The #88 Andretti Autosport/Comfort Revolution Star Mazda car performed perfectly throughout the test. We didn’t have any close calls and the car was very stable. My physical conditioning felt great and we did close to 200 laps. We were the fastest in the most important session until a competitor put on new tires to bump us a notch down. We only used two sets of tires and a backup practice engine, we maximized each set’s potential.

Winning the race at Lucas Oil Raceway has become an obsession on mine, and it has brought my competitiveness to a new level. I am training very hard for this event, harder than ever. I have a real passion to win it and get introduced the morning of the Indy 500 as the race winner.

Place your order by email at karamjody@msn.com and include the following info:

1. Shirt color (black or white) $20 with shipping included

2. Size (Small thourgh X-Large) Add $2 for XX-Large and $4 for XXXL sizing

3. Shipping address (additional fee for international shipping)

Delivery within 7-10 days via UPS

Official Sage Karam t-shirts

In race #2, I was forced to start in the 5th position. Starting position for this race was determined by our fast laps of race #1. My start wasn’t the best but came out of turn two in 5th place. I passed for 4th several laps later. I was under heavy attack by the #83 car and we banged wheels several times. There was one time where we were on the straight, flat out, and he turned into me. I had to avoid the contact, as the in-car video reveals, and I still managed to keep the car in front of him.

the yellow flag came out and I had a decent lead on the #83, which hurt us. I knew it would take everything I had to hold off the opposition because my car balance was very loose. On the restart going into turn 5, the competitor through his car into the turn. His car was out of control and his rear end would have hit me if I didn’t take corrective action. I dodged him but had to give up the position.

With two laps to go I was settled in at the 5th position but under attack by #81, which is the teammate of #83. In his desperation to get by me, he punted me off the track. I kept the car running and got it back on track. With one lap to go, I passed five cars and finished in 13th place.

We dropped back down to 7th in the series standings, but I am still optimistic about the season. I will maintain my professionalism, but won’t forget what happened. I plan on making a career out of racing, and I know how short irresponsible driving lasts. My team is awesome and we will work even harder to climb back up in the standings.

We qualified in a lite but steady rain . I was confident that I would qualify well in the rain and I was on pole for a majority of the session. I had contact late in the session with another car and it through off my rhythm as the track was drying. My fast lap was surpassed and I finished qualifying in third.

The field is deep with talent and experience in the Star Mazda Series this year. We have former GP3 racers, F3 competitors, Formula Renault and even racers with three years of Star Mazda experience. The tough competition will make me a better racer. I was pleased to out-qualify a lot of seasoned racers in the rain. I only have one real session in Star Mazda car in the rain.

Hopefully we solved the concern and we will be competitive on Sunday. The Comfort Revolution/Andretti Autosport #88 team is committed to excellence!

One of two memories that stand out the brightest for me is when I presented a Hot Wheels IndyCar to a young patient and told him I drive a car like this. He responded, “how do you fit in it?”. It really brought a lot of lightheartedness to the scene for sure!

The other memory that stands out from the visit was a  kind gesture by Ryan. A very young patient made custom pen decorations out of duct tape. Ryan asked what it would cost him to buy one from her? She told him $50. Ryan pulled out $100 bill and told the young girl that he’d take two!! I think that was so cool that he did that!

I enjoy performing charity work and can’t wait until I’m in a position to do more. I have done some trips to Honduras for Operation Smile and I am always available for Racing for Cancer.

Here is a link to the Andretti Autosport site that carries the story: http://andrettiautosport.com/news/?p=1548#.T3DNJ3ju-uN

The team worked very hard to get the car together and replaced the gear box with a new one. To make the situation even worse I was assessed a 15 minute penalty during qualifying because of the wreck and the oil I put on the track and a driving infraction.

As I sat anxiously on the qualifying grid waiting for my 15-minute penalty to lapse, I was just about to take the green flag when another car hit the wall. I had to sit and wait for cleanup, while the time for qualifying was passing by. With six minutes left in qualifying, I was given the green and I took off to qualify! Shortly into the first lap of the run, I noticed my car wouldn’t shift. I had to abort the qualifying attempt and would be forced to start the race on Saturday in last, twenty-second position. Upon further inspection, the team found that the new gearbox we purchased was missing a circlip on the internals. This really hurt.

I was hoping Saturday would bring better luck and it did – mostly. I immediately dashed towards the front after a great start. I think I passed seven cars on the first lap. Shortly into the race, I noticed my car wouldn’t downshift properly. It would take seven or eights attempts for each gear that I wanted to downshift to. I managed to drive the car with the problem, but it was way off the pace I should have gone. I finished in 8^th position, which was not too bad. Unfortunately, qualifying for the second race (Sunday), goes off of Saturday’s fastest lap of the race. I was relegated to start in the 12^th position on Sunday’s race.

We were then notified that my car was randomly selected to face technical inspection after the race. I felt really bad for my team, because I know how late the guys worked on my car the night before to fix the problems from the wreck. Everything went well in tech and the team finished up preparing for Sunday’s race. Without going into specifics, they identified the part of the gear box that was causing my problem during the race and it was repaired.

I went out to dinner Saturday night with fellow Andretti Autosport teammates Zach Veach (Star Mazda #77) and Shelby Blackstock (USF2000 #8) and my family. We talked about the racing and the plan for Sunday’s race.

I took the grid on Sunday in the 12^th spot and was set on picking off cars on the start. My standing starts are a lot better than last year’s starts. The lights went green and I was off to another great start. Picking as many cars I could by turn one I think I moved from 12^th to 8^th. I got to 6^th during the race and eventually had to settle for 7^th. I got dive-bombed in a turn for position and I could have prevented it, but with everything that happened this weekend, it wasn’t the smartest thing for me to risk doing to my team. Live to fight another day, you know?

Overall I think we learned a lot. My team worked very hard to keep me competitive after my mistake. Michael Andretti and I had a conversation about the incident and how it affected my whole race weekend. The thing with Michael, is that I can tell him anything because he’s been there before and knows what I am feeling or experiencing. I have total respect for what he has done as a driver and he is my number one resource for advice. He laid into me pretty good for the mistake, but I deserved it.

I was watching some in-car camera action of my race with my parents and cousins while waiting to come home in the airport.  My car looked pretty good and I was fast on Sunday. I wish I could have had more green flag racing because I easily could have finished in the top 5 or even the podium. I set the 3^rd fastest lap of the race coming through traffic. Oh, and there was this one brake check a competitor gave me on track that was real dirty – but I will address that with him at another time…

We have been testing more than ever at Andretti Autosport. I have been personal fitness training for this season harder than ever. Considering the testing and training, I feel that I am in the best shape to do well than I have ever been. I just completed a  very successful wrestling season for my high school. I missed qualifying for the Pennsylvania State Championships by only one point!

I depart tomorrow for a private two-day Andretti Autosport Star Mazda test. I am turning mu focus 100% to racing now that wrestling is complete. I sense a seriousness amongst myu team that can’t be described. I can just sense a commitment  for results. Then in a week and a half, we depart for the first official series test at Barber Motorsports Park. It will be exciting to see the new DW12 up close and personal at that test.

Sage

I am a totally different driver than I was at this point last season. The ability to manage my tires and still go quick has progressed immensely. The Andretti Autosport team of Poppy, Yancy and Fred, worked very hard with me and the #88 Comfort Revolution car. The weekend was without an incident. We put way too many laps on this track and cut things short a little early today.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @sagekaram88

I have never been in this type of physical shape in my life! Between wrestling and my dad’s personal training, I believe my level fitness will enable me to drive hard the time. I look to add some swimming and cycling to my program once the warmer weather approaches.

The new ArtRotondo designed helmets will not have the new radios installed in time for this weekends test. I was hoping to get some action photos posted on my site, but I guess it will have to wait.

I am excited to hear about all of the Star Mazda series signings that are happening. The series is very strong and extremely competitive. I look forward to the challenges.

Sage

We learned some valuable new setup points and discovered some interesting tendencies of the Star Mazda chassis. We are already planning my next test for the #88 Comfort Revolution car and I can’t wait to turn laps again. I will return to the mat again today and pickup wrestling for the Nazareth High School wrestling team.

The Andretti Autosport Indy Lights car was on-site testing too. I can’t wait until the day comes that I can jump into that ride. Because of my age (16), I am not permitted to test in the Lights car. Hopefully, if this season goes well, I may get some FIL races in before the season ends. However, my focus remains on Star Mazda and winning this Road to Indy scholarship.

Sage