It's World Diabetes Day!

Today is no ordinary Thursday! November 14 is recognized as World Diabetes Day to bring awareness to diabetes, through events worldwide. Today I'll be at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg as a part of their World Diabetes Day activities. Check out my latest post for PARADE Magazine on what this day means to me. How are you marking the day and encouraging others to take steps toward a healthier life?

Time to take action for diabetes month!

Can you believe it's November already? November is American Diabetes Month, a time to bring more awareness to the diabetes pandemic. It's the perfect opportunity to encourage your friends and family members to take steps toward a healthier lifestyle and learn more about the risk factors for diabetes. Click here to learn more!

As always, you can join the Race With Insulin Crew at RaceWithInsulin.com and show your support for friends and family who have diabetes by sharing my story. Follow me at @racewithinsulin and Novo Nordisk at @NovoNordiskUS for more throughout American Diabetes Month!

Live from JDRF's Children's Congress!

Hello from our nation's capital! Yes, I'm in Washington, D.C. this week for the JDRF Children's Congress on behalf of Novo Nordisk. It's definitely an honor to represent the diabetes and IndyCar communities. I'll be speaking as part of the "Role Models in Diabetes" town hall at 10 a.m. Eastern today... and you can watch the live stream via YouTube! Click here or on the video below to start the video once it goes live.

Live from Trackside - Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

Sunday, April 7
5:45 p.m.
The whole team did a great job this weekend, from the guys in the pits to the engineering staff working on race strategy. I just had to get it done on the race track. We started to see some real improvement at St. Petersburg, but didn’t really get the result we deserved. But it all came together for us today and it feels great. I'll have to talk to Novo Nordisk into letting me run the Race With Insulin paint-scheme all year! To have all the Chip Ganassi Racing Teams represent blue rims this weekend meant a lot. Jamie McMurray finished top-10 in Martinsville today and the GRAND-AM boys finished top-five yesterday. It’s been a great weekend for diabetes awareness and the whole Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing crew.

I'm just now heading out of the track to get some BBQ before taking a flight home tonight. Thanks for the support all weekend long! I appreciate it.

Pre-race on the grid.

Post-race interviews

8:15 a.m.
Happy race day! I think it's going to be a good day for the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team. It's been a special weekend, both with on-track results and having the support for the Race With Insulin Unites initiative from the whole Chip Ganassi Racing organization. On that note, congrats to Steve (@Zabel311) for being named "Honorary Crew Chief" for the No. 1 Race With Insulin car, driven by my Ganassi teammate Jamie McMurray in today's NASCAR race. Good luck to Jamie and all of my Chip Ganassi Racing teammates running the blue circle wheels this weekend!

I also have some special guests from Axis Wake Research here this weekend, who I met while taking a tour of their factory late last year. They are taking a lap of Barber Motorsports Park this morning in the Honda Civic IndyCar Pace Cars, so they'll get a sense of what I'll be experiencing during the race later today.

I'm heading to chat with my engineers for a bit before the drivers meeting at 9:30. Check out warm-up at 11 a.m. Central at racecontrol.indycar.com!

No. 1 honorary crew chief! (via @EGRTeams)

Saturday, April 6
2:30 p.m.
It was a pretty good day for the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team! We had a lot of traffic during the practice yesterday afternoon and this morning, and we didn't get the lap in that we wanted. But looking at the sectors, we knew the car was pretty good. In the first run, I got the gap where I needed to, got a good lap time in, and came in. I was a little surprised that the round of 12 wasn't tighter lap time-wise. To only have done a 67.2 lap time, I think the track got hotter. The No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car was pretty good. We spent yesterday working mostly on race day setups. Come tomorrow, we have a bunch of tires on hand and we'll be in pretty good shape when the race starts.

After qualifying and the post-qualifying press conference, I headed out to the Fan Village to meet some fans at the Novo Nordisk FlexPen Tunnel. We always have great support here in Barber, so thanks for coming out!

Tonight I'm headed to a dinner with local Honda dealers, and I'll get to bed early for the race tomorrow. If you're watching from home, tune in at 2 p.m. Central on NBCSN!

Pre-qualifying, via @CGRteams

At the Novo Nordisk FlexPen Tunnel

9:25 a.m.
Not a bad start for morning practice. We made a couple of adjustments so didn't get a lot of laps in, but I think we'll be ready for a good qualifying run later on.

7:00 a.m.
It's an early morning start for us today, with practice beginning at 8. A bit chilly but I know it'll warm up later today. I'm grabbing breakfast with my friends at Honda hospitality then a quick chat with my engineers before we head out on track.

Make sure you're following me on Twitter @racewithinsulin for more updates!

Friday, April 5
5:30 p.m.
We had a really good day. It was awesome to talk about the Race With Insulin Unites program with my teammates and show off the inverted color-scheme for this weekend as well as the blue wheels across the Ganassi cars. I think, overall, we were pretty good in practice. We had the fourth-quickest time this morning and then in practice two we got caught up with some yellows and some traffic. We have a couple of different directions with the car setup to go over tonight. I’ll think we’ll be in good shape when it comes time to qualify tomorrow morning.

I'm off to do a couple of interviews this evening before dinner. Join me in cheering on the entire Team Ganassi this weekend as we show off the blue wheels for diabetes awareness!

Team Ganassi talking diabetes awareness

Blue wheels looking good!

Learn more at racewithinsulin.com!

10:30 a.m.
The sun is trying to come out here this morning at Barber! I got here a couple of hours ago for an fun interview with Fox 6. Can you pick me out in this photo? Yes, Josef and I had a few props from the Honda H-Block and played a little joke on James.

What's wrong, James?!

I'm spending some time with my engineers this morning before a press conference with my Ganassi teammates and Novo Nordisk at noon.

If you get a chance, check out this piece from the Birmingham News!

Thursday, April 4
2:00 p.m.
Good news--the rain (mostly) let up for the track walk! It looks like we'll have better weather for the rest of the weekend, so we're in for a good race. Hopefully we'll be able to use what we learned in testing here at Barber last month and make even more progress.

If you haven't yet, check out this video below to learn more about the Race With Insulin Unites initiative. The whole Ganassi team has some cool stuff coming up this weekend that will showcase the program! Can't wait to see it all come together.

8:00 a.m.
I’m really looking forward to getting back to Barber Motorsports Park. We had a pretty successful open test there, made some improvements to the car, and found a good direction. Coming off St. Pete, we were encouraged by the pace and performance of the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car and I know that the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team is ready to take that momentum and build it into a really good result this weekend!

I'll have some guests here this weekend from Axis Wake, who won a trip to the race when I visited their factory in Tennessee last December. I hope they enjoy seeing an IndyCar race weekend from a behind-the-scenes view as much as I enjoyed taking a tour of their facility!

Heading into the track now to spend some time with my engineers before the track walk at noon. Here's a schedule of the IndyCar action this weekend. Make sure you're on my race updates e-mail list (sign up here) to get a tune-in reminder each weekend!

Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
All times Central. Timing and scoring for all on-track sessions available here.
Friday, April 5:
12:45-1:45 p.m. Practice
3:45-4:30 p.m. Practice
Saturday, April 6:
8-8:30 a.m. Practice
10:25-11:35 a.m. Qualifying (on NBCSN at 4 p.m. CT)
12:15 p.m. Appearance at the Novo Nordisk FlexPen Tunnel (in the Red Diamond Fan Zone)
1-2 p.m. IndyCar driver autograph session (in the INDYCAR Fan Village)
Sunday, April 7:
11-11:30 a.m. Warm-up
2 p.m. Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama (live on NBCSN)

Race with Insulin Unites!

It's been a busy day in Daytona! Why am I here?! Well, I'm happy to share that today Chip Ganassi Racing Teams and Novo Nordisk announced a new Race with Insulin™ Unites initiative, combining the support of my NASCAR, INDYCAR and GRAND-AM teammates.

During the weekend of April 5-7, my CGRT NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teammate Jamie McMurray and I will run Race with Insulin paint schemes at Martinsville Speedway and Barber Motorsports Park. In addition, my teammates Juan Pablo Montoya in NASCAR, Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti in INDYCAR and Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas in GRAND-AM will have special blue tire rims to help launch the Race with Insulin Unites campaign. The rims will emulate a blue circle, which is the International Diabetes Federation’s (IDF) global symbol for diabetes.

To learn more about the Race with Insulin Unites initiative, click here.

I am able to live my dream and compete in the IZOD IndyCar Series because I have been fortunate to have the support of Novo Nordisk and my teammates, who are extensions of my on-track pit crew. Be sure to follow me on Twitter at @racewithinsulin to learn how you can enter to win a chance this year to become my honorary pit crew member!

A visit to where it all starts!

Yesterday I visited the Novo Nordisk insulin production plant in Clayton, North Carolina, where they make some of the products I use every day. To put it simply… it was really, really cool!

The No. 83 in front of Novo Nordisk in Clayton

Having been to Honda plant in Alabama last April and the Axis factory in Tennessee in December, it was neat to have a third point of reference in the production industry. At Novo Nordisk it was a bit different in that they have so many restrictions, with FDA and other compliances in addition to their own standards, which they set even higher for themselves. Because of the unique environment that insulin needs to be maintained as far as climate control, light and temperature, the process to put it together is very cool, and they are very, very meticulous about it.

The FlexPen assembly line is really neat; very automated. They’ve obviously worked very hard to increase efficiency across the line, finding ways here and there to make improvements. As someone who appreciates performance and technical aspects (hey, I’m the son of an engineer—it’s in my blood!), one of the things I talked about with various employees and factory workers was how impressed I am with their production line and how they’re continually making progress. They even have white board for everybody to make suggestions on how to improve the process.

The results show in the metrics—Clayton is the highest performing manufacturing site. And it’s obvious to me why: it all comes down to the people, who take a lot of pride and ownership in how they do their job, just like at Honda and Axis even if it’s done with a slightly different approach. At Honda, it’s a majority of automation. At Axis, the majority of the work is handmade. At Novo Nordisk’s Clayton production plant, it’s right in the middle, a combination of automation when possible and many, many hand spot-checks. If there’s ever any question about anything, they reject it and take it off the line because of the high level of quality they aspire to maintain.

Along with the site director and vice president from Denmark, we got to cut the ribbon on the new training center in Clayton. It was a lot of fun to be there and it really reminded me of how great it is to have such an awesome partner in Novo Nordisk.

Talking to a group of employees! Photo via @novonordiskus.

An honor and an opportunity to give back

I'm excited to announce that I was recently recognized as a finalist for the Indy Family Foundation's Giving Back Award Presented by Firestone! I was one of five finalists, nominated for my work in the diabetes community, who will receive $500 to donate to the charity of my choice. Congrats to Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing who won the overall award, announced at the INDYCAR championship banquet.

Now on to the best part... I will be donating my $500 to Camp John Warvel, an American Diabetes Association residential camp for children and teens located here in Indiana! The donation will help fund a child's camp fee for a week of fun with other kids who also happen to have diabetes. Throughout the past few years, I've visited several camps for children with diabetes. I've seen first-hand how much it means for the families to have an outlet for the kids to learn how to manage their diabetes independently, while giving parents the assurance that they are being properly taken care of with medical supervision and dietary staff. And of course, it's summer camp... so there are tons of fun activities for the kids! Believe me, every time I go to meet the kids, I want to stay!

It's such an honor for me because it comes from people who I respect--the IndyCar family--and a group of people who work hard to help those in need within IndyCar. I have to thank Firestone for their commitment to every aspect of the sport, supporting us on track and off track. I also have to thank Novo Nordisk for giving me the platform and resources to have a voice in the diabetes community.

Again, I'm humbled to receive this honor and I look forward to doing more to give back! Be sure to follow @IndyFamilyFnd on Twitter, and click here to learn how to make a contribution toward Camp Warvel.

World Diabetes Day

Wearing my blue circle pin for diabetes awareness in Chicago last week!

As you may know, today is World Diabetes Day. November 14 is a special day to make one small change toward a healthier future. Today I urge you to reach out to just one person and ask them to talk to their doctor about diabetes. Many of you took part in our Race With Insulin campaign this past season by signing my show car at the track... click here to "Take the Pledge" online today!

IndyCar fans who signed my car to "Take the Pledge"

A trip to Seattle... complete with rain!

Seattle this past weekend was a lot of fun! I got to hang out in the Touchdown Village during the Seattle Seahawks pre-game. Fortunately it was indoors because it was quite chilly and threatening rain (as it tends to do in Seattle). We were right inside the front door, which was cool because most people probably weren't expecting to see an IndyCar--especially the Race With Insulin car--at a football pre-game. It was really neat to meet all of the Seattle Seahawks fans. Russell Wilson, the quarterback for the Seahawks, has a family connection and has been deeply affected by diabetes, so to be able to go and represent not only Novo Nordisk but also diabetes awareness month and the whole Race With Insulin program was pretty rewarding.

Right when I was walking into the stadium, a guy came up and asked for a couple of autographs for his son. I looked at his name tag and realized it was Mack Strong, the ProBowl fullback that had played his entire career for the Seahawks! It was really cool to be a part of the event and connect with other athletes like that. By the way, the Seahawks totally destroyed the Jets... it was fun to be with the home crowd there!

Now I'm looking forward to visiting Milwaukee, one of my favorite cities with one of the best race tracks in the country, for a couple of hospital visits for World Diabetes Day tomorrow!

Meeting Seahawks fans before the game!

Reflections on my 5-year dia-versary

5 years. 1827 days. And yet it seems like yesterday.

I walked into the doctor's office to get an irritating rash fixed. I walked out with diabetes, a new perspective on life and, I realize now, a whole new community of friends. Getting diagnosed was one of the hardest days of my life so far. Now, with 5 years of distance, I think it was one of the most promising days of my life.

Racing before I was diagnosed was a reasonably selfish endeavor. I was racing for me, my results, my wins, my future. My diagnosis changed that. I know that I am racing for a whole community of people with diabetes, all over the world. Being out on track competing is a success unto itself. All of a sudden, my racing has a bigger purpose than just me. And that means a lot. Don't get me wrong; I love racing and there is no place I'd rather be than in the car. But now when I strap in, it means more.

The whole diabetes community has always overwhelmed me with their support, their insight, their help and their friendship. The very first blog post I wrote on here was about how easy it was to feel alone with diabetes. And all it takes is one random encounter and you can understand that you aren't alone. In fact you are part of something that is so great, you very quickly forget about feeling sorry for yourself! Thank you to everyone in that community for all you have done for me in the last 5 years.

It has not all been perfect. In the last couple of years, I have lost 2 friends. Both were shocking in their suddenness. And both were stark reminders to live each day to the fullest, love what you do, make the most of the opportunities you have, and don't sweat the small stuff.

In the past 5 years, I have been also been fortunate enough to gain a great partner in Novo Nordisk. I believe in them as much as they believe in me. Along with them and with the help of a great race team, Chip Ganassi Racing, I have been able to not only race but make history. As a competitor I love being first. But being first to do something, like finish the Indianapolis 500 with diabetes? That was more fulfilling than I ever expected. My mom has always said that time is measured in events. A lot has happened in the last 5 years. And it feels like it has flown by faster than 225 mph. I can't wait to see what the next 5 years has in store for me!

First race with diabetes, 2008

First IndyCar podium, 2012

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!

A different kind of podium finish

I just got home from a great day trip to Washington, D.C. And, unlike most of my recent travel, this trip did not involve time in a race car. Instead, I was one of 18 national recipients of the Jefferson Awards for Public Service.

It was an absolute honor to receive the Jefferson Award as recognition for my work with Novo Nordisk in the diabetes community. To be included in such an inspirational group of people is truly special! I am very blessed to be able to do what I love and at the same time inspire people to overcome obstacles and live their dreams. I really have to thank my parents for their guidance from day one, and Novo Nordisk for allowing me to live my dream and inspire others.

You can read more about the award here. Now it's time for me to get back to work in the race car and use this experience as motivation for a good result in Iowa!

From one racer to another

One of the most rewarding parts of my job is the opportunity to meet others like me who have diabetes. Maybe they’ve been recently diagnosed, or perhaps they’ve been managing diabetes for years. Either way, whenever I get the chance to share my story I hope that I’m able to give them a bit of confidence to not let anything hold them back from what they want to do.

Recently I was connected with Lyle, a 68-year-old aspiring drag racer who has managed type 1 diabetes for 35 years with no major complications. I met Lyle’s nutritionist at a diabetes event in Montana. She remembered me and thought I might be a good resource for Lyle as he starts drag racing.

Lyle, an IndyCar fan for about 10 years, knew a little bit about my story but wanted to know more about how I manage diabetes while behind the wheel. He was worried about possible pushback on medical clearance because of his diabetes (if you can drive a quarter mile in less than 10 seconds, you have to be licensed by the NHRA).

We were both diagnosed after our teen years, and we were able to have a good open discussion about how we manage diabetes and find some similarities and differences. Like I told Lyle, I work with IndyCar medical staff, my own doctors and the team to ensure that I’m safe in and out of the racecar. I also recommended that he give the NHRA medical team a call… it never hurts to ask about specific requirements, and typically most are willing to work through any special precautions as long as they know ahead of time. As I’ve said many times before, there’s no reason diabetes should stop you from pursuing your dreams.

I’m really glad Lyle reached out to me, and hopefully I was able to give him advice (and maybe even a bit of courage) to do what he loves!

Centennial Blog

So this is my 100th blog and I was trying to come up with a good topic to discuss. When I was looking back through my early blogs, I reread my community blog (my first one). Now more than ever, it is true that I am part of a lot of different communities. I really enjoy the different roles that I am getting to play both at and away from the race track.

Away from the race track this year, I have been enjoying going to ADA Expos and sharing my story. Before a couple of those Expos, I got to go to local hospitals and talk to patients with diabetes. That is a really special feeling because most people don’t expect to see a professional racing driver with firesuit and helmet walking around the hospital. Especially not one with diabetes! I have also been to a couple of Taking Control of Your Diabetes conferences. They are great events because the main message of the day is to really Control Your Diabetes rather than let it control you. I have been the closing presentation at both days and always get a great reaction from the crowd. I also get to see and interact with everyone during the day at the health fair. I have met some really great people and always enjoy hearing everyone’s stories. The truth is that I learn and take encouragement from everyone I meet at the Expos and TCOYD. The fact that they come out and spend a full day on their health reminds me to make sure I am being proactive enough about my own healthcare.

At the racetrack, I have gotten extremely busy! Alongside the full time job of racing, I have been doing a lot of media outreach to try and get my story about diabetes out there. I have had some great coverage and gotten to meet some cool reporters. As the son of an engineer, I like getting to see behind the scenes of the TV studios. The first time I went into a studio that had mechanical cameras that move auto-magically, I was blown away. It is amazing how technology has changed the way TV is made. As well as the racing and the media, I am lucky to be a part of the Indy Car Series Pace Car Team. The PCT is comprised of 4 Firestone Indy Lights drivers (myself, Martin Plowman, Stefan Wilson and James Hinchcliffe). While the main duties of the PCT are giving VIP’s, Media and Sponsors rides around the race tracks we visit, we also get to make PCT specific appearances at different events. We just finished a road trip to and from Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois where we appeared on behalf of the Indy Car Series in promotion of our race, August 28th. It was a night open to people who had bought tickets for the season’s races at Chicagoland. The fans got a chance to interact with Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray, Scott Dixon, Sam Hornish, Chip Ganassi, Alex Lloyd and the Pace Car Team. We answered questions, signed autographs and had a bull riding competition. There was a mechanical bull and as good upstanding members of the PCT, we each threw the challenge at each other. The resulting video is quite amusing and can be found on my YouTube channel soon. We have a lot of fun on the PCT and we are going to be announcing a cool charity program soon! If you are going to be at an Indy Car race this year and are interested in buying a ride in a Pace Car with a PCT driver, leave me a comment and I will let you know who to talk to. So between PCT, media and driving, my race weekends are flat out....so to speak!

Meeting up in Mammoth

I have been very remiss in blogging recently. I have been busy, but that is not a good enough excuse! Here is a blog I wrote about a week and a half ago from a snowboarding trip to Mammoth.

A couple of weekends ago, a few friends and I went up to Mammoth Mountain for a few days of snowboarding and skiing. One of my high school friends is working as a lift operator at June Mountain and since the schedules worked out, I was looking forward to hanging out with him. The first of California’s ‘El Nino’ storms had come through the week before and Mammoth got a lot of snow. Like 10 feet of fresh powder! It was a lot of fun and I thoroughly enjoyed the three days on the mountain. I thoroughly enjoyed some time ‘disconnected’ from the racing world especially as we get towards the busy time of year.

There was however a really interesting chance encounter at lunch on the first day of skiing. Two friends and I headed to Main Lodge to grab some food, warm up and check the score of the AFC Championship game. I had just gotten my food and was sitting down to eat when I grabbed my blood glucose meter to check my blood sugar after a morning of riding and before lunch. As soon as I tested, I heard from a little boy, “do you have diabetes?” I responded with an affirmative and he said he did as well. Then his mom came up and we started a conversation. Turns out they are from the LA area as well and she is head of the local JDRF chapter. He was the coolest little boy, wears a pump and was getting a medal for a competition in the snowboard half pipe school. In the course of the conversation with his mother, it came up that she had heard my endocrinologist, Dr. Anne Peters, speak at a conference. We talked about what I do for a living to which she replied, “wait, you are her racing driver with your CGM on your steering wheel?! What are the odds!”


There are times when I feel very alone with diabetes and it can be a real struggle. Remembering conversations like that one with the little boy in the Main Lodge of Mammoth really helps remind me that I am not alone. Having diabetes makes me a part of a great community full of amazing people. It is a great way to remind myself that while I am racing because it is what I love to do, it is also a great inspiration to a lot of people.

The City of Brotherly Love

I am currently on a plane headed to Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. I will be attending and speaking at the ePatient Connections there tomorrow. I will be talking about how, as part of my partnership with Novo Nordisk, I use Twitter to interact with fans, other people with diabetes, and other interested parties. There was a lot of ‘chatter’ online earlier this year about the RacewithInsulin page. Getting to talk about it to healthcare professionals, influential health bloggers, and healthcare social media organizers will be a lot of fun and a great chance to talk about what I love to do. One of the big reasons that we started tweeting was that I was already using twitter, I enjoy the ability to quickly update friends, family, and fans on what I am doing/ where in the world I am/ how my race weekend is going, and I felt it might be a good way to connect with other PWD’s (people with diabetes) in another forum. I have enjoyed connecting with people all over the country that ‘follow’ me on twitter and come to autograph sessions or speaking events because they saw it on twitter. Keep an eye out for my tweets from the conference on both RacewithInsulin and my personal twitter, CharlieKimball.

I know that I haven’t been doing a great job keeping my blogging up to date and to be fair I don’t have a great excuse. I have been doing a lot of behind the scenes preparation for my 2010 race season. I am hoping to return to the Indy Lights Championship and fight for race wins and the title all year. Taking all that I learned this year and applying it from the first laps next year, I believe the results will be strong from the first green flag. I even got a chance to go testing last Thursday at Kentucky Speedway. It was good for me to turn some laps there away from a race weekend because during the race there this year, I hit the wall on the first lap avoiding another spinning car. To go back, be reasonably quick and have a productive test day exorcised those demons. Also, getting back in the car helped me get over being grumpy.

Grumpy, you say? Why yes, even I get grumpy. It is pretty standard that after the last race of the season I get very grumpy. It is a big let down at the end of the year and I definitely need to catch up on sleep, relaxing and touching base with friends. I haven’t quite accomplished all of those things yet (as you can guess by the fact that I am on a plane again after spending all of last week in Indianapolis and a busy weekend at home….but I digress). Doing a couple hundred miles at over 180 miles an hour in a racecar worked wonders on the end of year letdown though! I came home smiling and in very good spirits. I am hoping to get a couple more test days in the books before the winter sets in and I have to focus on my physical training program. I spend the winter trying to build fitness and then the season trying to maintain it. As a result, the first few days of ‘two a days’ destroys me and it is all I can do to stay awake past 7 at night! Once I get used to it, I get a big influx in energy. And all that exercise helps me manage my blood sugars a bit more.

And I will finish with a couple ‘Throttle Linkages’:

I use my iPhone to help keep the diabetes monster at bay and not slow me down.

2 Year D-Versary

Today, October 16th, is my 2 year anniversary of being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. I was going to write a really nice, longer blog post about the diagnosis, the doors that diabetes have opened for me, the neat people I have met in the diabetes community and that while I would give it back if I could, I am enjoying the things it has allowed me to do. I had planned to write more than that until the Dodgers game was so good. Until I found the Angels game on TV and until a fierce low snuck behind me and threw my plan off. I do find it ironically apropos that a low would affect my plan on my D-versary. Meh.

At least I get to go to Wood Ranch for dinner tonight. I am so looking forward prime rib and the Oreo cookie dessert. I may have to take photos of the dessert. I love it that much. Glad I went swimming this afternoon. And that's probably where the low came from.

The Finale Already?

I am here in Homestead, Florida and am getting ready for the last race of the season. The last race?!?! Where the heck did this year go? Last thing I knew, I was here in Homestead in February scrambling to pass my rookie test and putting together a ride for this year, plus working really hard behind the scenes to work out all the details that a new season brings. And now this season is nearly over? I want to say that my 2009 racing season has been swallowed into an abyss of airports, hotel rooms, airplanes, racetracks, rental cars and snippets of days off. But that's not exactly true. Yes, I have traveled a lot this year and yes I have stayed in some awesome hotels (and some not so awesome hotels). I have had some easy flights and some flights I was very very happy to just stumble off the plane in one piece. I have had some really nice rental cars that I enjoyed driving (usually for only a day or two) and some rental cars that were shaking themselves to pieces under me (usually for the longest stay in one place!). And I have had some incredible days off- hiking in the back country of Ventura County, driving through the Finger Lake district in upstate New York, relaxing by a pool in Orlando, Florida, jet-skiing near Homestead, mountain biking in Sycamore Canyon and road biking down the PCH.

But the best days of this year have by and far been at the racetrack. I have really enjoyed the opportunities I have had this season, the results I have worked so hard for and the chance to bring my European racing experience to bear on my first season back home since 2003. It has been so neat racing in front of friends and family across the country. The two races in California were amazing having huge support in the grandstands and I can't wait to go back next year.

Now, it's time for the last race of the year. It is my last opportunity to go out and prove that diabetes doesn't have to slow you down! I am really excited about racing here since I have tested here for a few days and I know that the car is going to be competitive from the first laps. I have practice tomorrow evening from 6-7PM and then Friday is a rich and full day with practice at 8AM, qualifying in the heat of the day at 12:15 and then the race starts at 6PM ET. The race is going to be covered live on Versus TV and streamed live on Indycar.com.

Throttle Linkage

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!)

Race Coverage:(some mentions are farther into the story than the headline :))
Racer Qualifying
Motorsport.com Qualifying
Crash.net Race Coverage
LA Times Blurb on Race

Charlie Kimball and Diabetes Chatter:
Landing Page on my Major Partner's site
Charlie and the Twitter Factory
More Twitter twittering (Couldn't resist! Some neat thoughts from Manny Hernandez)
North o' the Border
Yahoo! Yes, please! (Not sure I understand the Finance link....Health section, yes. Finance? Not so much!)

Next time maybe I will try to create a story. Or maybe I will just the links in an attempt not to embarrass myself.

Landed 6th at the Edmonton Airport

Today I had practice and qualifying for tomorrow's 50 laps Edmonton Indy Lights race. I had walked the track yesterday and was excited to see how the circuit actually drove. The first few laps were very very dusty and even at the end of practice, there was dust being cleaned off. However, I managed times throughout the session that put me in the 5th-7th place range. We made some changes to the car to improve a handling issue and were pretty happy heading into the qualifying. I ended up 7th, within a couple tenths of my teammate who has raced here in the past.

As the sun baked the track (and the Indy Cars put a lot of rubber down), I knew that the track I would encounter in qualify would be very different from the morning's practice. Right away, I could see the racing line more clearly with a lot more rubber down. We ran a set of used tires ( the ones from practice) to start with, and then we put on the first set of sticker tires. I made a big improvement on time and when I set that time, I was 5th. Then as people changed tires, I slid down to 9th. We stopped, made a change to the car, and put on our second set of new tires. There was 10 minutes to go in the session and it would be my last shot. I did a couple of quick laps that moved me up to 7th before taking a lap to cool the tires. I had another 4 laps before the checkered and did a time that moved me up to 6th. The next lap, I was pushing hard and nearly clouted the wall in Turn 1. So I backed off to give myself some clean track for my last two laps, figuring others would improve as well and I would get bumped down the order. I did my last two laps, but the best of the tires had gone. I still managed to end up 6th quickest. I am only .1 of a second behind Saavedra in fifth. The top 4 drivers had all raced at Edmonton before. With the rough track surface and the fast flowing corners, having been here before is a big advantage- especially since we only got 1 hour to learn the track. Tomorrow should be a great race. It is really hot and a very physical track. I am sure that people will make mistakes as the tires wear out at the end of the race.

Schedule:
Saturday July 25th:
Warm-Up 8:00-8:30AM
Race (100 Miles/ 50 laps) 2:00-3:00 PM