Karam to race for Carlin in Toronto
Sage Karam will make his first road/street course start in an IndyCar since 2015 when he partners Max Chilton at Carlin Racing-Chevrolet in Toronto next week.
Photo by: Carlin
With Patricio O'Ward competing in the Fuji round of Super Formula season for Team Mugen, he will be replaced in the #31 car by another Indy Lights champion, 2013 title-winner Karam, whose personal sponsor SmartStop® Self Storage has stepped up with funding.
Karam last raced an IndyCar for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing at this year’s Indy 500, in what has become a regular tie-up, and last raced on a road course at Mid-Ohio in 2015, driving for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Said team principal Trevor Carlin: “We are extremely excited to partner with SmartStop Self Storage and to be a part of their debut into the NTT IndyCar Series. The Honda Indy Toronto is such a great event and will be the perfect introduction for them into the series.
“We’ve obviously been following Sage’s career closely since he won the Indy Lights championship in 2013 and he’s done a really great job. I think he’ll be a great addition to the team and a good teammate for Max this weekend.”
SmartStop Self Storage currently operates 131 self storage facilities located throughout Toronto, Canada and the United States. This will be the company’s first time as a primary partner in the NTT IndyCar Series, but it has been an exclusive, personal partner of Karam’s. H. Michael Schwartz, the company’s executive chairman, said that he feels “this is a great opportunity to expand our ever-growing brand presence throughout Toronto, a market in which we are planning continued growth throughout the future.”
Karam declared: “I want to thank everyone at Carlin for giving me the opportunity to compete in an Indy car again in the NTT IndyCar series. I’m extremely excited and grateful to get back behind the wheel on a road course again for the first time since 2015 and I’m thrilled to carry a great sponsor like Smartstop Self Storage on the side of the No. 31 Carlin Chevrolet,” said Karam.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge and working closely with everyone on the team to achieve a successful result and take advantage of this incredible opportunity.”
Karam may remain in the car for the following week’s race at Iowa Speedway, where he scored his only IndyCar podium, but partnering Conor Daly who will likely be Chilton’s oval replacement once more.
Photo by: LAT
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments