Karam Finds Comfort with Racing Family at Track

Karam meets with reporters

23 and made heavy contact with the SAFER Barrier.

The crash, while Karam was leading the 200-lap race, scattered debris on the Pocono Raceway racetrack. A section of the front wing assembly bounced off the asphalt racing surface several times and struck driver Justin Wilson, who was trailing the incident by several seconds. Wilson, driving the No. 25 Andretti Autosport Honda, succumbed to a head injury Aug. 24.

"We looked into the data and I did nothing different from the laps before. I was actually in the lead for a few laps, so the clean air didn't catch me by surprise or anything," Karam said today at Sonoma Raceway. "I made a few adjustments two laps before to give the car a little bit more understeer. Nothing popped out, nothing on the car broke. I didn't hit the apron. It was a late-corner spin, and when it went, it went fast."

Karam, 20, of Nazareth, Pa., is attending the championship-deciding race this weekend but was not scheduled to drive. Sebastian Saavedra is driving the No. 8 AFS Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet on the 2.385-mile, 12-turn road course.

Karam said he's been working with a psychologist this week. He visited with Wilson's younger brother, Stefan, at the hospital and they have remained in touch this week.

"This isn't a good week for racing, losing such a great guy. It's been tough on me, but the main thing is Justin's family," Karam said. "I can't imagine what they're going through.

"I had questions about coming to this race, whether I needed to or not. But it's always good to be around the racing family because these are the people who are closest to me and will be able to pick me up when I need to be picked up. Being around my teammates and the crew and all the fans out here has been good so far.

"I don't think there's any comfort in this but it was such a freak accident. At night, you're (in bed) looking at the ceiling and saying, 'What if I didn't spin?' And that's the toughest thing."