After karting, Karam competed in the 2010 season of the USF2000 Championship for Andretti Autosport. Karam won nine of twelve races and the pole in all but one race and dominated the championship.[2] For winning the championship, as a part of the Road to Indy program and the Mazdaspeed development ladder, Karam won a prize package valued at US$350,000 that allowed him to compete in the Star Mazda Championship in 2011, again with Andretti Autosport.[3] Karam won back-to-back oval races at the Milwaukee Mile and Iowa Speedway and finished fifth in points, winning rookie of the year honors. He returned to the team and series in 2012 and improved to third in points with three race wins.
The Daytona 24 Hours was a short race for Sage, as they suffered engine troubles and dropped out early.
Taking over in hour four, Karam made his 12 Hours of Sebring debut a memorable one by taking the No. 02 car from third place to the lead in his opening lap then extending his lead through the end of his driving stint. Karam took the wheel for his second stint with the car in fourth place and proceeded to drive to the lead again before handing off to Dixon, who was then knocked off course of a back-marker, leaving them in sixth place at race end.[9]
Back in the 01 car for Watkins Glen, teamed with Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, things went awry quickly for the trio as first Rojas was sent hard into the wall by a slower GT car. They returned to the race several laps down, only for Pruett to suffer similar consequences when knocked into the wall by a sports prototype.[10]
With Rojas sidelined due to nagging back injuries,[11] Karam started for his final appearance of the season at the Brickyard Grand Prix, teamed with Pruett in the 01 car. Starting sixth, he skillfully dodged a major melee as several cars came together at the start. The 01 team remained among the leaders and lead 11 laps before collecting a second place, podium finish.[12]
Ganassi secured Karam a seat in the 2014Indianapolis 500 with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, which had not run an IndyCar race since the previous "500".[13] Karam qualified 31st but drove an outstanding race to finish ninth, the second-highest-finishing rookie.[14][15]
During the 2015 IndyCar Series season, Karam split the driving duties for the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 8 Dallara with Sebastián Saavedra,[16] who ran four races on a limited budget. While his season started slowly, by finishing in the lower third of the field in his first three road/street courses events of the season, he proved to be a quick study on the ovals. At Indianapolis, he was at the top of the speed charts on the opening day of practice and consistently remained among the top cars in successive sessions. After qualifying 23rd, with a conservative setup, he was on top of the speed charts again during the post-qualifying practice and 7th quickest during Carb Day. Considered to be a dark-horse favorite on race day, it was all for naught as he was forced to settle with a 32nd-place finish in the 2015 Indianapolis 500, after contact with Takuma Sato. At the next race, in Detroit, during a heavy downpour, Karam was on pole with 90 seconds left in qualifying when IndyCar canceled the session due to track conditions. Following his 3rd place qualifying effort and leading five laps on his way to a 5th place finish at Fontana, Karam captured his season-best finish at the 2015 Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway in July, by finishing 3rd.
In his homecoming at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania for the 2015 ABC Supply 500 on August 23, Karam was leading with 21 laps remaining when he lost control exiting turn 1, eliminating his Chip Ganassi number 8 Dallara as it spun and crashed hard into the wall. Debris strewn from Karam's disintegrating car made contact with fellow competitor Justin Wilson's helmet, sending him into the infield wall where the safety team extracted him unconscious and unresponsive, necessitating an emergency medevac to Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest in Allentown where Wilson lay comatose, in critical condition.[17][18] Wilson succumbed to his injuries on August 24, 2015.[19]
With Saavedra back in the car for the 2015 season finale at Sonoma, Karam finished the 2015 IndyCar season 20th in points, bested by rival Gabby Chaves for 2015 rookie of the year honors. Replaced for the 2016 season, Karam's seat in the Chip Ganassi stable piloting the number 8 Dallara was secured by Max Chilton.
On a one-race agreement for 2016, Dreyer & Reinbold signed Karam for the Indianapolis 500, initially with Havoline and Gas Monkey Garage as sponsors. Steadily improving from his 23rd qualifying slot on grid, into the top 10, Karam crashed on lap 94, going into Townsend Bell in Turn One.
On a successive one-race agreement, again Dreyer & Reinbold signed Karam to drive the Mecum Auctions No. 24 Dallara-Chevrolet for the 2017 Indianapolis 500. Having improved from his 21st qualifying slot into the top 10, Karam retired his Mecum Auctions Dreyer & Reinbold entry at the 275-mile juncture, with a dead battery. He joined the team again in 2018, sponsored by Wix, but crashed the car on lap 154.
In 2019, he again drove for Dreyer & Reinbold in the 2019 Indianapolis 500. He started 31st and finished 19th. It was announced on July 2, 2019 that Karam would drive for Carlin in the Honda Indy Toronto.[20]
On May 23, 2021, Karam joined Will Power of Australia and Simona de Silvestro of Switzerland as the final three drivers to qualify in the 11th and last row for the 105th running of the Indy 500. He earned the seventh position, his best Indy 500 finish ever.
Karam signed with Alpha Prime Racing for a part-time Xfinity schedule in 2022.[28] At Road America, Karam had an on-road scuffle with Noah Gragson, resulting in Gragson intentionally spinning out Karam and triggering a 13-car pileup on lap 25. Gragson was fined US$35,000 and docked 30 driver and owner points for the incident.[29]
On September 14, 2022, Karam stated in an interview with Dustin Albino from Jayski that he would like to have a full-time NASCAR ride in 2023 after having run part-time in 2021 and 2022.[30] On December 2, it was announced that Karam would return to APR to run at least 17 races for them in 2023 with the possibility of a full season if sponsorship can be found.[31][32] Sponsorship for a full season was not found and Karam ran part-time for APR again in the Xfinity Series in 2023. He also drove the Sam Hunt Racing No. 24 car in the race at Road America.[33] Karam would end up finishing 4th in that race. He battled for the win in the closing laps and held the lead for part of the second-to-last lap. After his impressive performance in that race, he got a ride for the race at Michigan the following week in the MBM Motorsports No. 66 car.[34] Karam also stated in an interview after his top 5 finish at Road America that he hopes to get a full-time NASCAR ride in 2024.[35]
Karam did not end up getting a full-time NASCAR ride again in 2024 and on January 23 was announced to run part-time for Sam Hunt Racing again in the Xfinity Series beginning at the season-opener at Daytona in the team's No. 26 car.[36] On February 27, it was revealed that Karam would run the Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas in March for Jordan Anderson Racing in their No. 32 car. Karam previously drove part-time for JAR in the Xfinity and Truck Series in 2021.[37]
^"(Twitter post)". Joseph Srigley. February 27, 2024. Retrieved February 28, 2024. ENTRY LIST UPDATE: @SageKaram is now listed as the driver of the No. 32 Chevrolet for @JARNASCAR in Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series event at @LVMotorSpeedway.
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