Charlie Kimball

Charles Newton Kimball (born February 20, 1985) is an American former race car driver who most recently competed in the IndyCar Series with A. J. Foyt Enterprises. He has scored a win, six podiums, and 13 top-fives during his IndyCar career. His best season results were ninth in 2013 and 2016. In addition, he won the 2013 24 Hours of Daytona.

Career

2002–2005 Born in Chertsey, England, Kimball's single-seater career started in 2002 when he took part in the American Formula Dodge national championship, finishing the season in tenth place overall. He also won three races in the SCCA Formula Ford series. For 2003, he moved up to Formula Ford US, finishing third overall with two race wins and seven podium finishes. He also contested the UK Formula Ford winter series, taking one race win to finish third overall.

In 2004, Kimball competed in the full UK Formula Ford championship for Team JLR, taking two race wins and eleven podiums on his way to fourth in the championship. In the end-of-season Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch he finished in eighth place. His performances earned him a drive with front runners Carlin Motorsport in the 2005 British Formula 3 Championship, where he took five race wins to finish an impressive second behind teammate Álvaro Parente. He also finished twelfth in the Marlboro Masters at Zandvoort, but failed to finish the season-ending Macau Grand Prix.

2006–2008 For 2006, Kimball stayed in Formula Three, but moved up to the Formula 3 Euro Series with the French Signature-Plus team. He took one race win and three podiums to finish the season in eleventh place. Once again, he took part in the Masters Formula 3 race at Zandvoort and the Macau Grand Prix, finishing in ninth and 21st places respectively.

In 2007, Kimball competed in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series for the Italian Victory Engineering team, alongside Dutchman Giedo van der Garde. He competed in twelve races (leaving the series with two race weekends remaining) and finished 24th in points with a best finish of eighth in the Monza and Nurburgring sprint races. His departed the team due to the onset of Type 1 diabetes which required hospitalization. As part of his ongoing treatment he wears a wireless blood sugar monitor and carries sugar water on board the car while racing. In 2008, he returned to F3 EuroSeries for six races with Prema Powerteam. Late in 2008, he competed in the first round of the A1 Grand Prix series for A1 Team USA.

Firestone Indy Lights (2009–2010) For 2009, Kimball signed to drive in Indy Lights for the new Team PBIR outfit. He stated that an influencing factor in his return to the U.S. is to increase Diabetes awareness in his home country. Kimball finished tenth in points with a best finish of fourth at Watkins Glen International.

Kimball returned to Indy Lights in 2010 and signed with AFS Racing/Andretti Autosport. Despite not winning a race or pole, Kimball had four second-place finishes on the season and captured fourth in points, one spot behind his teammate Martin Plowman.

IndyCar Series (2011–2021)

It was announced on December 16, 2010, that Kimball would move up to the IndyCar Series in 2011, in which he would drive the No. 83 entry for Chip Ganassi Racing. Kimball finished nineteenth in points with a best finish of ninth at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Kimball returned to the team in 2012 and again finished nineteenth in points despite missing a race due to injury. He finished second at the Honda Indy Toronto, his first career podium finish. Kimball won his first IndyCar race on August 4, 2013, at the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. He also finished second at Pocono and fourth at Barber and ranked ninth in points. In 2013, he competed in his first 24 Hours of Daytona race with Ganassi and was on the race-winning team with co-drivers Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Pruett, and Memo Rojas.

In the 2014 IndyCar season, Kimball scored four top-five finishes and placed ninth in points. In 2015, he finished third at the Indianapolis 500 and the Grand Prix of Sonoma, and finished fifth at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. The driver finished fifth at both Indianapolis races and got eleven top-fives in sixteen races, which earned him a ninth overall position in 2016. He scored no top-fives in 2017, and he parted with Ganassi afterward.

Carlin signed Kimball for the 2018 season. He got a fifth-place finish at Toronto and collected six top-tens. Kimball ran part-time in 2019, scoring two tenth-place finishes. He joined A. J. Foyt Enterprises in 2020, where he scored two top-tens. In 2021, Kimball failed to qualify for the Indy 500 for the first time in his career.

Personal life Kimball was born in England but grew up in Camarillo, California. His father Gordon was a designer of Formula One and Indy cars.

At the age of 22, Kimball was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and was forced to abandon his racing program midseason. Undeterred, he climbed back into the cockpit the following year and claimed a podium finish in his first race after returning. Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of the insulin Kimball uses, became a full-time sponsor of his racing program in 2011.

Kimball married Kathleen, whom he first met in high school, in 2014, the wedding officiated by fellow driver James Hinchcliffe. The couple relocated to Indianapolis, where they live with two dogs. Kathleen earned her MBA from Indiana University Kelley School of Business, and works at Kimball Marketing Group.

Kimball is a long-time fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team.

Racing record

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points 2006 Signature-Plus Dallara F306/010 Mercedes HOC1 HOC2 LAU1 LAU2 OSC1 OSC2 BRH1 BRH2 NOR1 NOR2 NÜR1 NÜR2 ZAN1 ZAN2 CAT1 CAT2 LMS1 LMS2 HOC1 HOC2 11th 31 2008 Prema Powerteam Dallara F308/047 Mercedes HOC1 HOC2 MUG1 MUG2 PAU1 PAU2 NOR1 NOR2 ZAN1 ZAN2 NÜR1 NÜR2 BRH1 BRH2 CAT1 CAT2 LMS1 LMS2 HOC1 HOC2 17th 8

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results (key) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 DC Points 2007 Victory Engineering MNZFEA MNZSPR NÜRFEA NÜRSPR MONFEA HUNFEA HUNSPR SPAFEA SPASPR DONFEA DONSPR MAGFEA MAGSPR ESTFEA ESTSPR CATFEA CATSPR 24th 7

American open–wheel results (key)

Indy Lights Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Rank Points 2009 Team PBIR STP STP LBH KAN INDY MIL IOW WGL TOR EDM KTY MOH SNM CHI HMS 10th 310 2010 AFS RacingAndretti Autosport STP ALA LBH INDY IOW WGL TOR EDM MOH SNM CHI KTY HMS 4th 388

IndyCar Series (key) Year Team No. Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Rank Points 2011 Chip Ganassi Racing 83 Dallara IR-05 Honda STP ALA LBH SAO INDY TXS TXS MIL IOW TOR EDM MOH NHM SNM BAL MOT KTY LVS1 19th 233 2012 Dallara DW12 STP ALA LBH SAO INDY DET TXS MIL IOW TOR EDM MOH SNM BAL FON 19th 260 2013 STP ALA LBH SAO INDY DET DET TXS MIL IOW POC TOR TOR MOH SNM BAL HOU HOU FON 9th 427 2014 Chevrolet STP LBH ALA IMS INDY DET DET TXS HOU HOU POC IOW TOR TOR MOH MIL SNM FON 14th 402 2015 STP NLA LBH ALA IMS INDY DET DET TXS TOR FON MIL IOW MOH POC SNM 12th 372 2016 STP PHX LBH ALA IMS DET DET RDA IOW TOR MOH POC TXS WGL SNM 9th 433 42 INDY 2017 83 Honda STP LBH ALA PHX IMS INDY DET DET TXS ROA IOW TOR MOH POC GTW WGL SNM 17th 327 2018 Carlin 23 Chevrolet STP PHX LBH ALA IMS INDY DET DET TXS ROA IOW TOR MOH POC GTW POR SNM 17th 287 2019 STP COA ALA LBH IMS INDY DET DET TXS RDA TOR IOW MOH POC GTW POR LAG 25th 117 2020 A. J. Foyt Enterprises 4 TXS IMS ROA ROA IOW IOW INDY GTW GTW MOH MOH IMS IMS STP 18th 218 2021 11 ALA STP TXS TXS IMS INDY DET DET ROA MOH NSH IMS GTW POR LAG LBH 36th 20

Season still in progress. 1 The Las Vegas Indy 300 was abandoned after Dan Wheldon died from injuries sustained in a 15-car crash on lap 11.

Years Teams Races Poles Wins Top 5s Top 10s Indianapolis 500 wins Championships518411113300

Indianapolis 500