Karam: “I was worried the racing would be ruined”
Sage Karam has renewed confidence that the 100th Indy 500 will live up to the action of the past few years, but believes there will be a bigger gap between the best and worst cars.
Sage Karam, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet
IndyCar Series
The Pennsylvanian who has qualified the Dreyer & Reinbold / Kingdom Racing-Chevrolet in 23rd for his third Indy 500, told Motorsport.com: “At first, early last week, I was worried that with the domed skids, it was going to be awful. I thought the racing would be ruined, it would be a follow-the-leader show and the only passing would be between first and second.
“I sat and watched Juan [Montoya] stuck behind a much slower driver and thought, ‘There’s an Indy 500 champion struggling with his car.’
"But then we got to Monday and saw [Scott] Dixon, [Tony] Kanaan, the Penskes, [Josef] Newgarden all looking strong… and definitely able to pass. But there were also still a lot of people struggling.
“So now I don’t know what kind of race you’re going to see. But I think maybe you’ll see more action at the front than at the middle to rear. The strong cars will look really strong compared to the slower ones.
Tire degradation
Although Karam says pit strategy will still be defined by need for fuel rather than tires, he says that in practice sessions, the tires have been starting to go off after just one-third of a stint.
“I know a lot of people are having trouble keeping their tires under them after just 10 laps,” he said, “and I think in race trim the Chevrolets are looking very good compared to the Hondas over long runs. The hotter it is, the more they struggle, so I’m hoping the temperatures keep going up!”
In recent years, depending on IndyCar regs, Texas Motor Speedway and Iowa Speedway have proven to be high-degradation tracks, where drivers who manage their tires well have a huge advantage by the end of a stint, resulting in a lot of passing. Karam, however, says, at Indy the passing will tend to be done at the start of a stint.
“The thing is, on fresh tires you can hang in the draft,” he explained, “but if your tires are worn, you’re not going to be able to stay close to a car ahead through the turns, so you won’t be close enough to draft down the straight. So you’re going to see a lot of drivers hanging back unable to do a lot until their next pitstop.
“Having said that, I think there will also be a lot of strong cars, able to make moves whenever they want.
“It’s exciting though, because right now, we just don’t know what might happen.”
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