Why IndyCar needs Sage Karam in the series full-time

By Asher Fair | Jan 13, 2018

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

2 of 7

FORT WORTH, TX – JUNE 05: Sage Karam, driver of the #8 Lexar Chevrolet (Photo by Rainier Ehrhardt/Getty Images for Texas Motor Speedway) /

2015 season

In the 2015 IndyCar season, Sage Karam earned himself a ride with Chip Ganassi Racing as the driver of the #8 Chevrolet. He would go on to race in 12 of the season’s 16 races.

Although Karam had just two top 10 finishes in his 12 races and he has just three top 10 finishes in his 15 career IndyCar races, these statistics don’t tell the full story. I’ll tell the full story and explain why it means that Karam needs a full-time ride in the series in the very near future.

In the 2015 season, Karam experienced early struggles. He finished no higher than 18th place in the first three races of the season. But when the Indianapolis 500 rolled around, Karam was one of the fastest driver in practice.

But a rather poor qualifying session, which placed him in 23rd on the starting grid, did him in, as he was involved in a first-turn crash with Takuma Sato, who took him out after trying to pass both he and defending race winner Ryan Hunter-Reay on the outside of three-wide toward the back of the pack.

Karam would take to social media after his disappointing DNF to say that he had received “Japanese takeout” when he “didn’t even order” it, referencing, of course, Sato’s Japanese descent.