Sage Karam Dominates IndyCar iRacing Challenge American Red Cross Grand Prix

It was all Sage Karam at the front of the pack in Saturday’s American Red Cross Grand Prix, the opening round of the IndyCar iRacing Challenge from Watkins Glen International. Save for a couple of pit stops, the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing driver and longtime iRacer nearly led all 45 laps to score a relatively comfortable victory over Chip Ganassi Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist. Team Penske’s Will Power completed the podium.

25 drivers attempted to take on the full Watkins Glen layout, which last appeared on the real-world NTT IndyCar Series schedule in 2017. However, as real-world racers attempted to adjust to the popular road course’s digital counterpart, only seven were able to complete every lap of the event—and many big names suffered incidents along the way.

In the end, however, all four Team Penske drivers managed to take home lead lap finishes, as did Oliver Askew, who made his virtual Arrow McLaren SP debut with a strong fifth place finish. Askew and Pato O’Ward were nearly joined in today’s event by Robert Wickens, but delays in shipping necessary equipment will delay the Canadian’s return to action until next week’s event at Barber Motorsports Park. The other big-name guest driver, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson, suffered a pair of incidents during the event and ended up 16th.

American Red Cross Grand Prix Results

Full results from Saturday’s IndyCar iRacing Challenge event at Watkins Glen International are as follows:

Fin.

St.

No.

Driver

Team

Manufacturer

Laps

Led

Interval

Best

1124Sage KaramDreyer & Reinbold RacingChevrolet454301:25.671
2210Felix RosenqvistChip Ganassi RacingHonda450-3.6181:26.066
3312Will PowerTeam PenskeChevrolet452-11.4161:25.623
472Scott T McLaughlinTeam PenskeChevrolet450-47.9221:26.477
557Oliver AskewArrow McLaren SPChevrolet450-50.4351:26.548
6822Simon PagenaudTeam PenskeChevrolet450-1:22.7111:26.291
791Josef NewgardenTeam PenskeChevrolet450-1:26.4391:26.333
82118Santino FerrucciDale Coyne Racing with Vasser SullivanHonda440-1 L1:27.353
91128Kyle KirkwoodAndretti AutosportHonda440-1 L1:27.189
102320Conor DalyEd Carpenter RacingChevrolet440-1 L1:28.060
111741Dalton KellettAJ Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet440-1 L1:27.515
121611Kyle KaiserJuncos RacingChevrolet440-1 L1:27.932
13185Patricio OWardArrow McLaren SPChevrolet430-2 L1:27.164
141215Graham RahalRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda430-2 L1:26.983
151459Felipe NasrCarlinChevrolet430-2 L1:26.188
161948Jimmie JohnsonJimmie Johnson RacingChevrolet430-2 L1:28.195
171027Alexander RossiAndretti AutosportHonda420-3 L1:27.110
18158Marcus EricssonChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet400-5 L1:26.671
192426Zach VeachAndretti AutosportHonda400-5 L1:27.200
20655Alex PalouDale Coyne Racing with Team GohHonda370-8 L1:26.406
21498Scott SpeedAndretti AutosportHonda210-24 L1:26.420
222288Colton HertaAndretti Harding Steinbrenner AutosportHonda100-35 L1:27.145
23134Sebastien BourdaisAJ Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet80-37 L1:27.559
242014Tony KanaanAJ Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet20-43 L
252529James HinchcliffeAndretti AutosportHonda00-45 L

 

The IndyCar iRacing Challenge resumes on Saturday, April 4 at 4PM ET from Barber Motorsports Park. Once again, the event can be streamed at IndyCar.com and across IndyCar’s social media channels. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.