Sage Karam, Santino Ferrucci take childhood friendship to same Indianapolis 500 team
INDIANAPOLIS -- There are close teammates, then there is Sage Karam and Santino Ferrucci.
Racing brought the two together as kids; they grew up driving at the same go-kart track in Cuddebackville, New York, and sometimes competed despite a three-year age gap. Karam made his IndyCar debut in 2014. Ferrucci joined him in 2018. This year, they’re teammates for the first time on Dreyer & Reinbold and drive identical Chevrolets. Their driving styles are so similar that if one experiments during practice and thinks it works, the other adopts the technique.
Tuesday, the duo took another step forward in their separate but linked careers with strong showings in early practice on opening day at the Indianapolis 500. Karam posted the third best time of any lap in the first session at 39.7530 seconds and Ferrucci was right behind him in sixth with 39.9357.
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"I’ve known him for almost 20 years, so being teammates, knowing we drive the same, we do all the things the same, it’s just a pretty chill couple of weeks,” Ferrucci said. “We’re just excited to kick some (butt), dude. I mean, bottom line is we’re underdogs and we’re gonna show up and try to perform like top dogs.”
Ferrucci was four or five years old when he met Karam at Oakland Valley Race Park, where both developed as racers despite both living about 90 minutes away in opposite directions. Ferrucci grew up in Woodbury, Connecticut, and Karam hails from Nazareth, Pennsylvania.
Most practice sessions at Oakland Valley consisted of hundreds of laps as the two improved through sheer repetition. Eventually their relationship expanded to other aspects of life, and they spent time riding four-wheelers, playing cards or video games and just being kids.
But that all dissipated during races. They didn’t compete with each other often because of their age difference, but when they did, their friendship was irrelevant. It’s a dynamic that remains between them.
“It’s fine with each other, but when you’re out there you never want to lose to your teammate, so if I see him go out there and he goes fifth on the charts and I’m sixth, I’m (upset), and I want to go fifth,” Karam said.
Also remaining from those days is their cohesion and ability to communicate. Because they’re so similar as drivers, they’re comfortable in the same positions on the track, so the more experienced Karam knows what Ferrucci will likely want. Just before the first practice, they had a discussion about how they wanted to handle qualifying. With only 33 drivers this year, no one will get bumped, meaning a driver could take it slow and focus on race setups through this weekend’s qualifying rounds and still make it to the race itself.
Ferrucci wanted to do that. Karam, who has begun the race in 31st position in previous years, advised otherwise.
“I said, ‘Dude, we could sit here every day and work race setup, but if we qualify 31st you’re gonna hate it, and it’s not fun back there,’” Karam said. “And he’s like, ‘I started 22nd or something.’ I’m like, ‘I’m telling you, dude, that’s still way better than 31st.’”
The 33 drivers in this year’s race represent 15 different countries. Most know one another through the series, but Ferrucci and Karam’s friendship is unusual for how far back it goes. They’ve seen each other change and develop as drivers since they were kids but they’ve ended up in the same place, on the same team. And who knows? Ferrucci said he wants to see them finish first and second May 29, just as they often did in races as kids.
“Our relationship started at the racetrack, but it went beyond the racetrack when we were really little,” Karam said. “And you don’t have many people like that, especially in professional sports. It’s cool, it’s something we share.”
Top practice times
1. Takuma Sato, Dale Coyne Racing, 228.939
2. Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 227.768
3. Jimmie Johnson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 227.722
4. Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 227.094
5. Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing, 226.995
6. Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 226.973
7. David Malukas, Dale Coyne Racing, 226.448
8. Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 226.368
9. Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing, 226.292
10. Marco Andretti, Andretti Autosport, 226.085
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indy 500: Sage Karam, Santino Ferrucci take childhood friendship to 500
