Mecum Auctions to sponsor Karam's Indy 500 ride

Mecum Auctions today announced that it will be the primary sponsor for the No. 24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet driven by Sage Karam at the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 set for Sunday, May 28.

The world's largest collector-car auction company, Mecum Auctions, also sponsored Dreyer & Reinbold entry with driver Oriol Servia finishing fourth in the 2012 Indy 500. Karam won the "Hard Charger" award that year driving from 31st to ninth. Last year, Karam, the 22-year-old from Nazareth, Pennsylvania, worked his way up from the back in the pack in the Indianapolis 500 to run in fourth before being forced into the wall at the south end of the track on lap 94.

"Mecum Auctions is proud to mark our 30th anniversary this year," said Dana Mecum, president and founder of Mecum Auctions. "Between our tremendous Indianapolis auction and the Indy 500 opportunity with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, this month of May is set to be one of our most exciting celebrations ever. I can't wait to put a Mecum "SOLD" sticker on the bottle of milk in Victory Lane."  

The Dreyer & Reinbold family history in the Indy 500 dates back to the 1920s with legendary car builder Floyd "Pop" Dreyer. Dennis Reinbold, Dreyer's grandson, has been a car owner in the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" since 2000 and has successfully qualified 37 entries in the race. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, a past winner in the Verizon IndyCar Series, has recorded four top-ten finishes in the Indy 500 including fourth in 2012, seventh in 2010, eighth in 2008 and ninth in 2014.

"We are very excited to have the Mecum Auto Auctions back with our Indy 500 effort in 2017," said Reinbold, owner of the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing organization. "We had a great performance with the Mecum in 2012 with a fourth. The great livery of the Mecum Auctions car again at the Indy 500 will be extremely popular with the fans too. We can't wait to see Sage and the No. 24 Mecum Auctions Chevy on the world's greatest racetrack in a week or so."

Karam got the opportunity to step up to the big stage by winning the 2013 Indy Lights Series championship and now also drives in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship, competing with co-driver Scott Pruett in a Lexus RCF GT3 GTD sports car.

"I watch the Mecum Auctions on NBCSN regularly and am excited about this month in Indy," said Karam. "It looks like a blast. I'm a car guy like most of the people in the Indy 500 garages. A lot of drivers have to work with some sponsor that aren't too exciting for them. But I can tell you that the Mecum sponsorship gets me very excited because of my interest in their cars. To work with a sponsor which has some very historic and amazing machinery is very cool for me. We want to make sure that our No. 24 Mecum Auctions Chevrolet looks good all month for them."

The month of May is a celebration for Mecum Auctions, as the company commemorates its monumental 30th anniversary with a 2,000-car offering at Dana Mecum's Original Spring Classic auction May 16-20 in Indianapolis. Headlining the auction are several prestigious collections and a vast assortment of American muscle cars, classics, Corvettes hot rods, Resto Mods, and more at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Coupled with the sponsorship of Karam in the Indianapolis 500, Mecum Auctions will be a prominent player in the Circle City's signature month.