Andretti Autosport announced that Sage Karam will return for a second season of the Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear in 2012. Karam will drive the squad's Star Mazda car with support from Comfort Revolution, a distributor and marketer of high-end sleep products.
"I am so happy Michael Andretti is providing me with the opportunity to compete at Andretti Autosport again," said Karam. "It's such a privilege and honor to work with Michael, who has been such a large part of my career since I was 5 years old. Nobody will give me a better chance at winning the 2012 Star Mazda championship than Andretti Autosport.
"Staying in the Mazda Road to Indy program is where I want to be to accomplish my dream of winning the Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar title one day. I can't thank Comfort Revolution and the dedicated crew at Andretti Autosport enough for believing in me."
In his rookie season in the Mazda Road to Indy ladder series, Karam scored a pair of oval victories at Milwaukee and Iowa and had seven top-five finishes. He finished fifth in championship points standings and earned the series' Rookie of the Year title.
Karam, a 16-year-old native of Nazareth, Pa., won the 2010 Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda driver championship with Andretti Autosport, scoring nine victories in 12 starts during the season, and earned the Rookie of the Year award.
Karam began competing in karts at the age of five. He has since established himself as a 35-time WKA and Indy Racing League Stars of Karting national champion. Karam also stands as the only driver ever to win a WKA Triple Crown Championship and titles in the IRL Stars of Karting (East, West and National) all in the same year (2007).
In 2008, Karam – then 13 – established himself as the youngest winner in the history of the Skip Barber Shootout. He moved on to compete in the Skip Barber National championship, a part of the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development ladder program, as well as the World Karting Association (WKA). He was the only American driver to compete in both a national karting championship and an open-wheel professional series full time in 2009.