Live from Trackside – Iowa Corn Indy 300

Saturday, July 12
10:30 p.m.
It was a long day for the No. 83 Levemir® FlexTouch® Chevrolet, but I’ll definitely take a top-10 finish. I have to give a lot of credit to the crew – they were just awesome in pit lane. The stops were right and the strategy was right and we were really fast in clean air. Once the field got strung out, I was running fast lap times but I need to figure out how to run in traffic before I really master short-track racing. I feel really good with that finish and now we just need to put our heads down and get ready for Toronto.

For now, I’m off to catch the charter flight home to Indy. It will be good to sleep in my own bed tonight!

Pre-race at Iowa Speedway.

Getting set for the green flag.

Red flag… cars stopped on pit lane.

It turned into a beautiful evening in Newton, Iowa!

3:30 p.m.
It’s race day! Well, hopefully it’s race day… the weather isn’t looking too good for the green flag but we’re trying to be optimistic for 300 laps this evening. IndyCar has moved up the green flag to 7:30 p.m. local (Central time) so be sure to tune in to NBC Sports Network at 7 p.m. for the start of the broadcast!

I had a relaxing morning, sleeping in a bit before a late lunch with distant family members who live here in the area. Now we’re headed out for an systems check–just one lap, in and out! Then I’ll have a race strategy meeting, a meet and greet with a few guests from JDRF, and of course my usual pre-race dinner.

Thanks for all of the support. Be sure to follow my Pit Lane Reporter (PLR) on Twitter @racewithinsulin for more updates during the race!

Friday, July 11
7:15 p.m.
The No. 83 Levemir® FlexTouch® Chevrolet had a great run today in qualifying, ending with our P7 starting spot for tomorrow. We were able to take some data from our teammates, who were already up front, and use that to our advantage for our run. I think the test here a couple of weeks ago really helped us all come to this track with more data and experience. I can’t wait to get out here under the lights tomorrow night and see what Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing can do!

Prepping for practice 2.

Rain, rain, go away…

Finally got some laps in this afternoon!

Ready for qualifying.

11:20 a.m.
The good news? We finished fourth on the speed charts in the first practice session. The bad news? Practice was cancelled early due to the rain and lightning. We were hoping to run a lot of laps this morning but unfortunately the one thing we can’t control is the weather! It’s stopped now and when it does finally clear out, it will take about two hours to dry the track. We’ll see if we get qualifying started on time at 2 p.m.

For now, I’m spending time in the engineering office and may take a quick nap before lunch!

Looking dark over there… yellow!

A quick interview for NBCSN after the shortened practice.

Thursday, July 10
10:10 a.m.
Hello from Iowa Speedway! I came in this morning with the team charter, had a delicious breakfast at a place called “Mullets” (yes, there was a display board with photos…), and am now spending some time with my engineers. But first things first… please check out this awesome #ThrowbackThursday photo from my 2009 Indy Lights season:

Iowa Speedway 2009

Does that No. 35 car look a little familiar? Yep, it’s another green and white car with sponsorship from Novo Nordisk, a “throwback” from our current livery! I’m pictured here racing at Iowa Speedway with Martin Plowman in the No. 15, who became my teammate the following year at Andretti Autosport in the Firestone Indy Lights Series. My, how far we’ve come!

After a tough race at Pocono race weekend, the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team is more than ready to get back out there and show what we can do at the Iowa Corn Indy 300. We are so much better than our result showed and I know we’ll be able to work through recent challenges. Last year we raced inside the top 10, and it was all about finding the right line on the short track while working through traffic. We made a lot of gains when we tested here at Iowa Speedway a few weeks ago, so I think we’re well-prepared for the race weekend and a good finish for the No. 83 Levemir® FlexTouch® Chevrolet.

For those coming at the track or following along at home, here’s our race weekend schedule (all times Central):
Friday, July 11
10-11:15 a.m. Practice
2-3 p.m. Qualifying (broadcast at 3 p.m. on NBC Sports Network)
4-5 p.m. Autograph session (in the INDYCAR Fan Village)
5-5:15 p.m. Team Chevy Q&A (near the INDYCAR Fan Village)
6-6:30 p.m. Practice
Saturday, July 12
4 p.m. Systems check (1 lap)
7 p.m. Iowa Corn Indy 300 race (live on NBC Sports Network)

Check Race Control for live timing and scoring during all on-track sessions, as well as live TV streaming during practice sessions. Follow my Pit Lane Reporter (PLR) on Twitter @racewithinsulin for updates while I’m on track, too!