Overcoming obstacles

Via Napa Valley Register
August 6, 2014

IndyCar driver Charlie Kimball, who drives the No. 83 Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing IndyCar is living his dream. You might not think someone who was diagnosed with Diabetes 1 at the end of 2007 would be so positive about his life.

But he truly is.

Kimball grew up around racing as his father was a mechanical engineer who designed racecars for the IndyCar Series and the Formula One Series. His father was on the road at racetracks, but when Kimball started racing Go-Karts at age nine, it became a way to spend quality time with his father. Over the years he won seven national Go-Karting Championships.

Kimball was accepted in to the engineering program at Stanford University, but bypassed his admission so he could continue to pursue his dream of being a professional race car driver.

On his 16th birthday, he tested a Formula Ford and fell in love with car racing. He moved to Europe to pursue his Formula One dream and started the journey by competing in the Formula 3 Series, winning two races and three pole positions his first year racing in the series.

He then graduated to British Formula 3, and became the first American to win a race in the series in 11 years.

“Racing in Europe was pretty interesting,” he said. “Few Americans who went over there to race were successful.”

After he won his first race, his competitors said, “You can’t be an American, you go too fast.”

Kimball said it was nice to change some misconceptions Europeans had about American racecar drivers. He won five races that year, set two track records, and was second in the championship.

From there he raced in the Formula 3 Euroseries and the World Series by Renault. It was mid-season while he was driving in the World Series by Renault when he found out he had Diabetes 1 and had to stop racing mid-season.

Kimball went to his doctor for a regular checkup in 2007, and he mentioned to his doctor that he had been overly thirsty lately. Then he found out he had lost 25 pounds within a two week period which he had not even noticed. Kimball had very little knowledge about Diabetes 1. He had had no personal experience with it, nor did he know anyone who had.

He got a ton of support from the Diabetes 1 community, and in 2008, Kimball returned to Formula 3 Euroseries with Prema Fowerteam sponsorship. He finished second in the opening race. He became a spokesperson for DexCom, the company that produces his Continuous Glucose Monitor.

Like a true hero, he has not tried to brush his condition under the rug and keep it private. Instead, he has put his two life passions together, racing in the IndyCar Series and being involved with and supporting the Diabetes 1 community.

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