LONG POND, PA. (AP) - Sage Karam is in the market for a model.
Where else would an 18-year-old high school senior and IndyCar prospect go these days to check one out but on Twitter?
Karam’s Twitter bio (at)sagekaram boasts he’s races for “the hottest team in Indy Lights!” But what he’s really looking for is the hottest girl to model his T-shirts. So he put out social media feelers and puts potential candidates on his feed.
“A good looking girl. No dudes,” he said.
Of course.
Karam even tweeted, (hash)nodudes just to make the contest rules clear.
He considered some friends at Nazareth Area High School. Like asking out a prom date, Karam didn’t want to limit himself to the local favorites.
“I put the search out there in case there are some new girls that want to do it,” he said.
Karam hasn’t even started his senior year in high school back in the hometown he shares with Mario Andretti (Nazareth, Pa.), but he might just be the brightest young American prospect in open-wheel racing.
His father was Michael Andretti’s fitness trainer and the families lived on the same street. Karam became fast friends with current IndyCar Series star, Marco Andretti.
“I was like, wow, one of my best friends and hometown boys is in IndyCar,” he said. “I idolized him for a while.”
Now, Karam’s trying to become the next big thing out of Nazareth. He expects to race in the series next year.
But he won’t play football in his senior season. Karam just took part-time residence in Indianapolis and has to give up the sport because he won’t be in Nazareth much during the fall. He will continue wrestling.
Karam has won two straight races in the Indy Lights feeder series, including a dominant run in Iowa after his first career series win at Milwaukee, and is now atop the standings.
He’s aced Indy Lights easier than he’s handled school.
“I took the SATs a few times. Yeah, I missed a lot of time at school so they didn’t go so well,” he said. “I had junioritis last year. I just want out. I just want to be done with school. I just want to focus on just racing. It sucks when you’re at the track and you’re worried about going 200 mph and in the back of your head, you’re like, `Oh, I’ve got a science project due in two days.’ That just stinks.”
Karam was raised about 30 miles away from Pocono Raceway but never visited the track until this weekend.
“I never had a really big interest in NASCAR,” he said. “If IndyCar had raced here, I’d be here every year. I couldn’t believe how big it was. I never knew it was 2.5 miles.”
With Pocono back on the schedule after a 24-year absence, Karam should be able to take some IndyCar laps on the tri-oval track.
But forget racing and modeling for a moment.
Karam had more pressing concerns Friday on Twitter.
“Is it donuts or doughnuts?”
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