Live from Trackside – Indianapolis 500

Sunday, May 25
7:30 p.m.
Today was just really unfortunate for Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing. We had a great car and we were actually running a really good race after starting 26th and breaking into the top 10. After the incident, we thought we might be able to bring it back to the garage and get back out there, but the damage was too extensive. I’m definitely disappointed with how our day ended up, but we’re just going to put all of our focus now on Detroit this weekend.

I’m just now digging into all of your Twitter and Facebook posts, and messages of support. Thank you–it means a lot!

Pre-race chat with Chip and Ryan, and our supporters.

On the grid!

Heading to the Green Room before driver introductions.

No. 83 crew was excited, too!

Pre-race ceremonies.

Pit stop number one.

7:55 a.m.
It’s race day! What a gorgeous morning at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The traditional military bomb has sounded, teams are doing last-minute prep work, and all that’s left now is to go race! Well, actually, we do have a few things on our schedule. We have a team race meeting in about a half hour, then I’ll have my pre-race lunch (brunch?!) before meeting Chip and my teammates in the garage to walk out to the grid. I always try to take some downtime by myself before heading out too.

I feel really confident in the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car. We were strong in race setup on Friday, running in traffic, and I think over the course of 500 miles we have plenty of opportunities to move up the field.

If you’re not here at IMS, tune in to the live broadcast on ABC beginning at 11 a.m. Eastern. INDYCAR Race Control will have live timing and scoring, and of course you can follow my Pit Lane Reporter (PLR) @racewithinsulin on Twitter for on-track updates.

Enjoy the race, everyone!

Photo via IMS

Saturday, May 24
4:30 p.m.
Wow, it’s been quite a day. I had the chance to attend the fourth annual IndyCar Ministry Breakfast this morning before the autograph session, as I was one of three nominees for the Lone Star J.R. Johnny Rutherford Award. It was awarded to a very deserving member of the Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing crew, Wayne, for outstanding character and service at the track and in the community. It was an honor to be included, and I really enjoyed the morning’s program.

Thanks to all who came out for autographs–we had a great crowd today! After the autograph session, I caught up with “Little Charlie,” a fellow Californian with type 1 diabetes, who is visiting Indy for the 500 with his family. Charlie is a fantastic baseball player and wears the number 83 too!

We moved on from the autograph session to the public drivers’ meeting and received all of our marching orders from Beaux. After that, we loaded buses to the parade staging area downtown. The parade route was more crowded than I have ever seen it—perfect weather for sure! Following the parade, I headed north to the Chip Ganassi Racing shop for a team sponsor event. I have a quick minute to myself before dinner with friends in town from Novo Nordisk!

Tomorrow is the big day… I’m ready.

Charlie times two! Check out that jersey… and his shoes!

A group shot for Good Morning America. (Photo via INDYCAR)

Parading through the streets of Indy (Photo via INDYCAR)

Friday, May 23
3:45 p.m.
Congrats to Scott and the No. 9 team on winning the pit stop competition today!

We had a pretty good practice session this morning. You have to be really smart on Carb Day going into race weekend. You want to make sure you have everything in order for Sunday after this final practice today. We spent a lot of time today working in traffic and running full fuel. We also focused on making sure that pressures and heights, the more detailed areas, were correct. I feel confident and happy with the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet, and I think the whole Chip Ganassi Racing organization looks really strong for the race on Sunday.

A few changes during practice.

Pit stop practice for the No. 83 crew.

Carb day 2014.

Engineer Brad and I debriefing after practice.

Almost our turn for the pit stop competition!

No. 83 team is ready to go!

8:35 a.m.
Good morning and happy Carb Day! It’s another sunny day here at the Speedway, and the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team are ready to get going. We’ll be on track for our last practice session in just over two hours. Tune in to NBC Sports Network for live Carb Day coverage beginning at 11 a.m. Eastern.

After practice, the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen team will compete in the annual Pit Stop Competition. They’re fast in the pits during the race, so I have no doubt they’ll be quick today too! Keep an eye on my Twitter @racewithinsulin for updates from my Pit Lane Reporter (PLR) during the competition.

This afternoon we’ll have a full Ganassi team strategy meeting, then it’s off to a Team Chevy appearance at 4:30 p.m. (in the INDYCAR Fan Village) with my teammates and a Firestone appearance this evening. Tonight I’ll also have dinner, hosted by my parents, with some close friends and family. It’s become a fun race weekend tradition where I can relax a bit and enjoy some downtime.

Thanks as always for the support! If you haven’t yet, check out Verizon Wireless’ #WhosGonnaWin fan contest. Tweet your race winner prediction here, and you could win too!

Thursday, May 22
3:50 p.m.
It’s such a beautiful day in Indy that I almost can’t believe it hailed yesterday evening! This morning I took the opportunity to run a few errands and get my hair cut before IMS media day. My first stop at the track was the Pagoda for a Verizon Wireless presentation. They were showcasing some of their new technology, not only related to the Series but also for consumers. I’m impressed!

For media day, the IMS public relations team sets up each driver with our own area in one big room for members of the media to come chat with us. It’s really their last chance to get a word in before the craziness of Carb Day begins. You can have a good car setup, but that one hour session on Carb Day (our last on-track session before race) can make you question everything! Luckily I know I have a strong team behind me and we’ll just be working out little bits and pieces tomorrow.

I’m headed to The Yellow Party tonight around 6… hope to meet some of you there!

Wednesday, May 21
2:45 p.m. (back to Eastern!)
Ah, it’s good to be home. I always enjoy a trip to Birmingham–it’s one of my favorites stops on the IndyCar tour–but it’s nice to be back at the Speedway. We had a really successful day with the Barber Motorsports Park team, promoting the Indy 500 and Verizon Wireless IndyCar Series. We hit a good deal of TV and radio stations and met up with a few of the media members I know from past race weekends. It’s really cool to see the support in Birmingham for both the race and the sport. I got the chance to spend some time at the ballpark for the SEC Baseball Tournament, and I even visited an elementary school to read to fourth graders (read about it here).

This morning I was able to have some downtime, then headed to the track for the Community Day autograph session. Thanks to everyone who came out today! I’m off to a meeting before a dinner with Novo Nordisk later this evening.

A warm welcome!

Beautiful view of downtown B-Ham.

Hanging at the SEC Baseball Tournament.

A great day all around! (Photo via @CGRTeams)

A great media day all around! (Photo via @CGRTeams)

Always great to see young IndyCar fans out at IMS!

Tuesday, May 20
8:30 a.m. (Central!)
Good morning from a beautiful, sunny Alabama! I’m here in Birmingham for the annual Indy 500 media day. Drivers are scattered across the country to spread the word about The Greatest Spectacle in Racing. It was an early start for me (a 6 a.m. flight!) and we have a busy day ahead, too.

9 a.m. ABC 33/40 Talk of Alabama
10 a.m. WERC 105.5 FM
11 a.m. WJOX 94.5 FM
12 p.m. WBRC FOX 6
1:30 p.m. Elementary school visit
3 p.m. WVTM NBC 13’s Alabama Tonight
3:30 p.m. WIAT CBS 42

You can follow along on Twitter via the hashtag #500MediaDay!

Monday, May 19
5:45 p.m.
It was a little different running the Monday after qualifying, usually this is when we’re doing media, but I think it was really good for the team. We did a lot of really effective full-tank running and I think we have a really good race car in the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet. The Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team were also able to do a couple of good practice pit stops, which not only preps us for the race but also for the pit stop competition on Friday. Now we’ll just tune it up and tweak it a little for Carb Day and look over a few more test items on our list. I’m excited we were able to put the new Chevrolet engine in, and I’m really looking forward to race day.

Tonight I’m going to grab a quick dinner then it’s early to bed for me. We ran more than 100 laps today so I’m wiped out, plus I have an early morning flight to Birmingham for media day tomorrow. It always helps to be awake and alert for interviews!

No. 83 team getting set for pit stop practice.

11:09 a.m.
It’s the Monday after qualifying and we’re about to go on track for practice–feels a bit odd, but I don’t mind an extra few hours of practice for sure. We’ll have a good opportunity today to really work on our race setup, since we’ll only have one hour on track this Friday for Carb Day.

Catch live timing and streaming via INDYCAR Race Control, starting at noon Eastern!

Sunday, May 18
1:45 p.m.
Well, today definitely didn’t go as planned. We were hoping for a bit more speed but unfortunately it just wasn’t there. We posted an average speed of 228.953 mph, which puts us P26 on the grid (middle of row 9) next Sunday for the start of the race. As we know from years past, the Indianapolis 500 is a long race and anything can happen. The Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team will be working hard to make the car better this afternoon, and we’ll have five hours on track tomorrow for practice.

We’re just minutes ready from the Fast 9 qualifying, so I’m going to head to the coach to watch and cheer on Team Chevy. Thanks for the support.

Another cold morning practice!

Love the special edition Firestone tires at IMS!

Ready for day 2 of qualifying.

On deck!

Signing autographs after qualifying.

7:40 a.m.
Good morning! It’s a new day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team are ready to make the most of qualifying. The on-track scheduled was edited a bit last night, so we’ll go out at 11 a.m. with the combined groups 1 and 2.

8:30-9:30 a.m. Practice (all cars)
11 a.m. Qualifying, P10-30
2 p.m. Top-9 Shootout

Check out ABC’s broadcast from 1-3 p.m. Eastern, and visit www.watchespn.com from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. for a live stream. Timing and scoring is also available on INDYCAR Race Control.

We only have one attempt today, but if I know the No. 83 team and how hard they work, I think that’s all we’ll need to secure a good starting position!

Saturday, May 17
6:45 p.m.
Phew, that was a long day. We made our first qualifying attempt at 12:30 p.m., with a four-lap average of 228.710 mph. That put us in P13, with nine cars left to make their first attempts. We ended up getting in line for another attempt, but it started to rain as I was on track so the yellow flag came out. The team brought the car back to the garage for some changes then queued up in the qualifying line one more time. From there, it was mainly a waiting game. We knew we were too far back in the line to make another attempt so we pulled out just before the last car went at 5:50 p.m. We ended the day in P19 so we’ll be in group 1 tomorrow at 10:15 a.m., from 12th in line (reverse order of today’s grid). We’ll have one attempt only to secure our spot in the field, positions 10 through 30.

The Verizon IndyCar Series is just so competitive and you really have to get the most of the car that you can. With the weather conditions the last couple of days and the limited amount of time we’ve been able to run our qualifying setup, its tough. I know the team will work hard tonight to make sure that the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet is ready to go for the second day of qualifying.

Thanks for the support today! We had a great crowd here despite the weather, and we’re hearing lots of positive feedback on the new qualifying format. On to day two!

A very chilly morning practice.

In line for qualifying, day 1.

No. 83… ready to go!

Post-qualifying media.

The ceremonial post-qualifying photo with the full team.

In line to make a second attempt.

7:15 a.m.
Did you know: it’s qualifying day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway! Yep, it’s true. Can you tell I’m a bit excited to get out there?!

It’s another chilly morning. We’ll go out with Group 2 for practice at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. We drew numbers 25 and 40 for qualifying order last night, so after removing the T cars, we’ll be 24th in line at 11 a.m. when qualifying begins. Tune in and check Race Control for live timing!

Friday, May 16
4:55 p.m.
Fast Friday went by very… fast. The track went green just before 3 p.m. then yellow for weather conditions about 20 minutes later, so we only had the chance to run two full laps. It started to hail a bit so the team took the car back to the garage before the rest of the practice day was cancelled. Unfortunately we weren’t able to work on qualifying setups as planned, but we will have a bit of practice time in the morning before qualifying begins.

If you need a refresher on the new Indy 500 qualifying format, check it out here. ABC will show a qualifying broadcast on Saturday from 4-6 p.m. Eastern, then on Sunday from 1-3 p.m. Eastern. You can also check live timing via Race Control all weekend!

Tonight I’m headed to the annual Indy 500 Club Casino Night Party at the Brickyard Crossing, then will have an early night to rest up! Thanks for the support, everyone.

On pit lane for Fast Friday

Covering the No. 83… hail!

11:30 a.m.
I hate to say it, but yes, it’s raining at the Speedway again! Today is Fast Friday, which means the cars’ engines get an extra boost from the manufacturers. It also means this is our last day to practice before qualifying begins tomorrow. It looks like we have a couple of hours before we’ll be able to get out on track. I’m confident in the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car no matter how many laps we get in this afternoon.

Today was already a busy one, with the annual Chip Ganassi Racing team press conference and meetings with the engineers. A little downtime is good… but a lot of downtime makes us anxious for more on-track time!

Team presser

Thursday, May 15
6:20 p.m.
Today went really well. We got a lot of running in with the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet. We were able to do a lot of race work and do a couple of full-tank runs. We were even able to get in a few runs looking towards qualifying. Overall we’re pretty happy with the day and I think we’re in really good shape for the weekend. We’ll start working toward Fast Friday speeds tomorrow then onto qualifying. Once we get through the weekend, we can really just focus on race day setup.

Heading out on a chilly day!

Green!

12:15 p.m.
It’s day five of Indy 500 practice and wet again! But don’t worry–we haven’t decided to switch over to boat racing just yet. IMS is aiming to have the track green by 12:45 p.m. today. The sprinkles have stopped and the track dryers are out so unless the conditions change, we should be able to be on track this afternoon. The plan for today is similar to yesterday–run some long runs for race prep and see what we can learn, even if the weather could be completely different than race day.

Stay tuned to Race Control for live timing and streaming, and follow @racewithinsulin on Twitter for updates from my Pit Lane Reporter!

Wednesday, May 14
6:50 p.m.
Obviously we didn’t get much on-track time again today with the rain and the wet track conditions, but even days like today can be really beneficial for the team. The No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet wasn’t out turning laps all day, but I was able to really spend time with my engineers looking through data and discussing possible changes that need to be made to make the car better. I’m glad we were able to get out there for at least a little bit at the end of the day and continue making the changes on our test list and perfecting our race-day setup. Even if it is just a few laps, every little bit counts when it comes to making sure that Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing is ready for the 500.

Prep during the rain delay.

A No. 83 pinewood derby car–nice job, Jayden!

Finally out for practice!

A change of Firestone tires.

4:22 p.m.
Well, thanks to a long break in the rain and the IMS track dryers, it looks like we’ll have a chance to run today! IndyCar has extended the practice session to 7 p.m. If all goes well, we hope to be out on pit lane before 5:30. Keep an eye on Race Control for a live stream and timing!

11:20 a.m.
Rain, rain, go away… We’ve got grey skies and a consistent rainfall here at the Speedway this morning. We definitely won’t be able to get out on track at noon, and unfortunately it doesn’t look like we will later either. But we’re making the most of our time here, meeting with the Team Chevy engineers and making changes to the No. 83 car in the garage.

Pit stop time trials were cancelled today, but good news: the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team will be taking part in the pit stop competition on Carb Day. They’re always working hard to be quick on pit lane!

Rainy day at IMS.

Tuesday, May 13
2:50 p.m.
“Yellow for moisture!” Yep, we’ve been hit with heavy rain as expected. The No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car went out to pit lane right before noon to get started as soon as the green flag flew. We managed to get in 33 laps before we can back to the garage to check on a possible mechanical issue, with a top speed of 221.937 mph. Unfortunately the rest of today’s practice session is now cancelled due to the weather.

Even though we didn’t have a lot of on-track time today because of the rain, we were still able to work on some setup changes. There are still some items on our test list that we need to work through and we’re hoping that the weather will clear up this week so we can make those changes. We can’t control or change the weather, especially in Indianapolis in May, but Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing is great at adapting and making the best of the situation that we’re put in. My engineers and I have a lot of confidence in the speed of the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet and we’re just looking forward to getting a full day on track.

Green, green, green!

Making adjustments before the rain hit.

Back in the garage, under cover!

Monday, May 12
6:30 p.m.
It was a shame we didn’t get more laps in today. We ended up having to do more work than we thought on the primary car, so we only took a total of 17 laps. The weather conditions were interesting with the wind and the temperature, and the long-term weather is looking pretty indefinite for the rest of the week. We’ll just have to run when we can and focus on what it’s going to take to make the car better for the race. We’re pretty confident in what we need to do to get the car ready for qualifying this weekend, but we need work on traffic and running with groups to get the car ready for the 500-mile race.

Sometimes it’s a waiting game at IMS.

Out for practice, day 2.

On another note, we caught a wedding ceremony in progress during practice… in victory circle, no less! Congrats to the happy couple!

Nice ceremony backdrop!

11:15 a.m.
Hello from IMS! The No. 83 team worked last night and this morning to move the Team Chevy engine from the backup car to the primary car so we can run at noon today. Our plan is to get through some testing items today, working with our teammates to check things off the list. The weather forecast for Tuesday looks pretty iffy, so we’ll try to maximize our time today in case we aren’t able to get out too much tomorrow.

Don’t forget–you can find live streaming and timing via INDYCAR Race Control for all practice sessions! Follow my Pit Lane Reporter (PLR) on Twitter @racewithinsulin for updates while I’m on track.

Sunday, May 11
6:45 p.m.
I have to say, it felt a little weird putting on my firesuit this afternoon having just raced here yesterday. But any day in the car is a good day! The Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing crew started switching the car from the road course setup over to the oval configuration last night and finished it this morning. We didn’t run until about 5:30 this evening because we were getting everything situated with the No. 83T backup car to shake down today.

We only ran 12 laps today in the backup car, but hit 221.845 mph for seventh on the speed charts. Tonight they’ll pull the Team Chevy engine from the T car and install it into the primary No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car to run when practice goes green tomorrow at noon. The big unknown this week is the weather… but it’s also the thing we can’t control!