Charlie Kimball

Charlie Kimball
Charlie Kimball
Born	February 20, 1985 (age 41); Chertsey, England
Occupation	Racing driver (retired)
Years active	2002–2021
Known for	Competing in IndyCar Series, winning 2013 24 Hours of Daytona

Charles Newton Kimball (born February 20, 1985) is a retired American race car driver who last participated in the IndyCar Series representing A. J. Foyt Enterprises. Throughout his IndyCar career, he secured one victory, stood on the podium six times, and achieved thirteen top-five finishes, with his highest season rankings being ninth place in both 2013 and 2016. Additionally, he claimed victory at the 2013 24 Hours of Daytona.

2002–2005

Originating from Chertsey, England, Kimball launched his single-seater racing journey in 2002 by competing in the American Formula Dodge national championship, where he concluded the season tenth overall and earned three wins within the SCCA Formula Ford series. The following year, he progressed to US Formula Ford, securing third place with two victories and seven podium finishes, while also achieving third in the UK Formula Ford winter series with one win.

In 2004, racing for Team JLR in the UK Formula Ford championship, Kimball attained two victories and eleven podiums to claim fourth in the overall standings. He finished eighth at the Formula Ford Festival held at Brands Hatch. His notable results earned him a seat with the prominent Carlin Motorsport team for the 2005 British Formula 3 Championship, where he won five races and finished runner-up to teammate Álvaro Parente. He also placed twelfth at the Marlboro Masters at Circuit Park Zandvoort, but did not complete the season finale at the Macau Grand Prix.

2006–2008

Kimball continued in Formula Three in 2006 by stepping up to the Formula 3 Euro Series with France’s Signature-Plus squad. He recorded one win and three podiums, ending the season eleventh overall. That year, he also competed in the Masters Formula 3 at Zandvoort and the Macau Grand Prix, finishing ninth and twenty-first respectively.

For the 2007 season, Kimball drove in the 2007 Formula Renault 3.5 Series season with Italian outfit Victory Engineering, teaming up with Dutch racer Giedo van der Garde. Over twelve races, he ranked twenty-fourth in points, with his best results being eighth-place finishes at Monza and Nürburgring. His campaign was cut short due to a hospitalization following a Type 1 diabetes diagnosis. To manage his condition during races, Kimball employs a wireless glucose monitor and carries sugar water onboard. In 2008, he took part in six rounds of the F3 EuroSeries with Prema Powerteam and competed in the opening event of the A1 Grand Prix series representing A1 Team USA.

Firestone Indy Lights (2009–2010)

In 2009, Kimball joined new Indy Lights entrant Team PBIR, motivated by a mission to raise awareness about diabetes across America. He finished tenth in the championship standings, with his best race result being fourth place at Watkins Glen International.

Kimball returned to Indy Lights competition in 2010 driving for AFS Racing/Andretti Autosport. Although he did not capture any victories or pole positions that year, he secured four runner-up finishes and ended fourth overall in points, just behind teammate Martin Plowman.

IndyCar Series (2011–2021)

On December 16, 2010, Kimball progressed to the IndyCar Series, piloting car No. 83 for Chip Ganassi Racing during the 2011 season. He concluded that year nineteenth in points with a top finish of ninth place at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

In 2012, despite missing a race due to injury, Kimball again finished nineteenth overall but achieved his first career podium by finishing second at the Honda Indy Toronto. The following year marked his maiden IndyCar victory at the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, along with a second-place finish at Pocono and fourth at Barber, culminating in ninth place in the championship. That same year, he made his debut appearance in the 24 Hours of Daytona with Ganassi’s team that won the event alongside teammates Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Pruett, and Memo Rojas.

During 2014, Kimball recorded four top-five finishes and once more ended ninth in points. In 2015, he achieved third place both at the prestigious Indianapolis 500 and the Grand Prix of Sonoma while placing fifth at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. The 2016 season saw him attain eleven top-five results over sixteen races, maintaining ninth position overall. After an unsuccessful 2017 campaign without any top-five finishes or wins, Kimball parted ways with Ganassi.

For 2018, he signed with Carlin Motorsport, where he secured six top-ten finishes including a fifth place at Toronto. His participation was part-time in 2019, during which he recorded two tenth-place results. Joining A. J. Foyt Enterprises in 2020 brought two top-ten finishes as well. However, in 2021 Kimball failed to qualify for the Indy 500 for the first time throughout his career.

Personal life

Originally born in England, Kimball grew up in Camarillo, California. His father, Gordon, was involved in designing Formula One and Indy cars.

At 22 years old, Kimball was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, leading him to temporarily halt his racing activities during the season. Upon his comeback, he secured a podium finish in his first event. He holds the distinction of being the first IndyCar driver officially licensed while managing diabetes. Since 2011, he has been sponsored full-time by Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceutical company that produces his insulin.

In 2014, Kimball wed Kathleen, whom he first met during their high school years; the wedding ceremony was conducted by fellow racer James Hinchcliffe. The couple resides in Indianapolis alongside their two dogs. Kathleen possesses an MBA from Indiana University Kelley School of Business and is employed at Kimball Marketing Group.

A dedicated supporter of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kimball continues to maintain strong connections to his California background.

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	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													17th	8

Full Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

(key)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final Position	Points Scored
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

American open–wheel results

(key)

Indy Lights

}

IndyCar Series

(key)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final Ranking	Points Total
2009	Team PBIR	STP	STP	LBH	KAN	INDY	MIL	IOW	WGL	TOR	EDM	KTY	MOH	SNM	CHI	HMS	10th	310
2010	AFS Racing Andretti Autosport	STP	ALA	LBH	INDY	IOW	WGL	TOR	[[Edmonton Indy EDM ]]	style="background:#FFDF9F" \| [[Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course MOH ]]	style="background:#DFDFDF"	[[Sonoma Raceway SNM ]]	style="background:#EFCFFF"	Chicagoland Speedway CHI	style="background:#CFEAFF"	Kentucky Speedway KTY	style="background:#CFCFFF"	Homestead-Miami Speedway HMS		style="text-align:center;" colspan=2\| 4th	style="text-align:center;" colspan=2\| 388

Year	Team	Chassis	No.	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	Dallara IR-05	83	Honda	STP 22	ALA 10	LBH 24	SAO 16	INDY 13	TXS 30	TXS 23	MIL 14	IOW 22	TOR 21	EDM 17	MOH 11	NHM 9	SNM 26	BAL 21	MOT 23	KTY 13	""	""	""	""	""	""	""	""	""		19th	233	- ... [Table continues with similar compressed data for subsequent years] ... -

5

Years	Teams	Races	Poles	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Indianapolis 500 wins	Championships
1	84	1	1	11	33	0	0

Indianapolis 500

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start Position	Finish Position	Team Name
2011	Dallara	Honda	28	13	Chip Ganassi Racing
2012	Dallara	Honda	14	8	Chip Ganassi Racing
2013	Dallara	Honda	19	9	Chip Ganassi Racing
2014	Dallara	Chevrolet	26	31	Chip Ganassi Racing
2015	Dallara	Chevrolet	14	3	Chip Ganassi Racing
2016	Dallara	Chevrolet	16	5	Chip Ganassi Racing
2017	Dallara	Honda	16	25	Chip Ganassi Racing
[[2018 Indianapolis 500	2018 ]]	Dallara	Chevrolet	align=center	15	align=center style = "background:#CFCFFF;"	18	nowrap	Carlin Motorsport
[[2019 Indianapolis 500	2019 ]]	Dallara	Chevrolet	align=center	20	align=center style = "background:#CFCFFF;"	25	nowrap	Carlin Motorsport
[[2020 Indianapolis 500	2020 ]]	Dallara	Chevrolet	align=center	29	align=center style = "background:#CFCFFF;"	18	nowrap	A. J. Foyt Enterprises
[[2021 Indianapolis 500	2021 ]]	Dallara	Chevrolet	align=center style = "background:#FFCFCF;" colspan=2	DNQ	nowrap	A. J. Foyt Enterprises