Former Indy Racing League driver Sam Schmidt hasn’t let an accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down 17 years ago keep him from competing on the track. On Saturday, Schmidt is scheduled at 12:35 p.m. ET before the IndyCar Grand Prix in Indiana to go head-to-head against another former Indy driver Mario Andretti, 77, in a race of semi-autonomous (SAM) cars.
This will be the first race ever where two semi-autonomous cars have raced against each other. The car allows the drivers to use their heads to pilot the car. The car that Schmidt will drive today is controlled by a high-tech headset that has sensors on it.