As you may remember, I had the honor of acting as the @IMS "Twitter reporter" during the month of May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway via @racewithinsulin. Well, I must have done alright because I've been reinstated! This time around, I'll be helping out NBC Sports Network as the Twitter reporter for the INDYCAR World Championships at Auto Club Speedway this weekend.
To kick off my first day on the job, @NBCSN will be hosting a Twitter chat today at 11 a.m. Pacific (that's 2 p.m. Eastern). Tag your questions with #KimballChat and join in!
My job duties:
- Give fans an all-access pass to the race weekend from a driver's perspective
- Share my thoughts before and after each on-track session
- Provide some insight while I'm driving... via my Pit Lane Reporter ("PLR") of course
- Share photos and videos to give you an inside view of life in the paddock
- Answer your questions, sent to me on Twitter via @racewithinsulin, @NBCSN or #KimballChat
If you tune in to the race broadcast on NBC Sports Network (Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Eastern), you just might see some of the tweets featured during the race!
Hope you guys enjoy this... I think it's going to be a ton of fun!
...when you're having fun. I can't believe in one week, the 2012 season will be behind us already. I feel like we just got started! However, I'm really excited to be going back to California to finish out the season. We've had a really good year and it'd be nice to finish on a high note at Auto Club Speedway. I think the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car has come along really well, especially the second half of the season. The whole Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team--from the crew to the strategists--has been working really well together. With a 500-mile race, we'll have to make sure we keep making smart decisions, move forward from where we start, and finish up toward the front at the end of the race.
I leave Indy tomorrow for the test session in Fontana on Wednesday. It will be nice to have that extra practice day at the track before the race this weekend. Hope to see you there for the INDYCAR World Championships!
On the grid at St. Pete in March... we've come a long way!
Sunday, Sept. 2 6:11 p.m.
It was a really great run for the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car all day. The car was quick and the guys in the pit lane did an awesome job. The team not only made the right strategy calls to keep me on slicks when it was damp but also the second stop they did a really good job. It’s a shame to have something behind me go wrong around lap 65 but we proved we have the speed all weekend. We’ll carry that on to Fontana, finish the year out with a really good result and head to 2013 looking to come back stronger than ever.
On the grid during pre-race.
9:15 a.m.
Happy race day! I feel really good about the race today. We were so close to getting into the Firestone Fast Six during qualifying yesterday, and I know the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car is quick. We'll work on getting things set during this morning's practice then work our way up the field later today.
Saturday, Sept. 1 4:30 p.m.
It was a really good qualifying session today. It was a little busy in both groups I ran in. The No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car was quick. With as limited practice time we got, it felt really good to get a nice lap in like that. The race will be good tomorrow. We’ll use some new strategy and some new reds to move forward.
I'm having dinner with some of my friends from Novo Nordisk tonight... They have quite a few guests coming to the race tomorrow (more than 400, to be exact!), so I'm excited to show what we can do on track!
A rainy morning start.
Pit stop practice for the No. 83 crew.
8:07 a.m.
I can't believe it's already September... This season has flown by! Time flies when you're having fun, right?
It was great to be back in the top-10 during the afternoon practice yesterday. Now the challenge is finding that little bit of extra speed for qualifying. I know the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team is working super hard to get it done, so I'll be working just as hard for a good qualifying spot here in Baltimore.
Friday, Aug. 31 5:30 p.m.
It was a good start to the weekend. It was nice to see the track and the series come up with a solution that works for a little bit of practice today. The No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car is pretty good. I think the weekend is looking up. We’ll see how tomorrow goes. I think that qualifying is going to be pretty important here, even though there are some passing opportunities.
Thursday, Aug. 30 12:30 p.m.
It's a beautiful, sunny day here in Baltimore! I've finished up with my media interviews this morning, and I'm off to the track to meet with my engineers and do a quick track walk after lunch. We're actually staying right inside the circuit, so I can basically roll out of bed and into the car!
Here's a virtual lap of the track, courtesy of IndyCar.com. Can't wait to get the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car out there tomorrow!
Wednesday, Aug. 29 3:00 p.m.
I'm really looking forward to racing here in Baltimore with the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team. Not only was the racing exciting last year, but so was the entire atmosphere of the event. The fans made it a special and fun inaugural event, and I have no doubt it will be even better this year. Novo Nordisk has a ton of guests coming out, so I'm excited to put on a good show for them. We had a really good run at Baltimore last year, running inside the top-10 before an incident caused us to lose a couple of laps. With the track changes and experience, I think the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car will be racing up front again this weekend.
I arrived in town a bit early for a Novo Nordisk dinner this evening, where I'll be presenting about my racing program. Always fun to meet the field reps and share my story! Tomorrow morning I'll be on WBFF FOX and WMAR-TV ABC here in Baltimore before starting my race weekend prep at the track.
Here's my race weekend schedule for those attending and those following along at home...
Friday, Aug. 31:
9:30-10:30 am Practice
1-1:45 pm Appearance at the Novo Nordisk FlexPen Tunnel (in the INDYCAR Fan Village)
2:45-3:45 pm Practice
Saturday, Sept. 1:
9-10 am Practice
12:05-1:20 pm Qualifying (on NBC Sports Network at 6 pm ET)
2:30-3:30 pm IndyCar Autograph Session (in the INDYCAR Fan Village)
Sunday, Sept. 2:
9:45-10:15 am Warm Up
2:30 pm Grand Prix of Baltimore (live on NBC Sports Network) Timing and scoring for all on-track sessions available here.
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)
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!
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.
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!
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