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| Charlie Kimball | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Kimball during Carb Day at the2015 Indianapolis 500 | |||||||
| Nationality |  American | ||||||
| Born | Charles Newton Kimball (1985-02-20)February 20, 1985 (age 40) Chertsey,Surrey, England | ||||||
| IndyCar Series career | |||||||
| 157 races run over 10 years | |||||||
| Team | No. 4 (A. J. Foyt Enterprises) | ||||||
| 2019 position | 25th | ||||||
| Best finish | 9th (2013,2016) | ||||||
| First race | 2011 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg) | ||||||
| Last race | 2021Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach (Long Beach) | ||||||
| First win | 2013 Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio (Mid-Ohio) | ||||||
| |||||||
| Previous series | |||||||
| 2009–10 2008–09 2006,2008 2007 2005 2004 2003 2002 | Indy Lights A1 Grand Prix Formula 3 Euro Series Formula Renault 3.5 Series British Formula Three British Formula Ford USFormula Ford Formula Dodge | ||||||
| Awards | |||||||
| 2003 | Team USA Scholarship | ||||||
| Signature | |||||||
 | |||||||
Charles Newton Kimball (born February 20, 1985) is an American former race car driver who most recently competed in theIndyCar Series withA. J. Foyt Enterprises. He has scored a win, six podiums, and 13 top 5s during his IndyCar career. His best season results were ninth in 2013 and 2016. In addition, he won the2013 24 Hours of Daytona.
Born inChertsey, England, Kimball's single-seater career started in 2002 when he took part in the AmericanFormula Dodge national championship, finishing the season in tenth place overall. He also won three races in theSCCAFormula Ford series. For 2003, he moved up toFormula FordUS, finishing third overall with two race wins and seven podium finishes. He also contested theUK Formula Ford winter series, taking one race win to finish third overall.
In 2004, Kimball competed in the full UK Formula Ford championship forTeam JLR, taking two race wins and eleven podiums on his way to fourth in the championship. In the end-of-seasonFormula Ford Festival atBrands Hatch he finished in eighth place. His performances earned him a drive with front runnersCarlin Motorsport in the2005 British Formula 3 Championship, where he took five race wins to finish an impressive second behind teammateÁlvaro Parente. He also finished twelfth in theMarlboro Masters atZandvoort, but failed to finish the season-endingMacau Grand Prix.
For 2006, Kimball stayed inFormula Three, but moved up to theFormula 3 Euro Series with theFrenchSignature-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 theFormula Renault 3.5 Series for theItalianVictory Engineering team, alongsideDutchmanGiedo van der Garde.[1] 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 ofType 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.[2] In 2008, he returned to F3 EuroSeries for six races withPrema Powerteam. Late in 2008, he competed in the first round of theA1 Grand Prix series forA1 Team USA.
For 2009, Kimball signed to drive inIndy Lights for the newTeam PBIR outfit. He stated that an influencing factor in his return to the U.S. is to increase Diabetes awareness in his home country.[3] Kimball finished tenth in points with a best finish of fourth atWatkins Glen International.
Kimball returned to Indy Lights in 2010 and signed withAFS 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 teammateMartin Plowman.
It was announced on December 16, 2010, that Kimball would move up to theIndyCar Series in2011, in which he would drive the No. 83 entry forChip Ganassi Racing.[4] Kimball finished nineteenth in points with a best finish of ninth at theNew 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 theHonda Indy Toronto, his first career podium finish. Kimball won his first IndyCar race on August 4, 2013, at theHonda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. He also finished second at Pocono and fourth at Barber and ranked ninth in points. In2013, he competed in his first24 Hours of Daytona race with Ganassi and was on the race-winning team with co-driversJuan Pablo Montoya,Scott Pruett, andMemo Rojas.
In the 2014 IndyCar season, Kimball scored four top-five finishes and placed ninth in points. In 2015, he finished third at theIndianapolis 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 joinedA. 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.
Kimball was born in England but grew up inCamarillo, California.[5] His father Gordon was a designer ofFormula One and Indy cars.[6]
At 22, Kimball was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and was forced to abandon his racing program midseason.[7] Undeterred, he climbed back into the cockpit the following year and claimed a podium finish in his first race after returning.[7] He is also the first licensed driver with diabetes in the history of IndyCar racing[7] (Howdy Wilcox hid the fact he was driving with diabetes in the 1932 Indy 500 but was barred from competing when officials found out before the 1933 race).[8]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 driverJames Hinchcliffe.[9] The couple relocated to Indianapolis, where they live with two dogs.[10] Kathleen earned her MBA fromIndiana University Kelley School of Business, and works at Kimball Marketing Group.[11]
Kimball is a long-time fan of theLos Angeles Dodgers baseball team.[12]
(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 | HOC 1 22 | HOC 2 12 | LAU 1 9 | LAU 2 8 | OSC 1 10 | OSC 2 Ret | BRH 1 15 | BRH 2 11 | NOR 1 13 | NOR 2 4 | NÜR 1 10 | NÜR 2 6 | ZAN 1 11 | ZAN 2 1 | CAT 1 6 | CAT 2 2 | LMS 1 4 | LMS 2 2 | HOC 1 6 | HOC 2 Ret | 11th | 31 |
| 2008 | Prema Powerteam | Dallara F308/047 | Mercedes | HOC 1 2 | HOC 2 Ret | MUG 1 17 | MUG 2 Ret | PAU 1 Ret | PAU 2 23 | NOR 1 | NOR 2 | ZAN 1 | ZAN 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | BRH 1 | BRH 2 | CAT 1 | CAT 2 | LMS 1 | LMS 2 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | 17th | 8 |
(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 | MNZ FEA Ret | MNZ SPR 8 | NÜR FEA 16 | NÜR SPR 8 | MON FEA Ret | HUN FEA 10 | HUN SPR Ret | SPA FEA 13 | SPA SPR Ret | DON FEA Ret | DON SPR 13 | MAG FEA Ret | MAG SPR 17 | EST FEA | EST SPR | CAT FEA | CAT SPR | 24th | 7 |
(key)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Team PBIR | STP 10 | STP 7 | LBH 19 | KAN 13 | INDY 13 | MIL 10 | IOW 7 | WGL 4 | TOR 15 | EDM 5 | KTY 18 | MOH 13 | SNM 8 | CHI 7 | HMS 13 | 10th | 310 |
| 2010 | AFS Racing Andretti Autosport | STP 4 | ALA 2 | LBH 2 | INDY 2 | IOW 13 | WGL 11 | TOR 4 | EDM 4 | MOH 3 | SNM 2 | CHI 14 | KTY 6 | HMS 13 | 4th | 388 | ||
(key)
* Season still in progress.
| Years | Teams | Races | Poles | Wins | Top 5s | Top 10s | Indianapolis 500 wins | Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 1 | 84 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 33 | 0 | 0 |
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| IndyCar Series | |
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