New season, new website! Yes, you aren't imagining it... CharlieKimball.com was recently redesigned by the talented guys at UnCommon Thinking. As part of the redesign, my blog and news page have moved HERE. Be sure to update your bookmarks as this blog will no longer be updated.
My race weekend is starting bright and early tomorrow… I’ll be heading to the WTSP Studio 10 studios for a segment with my good friend (and big IndyCar follower) Jerome Ritchey. I’ll be talking to him about the start of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season, all of the fun things I’m doing with Novo Nordisk this year, and of course the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. I’ve even got a special surprise for Jerome this year. Let’s just say he should brush up on his tire-changing skills!
Tune in to WTSP-TV (CBS) at 9 a.m. Eastern to catch us live! Online video for those in other areas will be available in the afternoon.
Christmas is just around the corner, and I know what's on my list for Santa: a time machine and a ticket to the Indianapolis 500 race. If you could go back in time and attend an Indianapolis 500 from the past, which year would you choose? I can't choose just one, so here are my two picks.
My first pick would be 1983. I race the No. 83 IndyCar because my boss, Chip Ganassi, had his best Indianapolis 500 finish as a driver in 1983... in a car designed by my own dad! It's definitely a special year and significant number to me.
My second pick would be 1982, the 66th Indianapolis 500, because it's well-known as one of the greatest, and of course the close finish. Also, Gordon Johncock won in a car that my dad helped design.
In case you haven't heard, today is opening day for Turbo! I had the chance to see the premiere in Toronto last week and let me tell you, I loved it! It was funny and so well done--the attention to detail on recreating the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was fantastic! Have you seen it yet? What did you think?
I frequently get the question, "So what's it like driving an IndyCar?" Let me tell you... it's not an easy one to answer. Honda has captured what we see, smell, hear, touch and even taste while out on the race track. Check it out!
Yes, it's time to play that game... 'Where in the world is Charlie Kimball?' I'll be on the road for the next week or so which means some strategic packing is necessary.
Tomorrow I'll head overseas to Madrid, Spain for a speaking engagement with Novo Nordisk. I'm always humbled to have the opportunity to represent Novo Nordisk, and to be in front of an international audience is really cool. I'll do my best to brush up on my Spanish on the plane!
I'll go straight from Madrid to Birmingham for the media day and open test at Barber Motorsports Park. I'm really looking forward to two full days of testing in the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car. I think the whole Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team is syncing very well--from the engineers, to the crew, to team managers and beyond. We have high expectations going into the 2013 season, and I think with consistent, hard work, we'll be successful.
After we wrap up testing on Wednesday, I'll head out of town again for a couple of media opportunities. Stay tuned and I'll let you know when you can catch me live!
If the non-stop travel doesn't signify the beginning of the IndyCar season, than the last episode of #TheOffseason definitely does! Enjoy.
Sure, February is the shortest month out of the year, but I've packed in a lot of fun in that short time! Appearances, photo and video shoots, testing, birthdays, a mini-vacation, a major press announcement... phew, it's definitely been a quick yet busy month.
Yesterday I spent some time at the Ganassi shop shooting some video with the Novo Nordisk team. They're always a great group to work with, and they make the process easy and painless for me!
The Sebring test last week went really well. We were very quick in the morning session and had a few mechanical things to work on in the afternoon. Overall I was really pleased with the progress we made. We did a lot of work with Honda and Honda HPD, developing some adjustments and tunability as we get ready for the open test and first race. We ran a lot of miles during the last off-season, and with the decrease of testing time this year we just have to be more efficient and make the most of our on-track time. Big credit to the whole Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team. The engineers and mechanics have worked really hard over the winter, and we had some great directions to try at Sebring. I can’t wait to get back in the car for the open test in a couple of weeks… the first race is less than a month away now!
It’s always great to go out to an event here in Indianapolis. So many people here in town love IndyCar racing, so to go to the fairgrounds for the Indianapolis Boat, Sport and Travel Show with Mid-Indiana Marine and meet IndyCar fans was really neat. I’m an avid boater and I love my Axis Wake. It was great to hang out with the dealer and talk to prospective buyers and other Axis owners about my boat, and how I use it to relax and slow down a bit from the racing world. I had the chance to share with them the quality that I enjoy in my boat and how I spend my free time out on the water. Fortunately the days are getting a bit longer here in Indy, so there’s hope for warm weather soon. Most importantly that means the start of the race season, but also that it’ll be time to get back out on the water before I know it!
My new friend Luke at the boat show!
Oh yeah, I did some "racing" recently too... Enjoy.
I just keep shaking my head and thinking, wow--did that really happen this weekend?! And of course, I keep checking the time on my new Rolex!
For the Ganassi group to be able get together with different cars, different drivers, all different walks of life and yet all from one team... We do our job in the car and in the pits, and to come away with a win is just overwhelming. Having Scott, Memos and Juan as teammates took a lot of pressure off my shoulders because I knew that I could settle in, and as long as I was smart and didn't make too many big mistakes and kept us in the race they'd put us in a position to win at the end. Overall what an incredible race! With about four hours to go, I looked up and thought, we have the whole Indy 500 left to run as far as time. It's hard on everybody--mechanics, team, drivers--but it's such an awesome event and such a great race, and just to be a part of it with these guys and learn from these guys was really special. I think it'll help me not only in this side with the roof but also without a roof later this year.
I have to thank Chip and the whole Ganassi Racing team for the opportunity to participate this weekend. A big congrats to CGR for their fifth Rolex 24 win, Scott for his record-tying fifth win at Daytona, and Memos and Juan for their third Rolex watches!
Now, it's time for me to put my focus back on the 2013 IndyCar season and work toward my first IndyCar win!
Happy Friday! My week is definitely ending on a high note. Yesterday morning I spent some time at the INDYCAR office filming some videos you'll see later this off-season. In the afternoon, I went to Gleaners Food Bank here in Indy to do some volunteer work for INDYCAR's Day of Caring. Indy is my adopted home now and I always enjoy giving back whenever I can.
Last night the INDYCAR community came together to celebrate the 2012 season and Ryan Hunter-Reay's championship. I was just looking forward to seeing friends and competitors from the paddock, so I was extremely surprised to receive the Tony Renna Rising Star Award! It's truly a special honor for me to recognized like this, and I'll be working as hard as ever in 2013 to live up to the award!
OK, I apologize for the bad pun in the title, but I just couldn't help myself! It's almost December... which means I'm another month closer to the start of the 2013 season and being in a race car every weekend! While I'm counting down the days until St. Pete (113 days, if you were wondering), I'm staying busy with appearances, training and testing.
As I mentioned earlier this week, I was the keynote speaker for the "Stop Diabetes @ Work" event on Tuesday hosted by the Indiana-area chapter of the American Diabetes Association. It was really cool opportunity to be in the company of Mayor Greg Ballard, Dr. Joan Duwve (Chief Medical Officer for the Indiana State Department of Health) and Gerry Dick (host of Inside INdiana Business) while sharing my story on behalf of Novo Nordisk.
If you're in Indy, come by the Big Ten Fan Fest today from 6-8 p.m. I'll be on Georgia Street downtown for a Q&A and autograph session (at the Pan Am Plaza). Hope to see you there!
Tomorrow morning I'm heading to Phoenix for an event with Novo Nordisk. It's about 30 degrees warmer in AZ than here in Indy... no complaints from me! Make sure to follow me on Twitter @racewithinsulin for updates from the road.
P.S. If you missed my interview on WPIX, you can check it out here or below!
Happy Thursday! Today I'm in Chicago for a couple of appearances with Novo Nordisk. Looking forward to meeting some new friends at the La Rabida Children's Hospital later this evening!
For today's Throwback Thursday post, I found highlights from Watkins Glen in 2009, my rookie year in the Firestone Indy Lights series. Spoiler alert: I finished fourth, my best finish of the season. I miss racing at The Glen!
Yep, I'm feeling a bit nostalgic on this Throwback Thursday. Today I'm sharing the press conference announcing my first year in the IZOD IndyCar Series with Novo Nordisk and Chip Ganassi Racing. December 16, 2010 was an amazing day and one that we worked toward for so many years! I'm so thankful I can live my dream.
Thursday: we're over "hump day" but it's sure not Friday. Yeah, the weekend is almost here but not quite within reach. I'm going to give Thursday a bit of a boost during the off-season by starting "Throwback Thursdays," when I'll post an older race video or fun interview. Post a link in the comments if you find a good one to share!
First up is a highlight video of the 2010 Freedom 100. I hope you enjoy!
Yep, it's that time of the off-season! And I'm more than ready to be back in the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car! Later today I head up to Milwaukee for a test at The Mile tomorrow with the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team. After a few weeks out of the car, it'll be great to dust off the cobwebs and get back on track.
I've been a bit quiet the past week or so as I've just moved to a new place here in Indy! Very exciting, but lots of work too. I can finally see around all of the boxes! But don't worry--I've been keeping an eye on your Facebook "CK's Fan of the Week" pics! Don't forget that you can still add them all month long. I'll choose the next winner on Friday.
Since I know you guys are going through IndyCar withdraw too, here's the 2012 Milwaukee IndyFest race to hold you through the end of the week. Enjoy my onboard camera!
After a seven week long stretch of consecutive weekends at a race track, it was nice to have a few days off to relax and reenergize! I took the Axis boat down to Tennessee with some friends, and it was just what I needed... sun, water and down-time. Yesterday I flew to Orlando for the Children with Diabetes "Friends for Life" conference for an appearance on behalf of Novo Nordisk. They put on a teen driving clinic which was right up my alley so I helped out a bit. Now I'm ready to be back in an IndyCar... bring on Toronto!
I'm looking forward to going back to a street circuit. Last year we had a fast car in Toronto and were able to move up the field with good pit stops and race strategy, so I know we can do that again with the No. 83 NovoRapid FlexTouch car. The whole Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team will be working hard to get another top-10 finish and start building more momentum for the second half of the season!
Happy 4th of July to everyone... hope you enjoy the holiday! I'm proud to represent our great country every weekend at the race track!
P.S. In case you missed "INDYCAR 36: Charlie Kimball" on NBC Sports Network, click here or below to watch the full episode! Let me know what you think.
Here's a post with some links. I have been getting some good press from a few places for different things. The top-5 in Edmonton helped that as well. I am really excited to be heading to Kentucky Speedway tomorrow and I should have a race weekend preview up in the evening. In my trolling of the blogosphere, I have read lots of witty blog posts with a fanciful story weaving the links into it, but to be honest, I am not that clever! So here goes:
Video: Indy Lights Feature played during Iowa Speedway Race Old Formula Ford video from Brands Hatch (You can skip this one mom!) My Gluco Story (Don't forget to vote for your favorite story) This one just for laughs (and because Snowball has way more rhythm than I do!)
During the coverage of last weekend's Miller Lite 100 Firestone Indy Lights race from Iowa Speedway, Versus ran a feature on me, my racing and my racing with diabetes. I have to thank the IMS Productions team as it is awesome and told my story so very well. All in all, I was very happy with it and thought I would share it here with everyone. It is also on YouTube, the Indy Lights website and the Indy Car Media Center.
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