Karam Dominates Star Mazda Iowa 100

Sage Karam took a flag-to-flag victory in the Iowa Speedway Foundation Star Mazda 100, Round 6 of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. Karam has now won the last three races he has competed in at Iowa Speedway, having taken victory in USF2000 in 2010 and Star Mazda last year. Karam’s victory, though, came in a rain-shortened affair this year. Following Jack Hawksworth’s crash in Turn 4 on Lap 78, the race was called with only 91 of a scheduled 100 laps complete when the rain began to fall heavily.

Karam’s dominance went basically unchallenged, with Hawksworth unable to maintain the pace despite starting on the front row, settling in to third position before his meeting with the wall. Martin Scuncio had yet another solid run, coming home behind Karam in second place. Connor De Phillippi was a huge beneficiary of Hawksworth’s crash, not only inheriting third place in the race but also assuming the championship lead by four points over Hawksworth, 139-135. Petri Suvanto, last year’s USF2000 Champion, finished the race in fourth position, while Gabby Chaves completed the top five.

Karam’s teammate Zach Veach finished in sixth, Team Viso Venezuela teammates Bruno Palli and Diego Ferreira were seventh and eighth, respectively, while Zach Meyer and Ashley Freiberg rounded out the top ten. Hawksworth was credited with 15th, a disappointing last place finish after a strong start to the season.

De Phillippi will take the points lead into the three-race Canadian swing, with the next stop on the Streets of Toronto on July 8.

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