Sage Karam

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Sage Karam
File:Sage Karam 2014.jpg
Nationality United States American
Born (1995-03-05) March 5, 1995 (age 30)
Nazareth, Pennsylvania, U.S.
IndyCar Series career
Debut season 2014
Current team Dreyer & Reinbold Kingdom 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
2 races run over 2 years
Team(s) No. 24 (Dreyer & Reinbold Kingdom Racing)
2014 position 27th
Best finish 27th (2014
First race 2014 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis
Last race 2015 ABC Supply 500 (Pocono)
Wins Podiums Poles
0 2 1

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 some endurance sportscar races of 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 entered the 12 Hours of Sebring in the No. 02 next to IndyCar drivers Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan.[9]

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".[10] Karam qualified 31st but drove an outstanding race to finish ninth, the second highest-finishing rookie.[11][12]

Karam appeared in the 2015 IndyCar Series season in a race-by race deal piloting Chip Ganassi Racing's #8 Dallara, as a pay driver. He finished a disappointing 32nd in the 2015 Indianapolis 500, crashing out on the first lap. 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.

Karam's fast but reckless controversial style quickly alienated fellow competitors and confounded Indycar team owners. At Texas he was accused of reckless driving by fellow competitor Ed Carpenter.[13] At Mid-Ohio speculation became rife he deliberately spun the vehicle under team orders in a gambit to manipulate the 2015 Indycar Championship.[14] Team principals replaced him 4 occasions with relief driver Sebastián Saavedra.[15]

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.[16][17] Wilson died on August 24, 2015.[18]

Karam was again replaced for the 2015 season finale at Sonoma, by Sebastián Saavedra. In a top flight car Karam finished the 2015 IndyCar season 20th in points, bested by rival Gabby Chaves for 2015 rookie of the year honors.

In 2016, Dryer & Reinbold again will put Karam in an Indianapolis 500 ride, with Havoline and Gas Monkey Energy sponsoring his ride. The car number will be 24 and he could run more races if sponsorship is found. The Indianapolis 500 will be his first start of 2016. He crashed on lap 94 after trying to pass Townsend Bell in 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 Dallara DW12 Chevrolet 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 Dallara DW12 Chevrolet STP
PHX
LBH
ALA
IMS
INDY
32
DET
DET
TXS
RDA
IOW
TOR
MDO
POC
WGL
SNM
31st* 22*
Years Teams Races Poles Wins Podiums
(Non-win)**
Top 10s
(Non-podium)***
Indianapolis 500
Wins
Championships
2 2 13 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

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External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by Indy Lights Champion
2013
Succeeded by
Gabby Chaves
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  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
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  9. Ganassi Confirms Sebring Lineups - Tony DiZinno, Sportscar365, 5 March 2014
  10. Sage Karam, 19, lands Indy 500 ride with Ganassi and DRR, USA Today, April 29, 2014, retrieved 2014-05-30
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