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via: Racer.com

By Marshall Pruett | Published: March 30, 2022 

If Charlie Kimball had his say on where he’d be found on IndyCar weekends, it would be inside the cockpit of a Dallara DW12. But with the Californian’s last NTT IndyCar Series race taking place in September at the Acura Grand Prix at Long Beach with A.J. Foyt Racing and no immediate prospects to return to the grid, Kimball has taken a different approach to the sport he loves.

Outside of the three-race deal with Foyt in 2021, Kimball embarked on a new commentary role with NBC Sports in the Indy Lights series, and while that broadcast opportunity continues, he added a new twist at the recent XPEL 375 race at Texas Motor Speedway where he served as Ed Carpenter’s race strategist.

Kimball’s experience dating back to his full-time IndyCar debut in 2011 provides an ECR or any other team searching for a knowledgeable veteran with an interesting option to consider for its timing stand.

“With the Indy Lights broadcasts already there for me, I’ve been looking for other ways to stay involved and have that competitive itch satisfied,” Kimball told RACER. “And having an investment in the result of a car or a team in a mentor or consultant role, a little like what Dario [Franchitti] does at the Ganassi team, appealed to me. He obviously has the Indy 500 wins and championships to offer, but I do enjoy that translation between driver and engineer, engineer and management, driver and mechanic, mechanic and engineer mechanic and management; there’s so many different communication roles within a team that are going about a million miles an hour on a race weekend.

“So I proposed and fleshed out a concept of working as a consultant to bring a perspective and lend some thoughts, with the benefit of my experience, to create progress within a program. And I was talking to Ed Carpenter about it and he said he needed a strategist for Texas because the person they worked with had a conflict. So it started in St. Pete where I went in and did what I called ‘an interview with friends’ where I met with [ECR GM] Tim Broyles and we spoke about mentality and the culture of communication, how calling a race works, how practice and qualifying works, what Ed likes to hear what it doesn’t like to hear, and we decided to go forward for Texas.”

Rather than throw Kimball onto Carpenter’s No. 33 Chevy timing stand on his own, ECR called in its former team manager Derrick Walker to serve as co-strategist.

“For me in my first time in that role, first time on that stand, having Derrick as a backup was invaluable,” Kimball said. “It meant my job was to largely stay out of the way and make strategy calls based on my experience, based on previous races, based on the inherent speed of the car, and who we were racing. And the fact that the 33 car is not a championship, not a full-season contender but could be contending for a win in May, a lot of what we did was getting all of those little headaches, those little challenges out of the way in Texas so that when that car when the 33 car rolls out for the first day of practice at Indy, it’s not cold for anyone, Ed included.”

Kimball isn’t sure if he’ll be back with Carpenter or possibly working with another IndyCar team in the coming rounds.

“It was a one-off event where we’re continuing to have conversations about if there’s a role for me in the future,” he said. “I was really impressed with the team and the organization, especially with its first time running three cars at Texas with a crew that hadn’t done pitstops since last May and Ed hadn’t been in a car since Gateway last year. And you know, he was straight up to speed in practice. So I think that showed really well for them. And as a team, I was really impressed.

“After Texas, I got a call from a different team about fulfilling a strategy and timing stand roll for them for the rest of the year, so I’m still evaluating it because I enjoyed it and I think it would work well. Also, any opportunity that crosses my desk as an option, I always want to make sure that there is a stipulation that it’s secondary to me getting in a seat. If I get a ride, then that takes priority.”

via: Ventura County Star

By Joe Curley | Published: Aug 21, 2020

A decade of Indianapolis 500s hasn’t just brought Charlie Kimball to Indiana.

The Camarillo native, who will drive in his 10th Indy 500 on Sunday, has been jetted off to other cities to promote the event. 

He has spent time in Dallas, St. Louis, Milwaukee or Columbus early in previous race weeks, which is usually packed with off-track and track adjacent events to celebrate the teams, the series and the sport itself.

It’s all part of the so-called “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

But this week, ahead of the most abnormal race in the event’s more than 100-year history — a race in the heat of summer without the hundreds of thousands of fans who typically flock to Indianapolis Motor Speedway — Kimball has been doing his best to ground himself in normality. 

“It’s a strange week for sure, from what I’m used to,” Kimball said. “For me, I’m trying to make it as normal as possible. So that all of the abnormality — the no fans, the lack of travel, the lack of community outreach and commitments — don’t weigh on me as much. I’m still going to the gym and training, going to the track and meeting with my engineer and my mechanics.

“It’s so important for us as teams and drivers to do as much preparation and homework as possible so that on race day, we show ourselves as best as possible.”

He’s been able to substitute autograph sessions and sponsor events with extra workouts and rest. Which helps, considering the most important race of the NTT Indy Car series has thrown him for a metaphorical spin this week. 

Kimball thinks there’s a gremlin in his No. 4 Tresiba Chevrolet.

“It’s something I’ve never experienced before at Indy, in my decade of experience,” Kimball said. “We think we’ve got a gremlin somewhere in the car, mechanically. We haven’t found it yet, we’re still looking.”

In what he termed “a very active steering moment,” Kimball nearly crashed into Turn 4 of the fourth lap in qualifying last weekend. 

“The car tried to spin and put me in the wall,” Kimball said. 

He sent video of the moment to a friend, who told him, “You crashed. You just didn’t hit anything.”

The upside? Kimball didn’t set himself further back by damaging the car.

“I’m really proud to have saved the car and not crashed the car,” Kimball said. “Anytime you hit the wall at Indy, it puts you some level behind. I was pleased not to do that, to keep it off the wall, but it was not what I was expecting from the car itself.”

The downside? The Rio Mesa High graduate, who is currently No. 18 in the NTT IndyCar Series points standings, qualified No. 29 with an average speed of 227.758 MPH over his four qualifying laps.

Which means that, after consistently competing in the top half of the field during last week’s practices, Kimball will start Sunday at the Brickyard on Row 10 between Helio Castroneves and Max Chilton. The race will be broadcast by NBC on Sunday, beginning locally at 10 a.m.

“Would I rather be starting in the front row? It’s a lot easier when you start up front,” Kimball said. “When you start a little further back, it almost forces you to be a little more creative on Sunday.

“The opportunity is there. Is it harder? Yes. It would be harder if it was a 200-mile race. With five or six pit stops (in a 500-mile race), there’s the opportunity to continue to make our car better during the course of the race and use some strategy to move through the field.”

AJ Foyt racing teammates Dalton Kellett and Tony Kaanan aren’t having the same issues this week. 

“When we try to match their setup, my car is a lot looser,” Kimball said. “It wants to turn a lot more.”

So Kimball and his team faced a race against the clock this week to diagnose and fix the issue. 

“I have total confidence in the AJ Foyt crew to fix it,” Kimball said. 

Whatever happens Sunday, it won’t be the same without the mass of humanity that normally fills the grandstand at IMS. 

“It’s just weird,” Kimball said. “And it’s heartbreaking … to not have the best fans in the world to come out to the race track.”

Last Sunday, as Marco Andretti earned his famous family’s first Indy 500 pole since 1987, Kimball noticed fans tailgating across the street from the speedway, positioned so they could watch qualifying on the big screen. 

“They couldn’t be in the track,” Kimball said, “but they wanted to be here to just hear the cars run.” 

Of course, Kimball will also be missing his family, including his father Gordon, who helped design so many cars for Indianapolis. 

Gordon Kimball, who now manages the family avocado farm outside Santa Paula, will be watching from home for the first time since his son’s career took off more than a decade ago.

The Kimball friends and family section, typically somewhere between 30 to 60 people, will be empty. 

“We usually host a dinner for some of the out-of-town people on Friday night after Carb day and the pit stop competition,” Kimball said. “I get to see all of them…  so it’s going to be really strange.”

Kimball has found himself calling his father more often than usual this month, sitting in the RV the race team has rented for the month.

“For me, he’s always been such a great mentor and had such a great perspective,” said Kimball. “I call him and use him as a sanity check, just to make sure I’m thinking about things the right way.”

Despite the pandemic and the potential gremlin and everything else that makes this week unique and dramatic, Kimball is intent on not taking his 10th Indy 500 for granted. 

“It is neat,” Kimball said. “Qualifying for my first Indy 500 was special. Each year has only gotten more and more special. I know that sounds kind of crazy. Every year, you do this race and this event, it becomes more and more important to come back for me. 

“It’s one of those races that just gets further and further into your blood each time you do it. The stress. The adrenaline. The pressure. The sense of accomplishment. Not only qualifying for it, but racing in it and completing in it.”

via: INDYCAR

By Zach Horrall | Published: Jun 12, 2020

Going into last weekend’s Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway, NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver Charlie Kimball could feel the pressure, even if he had several reasons to be optimistic about the first INDYCAR race in eight months and in the 2020 season.

Kimball, a 35-year-old from Camarillo, California, was set to embark on his first full-time INDYCAR season since 2018, and he was racing at a track where he has enjoyed success. He had four top-10 finishes at Texas and won the pole in 2017, making him the track-record holder at the 1.5-mile oval with a 222.747 mph single lap speed and a two-lap average of 222.556 mph.

Plus, it was Kimball’s first time serving as a team leader, making his driving debut for A.J. Foyt Enterprises in the No. 4 Tresiba Chevrolet. Kimball is the team’s only full-time driver in 2020.

"Charlie brings a great deal of experience and skill to the team," said team president Larry Foyt. “He is motivated to show what he can do behind the wheel, and his recent experience of helping develop cars will be beneficial as we work to get the No. 4 car moving up the grid.”

The goal in bringing Kimball onboard this season was to improve a team which has struggled to piece together solid finishes the last few years with two full-time entries. This year, A.J. Foyt Enterprises will run a second Chevrolet entry, the No. 14, driven by a rotation of drivers: Sebastien Bourdais, Tony Kanaan and Dalton Kellett.

It’s clear, then, that while 2020 is a building year, it is important for the Foyt team to have solid results and good on-track performance to set the team up for future success. A good first race at Texas felt all but necessary.

Like the rest of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES paddock, Kimball had not raced an Indy car since the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey last Sept. 22 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. But having only competed in seven races in 2019 for Carlin, with a best finish of 10^th at Portland International Raceway, the pressure was certainly on for Kimball to prove his full-time status was deserved.

Kimball said driving for INDYCAR legend A.J. Foyt adds even more pressure. Not only is he competing for a legendary name that helped to define open-wheel racing in North America, but the first two races of the season take place at tracks near and dear to Foyt: Texas Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Always looking or the positives in every situation, Kimball used one of his favorite quotes from tennis icon Billie Jean King to keep his mentality in check: “Pressure is a privilege.”

With that in mind, Kimball entered Saturday night’s race privileged to race on a tightly packed day of racing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Kimball hopped into his No. 4 Indy car hoping to put together a solid first run with his new team.

The box score may not show it, but Kimball succeeded.

Kimball ran with the best all night long inside the top-10, and even at times battled for a top-five position. Kimball was sixth when a caution came out for Felix Rosenqvist’s spin with nine laps to go. A fuel miscalculation forced him onto pit road during the caution, and he restarted the race 11^th but at the tail end of the field with four laps to go.

Unfortunately for Kimball, he hit the outside wall exiting Turn 2 on the final lap and spun down the backstretch, ending his night wrecked with an 11^th-place finish, just behind his teammate Kanaan in 10^th.

“The car was so good,” Kimball said after the race. “We unloaded pretty well, and I think we made it a little bit better, qualified solidly and then the green flag came out and the car felt so good. I was able to make moves and move forward. A small miscalculation in pit lane meant that we had to make an unscheduled pit stop, which was unfortunate, which put us back and we got caught up and ended up with a little bit of damage at the end of the race.

“Still, two AJ Foyt Racing cars finishing 10^th and 11^th, I think it’s a solid start to 2020.”

The solid night for the two A.J. Foyt Enterprises entries was a significant improvement over the team’s 2019 performance at Texas when Kanaan finished 16^th and Matheus Leist, driving the No. 4 Kimball drives now, finished 22^nd.

With three weeks until the next event, the GMR Grand Prix on July 4 on the IMS road course (live on NBC), Kimball said he will focus the month of June on training for the hot summer months ahead, which is extremely important for the driver with Type 1 diabetes.

Just as Kimball had several reasons to look forward to racing at Texas, he should be eager to continue the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season in one month with GMR Grand Prix.

Kimball enters the event with a solid track record on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile track. Kimball has a career-best start of second, and he finished in fifth position three straight years from 2014-16. Additionally, Kimball’s No. 4 team finished fourth last year with Leist behind the wheel.

“I think that the month of June is going to be hard, but the fact that we get to come back to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the GMR Grand Prix on that 4th of July Brickyard weekend is something to really look forward to,” Kimball said.

Kimball and the entire NTT INDYCAR SERIES paddock will make history that weekend as they take part in the first INDYCAR-NASCAR tripleheader weekend, as the NASCAR Xfinity Series will also race on the road course July 4, while the NASCAR Cup Series will compete in the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 Powered by Big Machine Records July 5.

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Via: Indianapolis Star

By: Nathan Brown

While other IndyCar drivers have been glued to their in-home simulators or struggled becoming eLearning teachers, Charlie Kimball’s reality during the coronavirus pandemic is uniquely his.

It’s falling asleep singing songs from “Moana”, waking up to watch DisneyNature’s “Elephant” on repeat and trying not to feel left out while watching the weekly iRacing series events each Saturday — all while taking care of a new baby son born 12 hours before he hopped on a plane for St. Petersburg in March.

In a normal race season, Gordon Kimball’s entrance into the world March 11 was already going to present a complicated reality to adjust to for Charlie, his wife, Kathleen, and their 18-month-old daughter Hannah. Though the driver of the No. 4 car for A.J. Foyt Racing still wishes he could be racing in his return to full-season competition, life as a father of two with an unexpected, indefinite paternity leave has certainly had its pluses.

IndyCar driver Charlie Kimball and his wife, Kathleen, gave birth to their second child, Gordon, on March 11. (Photo: Provided by Kathleen Kimball)

“Having time to be there for Kathleen, as a new mother again, and spending time with my daughter these weeks, her vocab has just exploded, and I think I would have missed some of that had I been on-and-off the road at the racetrack for races and testing these few months,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, I would rather be at the racetrack 100%, in the car and going to events, but with that not an option, being able to be part of my daughter’s growth and development and the first four, five or six weeks of my son’s life is pretty special.”

The initial plan for the Kimballs to help ease themselves into being a family of four involved Kimball’s mother, Nancy, staying with the crew for more than a week after she and Charlie’s father, Gordon, traveled to St. Pete to watch their son in his inaugural race with his new team. Kathleen’s mother also lives near Indianapolis and had planned to be available for the young parents.

But as the news broke Thursday, while Charlie was en route to Florida after his family’s exciting Wednesday, that fans wouldn’t be allowed around the track for the weekend’s race, his parents quickly changed their flight to spend a couple of days with their new grandson before heading back to southern California where they own and manage their farm, Kimball Avocados.

The next day, Charlie was left scrambling himself, once news that St. Pete, along with Barber, Long Beach and Circuit of the Americas, had been postponed. But it wasn’t until that following week, while he was sleep-deprived and no longer laser-focused planning for the next time he’d step onto a racetrack again, that Kimball’s new reality set in.Get the IndyStar Motor Sports newsletter in your inbox.

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“I wasn’t checking the long-term forecasts to see what the weather was going to be doing in Barber or Richmond for our tests, or the long-term one for Indy. Instead, I was checking in on the testing rates and infection rates and how people were managing their health in the long-term,” he said. “That’s when I realized ‘Okay, we’re on pause. What can I do now to make sure that when we hit ‘play’ again, that I’m ready to go?’ ”

Like other drivers, Charlie Kimball has maintained his daily fitness routine. (Photo: Provided by Kathleen Kimball)

As the rest of the racing community has, he’s stayed persistent with his daily fitness routine organized by PitFit, in between movies, naps and books, and he said he’s kept the lines of communication with his engineering and crew members open on a near-daily basis. In whatever free time he can carve out, Kimball’s been rewatching old races, going through notebooks full of old race reports and trying to reacquaint himself with some of the tracks he was away from during last year’s partial season with Carlin Racing.

Because whenever IndyCar does get started again, he knows it’s going to be at a breakneck pace – and he’s the only full-time series driver and one of the few drivers scheduled to compete in the series at all in 2020 who hasn’t entered any of IndyCar’s iRacing Challenge events.

He's stayed connected with the IndyCar community in setting up an online Indy 500 trivia night, in conjunction with Hambones Trivia, set for May 2 at 8:30 p.m.

But while several dads in the series had solid excuses why they didn’t jump-in initially, or why they haven’t been able to invest much time practicing during the week, Kimball’s excuse for staying out of the sim-racing fray is plenty understandable.

Though it doesn’t mean he hasn’t been watching – sometimes with four separate screens to listen to as many different driver streams as possible.

“I’ve never been an iRacing guy, never used sims outside the ones at Chevy and (Honda). And I don’t have any equipment – no seat, no pedals, no computer that would run iRacing,” he said. “So the financial and time investment to get set up wasn’t insignificant, and with having my hands full with two kids under 18 months, if I was going to do it, I was going to make sure I was fully committed.

“And I just wasn’t willing to sacrifice all that.”

18-month-old Hannah gives newborn Gordon a kiss. (Photo: Provided by Kathleen Kimball)

Because at night, when a bulk of the IndyCar drivers have been diving into sim-racing practices or unaffiliated races on the side, Kimball has started to see his family of four mesh and develop.

“As part of our nighttime routine, we all go up as my daughter and I read books, and when we finish them and turn out the lights, (my wife and I) will say ‘Night night, I love you’, and we’ll give her a kiss,” Kimball said. “And my daughter in the last couple weeks has started to give her brother kisses on the way out the door.

“Seeing that connection between my son and daughter develop in the last couple weeks, incrementally, day-by-day, is something I would have missed.”

Email IndyStar motor sports reporter Nathan Brown at nlbrown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @By_NathanBrown.

via INDYCAR

Published: May 7th, 2020

The 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season will begin Saturday, June 6 with the Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway. INDYCAR’s stars will take the green flag at 8:45 p.m. (ET), with broadcast coverage provided by NBC Sports via NBCSN.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, INDYCAR will run a condensed schedule with practice, qualifying and the race taking place on the same day. The event also will be conducted without fans in attendance. This will be the 24th consecutive year in which INDYCAR has raced at the 1.5-mile oval in Fort Worth, Texas.

“We’re excited and ready to kick off the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season at Texas Motor Speedway,” INDYCAR President Jay Frye said. “We’ve worked closely with Eddie Gossage, the entire TMS team and public health officials on a plan of action that will ensure the safety of our event participants alongside an exciting return to competition for our drivers, teams and viewers tuning in from around the world.”

“America needs live sports and they are not going to believe what they see when the Genesys 300 storms into their living rooms on TV from Texas,” said Eddie Gossage, president and general manager of Texas Motor Speedway. “One of the world’s greatest sporting events, the Indy 500, has been postponed until August by coronavirus, so all of that pent-up energy, anticipation, frustrations and anxiety will be pounding through the drivers’ nervous systems. Typically, the Genesys 300 results in a 220-mph photo finish.”

Other steps to protect the wellbeing of participants have been identified through close consultation with TMS and public health officials. These include:

• Strict access guidelines limiting the number of personnel on site
• A health screening system administered to all participants
• PPE equipment provided to everyone entering the facility, along with guidelines on usage
• Social distancing protocols in place and carefully maintained
• Revised competition layout to increase distancing

To accommodate the one-day schedule, the length for the race at Texas Motor Speedway has been adjusted to 200 laps rather than the previously announced 248 laps. The full on-track schedule for the Genesys 300:

• NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice: 1:30-3:30 p.m. (ET)
• NTT INDYCAR SERIES Qualifications: 5 p.m. (ET)
• Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway: 8:45 p.m. (ET)

The remainder of the updated, 15-race INDYCAR calendar for 2020, announced April 6, remains on schedule for competition.

Charlie and Kathleen are happy to announce the birth of their second child, Gordon Kimball on March 11th.  He is happy and healthy, and enjoying Dad's unexpected paternity leave.  His sister, Hannah loves him, and is always trying to share her pacifiers with him. Visit Facebook to see more photos and to keep up with the new family of 4!

Via: INDYCAR

The NTT INDYCAR SERIES announced several calendar updates today following the cancellation of the Detroit Grand Prix due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Two previously scheduled events will become doubleheaders along with the addition of a third weekend of racing at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

With these additions, there are 15 races on the 2020 INDYCAR calendar, an increase of one event from the 14 races announced March 26.

“We’re committed to bringing fans as much on-track action as possible,” Penske Entertainment Corp. President and CEO Mark Miles said. “Our updated schedule features additional racing at fan-favorite venues and adds to the total number of events on our calendar. The COVID-19 situation continues to be dynamic and challenging for everyone, so we have developed contingency plans which will allow us to respond to changing conditions. Our goal is to preserve as much racing competition as possible while prioritizing the health and safety of our participants and spectators.”

INDYCAR’s established events at Iowa Speedway and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca will become doubleheaders. The Iowa 300 event weekend will add a race Friday, July 17 along with the previously scheduled race Saturday, July 18. The Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey event weekend will now feature a race Saturday, Sept. 19 in addition to the previously scheduled race Sunday, Sept. 20.

Race fans also will be treated to a third INDYCAR event at the Racing Capital of the World, with the INDYCAR Harvest GP on the IMS road course taking place Saturday, Oct. 3. This event is in addition to the GMR Grand Prix, already scheduled for Saturday, July 4, and the 104^th Running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, Aug. 23.

“Like our fans, we’re disappointed we won’t be racing in Detroit this year,” Miles said. “However, we’re excited to return to Belle Isle in 2021 and know we’ll put on a great show for everyone when we do. We also appreciate the flexibility and support of our event promoters at Iowa Speedway and Laguna Seca, who have enthusiastically embraced the opportunity to host doubleheaders.”

An updated listing of green flag times and an NBC Sports broadcast schedule will be announced in the near future.

Below is the updated 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Schedule

Via: Racer.com By: Robin Miller  If Charlie Kimball seems an unlikely choice to try and kick start A.J. Foyt’s racing team, then consider the following: the son of famous engineer Gordon is technically savvy, he always runs well at the boss’ favorite track and he brings a very good and loyal sponsor. As forecast a few weeks ago by RACER.com, Kimball was officially introduced Wednesday as the full-time driver of Foyt’s No. 4 car for the 2020 NTT IndyCar season. “It’s a bit of a reset for us coming off a tough year and Charlie is a technical driver who comes from a great engineering family and always gets around the Speedway well so his drive matched with his experience should really help the No. 4 car,” said team president Larry Foyt. “I think Charlie is a fighter on the racetrack and can help us find those two-tenths we were missing last year.” Returning to a full-time driving role has been the primary goal of Kimball’s off-season. Image by LAT Kimball was a part-timer last season for Carlin and scored a pair of top 10s in his seven appearances in addition to being the lone member of the three-car effort to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. But the 34-year-old Californian, who will have Novo Nordisk as his primary sponsor for six races, knows part-timers are always driving uphill. “I would not have survived another year on a partial schedule because it was really rough on me watching those races when I wasn’t in a car,” he said. “That consistency allows you to stay in rhythm but it always takes a moment or two to knock off that rust when you don’t drive every race. “The level of competition is so high that any drawback puts you behind. That’s why I’m excited to work hard and try and get back to where this team wants to be.” The 2019 season was a disaster for IndyCar’s oldest operation as Tony Kanaan finished 15th in the point standings and Matheus Leist was 19th. And longtime sponsor ABC Supply announced it would only be returning for the Indianapolis 500. Kanaan managed one podium at Gateway while Leist took fourth at the Indy GP. Despite increased hours in the wind tunnel and seven-post shaker rig to try and hone their damper program, Foyt Racing just couldn’t get things right on ovals or road racing. “IndyCar is so close, even when you feel like you’re on back foot, you’re not that far away,” continued Foyt, who has hired Mike Colliver and Mike Pawlowski to try and shore up the engineering department. “Once you get into season, it’s tough to dig yourself out of a hole if you head down the wrong path. “A lot of people talk about shock absorbers right now in IndyCar and that’s somewhere we did some pretty extensive testing last year, thinking it was the right direction. A lot of times we felt we showed well in our off-track testing and when we got to the track it seemed like that was the right way to go. But then as the track rubbered up, all of the sudden you’re not where you need to be. You thought you were in a good place and now you’re behind.” An example was the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where Kanaan was just as quick as polesitter Ed Carpenter and eventual winner Will Power in 2018 before getting a flat tire. “Other teams gained last May and we hadn’t,” reasoned Foyt. It’s no secret that Indy’s first-four-time winner and all-time winning driver only has eyes for 16th & Georgetown and that’s been Kimball’s best track in his 10-year career as he’s finished third, fifth, eighth and ninth. “With that Bow Tie on the engine over there is no reason we can’t be talking about qualifying in the top 12 or Fast 9 shootout — being a part of that hunt for the pole is definitely on my radar,” said Kimball, who for the 12th consecutive year will be sponsor by Novo Nordisk. Foyt said the line-up for the No. 14 car is still a work in progress, but RACER’s Marshall Pruett reported that Sebastien Bourdais will likely run the first four races while Kanaan takes all the ovals and rookie Dalton Kellett drives the final seven road/street shows.

Via IndyStar By: Nathan Brown

INDIANAPOLIS – Charlie Kimball and A.J. Foyt Racing are taking a chance on each other, and that could make the newest full-time IndyCar driver-team pairing for the 2020 season a perfect fit.

Both will find out soon enough.

Wednesday morning, the open-wheel racing titan and his namesake team announced Kimball, the nine-year IndyCar veteran, as its full-season driver behind the Chevy-powered No. 4 car for the 17-race 2020 season.

Coincidentally, both last reached victory lane back in 2013 – Foyt with Takuma Sato at Long Beach, and Kimball a couple months later at Mid-Ohio. In the seven years since, both have been on a long, winding road they hope will lead to consistency in 2020.

“Culture, it starts at the top, and with A.J., he’s a racer’s racer. When you’re the first four-time winner of the Indy 500, that legacy is the core of the team and what the enterprise is built upon,” Kimball said. “We all want to be better, want to do better, want more out of our results, and the last couple years, I think everyone in the No. 4 and No. 14 programs would tell you they want more.

“But since I’ve started working with the engineers, they want to be better, want to be faster, want to have better results, and I’ve been impressed with that motivation.”

Plans for Foyt’s No. 14 car, which has been longtime veteran Tony Kanaan’s seat the past two seasons, are still in the works.

Via: Racer By: Marshall Pruett | September 3, 2019 10:22 AM As Carlin Racing’s Charlie Kimball can attest, sometimes a 10th-place finish feels like a podium. The NTT IndyCar Series veteran was thrust into the No. 23 Chevy for the Portland Grand Prix, and in a result that’s typical of the Californian’s career, he turned a poor day of qualifying into something positive. Motoring from 23rd to 10th, Kimball produced Carlin’s top performance on Sunday which, under normal circumstances, wouldn’t be cause for celebration. However, 2019 has been anything but normal for Trevor Carlin’s outfit. As the British team nears the end of its sophomore season, it’s faced constant change in the cockpit as six drivers have rotated in an out of its seats, missed qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 with two of its three entries, lost Patricio O’Ward to the Japanese Super Formula series, had lead driver Max Chilton cut the remaining ovals from his calendar, and made a midseason engineering change on one of its cars.o

Via: Forbes

Via IndyCar.com At the end of September, the Verizon IndyCar Series handed out its season awards at its Victory Lap event in Indianapolis. But IndyCar.com isn’t finished distributing the special, hard-earned honors we're calling the Speedy Awards. We've been diving deep into the analytics of the 2018 season to find the driver who had the best year according to the loads of data gathered by INDYCAR's elaborate timing and scoring computers at every event. Analysis of raw loop data helps us decide the winners of several awards. The driver with the most Speedy Awards at the end of this series will be crowned the Speedy "Driver of the Year." To read more, please click here. [caption id="attachment_5086" align="aligncenter" width="626"] Photo courtesy of LAT Photo USA[/caption]