Sage Karam

Sage Karam
Nationality United States American
Born (1995-03-05) March 5, 1995
Nazareth, Pennsylvania, U.S.
IndyCar Series career
Debut season 2014
Current team Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
Car no. 24
Former teams Chip Ganassi Racing
Starts 8
Wins 0
Poles 0
Previous series
2010
2011-2012		 U.S. F2000 National Championship
Star Mazda Championship
Championship titles
2010
2013		 U.S. F2000 National Championship
Firestone Indy Lights Champion
IndyCar Series career
14 races run over 3 years
Team(s) No. 24 (Dreyer & Reinbold Kingdom Racing)
2015 position 20th
Best finish 20th (2015)
First race 2014 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Last race 2016 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Wins Podiums Poles
0 1 0

Sage Karam (born March 5, 1995) is an American racing driver from Nazareth, Pennsylvania.

Early life and education

Karam grew up in Nazareth, Pennsylvania and raced cars at Oakland Valley Race Park in Cuddebackville, New York. He has a younger sister, a swimmer.[1] He graduated from Nazareth Area High School in 2014.[2]

Racing career

Early racing

After karting, Karam competed in the 2010 season of the U.S. F2000 National Championship for Andretti Autosport. Karam won nine of the twelve races and the pole in all but one race and dominated the championship.[3] For winning the championship, as a part of the Road to Indy program and the Mazdaspeed development ladder, Karam won a prize package valued at US$350,000 that allowed him to compete in the Star Mazda Championship in 2011, again with Andretti Autosport.[4] Karam won back-to-back oval races at the Milwaukee Mile and Iowa Speedway and finished fifth in points, winning rookie of the year honors. He returned to the team and series in 2012 and improved to third in points with three race wins.

Indy Lights

In 2013 he moved up the Road to Indy ladder to the Firestone Indy Lights series with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.[5] Karam won the Indy Lights title that year, becoming the eighth rookie to win the series championship.[6]

Sports cars

Karam was signed by Chip Ganassi Racing to compete in a number of endurance sportscar races in the United SportsCar Championship in 2014. He ran in the 24 Hours of Daytona,[7] driving the No. 01 car alongside Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas and Jamie McMurray,[8] and the 12 Hours of Sebring in the No. 02, next to IndyCar drivers Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan.[9]

The Daytona 24 Hours was a short race for Sage, as they suffered engine troubles and dropped out early.

Taking over in hour four, Karam made his 12 Hours of Sebring debut a memorable one by taking the No. 02 car from third place to the lead in his opening lap then extending his lead through the end of his driving stint. Karam took the wheel for his second stint with the car in fourth place and proceeded to drive to the lead again before handing off to Dixon, who was then knocked off course of a back-marker, leaving them in sixth place at race end.[10]

Back in the 01 car for Watkins Glen, teamed with Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, things went awry quickly for the trio as first Rojas was sent hard into the wall by a slower GT car. They returned to the race several laps down, only for Pruett to suffer similar consequences when knocked into the wall by a sports prototype.[11]

With Rojas sidelined due to nagging back injuries,[12] Karam started for his final appearance of the season at the Brickyard Grand Prix, teamed with Pruett in the 01 car. Starting sixth, he skillfully dodged a major melee as several cars came together at the start. The 01 team remained among the leaders and lead 11 laps before collecting a second place, podium finish.[13]

During 2016, Karam worked as test driver of the Lexus RC F GT3. He will compete at the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

IndyCar

Ganassi secured Karam a seat in the 2014 Indianapolis 500 with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, which had not run an IndyCar race since the previous "500".[14] Karam qualified 31st but drove an outstanding race to finish ninth, the second highest-finishing rookie.[15][16]

During the 2015 IndyCar Series season Karam split the driving duties for the Chip Ganassi Racing #8 Dallara with Sebastián Saavedra[17] running 4 races on a limited budget. He finished 32nd in the 2015 Indianapolis 500, after a first lap incident with Takuma Sato. Karam captured his best finish at the 2015 Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway in July by finishing third and scoring his first career podium, after which he was accused of reckless driving by fellow competitor Ed Carpenter.[18] At Mid-Ohio he was accused of spinning (under team orders) in an attempt to manipulate the 2015 Indycar Championship.[19]

In his Pennsylvania homecoming at Pocono Raceway for the 2015 ABC Supply 500 on August 23, Karam was leading with 21 laps remaining when he lost control exiting turn 1, eliminating his Chip Ganassi number 8 Dallara as it spun and crashed hard into the wall. Debris strewn from Karam's disintegrating car made contact with fellow competitor Justin Wilson's helmet, sending him into the infield wall where the safety team extracted him unconscious and unresponsive, necessitating an emergency medevac to Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown where Wilson lay comatose, in critical condition.[20][21] Wilson died on August 24, 2015.[22]

Karam was again replaced for the 2015 season finale at Sonoma, by Sebastián Saavedra. Karam finished the 2015 IndyCar season 20th in points, bested by rival Gabby Chaves for 2015 rookie of the year honors. Replaced for the 2016 season, Karam's seat in the Chip Ganassi stable piloting the number 8 Dallara was secured by Max Chilton.

A one race agreement for 2016, Dryer & Reinbold signed Karam for the Indianapolis 500, initially with Havoline and Gas Monkey Energy as sponsors. Steadily improving from his 23rd qualifying slot on grid, into the top 10, yet again Karam crashed the car on lap 94, attempting a high-side pass on Townsend Bell into Turn One.

Racing record

American open–wheel racing results

(key)

U.S. F2000 National Championship

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points
2010 Andretti Autosport STP
1		 STP
1		 ORP
2		 IOW
1		 NJM
1		 NJM
9		 ACC
2		 ACC
1		 ROA
1		 ROA
1		 ATL
1		 ATL
1		 1st 351

Star Mazda Championship

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Points
2011 Andretti Autosport STP
15		 BAR
9		 IND
3		 MIL
1		 IOW
1		 MOS
13		 TRO
4		 TRO
5		 SON
4		 BAL
2		 LAG
16		 5th 364
2012 Andretti Autosport STP
8		 STP
7		 BAR
2		 BAR
12		 IND
2		 IOW
1		 TOR
21		 TOR
3		 EDM
2		 EDM
2		 TRO
2		 TRO
1		 BAL
15		 BAL
1		 LAG
7		 LAG
19		 ATL
2		 3rd 325

Indy Lights

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points
2013 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports STP
3		 ALA
4		 LBH
3		 INDY
3		 MIL
1		 IOW
1		 POC
2		 TOR
6		 MDO
8		 BAL
2		 HOU
1		 FON
3		 1st 460

IndyCar Series

(key)

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Rank Points
2014 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Dallara DW12 Chevrolet STP LBH ALA IMS INDY
9		 DET DET TXS HOU HOU POC IOW TOR TOR MDO MIL SNM FON 27th 57
2015 Chip Ganassi Racing STP
19		 NLA
18		 LBH ALA
18		 IMS INDY
32		 DET
16		 DET
12		 TXS
12		 TOR FON
5		 MIL
19		 IOW
3		 MDO
22		 POC
14		 SNM 20th 197
2016 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing STP
 PHX
 LBH
 ALA
 IMS
 INDY
32		 DET
 DET
 RDA
 IOW
 TOR
 MDO
 POC
 TXS
 WGL
 SNM
 32nd 22
Years Teams Races Poles Wins Podiums
(Non-win)**		 Top 10s
(Non-podium)***		 Indianapolis 500
Wins		 Championships
3 2 14 0 0 1 2 0 0
** Podium (Non-win) indicates 2nd or 3rd-place finishes.
*** Top 10s (Non-podium) indicates 4th through 10th-place finishes.

Indianapolis 500

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team
2014 Dallara Chevrolet 31 9 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
2015 Dallara Chevrolet 22 32 Chip Ganassi Racing
2016 Dallara Chevrolet 23 32 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing / Kingdom Racing

Personal life

As of August 2015, Karam lives in Indianapolis.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Rob Harms (August 22, 2015). "The New Face of IndyCar Racing Is Not Afraid to Bump Fenders or Heads". The New York Times. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  2. ↑ Matt Smith (August 5, 2015). "IndyCar driver Sage Karam returns to Nazareth Area High School on Aug. 5, 2015". The Express-Times. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  3. ↑ Karam Puts an Exclamation Point on His Title By Dominating Friday's USF2000 Race, Paddock Talk, October 1, 2010, Retrieved 2010-10-04
  4. ↑ Piersall, Debbie. Nazareth teen is one step closer to Indy after championship, The Morning Call, October 1, 2010, Retrieved 2010-10-04
  5. ↑ Sage Karam Graduates With Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, SPEED, March 8, 2013, Retrieved 2013-03-14
  6. ↑ Lewandowski, Dave (October 19, 2013). "Karam secures title; Munoz wins fourth race". IndyCar. Retrieved 2013-10-19.
  7. ↑ Blake, Corkey (January 4, 2014). "Sage Karam to drive for Chip Ganassi Racing in the Rolex 24 At Daytona". The Express-Times. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
  8. ↑ Kelly, Goodwin (January 4, 2014). "Ganassi announces powerhouse Rolex 24 At Daytona driver lineup". Daytona News-Journal. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
  9. ↑ Ganassi Confirms Sebring Lineups - Tony DiZinno, Sportscar365, 5 March 2014
  10. ↑ https://sagekaram.com/2014/03/16/cgrfs-wins-12-hours-sebring-debut/
  11. ↑ http://www.escuderiatelmex.com/wps/portal/et/en/noticias/detalle/carrera-6-horas-glen
  12. ↑ https://sagekaram.com/tag/brickyard-grand-prix/
  13. ↑ http://racing-reference.info/race/2014_Brickyard_Grand_Prix/TU
  14. ↑ Sage Karam, 19, lands Indy 500 ride with Ganassi and DRR, USA Today, April 29, 2014, retrieved 2014-05-30
  15. ↑ Fox Sports. "Carpenter, Rahal rip rookie Karam after high-speed Iowa showdown". FOX Sports. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  16. ↑ Associated Press (25 January 2015). "Sage Karam makes another strong case for full-time ride". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  17. ↑ http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2015/04/14/sage-karam-and-sebastian-saavedra-to-split-ganassi-ride-for-remainder-indycar.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  18. ↑ http://www.mcall.com/sports/motorracing/mc-sage-karam-indycar-press-conference-20150722-story.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  19. ↑ http://autoweek.com/article/indycar/no-indycar-punishment-sage-karam-after-mid-ohio-spin. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. ↑ "Justin Wilson airlifted to hospital during Pocono race". ESPN. August 23, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  21. ↑ Olson, Jeff (August 23, 2015). "IndyCar driver Justin Wilson in a coma after Pocono crash". USA Today. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  22. ↑ Curt Cavin (24 August 2015). "Justin Wilson dies of head injury". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Tristan Vautier		 Indy Lights Champion
2013 		Succeeded by
Gabby Chaves
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