Charlie Kimball's Blog

Sunday, August 30
6:45 p.m.
Wow, that was a heck of a race! Way to go for the Team Target guys! It’s so nice to see Dixon win the championship. He works so hard, and he’s such a class act–I know he was there for the Wilson family Sunday night and Monday. As a team, to be able to come out, get a win,  be on the podium and fill out the cars needed so he can win the championship… that’s what it means to be a part of the Chip Ganassi Racing team. You know, Chip loves winners and to be able to put the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet up on the podium, it’s a pretty good day at the office.

Saturday, August 29
4:25 p.m.30
We have a pretty good starting spot in P7 for the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team. For the last race of the year it’s nice to transfer into the top 12. It was so close, so tight with the lap times during qualifying, but I think the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet should be really good on older tires throughout the course of the race. We just have to go out there tomorrow and help our teammate win a championship, while trying to put the 83 car in victory lane.

Ready for qualifying.

Friday, August 28
6:25 p.m.
We made a lot of progress today with the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet. It took me a little while to find my feet but once we got going, I felt more comfortable here at Sonoma. We made some really good changes during the long session so I have a lot of confidence heading into tomorrow. We still have some things we want to look at–that’s 3.5 hours of data to sort through! I’m looking forward to practice tomorrow morning. It should be a little cooler, which should be more comfortable for those of us in the cars and for the fans too.

Making changes on pit lane.

Photo via INDYCAR

Photo via INDYCAR

1:20 p.m.
Good afternoon from Sonoma Raceway. I was able to get some extra rest this morning before coming into the track around 11. I had a productive track walk with my teammates yesterday afternoon and reviewed some in-car footage last night, so now I’m just ready to strap into the No. 83 and get some laps in. We’ll go green at 2:30 p.m. PT for a 3.5 hour session. You can catch it live via INDYCAR Race Control, with updates on Twitter @RaceWithInsulin.

Honored to carry #BadAssWilson with me on my helmet and car this weekend.

Thursday, August 27
1:45 p.m.
After a couple of much-needed days with family here on the West Coast, it’s nice to be back at the track. Obviously the main thing on our minds right now is the Wilson family and giving all of our energy to help keep them strong. There’s been so much said these past few days about Justin as a father, husband, friend, brother, racer… Really, the best thing we can do to honor him now is to get out there and race. I still don’t think it will feel real until we take the green flag without him in Sonoma this weekend.

For the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team, the focus for the finale is to finish this tough Verizon IndyCar Series season on a high note. With it being double-points, we have the chance to move up a bit in the championship standings with a good result, and I think that can go a long way as far as our confidence heading into the off-season. We’ll be working hard as soon as the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car rolls out on Friday.

After some time in the engineering office, we’ll have the track walk later this afternoon. Click here for the race weekend tune-in info. If you’re here at the track or watching from home, be sure to check out the #BadAssWilson t-shirts and decals, too. Thanks for the support this week.