Sam Schmidt is Thinkin'

Sam Schmidt might be one of the surprises of May. If you haven't heard, Indycar.com is reporting they will run Alex Lloyd in association with Chip Ganassi in the 93th Indianapolis 500.

Lloyd is the 2007 FIL champion and signed a contract with TCGR over the following winter. He ran a bunch of Grand-Am in '08 and did the I500 with RLR in association with TCGR, but has been out of an ICS car since May 2008. None the less, Lloyd is a very talented driver with experience at the Brickyard in a top flight organization like RLR.

Sam Schmidt Motorsports will most likely run Alex Lloyd in a car supplied by Target Chip Ganassi Racing. Odds are that car will have all the bits and pieces on it that the average TCGR car would have. So, Sam Schmidt will turn up to the 500 with probably it's best chance of competing near the front of the event due to the partnership only a mad man could dream up. Sam Schmidt has to be considered a dark horse to actually win the main event when in years past he would be a dark horse to qualify for the show.

Obviously, the odds are very long for him to win, but if you ask Sam Schmidt, I would bet he would say this is the best opportunity they've had in years. He has just been handed a good young driver, a top notch car, and has a crew that has experience at the 500 (they have either run a car under the Sam Schmidt banner or in association with another team the last few years).

Sam Schmidt just entered the realm of Big 3, atleast for one race. Bet you didn't think that would happen did you?