Former Wrestler Sage Karam Takes Mat Experience Into Indy 500

Former Wrestler Sage Karam Takes Mat Experience Into Indy 500

Former Wrestler Sage Karam Takes Mat Experience Into Indy 500

May 27, 2017 by Ryan Holmes
Former Wrestler Sage Karam Takes Mat Experience Into Indy 500
Back in the Lehigh Valley, Sage Karam used to lace up his wrestling shoes for multiple time Coach of the Year Dave Crowell and the Nazareth Blue Eagles and tussle with the best of them. [tweet url="https://twitter.com/NazWrestling/status/868199366384906240" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"] He was also strapping into his race car and flying around the track at incredible speeds. Now the former wrestler takes all of his wrestling experience to the track as he prepares to compete in the 101st Indianapolis 500. In an article with indycar.com, Karam, who will be competing in the historic race for the fourth time in his career, talked about how his past experiences on the mat help him when he's gripping the wheel at high speeds.
I take a lot of the mental strength I gained from wrestling into racing," Karam said in the article with Jeff Olson. "Obviously, the physical stuff helps as well. In wrestling you're not only doing it for yourself, you're doing it for your team -- like making weight -- which is the same thing you do in racing.
Karam has been racing and accrue a great deal of success which he attributed back to everything he learned in the room.

null"Wrestling taught me to be mentally tough," Karam said. "It taught me to stay focused for six minutes. Six minutes isn't a three-hour race, but in reality, you get just as tired if not more tired in those six minutes as you do during three or four hours in a car. Staying focused is one of the biggest things I learned in wrestling that applies to racing. [It] teaches you a lot of lessons in life."

"Obviously, the physical shape wrestling puts you in is better than anything else you can do," Karam went on to say in the article with indy.com. "There's being in shape, and then there's being in wrestling shape. When you're in wrestling shape, it's unreal."

Karam will drive "the No. 24 DRR/Mecum Auctions Chevrolet at Indianapolis Motor Speedway" and start in 21st position.