Live from Trackside – Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

Sunday, April 27
7:15 p.m.
I have to say that I’m just so proud of the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing crew and the whole Chip Ganassi Racing team. After crashing this morning, everyone from all three teams came together and just really put their heads down with no complaints and started working. It was a really upside-down race with it starting wet and ending dry, but we had really good pace and clean air. We just did what we could do and made the most of where we were at. I’m pleased to be able to bring the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet home with a top-ten finish, and now we’re just ready to move onto the month of May.

I’m headed home to Indy tonight, then we’re off to the Speedway tomorrow for a commercial shoot. We’re moving into IMS a bit early this year… be sure to come out for the road course open test on Wednesday if you’re in town!

Meeting with a fellow type 1, Sydney, before the race.

Props to the whole CGR crew for coming together after the morning incident.

A bit wet but ready to go.

10:45 a.m.
Well, that’s not how we wanted to start our race day. Losing control and hitting the tire barriers on race morning isn’t ideal. I feel badly for the guys, because they’ve worked hard all weekend trying to get me a good car. We didn’t quite get there in qualifying – we’re still figuring that out – but I think we have a good race car. I have complete faith in those guys, they’ll get it back together. Unfortunately, it’s not the mentality we want to be having going into today, getting ready for the race. But I think we’ll be in good shape.

Be sure to tune into the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama on NBC Sports Network at 2:30 p.m. Eastern!

Saturday, April 26
3:50 p.m.
It was a disappointing qualifying here at Barber Motorsports Park for the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet, with a starting position of P17. We definitely expect more out of ourselves here at Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing, but we’ll figure it out tonight and be ready to go racing tomorrow. We’re going to get some great information from the No. 9 car, with it getting into the Firestone Fast 6, which is great for the team. We’ll just see what direction they’re going to go with the car and then work on making sure we can keep the same pace we had with the Firestone primary tires today during the race tomorrow.

Changes during practice 3.

Ready for qualifying.

Leaving pit lane during qualifying.

9:20 a.m.
Good morning! The sun is shining, and I am ready to get back out on track here at Barber. I think the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team is in good shape for qualifying later today. We learned a lot during the practice sessions yesterday and were able to save some tires. We’ll watch the weather conditions but it seems like it will be similar to yesterday’s sessions. We had some good thoughts overnight on how to keep making the car better. We’ll go out with Group 1 in Round 1 of qualifying, learn from our teammates in Group 2, then hopefully we’ll be continuing on to the Firestone Fast Six.

If you’re here at the track, be sure to come out to the INDYCAR Fan Village (outside turn 11) for the autograph session at 12:15 p.m. Qualifying begins at 2 p.m. Central via Race Control and @racewithinsulin, or delayed on NBCSN at 12 a.m. Central.

Friday, April 25
3:35 p.m.
It was good to finally get some good running in during that second session. We made some solid improvements to the car after the first session and we were able to save some tires to test those changes. We’re expecting tomorrow’s conditions during qualifying to be pretty similar to today’s, so we’ll have to make sure we’re ready for that. The work we did with Chevy and the whole Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing crew is the reason we’re making such steady improvements, and we’re ready to get the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet in the Firestone Fast 6 tomorrow!

Working during practice 1.

Making changes during practice 2.

8:50 a.m.
Good morning! It’s another beautiful day in Leeds, Alabama. I had a good evening with the Novo Nordisk folks, speaking about how I race in the Verizon IndyCar Series with type 1 diabetes. It’s always fun to share my story… it reminds me of how far I’ve come!

I just finished up with the drivers meeting and am spending some time with my engineers before the first practice session at 10 a.m. Central (live timing and scoring here).

Great backdrop for racing!

No. 83 crew getting the car prepped.

Thursday, April 24
2:50 p.m.
We were able to take advantage of the track walk earlier, which of course hasn’t changed much since we were here in March. But, with the promoter test day today and the Indy Lights session in the morning, we’ll have a fair bit of rubber down on the track surface before we head out for our first practice. The new Firestone tire compounds for this year give us some good grip as well–it’s definitely a good evolution. The weather looks steady for the weekend and the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team is ready to rebound and restart our race season here. We’ve had good races but poor results so far… the capability of the car is better than the results show for sure. The No. 83 guys have been awesome in the pits, both at St. Pete and Long Beach, so I know I can always count on them too.

I’m headed out to get ready for a Novo Nordisk appearance this evening. Thanks for reading and for the support!

10:30 a.m.
Good morning from Leeds, Alabama! I came down from Indy with the team this morning, and we’re just getting set up at the track now.

I’m really looking forward to getting on track here at Barber Motorsports Park again. The Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team had such a strong race weekend last year, from practice to qualifying to almost grabbing a podium race finish. I have no doubt the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Team Chevy car will be quick when we roll out tomorrow. It’s a bit warmer (to say the least!) than when we were here in March for the open test, but I think we have some good data and experience to pull from for the race weekend.

For those at the track or following along at home, here’s our Barber schedule (all times local/Central). Live timing and scoring for all on-track sessions is available at RaceControl.IndyCar.com. Also follow my Pit Lane Reporter (PLR) on Twitter @racewithinsulin for updates while I’m on track!

Friday, April 25:
10-10:45 a.m. Practice
2-2:45 p.m. Practice
Saturday, April 26:
10-10:45 a.m. Practice
12:15-1:15 p.m. Autograph session (in the INDYCAR Fan Village)
2-3:10 p.m. Qualifying
Sunday, April 27:
9:45-10:15 a.m. Warm-Up
1:30 p.m. Pre-race and TV broadcast begins (NBCSN)
2:12 p.m. Green flag!