IndyCar: Top 5 replacement candidates for Mikhail Aleshin

By Asher Fair | Aug 16, 2017

FORT WORTH, TX - JUNE 09: Mikhail Aleshin, driver of the #7 SMP Racing Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda, practices for the Verizon IndyCar Series Rainguard Water Sealers 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 9, 2017 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /

3 of 6

FORT WORTH, TX – JUNE 05: Sage Karam, driver of the #8 Lexar Chevrolet, practices for the Verizon IndyCar Series Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 5, 2015 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images for Texas Motor Speedway)

FORT WORTH, TX – JUNE 05: Sage Karam, driver of the #8 Lexar Chevrolet, practices for the Verizon IndyCar Series Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 5, 2015 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images for Texas Motor Speedway) /

Sage Karam

Especially for a superspeedway like Pocono, Sage Karam, 22, would be Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ best option to replace Mikhail Aleshin in the #7 Honda. While there would be great risk is bringing Karam to the team, as he has failed to finish his last three IndyCar races dating back to Pocono in the 2015 season, the risk/reward ratio could very well be worth it.

Karam’s three career top 10 finishes in his 15 career IndyCar races have all come on ovals, with two coming on superspeedways (9th place at Indianapolis in 2014 and 5th place at Fontana in 2015) and the other one being a career-high 3rd place finish at Iowa in 2015.

More from IndyCar

At Pocono in 2015, he started at the back of the field before quickly working his way to the front. However, towards the end of the race, he was leading coming into turn one and lost control of his car, which ultimately sent debris across the track and into the helmet of the late Justin Wilson, who died as a result of being hit.

Karam has not driven in a non-Indianapolis 500 race since that tragic accident, so this could be a perfect opportunity for him to get back in an IndyCar, especially at Pocono, which is his home track as well as a track that he has shown incredible speed at before.

The fact that it’s a Schmidt Peterson Motorsports car in need of a replacement driver could also play to his advantage, as he won the Indy Lights championship in his lone season in the series driving for the team back in 2013 after winning three races and adding six other podium finishes in 12 races.