Dreyer & Reinbold Racing will be fielding two NTT IndyCar Series entries in the 106th annual running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway scheduled for May 29, 2022, with Sage Karam set to return to the organization and being a teammate to newcomer Santino Ferrucci.
Karam will be retaining driving responsibilities of the No. 24 Dallara-Chevrolet while Ferrucci will be piloting the No. 23 Dallara-Chevrolet for the team.
Karam, a 26-year-old native from Nazareth, Pennsylvania, and the 2013 Indy Lights champion, is coming off a seventh-place result in the 2021 Indianapolis 500, which marked his career-best result in his eighth start in the 500, seventh with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.
Karam, whose racing career started with karting and includes the U.S. F200 National Championship, the Star Mazda Championship, Indy Lights and the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, made his IndyCar debut in the 2014 Indianapolis 500 with Dreyer & Reinbold, where he finished in ninth place. After campaigning on a part-time basis with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2015, where he earned his first podium after finishing in third place at Iowa Speedway in July, he spent the next four seasons making one IndyCar start in the Indy 500 and in Dreyer & Reinbold’s No. 24 Chevrolet. During the 2019 season, he made two starts for Carlin. He then campaigned in four IndyCar events with Dreyer & Reinbold in 2020, all occurring at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Through 2021, Karam has made 24 career starts in the IndyCar circuit.
In addition to the Indy 500, Karam spent the 2021 season competing for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in Nitro Rallycross and for Jordan Anderson Racing in four NASCAR Xfinity Series events and one NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event. In Nitro Rallycross, he achieved five victories and a runner-up result in the final standings, In NASCAR, he notched a season-best 16th-place result at Bristol Motor Speedway in September in the Xfinity circuit and a 32nd-place result at Martinsville Speedway in October in his lone Truck start.
“Doing more ovals in NASCAR this year has helped mentally prepare more to stay focused for the longer races,” Karam said. “The potential to improve in that area is there. We just need to nail down a few things. We are coming off of a high from last year, and the goal is to be even better in the 2022 Indy 500.”
Ferrucci, a 23-year-old native from Woodbury, Connecticut, is coming off a part-time IndyCar campaign with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, where he competed in five events and achieved a season-best result of sixth place twice (Indy 500 in May and Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix Race No. 1 at The Raceway on Belle Isle in June). The sixth-place result at Indy marked his third consecutive top-10 result in three career starts in the 500.
Ferrucci, whose racing career also started with karting and includes the Formula 3 European Championship, GP3 Series and Formula 2 Championship, made his inaugural presence in IndyCar during the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader feature in June for Dale Coyne Racing, where he finished 22nd and 20th. He then campaigned on a full-time IndyCar basis for Dale Coyne Racing in 2019, where he finished a season-best fourth place three times on the track, achieved the Indy 500 Rookie-of-the-Year title after finishing seventh in May and concluded the season in 13th place in the final standings. In 2020, Ferrucci finished in fourth place in the 2020 Indy 500 and settled in 13th place in the final standings for a second consecutive season.
Through 2021, Ferrucci has made 40 career starts in the IndyCar circuit.
In addition to IndyCar, Ferrucci campaigned on a part-time basis in the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series season for Sam Hunt Racing, where he achieved four top-15 results, including a season-best 13th-place result at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March, in seven starts.
“I am super thrilled to join DRR,” Ferrucci said. “Nothing is better than being a part of a team that has such a high work ethic. The team’s attention to detail is comparable to top teams in the series. In my last two ‘500’ races, we’ve been in the hunt to win, and I think I have grown a lot as a driver to understand that patience is needed to win. DRR has a great car and proved it last year with a seventh-place finish.”
Since making their inaugural presence in the IndyCar Series as a two-car team in 2000, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing have fielded a total of 43 cars through 23 consecutive Indy 500s. Robbie Bhul recorded the team’s first and only IndyCar victory to date at Walt Disney World Speedway in January 2000. The team’s last full-time season to date was in 2012 when Oriol Servia drove the No. 22 car to four top-five results, including a fourth-place result in the Indy 500 and a 13th-place result in the final standings. Since the early stages of the 2013 season, the team scaled down to field a single car entry only in the Indy 500 on an annual basis.
From 2018 to 2020, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing fielded two cars in the Indy 500 for Karam and J.R. Hildebrand before returning as a single-car team for Karam in this year’s Indy 500.
“Our team is eager to get back to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” Dennis Reinbold, team owner of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, said. “We believe the talent of these drivers will be important in helping the team achieve the ultimate goal of winning ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.’ We, at DRR, have been improving our Indy 500 program with the singular goal of winning the race. Sage and Santino have exceptional talent and are key components for us to achieve the goal.”
Ferrucci and Karam are set to compete for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 29, 2022, which will mark the sixth event of the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season.
