Sage Karam update

[KingRacer35]

Has anyone heard anything about this kid? It went silent on his end anyone got any inside info? Hope he finds a ride soon

[sean26]

He barely knows, his agency is doing all of the work. Hopefully he gets the 10 seat, more than likely he will be in a second KV car, 5th AA, or 3rd Schmidt.

[KingRacer35]

And I saw his dad posted this on twitter this morning... It is the @mazda Road to @indycar right?

this does not sound good....

[Sea Fury]

There just might not be many seats available right now no matter what your situation is.

[owfan19]

I saw the post his dad made too, sounded frustrated. I can't imagine Chip taking a young rookie for the 10 car.

[Hitokiri]

And I saw his dad posted this on twitter this morning... It is the @mazda Road to @indycar right?

this does not sound good....

I agree. It must be frustrating mostly when a Russian who previously had NOTHING to do with Indycar comes in and takes what you probably thought was going to belong to you. The only other team that has publicly said they were talking to Sage was KVR but in the latest interview with Pruett they didn't even mention Sage's name as a possible candidate. I remember reading weeks back that Sage was trying to raise money and it looked fairly positive but now with renewed interest in the series by outside driver and the lost of major team sponsorships - Sage is in a bit of a pickle if he can't find the money to match what's coming out of the pockets of other drivers.

This is only speculation but I wonder if Vautier has left a bad taste in some owner's mouths. He came in as a Lights champion earning the ride with the scholarship but unfortunately didn't have enough money to support himself for another year. Maybe owners saw that and are second guessing Sage and looking for more lucrative, safer, and long term deals. Hopefully not but never know...

[aaron5572]

I agree. It must be frustrating mostly when a Russian who previously had NOTHING to do with Indycar comes in and takes what you probably thought was going to belong to you. The only other team that has publicly said they were talking to Sage was KVR but in the latest interview with Pruett they didn't even mention Sage's name as a possible candidate. I remember reading weeks back that Sage was trying to raise money and it looked fairly positive but now with renewed interest in the series by outside driver and the lost of major team sponsorships - Sage is in a bit of a pickle if he can't find the money to match what's coming out of the pockets of other drivers.

This is only speculation but I wonder if Vautier has left a bad taste in some owner's mouths. He came in as a Lights champion earning the ride with the scholarship but unfortunately didn't have enough money to support himself for another year. Maybe owners saw that and are second guessing Sage and looking for more lucrative, safer, and long term deals. Hopefully not but never know...

in Soviet Union.....ride buy YOU!

[Grinder-Tank]

And I saw his dad posted this on twitter this morning... It is the @mazda Road to @indycar right?

this does not sound good....

Maybe he is upset because he didn't get the Chip gig, or things are more complicated than he realised.

[Danny Noonan]

And I saw his dad posted this on twitter this morning... It is the @mazda Road to @indycar right?

this does not sound good....

At a minimum he will get to race at 500, GP of Indy and maybe another race or two. Maybe a ride share with Coyne. That is more than what some other, perhaps better, Feeder drivers from day's past have gotten.

I agree that what happened with Vautier probably scared off some owners. He was the 2nd coming last December after his test but had a miserable year other than the first few races.

[lizardfolk]

Does Carlos Munoz have money? He was signed pretty quickly. I wonder if Sage's situation is more that the owners do not really view Indy Lights with 8 cars in that high of an esteem. Remember Carlos showed very very well in the 500 and in Fontana right before he lost it. And he kept his nose clean at Toronto which is no easy feat.

Sure Munoz eventually lost the championship to Karam but he did prove that he can run with the big boys at the 500 and running up front at Fontana. Coming 2nd at the 500 is nothing to scoff about especially for a rookie. If Sage will get into IndyCar it seems like really good one offs in the main game will speak more than a champ in Lights

[Since83]

I wonder if Sage's situation is more that the owners do not really view Indy Lights with 8 cars in that high of an esteem.

Nailed it! - And really only four of those cars ever had a shot at the championship.

[GMCguy]

I have listened to John Doonan of Mazda publicly state, repeatedly, that the Mazda Road to Indy is the only ladder program in the world that guarantees if a driver wins, that driver will compete at the next level. Never did he say it had to be more than 8 cars in the series. Until Karam doesn't appear on the grid in St. Pete, I still believe Doonan.
I'm not looking forward to see the follow up article in the NY Times on the status of Sage Karam's racing if he doesn't get a seat in IndyCar.

As far as criticizing the number of cars in the series; what does this say about the drivers that didn't win the title? Especially drivers on SPM and AA? I don't buy into that theory because those drivers are talented and also Dempsey too.

[Hitokiri]

Does Carlos Munoz have money? He was signed pretty quickly. I wonder if Sage's situation is more that the owners do not really view Indy Lights with 8 cars in that high of an esteem. Remember Carlos showed very very well in the 500 and in Fontana right before he lost it. And he kept his nose clean at Toronto which is no easy feat.

I think the example of Carlos actually heightens Sage's status rather then put him down. I think it ultimately it has to do with money more then anything. Let's not forget that as soon as Sage won the Lights championship teams were already calling his team up and asking about his plans in 2014. The fact is that there are drivers out there that have more money then Sage has and that's it. My example of Vautier isn't about his talent but more about the amount of money that a driver brings in. With the lost of HP Schmidt couldn't afford to keep both Simon and Vautier at the same time without some large influx of sponsorship or money. It's sad when other Lights drivers are testing out cars (probably paying out of their own pockets) when the champion can't even get that on his schedule.

I have to admit that I'm somewhat worried about the future of series. As teams lose sponsors and as the seats in F1 get more rare we can see a large number of non-Indycar related drivers swooping in and taking seats that would otherwise go to other former Indycar drivers or American open wheel junior drivers. With the growing popularity of the series among drivers and the competitiveness of the series on an all-time high - we can see a situation that some here claimed deteriorated the series in the first place.

[Aeron]

I hope Sage Karam doesn't turn into the next John Edwards, John Fogarty, and Alex Gurney, a massively talented American kid who wins everything on the ladder series and ends up in sports cars.

[Darth Airbox]

And I saw his dad posted this on twitter this morning... It is the @mazda Road to @indycar right?

this does not sound good....

Depends on who you ask, I would say it is a good thing not to have Karam in IndyCar in 2014. Winning FIL championship last year was not impressive to anyone, hopefully 2014 with Anderson fully taking over and the change to Cooper Tires helps the series.