Why IndyCar needs Sage Karam in the series full-time

2015 season (continued)

After a four-race stint of oval track races during which Karam racked his first career second row start, his first career top 5 finish and his first career podium finished, he had lots of momentum and it looked like him landing a future full-time ride in the very near future would be a no-brainer.

But at Mid-Ohio, the tough breaks continued for Karam. He was criticized for blocking Graham Rahal during his qualifying run, forcing Rahal, who was in the championship battle, to start in the middle of the pack as opposed to up front on race day.

On race day, Karam worked his way inside the top 10. But near the end of the race, he spun out, and a caution flag flew as a result of it end of the race and bringing out a caution. This caution flag ironically benefited Graham Rahal, as he had just come into the pits. Meanwhile, Juan Pablo Montoya, the race leader and Rahal’s chief championship competitor, had not yet done so and had to do so under caution. Rahal would refer to Karam as “his buddy” after winning the race at his home race track.

But Karam was still not off the hook. As a result of the implications his spin had on the race results, and more notably the championship standings, Montoya was ticked off. Rahal had closed to within nine points of him, and Scott Dixon had also closed to within 34 points of him.

Montoya, and many others I might add, seemed to believe that Karam spun on purpose because Dixon, his teammate and also a championship contender, had just come into the pits. So he also benefited from Karam’s spin. In fact, the point swing between he and Montoya as a result of that spin ended up being the different in Dixon winning his fourth career championship over Montoya, who led the standings after each race except the season finale at Sonoma.

"“Karma is a b****.” –Juan Pablo Montoya"

(Yes, Karma, not Karam.)