Relive victory at Mid-Ohio!

Kimball Scores His First IndyCar Win at Mid-Ohio
Via NovoNordiskChipGanassiRacing.com
LEXINGTON, Ohio (August 5, 2013) – Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing (NNCGR) driver Charlie Kimball took home the first win of his IZOD IndyCar Series career in Round 14 in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

In the final practice session for the Honda Indy 200 on Saturday, an incident involving the NovoLog FlexPen car with the Turn 1 barrier took a full team effort by both the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing and Target Chip Ganassi Racing crews to prepare the No. 83 back-up car for qualifying that afternoon.  Following the transition, Kimball made it to the Firestone Fast Six for the second time in his IZOD IndyCar career and tied his career-best qualifying effort of fifth (Barber, 2013).

For the start of the 90-lap race, the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team lined up from the inside of row three in fifth position.   Kimball immediately showed strength on the 2.258-mile road course and battled around the No. 25 car to nab the fourth spot by the second lap.  While other frontrunners chose a two-stop pit strategy focused on fuel-conservation for the 90-lap race, the No. 83 team strategized for a three-stop approach.  Kimball spent the initial stages of the race holding fourth position until called to pit lane for his first stop on lap 19 to take another set of alternate tires and fuel.  With a quick pit stop, the No. 83 car exited pit lane in sixth and worked its way up to fourth before the leading cars went to pit lane for their initial stops where Kimball rotated to first position.  Shortly after taking the lead, the No. 83 team reported to Kimball that he was posting good lap times as he produced his fastest run of the race on lap 34.

Nearing the halfway mark of the caution-free race, the team called Kimball to pit lane for his second of three stops from first position to take its only set of primary tires.  Exiting pit lane in second, the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car would spend only six laps out of the lead before retaining it following a pit stop from the No. 77, in first position.

Kimball made his third and final pit stop on lap 65 and took his final set of alternate tires.  With 18-laps remaining, the race-leading No. 77 car, working a similar race-strategy as the No. 83, made its final pit stop and resumed in first position.  As the two cars made their way to the end of the Mid-Ohio back straight, Kimball used push-to-pass to get around the No. 77 in the entry of turn five for the lead.  Kimball held on to the lead for the remaining 17 laps until crossing the finish line with a 5.533-second lead for the first win of his IZOD IndyCar Series career.

With the win, Kimball moved from 11th into a tie for seventh in the IZOD IndyCar Series point standings with 325 markers, -128 points behind leader Helio Castroneves.

With Honda teams posting a one-two-three finish at Mid-Ohio, they are now tied with Chevrolet in the manufacturer point standings (105 points).

Up next, Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing will compete in Round 15 of the IZOD IndyCar Series with the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma in Sonoma, California, on Sunday, August 25 (4:00pm ET on NBC Sports Network).

NOTES
- Saturday’s qualifying session marked the first time all three Chip Ganassi Racing entries made it to the Firestone Fast Six at the same time (Scott Dixon – third, Dario Franchitti – sixth).
- The win marks Chip Ganassi Racing Teams 156th win overall.
- It was Chip Ganassi Racing Teams fourth win in a row in the series this season, and fifth consecutive victory at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
- Kimball led for just over half of the 90-lap race (46 laps in total).  Prior to this result, Kimball had led 15 laps in his entire IZOD IndyCar career.
- Kimball has now been in the top-10 of IZOD IndyCar Series point standings four times this season and has spent five of the 14 rounds there in 2013.
- This was Kimball’s first time returning to race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course since 2011, as he fractured the fifth metacarpal in his right hand in a testing incident prior to the race in 2012.