Sage Karam will run 101st Indianapolis 500 for Dreyer & Reinbold
Former Verizon IndyCar Series driver Sage Karam has re-signed with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing to compete at the 101st Indianapolis 500.
Sage Karam will be back for the 101st Indianapolis 500 after re-upping with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing for another Indy-only drive.
Karam signed with DRR for last year’s Indy 500 after losing his IndyCar seat at Chip Ganassi Racing. The 21-year-old qualified 23rd and finished 32nd after a crash – the second consecutive year that he didn’t finish the race due to contact and wound up second from last.
But there’s some promise there: he finished ninth in the 2014 Indianapolis 500, also while driving for DRR.
So will the fourth time be the charm?
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“I’m really excited to be back with Dennis and the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing team for the Indianapolis 500 this May,” Karam said per Racer. “Trying to win the 500 as a one-off team is certainly a big challenge, but I’m confident in this team and their ability to field a race car that can win this race.
“I’ll be working with the same engineers and the same pit crew from the last two races at Indy with DRR and I trust that we can build upon that continuity and ride that momentum to the double checkers and into Victory Lane.”
After being unable to find a consistent IndyCar ride, Karam has turned his attention to sportscar racing. He secured a full-time drive in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with 3GT Racing as part of their Lexus effort for this season.
That has made him teammates with fellow former IndyCar driver Jack Hawksworth, who signed with 3GT Racing after being released from his open-wheel contract with A.J. Foyt Enterprises.
While Karam may be better suited for sportscar racing after he struggled both on and off-track in his half-season with Ganassi, it’s clear that IndyCar still has a special place in his heart and that he still has a solid partnership with DRR.
Bringing him back for the Indy 500 also allows Karam to be another piece of IndyCar’s developing youth revolution. Young drivers are on the rise with Alexander Rossi, Josef Newgarden, Conor Daly, Carlos Munoz, Mikhail Aleshin and Max Chilton, who took over Karam’s seat, all having reasons to keep an eye on them in 2017.
Another strong showing by Sage Karam could put him right back into the conversation for more races in 2017 or 2018.
Next: Juan Pablo Montoya wins 2017 Race of Champions
Sage Karam joins two other drivers who have confirmed that they’ll join IndyCar for the 2017 Indianapolis 500. Two-time Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya reached an agreement with Team Penske as an Indy-only driver, and Stefan Wilson has announced he’ll drive at Indianapolis but does not have a team declared.