Keeping Up to Speed with Charlie - Sonoma

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Live From Trackside - Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma

Sunday, Aug. 26
9:30 p.m.
It was a really good day for the No. 83 Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team. The car was really quick. We just have to get qualifying figured out. I have to find those two-tenths to get into the top-12 because the fact that we drove to the top-10, shows we have the pace. The guys in the pit lane today were awesome. The fact that we had to change the gear-stack in the end there in the middle of a race just shows that there’s a lot of credit to them. We’ll go back and figure out what went wrong and be stronger in these last two races.

Met some of the Little Leaguers from Petaluma!

Speaking to Honda dealer guests up on the hill of Turn 2

Pre-race at Sonoma... more photos at CharlieKimball.com!

I'm just hanging out at SFO right now, waiting for my red-eye flight back to Indy with a bunch of my fellow IndyCar travelers. On the way to the airport, I made a detour to In-N-Out Burger with some of my closest Cali friends... it's just one of those "must-stops" on any trip to the Best Coast!

Saturday, Aug. 25
4:30 p.m.
Not an ideal qualifying session for the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car, but we’re really close. Just a couple of 10th’s would have put us inside the top-12 of qualifying. We were just on the wrong side of that 10. As a team, the whole Novo Nordisk crew did a great job. Tomorrow, we have a really strong car for the race. We’ll just have to maximize strategy and opportunities as they come up and move forward throughout the day.

2:00 p.m.
It's not quite time for qualifying yet, but I've already had an eventful day! First up was an appearance at the Novo Nordisk FlexPen Tunnel, where I met some IndyCar fans and really great people with diabetes.

Novo Nordisk FlexPen Tunnel

And then I just had the chance to meet Olympic gold medalist swimmer Tyler Clary! It was such an awesome experience... I got to see and hold his Olympic medal, but I can't even imagine how it would feel to actually win one. I suppose you could say it's like winning the Indianapolis 500, right? Thanks for stopping by, Tyler!

Just chatting it up with an Olympic gold medalist.

Tyler with me and Graham.

Friday, Aug. 24
8:30 p.m.
Just finished up a nice dinner with some of my family members... one of the benefits of a "home" race here on the Best Coast for sure!

Unfortunately we only got about five laps on track today during practice after a spin early on in the session. It’s obviously disappointing to start off practice like that. I overestimated the track grip a little bit and spun off, and we weren’t able to get back out today. Our teammates are quick so we should be in good shape for tomorrow’s practice and more importantly tomorrow’s qualifying.

On a better note, check out these two stories from the media luncheon yesterday, via the Napa Valley Register and ABC News 10 (video!). 

Thursday, Aug. 23
10:00 a.m.
Hello from California! I just arrived in Sacramento and am heading to a media luncheon soon. Even though home is actually hours away, I always feel like I'm coming "home" for the West Coast races. I have some good friends and family coming out this weekend, so I look forward to putting on a good show for them (and all of you, of course)!

Below is a race weekend schedule (all times local/PT). Follow along with live timing and scoring for all sessions here.

Friday, Aug. 24:
2:50-4:05 pm  Practice

Saturday, Aug. 25:
9:30-10:15 am  Novo Nordisk FlexPen Tunnel appearance (in Fan Village)
10:50-11:50 am  Practice
2:30-3:45 pm  Qualifying
4:45-5:45 pm  IndyCar driver autograph session (in Fan Village)

Sunday, Aug. 26:
9-9:30 am  Warm up
12:30 pm  Pre-race
1 pm  Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma (live on NBC Sports Network)

Recharged and ready to go!

It's great to be back behind the wheel of the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car! After the test at Sonoma on Friday, I am confident we'll have a good race this weekend. I have to give a lot of credit to the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team for working on the steering wheel and making sure I was comfortable. With the recent changes to the circuit, it's almost like learning a new track--which should make for a great race for the fans! We'll adjust here and there, use the information we gained at the test last week, and hopefully come out with a competitive race car. Sonoma is like a home race for me, so I look forward to getting out on track and putting on a good show.

After the test on Friday, I came back to Indy and went out to IMS to check out the MotoGP. It was a ton of fun! I was lucky enough to take a garage tour and see the bikes up close... a different perspective being in the Speedway garage area as a fan for sure! I also took some time this weekend to recharge by camping and relaxing on my Axis Wake boat. I can't lie... it was nice being out of cell service range for a couple of days!

Today I'm in Washington, D.C. with Novo Nordisk. This morning I spoke to a group of their new employees, sharing my story and experiences. Lots of new faces, enthusiasm, and good times! I'm truly honored to work with such great people.

After a pre-race meeting with my engineers and a physical therapy session tomorrow, it's on to Sonoma on Thursday! Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @racewithinsulin for updates!

Getting back on track

I've been overwhelmed with support and well-wishes these past couple of weeks... thank you all so much! To give you an update, I'm doing much better and feeling somewhat back to "normal" after the surgery. I got the staples taken out of my hand this week, and I even got back to PitFit for a training session yesterday. I've really missed working out, and I feel more like myself after a good workout. Physical therapy is still going well, and I think I'm on track to get back in the car for Sonoma later this month as planned! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

On Wednesday I made a trip to Stillwater, New Jersey for an appearance at Camp Nejeda with Novo Nordisk. And as always, I had a TON of fun with the campers! The camp is just for kids with diabetes, so it's great to see them having fun without worrying about injections or testing and focusing instead on having a good time with friends. I even got into some of the activities... sang songs after lunch, judged a silly hat contest, and of course talked about my own experiences with diabetes in and out of the race car. All in all, a very good day. You can read more about it here and check out some photos here.

Songs after lunch at camp!

Keeping Up to Speed with Charlie - Mid-Ohio

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Mid-Ohio Recap

What a weekend. I can't say that I enjoyed not being on track, but I think I made the most of it and am even more motivated to get out there at Sonoma! Thanks to Novo Nordisk and the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team for the support this past week.

Chatting with media on Friday.

I watched Friday's practice from turn 5. Mid-Ohio has so many great spectator locations. Of course I'd much rather be driving, but it was cool to see the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car on track with my own eyes. Looks great out there for sure! The helmet colors looked a little off though...

This morning I met Little League groups from Mansfield and Lexington on behalf of Honda. Just like racing, a lot of what they do to win takes a team effort so I think they enjoyed seeing and hearing how everything comes together for us before we even get out on track. I'm a huge baseball fan, so it was cool for me to meet some future major league players!

Talking to the Little Leaguers

Future baseball stars!

I watched the race from the No. 83 pit stand, so I was able to keep an eye on the Ganassi cars from the vantage point of the engineers. Nice job by Giorgio, who finished in 14th place. And congrats to Dixie and the No. 9 crew on the win today! Well-deserved. Now, I'm headed home for some rest. Thanks for all of the support!

Watching from the No. 83 pit stand.

Interview with Townsend during the ABC broadcast

Mid-Ohio Race Plans

I’m very disappointed to miss out on the Mid-Ohio race weekend. We had such a good race there last year and I was really looking forward to another shot at the podium. However, I trust the medical professionals at INDYCAR, and we’re making sure I’m back to 100 percent for Sonoma. We’re lucky to have Giorgio in the seat of the No. 83 car while I’m healing up, and I’ll be there this weekend to help him and the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team. Even though I won’t be in the cockpit, I will do everything I can to drive the whole No. 83 car program forward for this season and the future. I have to thank Novo Nordisk and the whole Chip Ganassi Racing team for being supportive this past week.

For more information, check out the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing site here. Thanks to everyone for the support!

Mid-Ohio Prep

Well, it's been a few days since I've been in a race car and I already can't wait to get back on track! After getting back home from Edmonton late on Sunday night, I've been recuperating and training with PitFit.

Later today I'll make the drive to Mid-Ohio for a test tomorrow with the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team. We had one of our best races of the 2011 season there, so I'm looking forward to getting back and finding out what we can do with the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car.

If you're in the Lexington, Ohio area, be sure to come out to the Mid-Ohio course tomorrow! Testing will be open to the public from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. More information is available here. Bring a blanket and picnic basket... and enjoy a bit of IndyCar before the race!

Keeping Up to Speed with Charlie - Edmonton

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Live from Trackside - Edmonton

Sunday, July 22
3:45 p.m.
It was a tough race. We finished the race in 13th position but will record a 19th place finish due to a penalty on the last lap. We always knew it was going to be tough here. We felt pretty good about the No. 83 NovoRapid FlexTouch car. We saved some fuel and I went for the moves while they were there. We were really good on the brakes in the corners and into the straights. We’ll take it and move on to Mid-Ohio. I think we had such a good race there last year, so the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team will be looking to build on the momentum from this race there.

Leaving the grid after the command

Quick chat with Robin Miller before the race

9:08 a.m.
We had a pretty good warm up session this morning, ending up P10. We tried a few different things... both red and black tires, a couple of different fuel mixtures, and a couple of hot pit stop practices. The reds will be quick on this track today, but they most likely won't last a full stint so that's one thing we'll consider and work through. We'll start from P19 today, but I know the No. 83 NovoRapid FlexTouch car is fast and we'll be in the top-10 in no time!

About to head into an engineering meeting... Thanks for the support, everyone!

7:10 a.m.
It's race day! Just got to the track... I had a fun dinner with some of the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing guys last night and a good night's sleep. It looks like it will be a beautiful day here in Edmonton for the race this afternoon... 70's and sunny, with little wind. Hopefully these conditions work in our favor and we can get the No. 83 NovoRapid FlexTouch car up the field quickly. I think we have good race car, so I'm looking forward to getting out there.

I was a guest race analyst during the Firestone Indy Lights race yesterday, so be sure to tune into NBC Sports Network early at 12:30 p.m. ET to hear my commentary (let me know how I sound!). And of course stay tuned for the IZOD IndyCar Series race at 2 p.m. ET! Click here for your local listings.

Saturday, July 21
3:00 p.m.
I think we have a really good race car with the No. 83 NovoRapid FlexTouch car. We’re still figuring out the reds a little bit on the street course.  Tomorrow we need to just stay consistent. We have really good tires and a really good car. We know we can be quick and we know we can do the time, judging by what we’ve seen in qualifying. We’ll see where we end up after grid-penalties but the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team should be looking for a strong race tomorrow.

10:30 a.m.
We had a pretty good morning practice session. It stayed dry but the clouds are definitely moving in. The Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi guys have given me a good car to work with, so I know the speed is there--it's just making sure everything is exactly right to get to the point we want for qualifying.

7:45 a.m.
Just got to the track here in Edmonton. It rained overnight so the parking area was a bit muddy. I noticed a shoe that seemed to get left behind in a mud pile! I'll try to keep both of mine on my feet.

It's bright and sunny at the moment, but the forecast isn't looking great for qualifying... 70-80 percent chance of rain throughout the day. But no matter the conditions, the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team will make the most of it and work to be in the top-10 spots for qualifying today.

A reminder: Keep track of qualifying via live timing and scoring at 3 p.m. ET here, or watch on NBC Sports Network at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Friday, July 20
4:15 p.m.
It was a good start to the Edmonton weekend. We found some things that didn’t work and some things that did work, so we’ll be in good shape going into tomorrow. We have some ideas so we’ll come up with a game plan overnight. The No. 83 NovoRapid FlexTouch car is good enough and the Honda engine is good enough, so I think we can be close to the top-10 tomorrow. The weather might throw a wrench in to tomorrow, but the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team will be ready to go!

1:15 p.m.
We had a pretty good first practice session. We aren't quite as fast as last year's times yet, but we're working on it. I finished up P13, so we'll see what we can do in this afternoon's session and see what we can do for qualifying tomorrow.

9:30 a.m.
Good morning from a relatively chilly Edmonton! I think I was almost getting used to the 100-degree weather in Indy. Just got to the track a few minutes ago so I'll have some time to chat with Brad and the team before practice at 10:50. It's a fast circuit, and one I like, so hopefully we come out with another good result!

I'm thinking of everyone in Aurora, Colorado today... what a tragic night.

Thursday, July 19
11:15 a.m.
After a great time at Camp Stix with yesterday in Washington, I'm up in Edmonton now getting ready for the race weekend. I'll grab some lunch then go meet with the team before the track walk at 2. Though I enjoyed the weekend off, I'm more than ready to get back on track with the No. 83 NovoRapid FlexTouch car!

Here's a run-down of the race weekend schedule (all times local/Mountain):

Friday, July 20
10:50-11:50 a.m. Practice
2:30-3:30 p.m. Practice

Saturday, July 21
9-10 a.m. Practice
1-2:15 p.m. Qualifying

Sunday, July 22
8-8:30 a.m. Warm Up
12 p.m. Edmonton Indy race (live on NBC Sports Network, 2 p.m. ET)

Find live timing and scoring for all sessions here. Be sure to tune in to NBC Sports Network early for the Firestone Indy Lights race at 12:30 p.m. ET... I'll be in the broadcast booth!

Thanks to everyone for the continued support and well-wishes following Toronto. Truly appreciated.

P.S. Congrats to William E., winner of my "Tweet and Win" #TakeThePledge83 contest! William and his son will join me as my guests in Sonoma!