Charlie Kimball Advances to 14th Place in IZOD Indycar Series following Top 10 finish
April 10, 2011
Charlie Kimball 22nd in the IZOD IndyCar Series point standings.
BIRMINGHAM, AL - Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing (NNCGR) and IZOD IndyCar Series rookie driver Charlie Kimball secured a top-10 finish in the Honda Grand Prix of Alabama on Sunday, April 10th.
The No. 83 Levemir and NovoLog FlexPen Honda started the race from the 21st position, dodged the on-track melee and crossed the finish line in 10th place. This marks the first top-10 finish for the Novo Nordisk team.
After the solid performance, Kimball advances to 14th place in the IZOD IndyCar Series point standings.
Up next for Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing is Round 3 of the IZOD IndyCar Series at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, April 17th (3:30 p.m. ET, VERSUS).
NNCGR Quoteboard:
Charlie Kimball: "It’s a great day for Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing. This is the first IZOD IndyCar Series race that I finished and I definitely learned my lesson from St. Pete. The guys pulled off great pit strategy throughout the race. All I had to do was drive by cars on the track and was able to come home 10th. Points mean prizes at the end of the year and now we can build on this for my home race at Long Beach next weekend."
Notes of Interest:
About Charlie Kimball
Charlie Kimball is a successful young race car driver forging a career in the highly competitive world of open wheel racing. Kimball, who began racing go-karts at age 9, was accepted into Stanford University and chose to bypass admission to follow his dream to become a racecar driver. In 2007, Kimball was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and was forced to abandon his racing program mid-season. Today Kimball drives the No. 83 car for Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing in the IZOD IndyCar Series and is the first licensed driver with diabetes in the history of INDYCAR.
After his surprising diagnosis, Kimball returned to the cockpit in 2008 and claimed a podium finish in his first race back in the car. Today, Kimball continues to compete in some of the most competitive racing categories in the world, proving that living with diabetes does not have to restrict him from traveling at speeds of more than 200 miles an hour and fulfilling his dream.
In fact, he has partnered with Novo Nordisk, a global healthcare company dedicated to diabetes care, to raise awareness of the importance of properly managing blood glucose levels and to demonstrate that diabetes can be successfully integrated into your life and your ambitions. Kimball has a history of breaking the mold. Prior to his diagnosis, in 2005, Kimball shattered the European stereotype that "Americans are not fast" by becoming the first American in 11 years to win a British Formula 3 race. He went on to secure two track records and several Formula 3 victories in both Britain and Europe. Kimball has also raced in the Formula 3 Euro series and the World Series by Renault. In 2010, Kimball returned to the Firestone Indy Lights series, finishing 4th overall, piloting the #26 Levemir® FlexPen® Novo Nordisk sponsored car for the legendary AFS Racing/Andretti Autosport.
For 2011 Kimball joins the newly formed Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team. Kimball pilots the No. 83 Novo Nordisk sponsored car and will run a full race schedule in the 2011 IndyCar series.
For more information, please visit www.charliekimball.com, or email charlie@charliekimball.com. Also, please follow him on his blog http://charliekimball.blogspot.com, Facebook www.facebook.com/charlie.kimball or on Twitter , www.twitter.com/charliekimball.
About Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk is a global healthcare company with more than 87 years of innovation and leadership in diabetes care. The company also has leading positions within hemophilia care, growth hormone therapy and hormone therapy for women. Novo Nordisk's business is driven by the Triple Bottom Line: a commitment to social responsibility to employees and customers, environmental soundness and economic success. Headquartered in Denmark, Novo Nordisk employs more than 30,000 employees in 81 countries, and markets its products in 179 countries. Novo Nordisk's B shares are listed on the stock exchanges in Copenhagen and London. Its ADRs are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NVO). For more information, visit www.novonordisk-us.com.
Chip Ganassi Racing Teams Inc.:
Chip Ganassi created his own one-car IndyCar team in 1990 and established a partnership with sponsor, Target. Today, Chip Ganassi Racing Teams includes two entries in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, four in the IZOD IndyCar Series and one Daytona Prototype in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Cars Series. Overall his teams have 12 championships and 137 victories, including three Indianapolis 500s, a Daytona 500, a Brickyard 400 and four Rolex 24 At Daytonas. Ganassi boasts state-of-the-art race shop facilities in Indianapolis and Brownsburg, Ind. and Concord, N.C., with a corporate office in Pittsburgh, Penn.
For more information, visit www.chipganassiracing.com
About Diabetes
In the United States one in 13, or 23.6 million people, have diabetes[i], a condition in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin, the hormone needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. Poorly or untreated diabetes can lead to a long list of health complications such as heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, high blood pressure, blindness, nerve problems and amputations[ii]. Prescribing information for Levemir® and NovoLog® is available by contacting Novo Nordisk at 1-800-727-6500 or visiting Levemir-us.com and NovoLog.com.
[i] 2007 National Diabetes Fact Sheet. Centers for Disease Control Web site. http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/estimates07.htm.
[ii]National Institute Health of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases. National Diabetes Education Pro Web site,http://ndep.nih.gov/diabetes/pubs/FS_AsAm_Eng.pdf. Accessed January 2007.