Kimball part of Mid-Ohio winners club

Via Mansfield News Journal
August 1, 2014

LEXINGTON – Charlie Kimball joined the most elite of clubs last year.

In his third year in the Verizon Indycar Series, Kimball did what legends like Johnny Rutherford, Mario Andretti, Bobby Rahal, Emerson Fittiapldi, Michael Andretti, Al Unser Jr. and Alex Zanardi did before him.

He won at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

“It’s pretty elite for sure,” Kimball said. “To have gotten my first win at somewhere as storied as the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course was very, very special.”

Flukes don’t win at Mid-Ohio. Future hall of famers like Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, Paul Tracy, Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya have also taken victories on the famed Lexington road course. The few who claimed a major open-wheel win who aren’t of that ilk, all had or are having nice careers: Ryan Briscoe, Patrick Carpentier, Adrian Fernandez, Teo Fabi and Roberto Guerrero.

Only Guerrero (and now Kimball) didn’t win more than two races in his career.

So Kimball gets the history involved.

“It’s a track I raced F2000 on and Formula Ford. I remember watching all of the different races there,” Kimball said. “Going to the IndyCar races when I was racing F2000 there and watching those guys race and getting on that same track and doing it later in the afternoon was really neat.”

The 29-year-old from California is experiencing something new in his career this weekend at the Honda Indy 200. He’s a defending race winner.

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