One in a series looking at Firestone Indy Lights championship contenders
HOUSTON -- Following his second consecutive victory at Iowa Speedway, Sage Karam found himself on top of the Firestone Indy Lights standings. Two weeks later he lost that lead and continued to slip back over the next few races.
Lesson learned.
“You know, earlier in the season I took the points lead in Iowa, after Iowa,” Karam said. “When I did, it was all on my mind and I made a lot of mistakes after that. I learned from that.
“I learned that points don't win championships, but intense and focused driving does win championships. The worst mistake I made was believing I was driving to win a championship and I stopped driving to win races.”
Karam has not taken Schmidt Peterson Motorsports to Victory Circle since Iowa, but has recovered enough momentum after a second place-finish in Baltimore to lead the standings again -- two points ahead of Andretti Autosport’s Carlos Munoz. Karam’s teammates, Gabby Chaves and Jack Hawksworth, round out a close top four bunch separated by only 11 points.
They join a 12-car field at the Grand Prix of Houston for a 50-lap race on Oct. 5 on the 1.683-mile, 10-turn street course. Axcil Jefferies, who debuted at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, returns to Bryan Herta Autosport for the event, as well as part-timers Matthew Di Leo and and Giancarlo Serenelli.
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Freedom 100 winner Peter Dempsey will start his first race with Team Moore Racing, joined by Indianapolis 500 starter Conor Daly in the No. 22 entry. Juan Pablo Garcia returns to the series after issues in Baltimore prevented his start, and joins Belardi Auto Racing in its No. 5 entry.
Time to re-group in between the series’ last race in Baltimore worked in Karam’s favor, with a chance to focus on training and preparing mentally for the final two races of the season. He enters Houston with a fresh mindset and the wisdom to focus on the race win rather than the championship.
“So now, I don't care about points right now,” Karam said. “We have the lead, that's great. That's not what I'm looking at right now. Right now I'm looking at Houston. Hopefully we can just go and get as many points as we can there. I know there's an oval to finish off the season. I love ovals. We'll see how it goes.”
The Grand Prix of Houston takes place Oct. 5 at 1:30 p.m. (ET), and airs on NBC Sports Network Oct. 6 at 4 p.m., immediately following the IZOD IndyCar Series Race 2 broadcast. Live timing will be available on www.racecontrol.indycar.com and INDYCAR 13.