Monday, June 25, 2012

Keeping Up to Speed with Charlie - Iowa


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Thursday, June 21, 2012

Live from Trackside - Iowa Speedway

Saturday, June 23
12:12 a.m.
It was a fun night overall. I learned more in the second half of tonight’s race than all of the short ovals we’ve done all year. I’ve got to give a lot of credit to the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing guys. I was working my marks. They rocked it in pit lane. There was one stop where we went by four or five guys in pit lane. They kept making the car better and giving me more and more speed in pit lane. I was learning in traffic. In the end there, we just brought it home, knocking on the door of a top-10, which is good to build some momentum heading into this string of road courses.

Friday, June 22
8:43 p.m.
I think it was as a good heat race. It was nice to get the position at the start of the race and then settle into my rhythm, work on my line, work on my drive style and get comfortable with racing here at Iowa Speedway. We have some improvements to make tonight to the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car but I have no doubt that the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team will give me a great race car for the show. With a couple of grid-penalties, I think we will start within the top-15 and be good to go for tomorrow night.


11:34 a.m.
Well, we've still got some work to do after our first practice session. But we did improve with the adjustments we made, so I'm confident in our race car. We have one more practice session before the heat races this evening. Wondering how the heat races will work? Click here to find out from IndyCar.com.




8:45 a.m.
Good morning from a sunny Iowa Speedway! Ready to get back in the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car and see what we can do here today. Here's a quick run-down of the weekend schedule (all times Central):

Friday:
10-10:45 a.m. Practice
2:30-3:15 p.m. Practice
6:15-7:45 p.m. Heat races

Saturday:
3:45-4:30 p.m. Novo Nordisk FlexPen Tunnel booth appearance (at the IndyCar Fan Village)
4:30-5:30 p.m. IndyCar autograph session
9 p.m. Iowa Corn Indy 250 (live on NBC Sports Network)

Live timing and scoring is available here. Don't forget to tune in to INDYCAR 36 on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET!

Thursday, June 21
10:00 a.m.
Started my race weekend a little early again. I arrived on Wednesday for a JDRF event and a dinner with Novo Nordisk associates in Mason City, IA. Today I'm on promo duty for IndyCar... interviews and appearances for a PR advance!

Tomorrow morning we'll be on track for our first practice of the weekend. I'm looking forward to getting back on track at Iowa Speedway. The Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team recently had a really productive test day there, and I think the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car will be quick again once we hit the track on Friday. I'm confident that the experience I've gained on the ovals at the last few races will help us come out with a better result this weekend.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Tune in... INDYCAR 36!

Tune in to Saturday's episode of INDYCAR 36! I'm the featured driver on this weekend's show... IMS Productions' cameras followed me around for 36 hours during the race weekend at Texas Motor Speedway earlier this month, capturing a behind-the-scenes look at my on- and off-track activities with the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team.


Here are the details:
INDYCAR 36 with Charlie Kimball
Saturday, June 23
7:30 p.m. ET
NBC Sports Network
Click here for local listings, a channel finder and re-air dates.


Hope you enjoy!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

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!

Monday, June 18, 2012

Keeping Up to Speed with Charlie - Milwaukee


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Saturday, June 16, 2012

Live from Trackside - Milwaukee IndyFest

Saturday, June 16
4:30 p.m.
Well, it was a challenging race like it always is here at the Milwaukee Mile, but all credit goes to the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team. The guys did a good job in the pits, and they kept making the car better for me on the track. We got a little unlucky with one of those yellows and went a lap down. It was a good result as far as positive momentum, building back up and getting a clean finish. Now we'll focus on getting the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car ready for next weekend in Iowa!

8:00 a.m.
It's race day at the Milwaukee Mile! A little cloudy this morning but the sun's trying to peek out. Should stay dry for the race.

I have a live TV shot, drivers meeting and autograph session this morning before suiting up for the race. Like I said last night, I think we have a good race car so if we stay focused, we could come out with a good result later today.

Friday, June 15
6:15 p.m.
Well, we didn't have the best luck with qualifying today. We qualified 21st but we'll start 18th tomorrow, due to the grid penalties taken into account.

We worked really hard on the race car all day and focused mostly on race set up. I know we have a really good race car. So if we stay smart, stay clean and make good pit stops there’s no reason we can’t be in top-15, and with a little bit of luck we’ll be in the top-10 tomorrow.

From the spotters' stand.

11:40 a.m.
We had a pretty good first session on track. We're mostly working on race setup and were able to make a lot of changes during practice. We still have another practice before qualifying, but we'll be focusing on race setup again for the most part, and work on qualifying if we get the chance. We're last to qualify... Which could be good or bad! We'll have to wait and see.

Practice at The Mile
8:30 a.m.
Just arrived at the Mile for the day. It looks like it'll be a warm, sunny day... hopefully we have a lot of fans coming out to enjoy practice and qualifying (and, of course, the zip line and ferris wheel)!

Here's my schedule for the weekend (all times local/Central). You can follow along with timing and scoring here.

Friday:
10-11 a.m. Practice
1:15-2:15 p.m. Practice
4-5:15 p.m. Qualifying
5:45-6:30 p.m. Novo Nordisk FlexPen Tunnel appearance (IndyCar Fan Village, infield)

Saturday:
9:15-10:15 a.m. IndyCar drivers autograph session (IndyCar Fan Village, infield)
12 p.m. Race! (Live on ABC)


Thursday, June 14
9:26 a.m.
Hitting the road this morning for the drive from Indy to Milwaukee. Any road trip playlist suggestions?

Congrats to the Milwaukee IndyFest grandstand ticket winner Allen! Thanks to everyone who shared a memory of their dad on my Facebook wall. And happy Father's Day weekend to all of the dads out there! Make sure you're following me on Twitter (@racewithinsulin)... there's another giveaway coming your way soon, this time for race credentials.

After a rough end to my race in Texas, I'm looking forward to getting back on track. I love the challenge that the Milwaukee Mile presents to IndyCar teams and drivers. Without a lot of banking, there's not a lot of room for error. And it creates some of the best racing all season. Passing is always challenging and the racing is so intense, which makes it fun for us on track. The Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team will be working hard this weekend to add to our top-10 finishes and gain back some championship points.

Monday, June 11, 2012

More seat time... and a giveaway!

Good morning, everyone! After getting back to Indy late on Saturday (or perhaps I should say very early on Sunday), I spent yesterday relaxing on my Axis boat. Nothing like some sunshine and water to recharge before getting back on the race track! Later today I'm headed to Iowa Speedway to test the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car tomorrow. The test is free and open to the public (info here), so come on out if you're in Iowa. 

After testing, we'll head to Milwaukee for the Milwaukee IndyFest. And I'm giving away four grandstand tickets so you can join me there! Just head on over to my Facebook page and, in honor of Father's Day weekend, share your favorite memory of time spent with your dad (racing-related or otherwise). I'll randomly select a winner on Wednesday at noon ET. Good luck!

Hope to see you in Milwaukee!

Keeping Up to Speed with Charlie - Texas


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Sunday, June 10, 2012

Live from Trackside - Firestone 550

Saturday, June 9
11:01 p.m.
The race was disappointing for sure. The car was going to get better and better, especially in clean air. I had really good pace but you can't always predict what will happen on track with other cars. It’s real unfortunate for the guys because I think toward the end of the race we were going to make the car a lot better and be in good shape.

We'll move on, go testing in Iowa early next week then get ready to go racing again in Milwaukee!

11:30 a.m.
Nothing's better than a good night's rest! Our day starts late today since it's a night race, which gave me a couple more hours of sleep... No complaints here!

I have a couple of appearances this afternoon before a drivers' meeting and team race meeting. I'm looking forward to the race later today... I think we have a good car and the whole Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team has been working really hard. Now it just comes down to the race!

Friday, June 8
5:22 p.m.
Well, qualifying is checkered and I'll start 17th tomorrow. The race car is a totally different animal than the qualifying car; they're not the same thing here. I think we have a pretty good race car. I feel really good about what we're doing into tonight's practice. For qualifying, we tuned the car throughout the practice session earlier today. It's a little disappointing for the NovoLog FlexPen guys but at the end of the day, we have a really good race car and that's what matters tomorrow.

We still have one practice session this evening, so we'll keep working on the race setup!

Before practice at Texas Motor Speedway

Making some adjustments

11:15 a.m.
It's a beautiful day at Texas Motor Speedway! It's only 11 in the morning, but it's already starting to feel like it's going to be a hot one.

I'm off to a drivers' meeting, then headed out to practice. Here's our race weekend on-track schedule (all times local/Central)...

Friday:
12:30-1:45 p.m. Practice
3:30-5 p.m. Qualifying (airs on NBC Sports Network at 7:30 p.m. ET)
6:45-7:15 p.m. Practice

Saturday:
7 p.m. Firestone 550 live on NBC Sports Network

Catch live timing and scoring at http://racecontrol.indycar.com.

Thursday, June 7
2:08 p.m.
Hello from a wet and stormy Texas Motor Speedway! They say everything's bigger in Texas--including the storms! Hopefully it'll finish up tonight and we'll have dry practice and qualifying sessions tomorrow.

After a bit of a travel delay this morning due to the weather, I arrived in Dallas and headed to the Children's Medical Center of Dallas with Racing for Kids. They always give the kids a fun experience and I had a good time teaching them a little bit about racing (a little bit about that here).

I’m looking forward to the race this weekend. We had a really good test here, before the Indianapolis 500, and we’re building momentum this season. Every race we’ve seen the checkered flag we’ve finished within the top-10, so we plan on keeping the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car up front. After being in the top-10, now I’m ready for the top-five. From there it’s easy to make the next step to the podium and eventually a race win, but we have to stay smart and patient. The Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team is working hard and we’ll carry that positive energy from our last few results on to this weekend.

IMS Productions will be following me around this weekend, filming an episode of "IndyCar 36" that will air June 23 before the race in Iowa on NBC Sports Network. Should be fun!

Monday, June 4, 2012

Keeping Up to Speed with Charlie - Detroit


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Sunday, June 3, 2012

Live from Trackside - Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix 2012

Sunday, June 3
8:25 p.m.
What a day! I have to give a lot of credit to the Detroit Grand Prix to get us back out there to finish that race. For the fans it was important and for us as drivers it was good to get back to the race. We did really well all day, just running the pace, and we got the fuel mileage we needed out of the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car. The Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team in pit lane did exactly what I needed, putting us in perfect position on the restart to go racing with the leaders. I came out with my third eighth-place in a row so we’re really happy with the day.

Morning warmup session.

Saturday, June 2
5:15 p.m.
I was a little disappointed in our qualifying result of P21. I think with the speed in the car, and the speed in me, we were better than we showed. We were really close to being two or three spots up and that’s two or three rows further up on the grid for tomorrow. I know that the whole Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team will do a good job both on strategy and giving me the right tires at the right time so I can move up. I think there is every opportunity with the way this track is and the character of the race tomorrow that we can have a good result and hopefully end up back in the top 10.

Friday, June 1
5:30 p.m.
The weather earlier prevented us from doing too many laps, but the second session gave us a reasonable foundation for the weekend. This place is pretty rough and we spent a good part of the day just trying to figure it all out. This is my first time here, so I really want to learn what it’s like all the way through. A gearbox problem kept us from running right at the end of the second session but we had some good information from the earlier laps. When the rubber goes down, each lap is quicker and quicker so we’ll see what it does tomorrow morning in practice and then in qualifying.

8:30 a.m.
It's a brisk morning here in the Motor City. Yesterday evening we had the track walk, which was a good chance for me and my engineers to get a sense of the course. The No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car goes on track for the first time today at noon, so we're looking forward to getting some practice time.

Here's the race weekend schedule (all times local/Eastern):

Friday:
12-1 p.m. Practice
3:45-4:45 p.m. Practice

Saturday:
9-10 a.m. Practice
11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. Qualifying
1:45-2:30 p.m. Novo Nordisk FlexPen Tunnel appearance (at the INDYCAR Fan Village)
2:30-3:30 p.m. Autograph session (at the INDYCAR Fan Village)

Sunday:
10:45-11:15 a.m. Warmup
3:30 p.m. Race! (live on ABC)

You can find live timing and scoring for all sessions here.


Thursday, May 31
10:40 a.m.
Good morning, Detroit! My race weekend started a little earlier than normal... I came into town last night and had an early morning interview at FOX 2. I'll have a phone interview here in a bit before the track walk this evening.

This will be my first time racing at Belle Isle but coming off of a strong finish in Indy, I'm confident in myself and the whole Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team. We've been building momentum week after week this season, and I'm more excited than ever to get back in the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car. I know the team and Honda will put together a great race car for me, and I'll be working extra hard to run up front in the top-10 again!

P.S. Check out the die cast I saw for sale at the IMS shop at the airport yesterday... pretty cool!

Only a smidge smaller than the real No. 83 car!