It’s rare for open-wheel drivers to travel a successful path into stock car racing.
During the 1960s and ’70s, open-wheel legends Mario Andretti and A.J. Foyt hopped over to NASCAR on a limited basis and both achieved moderate success, including winning the Daytona 500.
Perhaps the most successful crossover thus far has been NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart, who won the 1997 Indy Racing League title before embarking on an 18-year NASCAR career that produced three Cup Series championships and 49 victories.
Most recently, Juan Pablo Montoya, Danica Patrick and Sam Hornish Jr. traveled a path from Indy car racing to stock cars. Montoya enjoyed the most success with two NASCAR Cup Series wins.
Sage Karam, of Nazareth, Pa., is the latest double-dipper.
“I fell in love with the sport of racing, but more particularly, I fell in love with Indy car racing,” Karam told SPEED SPORT. “I wanted to one day try and go win the Indy 500, be an Indy car champion and that was kind of the goal.”
After getting his feet wet in karting, Karam was electric in the Road to Indy program. Countless race wins, a USF2000 title in 2010 and an Indy NXT championship in his maiden season (2013) bode well for the future.
Then came the call to pilot an Indy car at the hallowed grounds of Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the 2014 Indy 500. Racing for an Indy-only team in Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, the 19-year-old driver started 31st and finished ninth.
One year later, Karam split driving duties aboard a Chip Ganassi Racing car, with a best finish of third at Iowa Speedway. Since his 12-race stint for CGR, his IndyCar schedule has been limited to mainly Indy 500 drives.
“I’m very fortunate to have done nine Indy 500s. To be honest, I don’t know if I’ve ever dreamed that I’d be able to say I’ve done nine Indy 500s,” Karam said. “But it’s pretty cool that I’ve had that opportunity.”
While he made the most of his opportunities, contesting one race per year in an Indy car simply wasn’t cutting it for the 28-year-old racer.
“Trying to get it all done on one race weekend is pretty tough,” he admitted. “I just felt like I was missing something. I wanted to go racing a lot more. I decided to kind of look at other series and stuff like that, other opportunities.
“I’ve always had that kind of ambition to go stock car racing.”
Thus, a few months after a career-best finish of seventh in the 2021 Indy 500, Karam was tapped by team owner Jordan Anderson to pilot a NASCAR Xfinity Series car on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
“That was basically the start of it all,” Karam admitted. “I was only supposed to be at one race weekend for the season.”
His one-race deal turned into three more opportunities in Anderson’s No. 31 Chevrolet. Karam earned a best finish of 16th at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, a mere five weeks after his first start in a stock car.
“I had such a good time. I loved every aspect of stock car racing,” Karam beamed. “It just really clicked with me.”
Karam’s new career path came after years of clawing for a seat in America’s top open-wheel category.
“It was a breath of fresh air for me and kind of almost like a reset on my career,” he said. “Right then and there, I knew that was kind of what I wanted to pursue. I wanted to pursue the stock car dream and get full time one day.”
Karam’s transition from a 1,630-pound Indy car to a 3,300-pound stock car wasn’t going to be an easy task. He’d need another driver’s perspective to help with the nuances of wheeling a stock car. Unfortunately, very few current drivers have experience in Indy cars and stock cars.
“There weren’t many people I could reach out to and bounce ideas off of,” Karam said.
However, there was one driver that came to mind — seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, who drove an Indy car for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2021 and ’22.
“I knew if there was one person I could really bounce ideas off of, it was Jimmie, just because he knew the current Indy car that I was used to and he has every bit of stock car knowledge you could think of being Jimmie Johnson,” Karam said.
Johnson’s first foray in an Indy car came with assistance from Karam.
“I actually helped him a little bit when he first started to come over to the Indy car side,” Karam explained. “I helped him set up his iRacing and stuff like that, and get him going on that before he actually was able to start the real days in testing and the real simulator with what the teams provided with the manufacturer.”
On the flipside, Johnson made a large impact on Karam’s preparation for his stock car transition.
“He was able to kind of lead me in directions that I didn’t really have answers for at the time before I drove a stock car,” Karam recalled.
While Johnson’s help was much needed, Karam knew the best way to learn was on the fly — inside the race car.
“He definitely helped me with clearing up a lot of those questions I had before I got in it,” Karam said. “But ultimately, I had to just take the bull by the horns and get after it.”
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, NASCAR has limited practice and qualifying for all three national series and laps are crucial for Karam to learn the intricacies of a stock car.
“Most of my stock car career, I’ve been kind of showing up to the track, knowing I have to qualify my way in,” Karam said. “Qualifying has kind of been like my Achilles’ heel in a way. It’s been pretty difficult for me, and I feel like that’s been the biggest transition.
“We don’t have a lot of practice before we go into qualifying and you get a new set of tires in qualifying and you don’t really understand how much grip you’re going to gain.
“So, it’s kind of like throwing a dart at a dartboard, blindfolded,” Karam continued. “It’s a big guessing game, especially for someone that doesn’t have as much experience. That’s always been tough.”
Fifteen of Karam’s 16 Xfinity Series starts in 2023 came in underfunded race cars, but he did run a Toyota for Sam Hunt Racing at Road America in Wisconsin.
“I knew this was my best opportunity going into a weekend,” Karam stated. “I never really felt a lot of pressure going into a race. But this time I really had those butterflies again and was really nervous.”
The calm presence of team owner Sant Hunt helped keep Karam focused. Karam qualified sixth and raced in the top 10 throughout the event on the 4.048-mile road course.
After a handful of late-race restarts, Karam swiped the lead from Xfinity Series mainstay Justin Allgaier with two laps to go. He eventually finished fourth, but couldn’t help feeling deflated despite achieving his pre-race goal of a top-five finish.
“I think that definitely upped my confidence and my stock in the sport,” Karam reflected. “The goal was a top five and I was going to be stoked getting out of the car with a top five.
“When I was in that position to win the race late and I ended up finishing fourth, I got out of the car, and I was so mad. Everybody’s like, ‘Why are you mad?’ And I was like, ‘Because I just wanted to win.’
“You don’t get those opportunities every day,” Karam continued. “But at the end of the day, it was a great weekend.”
For Karam, it was tough sledding initially in the Xfinity Series. With drivers and teams unsure of his intentions of entering the series after a deep-rooted open-wheel background, he admits the competition was ruthless.
“I think when I first came over, they raced me a lot differently than they race me now,” Karam reflected. “I just think that was more of like, ‘Hey, you’re in our playground, this is ours, what are you doing here?’
“Which is totally fine, I totally get that. Now, I feel like I’ve earned some respect from all of those guys.””
Karam feels the new-found respect stems from his intentions within the sport.
“I don’t really know if a lot of people thought that I was that serious about coming over,” Karam said. “But I think now everyone kind of realizes that this is a full-on transition that I’m trying to do. This is where I want to be.”
With Karam’s stock on the rise and 25 starts over the past three seasons, the next step is landing a full-time Xfinity Series ride.
“My main goal is to be full time. If I can’t be full time, I want to do as many races I can, learn as many tracks as I can,” Karam said. “So, when the chance does come that I can be full time, I’m ready to go.”
This story appeared in the Dec 6, 2023, edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
