SAGE KARAM TAKES WILD RIDE WHEN CARS SPIN IN FRONT OF HIM SATURDAY AT IMS; TOUGH LUCK CONTINUES FOR DRR WIX FILTERS CHEVY DRIVER AFTER BEING IN TOP 5

SAGE KARAM TAKES WILD RIDE WHEN CARS SPIN IN FRONT OF HIM SATURDAY AT IMS; TOUGH LUCK CONTINUES FOR DRR WIX FILTERS CHEVY DRIVER AFTER BEING IN TOP 5

Topics: Sage Karam

SAGE KARAM TAKES WILD RIDE WHEN CARS SPIN IN FRONT OF HIM SATURDAY AT IMS; TOUGH LUCK CONTINUES FOR DRR WIX FILTERS CHEVY DRIVER AFTER BEING IN TOP 5

Tom Blattler
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
2 May 2020

For Immediate Release

Karam has good strategy by saving fuel but big crash ends his day in INDYCAR CHALLENGE

SPEEDWAY, IN (May 2, 2020) – Sage Karam’s virtual racing luck continued to be on the bad side Saturday in Round 6 of the INDYCAR Challenge iRacing competition at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway when the Nazareth, PA racer took a wild ride with his No. 24 Dreyer & Reinbold WIX Filters Chevrolet after he encountered spinning cars in front of him on lap 58.

Karam, the inaugural INDYCAY Challenge winner at Watkins Glen International on March 28, started ninth in the 33-driver field at the historic 2.5-mile oval and moved into the top-five by lap 10. He later took the lead on lap 33 for his fifth race of the six INDYCAR Challenge iRacing events in which he had led.

On lap 35, Karam’s machine got sideways entering the pit lane for his first pit stop and the car clipped the inside pit wall. Sage was able to straighten up his car and make the stop.

Following his first pit stop, Karam reentered the 70-lap event in 21st place and fought his way back up to seventh before his final pit stop on lap 55.

Then, in the chaos of the next restart, a contingent of cars spun in front of Sage into turn 3 and the No. 24 DRR WIX Filters car took flight into the catchfence, ending Karam’s IMS run. He finished 27th Saturday.

Scott McLaughlin won the First Responder 175 presented by GMR Saturday in a wild finish.

“Well, it was be a fitting way to end the INDYCAR Challenge for iRacing today for us,” said Karam, who led the most laps in the six-race virtual NTT INDYCAR SERIES tour at 123. “That’s how our luck has been recently with someone spinning in front of us and taking us out. We had a mega shot to win but just bad luck once again. We were saving fuel early and running fourth easily. I just ended up taking a wild ride today. It’s a shame because the car was very good.

“Thank you to DRR, WIX Filters, Mecum Auctions, Chevrolet, IndyCar and iRacing for helping us with the virtual series. I hope the fans enjoyed it too. Now, let’s move on to real racing in the near future.”

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About Dreyer & Reinbold Racing: Dreyer & Reinbold Racing was founded in 1999 by Indianapolis car dealer Dennis Reinbold. The legacy of the Dreyer and Reinbold family dates back to the 1920s with Reinbold’s grandfather, the legendary Floyd “Pop” Dreyer, a former factory motorcycle racer. Dreyer served as a crewman and mechanic on the famed Duesenberg driven by Benny Shoaff and Babe Stapp in the 1927 Indy 500. Dreyer went on to build Indy 500 cars in the 1930s which many started on the front row. In addition, Dreyer constructed championship-winning sprint cars and midgets as well as quarter midgets called Dreyerettes. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing captured its first win in 2000 with driver Robbie Buhl at Walt Disney World Speedway in Orlando, Fla., and has fielded a variety of drivers including Buhl, Buddy Lazier, Sarah Fisher, Buddy Rice, Ryan Briscoe, Al Unser Jr., Townsend Bell and Sage Karam. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing has successfully qualified all 40 drivers for the Indy 500 in its history. DRR, who campaigned in the Rallycross for the first time in 2015, captured the 2016 Lites championship in 2016. In 2019, DRR campaigned Karam, Hildebrand, Conner Martell, Cole Keatts, Gray Leadbetter and Lane Vacala in the Lites division.

Contact: Tom Blattler, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, 317.525.5692, tomblattler@earthlink.net