox for the last 45 days. One week one of them will be all fired up and there’ll be LOIs [letters of intent] exchanged’¦and then nothing happens and it’s left hanging. We seem to be spending a lot of time on it at the moment, which I hoped not to be doing by now, but that’s the nature of the business. So let me put it this way: as of this morning, the door’s still open to all!’ Schmidt, whose team took pole at the 2011 Indy 500 with Alex Tagliani, confirmed that rookies Vickers and Wilson remain in the running for the third SPM seat on Memorial Day Weekend. Schmidt said no clear favorite had emerged among his potential third drivers for the 100th Indy 500.(Motorsport)(4-14-2016)
UPDATE: Veteran IndyCar Series driver Oriol Servia was confirmed Saturday to the #77 Honda of Schmidt Peterson Motorsports for next month’s Indianapolis 500. The team co-owned by Sam Schmidt and Ric Peterson fields full-season cars for James Hinchcliffe and Mikhail Aleshin. Schmidt also considered Gabby Chaves, Katherine Legge and Jay Howard. At one point NASCAR driver Brian Vickers was considered for the SPM ride, but he has been focused on serving as the temporary Sprint Cup Series replacement for Tony Stewart, who is returning this weekend from a late-January back injury.(Indianpolis Star)
