Medeiros wins Indy IPS race

Schmidt, a former IRL IndyCar Series driver, was paralysed during a crash at Orlando in 2000. He's now the premier owner in the IRL's training series, the Menards Infiniti Pro Series, fielding cars driven by Medeiros and Arie Luyendyk Jr., who finished third Saturday.

"I'd love to be sitting where he is right now, but being here as a car owner is the second-best thing," said Schmidt. "After everything my family and I have been through over the last few years, this is incredible."

Sam Schmidt Motorsports claimed the previous Infiniti race when Medeiros ran away from the field in March at Phoenix. This time, however, was different. This time, it was Indy, where Schmidt always wanted to win.

"Those last five laps were pretty emotional," Schmidt said. "Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to come to this place and win."

Medeiros, a 21-year-old Brazilian who started from the pole position, put the No. 11 Sam Schmidt Motorsports Infiniti-powered Dallara into the lead by passing Simmons on the 13th lap of the 40-lap race. Medeiros maintained the lead through two caution periods, the last of which forced the race to end under yellow.

Simmons had passed Medeiros for the lead during a restart on the fifth lap, but he wasn't able to run the No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing car as fast as he wanted.

"I was hoping I could hold on because I knew he was going to get understeer behind me," Simmons said. "I wasn't able to go flat quite a few of those laps, and you've got to be able to flat around here to win."

That's what Schmidt and Medeiros figured out. By adding more wing, Medeiros was able to go flat while Simmons was forced to lift.

"We made some changes before the race," Medeiros said. "We thought the wind would change things. We put more downforce on the car, and that made me be able to go flat all the way around."

Jay Drake, the USAC sprint/midget ace trying to make the transition to Indy cars, said his fourth-place finish might lead to something bigger.

"[The IRL] is happy to see a guy like me here," Drake said. "I hope so, because I'm sure happy to see a guy like me here."

Phil Giebler, Leonardo Maia, Cory Witherill, Matt Beardsley, Billy Roe and Paul Dana rounded out the top 10. Jesse Mason and Rolando Quintanilla were not injured in separate incidents. The Infiniti Pro Series resumes July 4 at Kansas Speedway.