ST. PETERSBURG, Florida – Driving with a broken hand suffered in a crash during testing at Barber Motorsports Park, rookie driver Sage Karam wasn’t going to let that slow him down in Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
What did slow him down, however, was trying to run fast enough to protect his position but conserve fuel at the same time.
“I was definitely fast,” Karam said. “The issue was we went off strategy and got up to the front but simply couldn’t make the fuel number. I tried making the fuel number and couldn’t do it and when I could do it my lap times were too slow. I have to work on making the fuel number with a faster lap and when we are in situations like that the results will turn out much better.”
Karam started 18th and finished 19th in the No. 8 GE LED Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet – his first race with the team and only second Verizon IndyCar Series start. After James Jakes got stuffed into the barrier after contact with Simona de Silvestro on Lap 47, the pits opened one lap later with all running cars pitting except for Jack Hawksworth, Karam, James Hinchcliffe, Gabby Chaves and Jakes.
By getting off sequence to most of the field with pit stop strategy Karam was able to restart the race in second place and had his sights set on the lead when he passed Hawksworth in Turn 1 on Lap 53 after the green flag waved.
He held it for exactly one turn as defending Verizon IndyCar Series champion Will Power blew by him in Turn 2 to take the lead.
“I was on used Reds (Firestone alternate tires) and knew Power was behind me on stickers (new tires) and went to the inside of Hawk (Hawksworth),” Karam recalled. “I had a good run, ended up breaking my wing a little bit and lost the front end and Power went around me.
“Those Penske guys were hooked up all weekend.”
Karam got a chance to conserve fuel after Graham Rahal ran into the back of Charlie Kimball on Lap 54 for another caution. Four laps later, it was back to racing on Lap 58 and Karam’s fuel strategy ended when he pitted under green on Lap 64.
Eleven laps later, Karam pitted for tires and fuel and that his fate was cast with a lesser than expected finish but he finished the race despite his broken hand and from dodging pieces of debris throughout the 110-lap contest.
“It was chaos,” Karam said. “Especially the first lap. You have stuff flying everywhere, carbon flying everywhere, there were a few little pieces hitting me in the visor. I was dodging everything. Complete chaos. The wings are very fragile this year. Those Honda ones with the winglets were laying all over the place and Chevy has those two big skyscraper things on them and I lost one of them and saw about 10 more of those laying around.
“The drivers need to give each other a bit more respect. We all race each other hard and clean mistakes happen. It’s been a long offseason. Everyone was anxious but I think it will calm down a little bit.”
Karam believes the cars drive differently with more grip and that makes it a physical ride – especially with a broken hand.
“Chip’s goal for me was to finish the race and we did that,” Karam said of his team owner. “I learned as much as I could. We were fast in the race but didn’t have the position. I have to work on qualifying. If we can get up front we can change the strategy a little bit and that makes the weekend much easier.”
Ganassi has tried to get a full-season deal for Karam but the season-opener at St. Pete was the only confirmed race.
So when is the next time Karam will be back in an IndyCar?
“Hopefully New Orleans,” he said confidently of the next race. “I think it will happen, yes.”