Charles Newton Kimball (born February 20, 1985) is an American race car driver currently competing in the

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...

with

A. J. Foyt Enterprises A. J. Foyt Racing, officially and historically known as A. J. Foyt Enterprises, is an American racing team in the IndyCar Series and formerly NASCAR. It is owned by four-time Indianapolis 500 winner, 1972 Daytona 500 winner, 1967 24 Hours of Le ...

He has scored a win, six podiums, and 13 top 5s. His best season result was ninth in 2013 and 2016. In addition, he won the

2013 24 Hours of Daytona The 2013 Rolex 24 at Daytona was a Endurance racing (motorsport), long-distance motor race for Sports car racing, sports cars conforming to the regulations of the Grand-Am Road Racing series. The 51st edition was raced between January 26 and 27. ...

Career

2002–2005

Born in

Chertsey Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, south-west of central London. It grew up round Chertsey Abbey, founded in 666 CE, and gained a market charter from Henry I. A bridge across the River Thames first appeared in t ...

, England, Kimball's single-seater career started in 2002 when he took part in the American Formula Dodge national championship, finishing the season in 10th place overall. He also won three races in the

SCCA The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional ...

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula For ...

series. For 2003 he moved up to

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, he 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 The Formula Ford Festival is an annual meeting of Ford-powered single-seat racing cars which is held at the end of the British racing season, at the Brands Hatch motor racing circuit in the county of Kent, in Southern England. The events are hel ...

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

he finished in eighth place. His performances earned him a drive with front runners

Carlin Motorsport Carlin, formerly Carlin Motorsport, is a motor racing team based in the United Kingdom. It currently competes in five championships: FIA Formula 2 Championship, FIA Formula 3 Championship, F4 British Championship, BRDC British Formula 3 and ...

in the 2005 British Formula 3 Championship, where he took five race wins to finish an impressive second behind teammate

Álvaro Parente Álvaro Parente (born 4 October 1984) is a Portuguese professional racing driver. Career Early career After winning the Karting European Junior Championship in 1998, Porto-born Parente made his debut in auto racing in 2001 at the age of 16, ...

. He also finished 12th in the Marlboro Masters at

Zandvoort Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterdam ...

, but failed to finish the season-ending

Macau Grand Prix The Macau Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prémio de Macau; ) is a motorsport road race for automobiles and motorcycles held annually in Macau. It is the only street circuit racing event in which both cars and motorcycles participate, and one of onl ...

2006–2008

For 2006 Kimball stayed in

Formula Three Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One dri ...

, but moved up to the

Formula 3 Euro Series The Formula 3 Euro Series was a European-based junior single seater formula for Formula Three chassis that was launched (in its current form) in 2003 as a merger of the French Formula Three Championship and German Formula Three Championship. The ...

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 9th and 21st places respectively. In 2007, he competed in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series for the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Victory Engineering Victory Engineering was a racing team based on Rome, Italy, involved in many areas of motorsport. The team was founded in 2002 by Gabriele De Bono, as part of Carlin Motorsport. In the end of 2007 the team disbanded. History Victory Engineering ...

team, alongside Dutchman

Giedo van der Garde Giedo Gijsbertus Gerrit van der Garde (born 25 April 1985 in Rhenen, Netherlands) is a Dutch racing driver, currently competing in the 2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship for TDS Racing. From 2018 to 2021 he competed in the FIA World Endurance Ch ...

. He competed in 12 races (leaving the series with 2 race weekends remaining) and finished 24th in points with a best finish of 8th in the Monza and Nurburgring sprint races. His departed the team due to the onset of

Type 1 diabetes Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease that originates when cells that make insulin (beta cells) are destroyed by the immune system. Insulin is a hormone required for the cells to use blood sugar ...

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 6 races with

Prema Powerteam Prema Powerteam (competing as Prema Racing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, the FIA Formula 3 Championship and European Le Mans Series and as Prema Orlen Team in the FIA World Endurance Championship) is a motorsport team from Italy. It mainly ...

. Late in 2008 he competed in the first round of the

A1 Grand Prix A1 Grand Prix (A1GP) was a "single-make" open-wheel auto racing series that ran from 2005 until 2009. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themselves or a team, the usual format in most for ...

series for A1 Team USA.

Firestone Indy Lights (2009–2010)

For 2009 Kimball signed to drive in

Indy Lights Indy NXT, previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as Firestone Indy NXT Series for sponsorship reasons. Indy Lights is the highest step on the Road to Indy, a progra ...

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 10th in points with a best finish of 4th at

Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen International, nicknamed "The Glen", is an automobile race track located in the town of Dix just southwest of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. It was long known around the world as the hom ...

. He returned to Indy Lights in 2010 and signed with

AFS Racing AFS Racing is a professional racing team participating in the IndyCar Series and previously the Firestone Indy Lights series. It is owned by Gary Peterson, the founder of Automatic Fire Sprinklers for which it is named, and is based in Huntington ...

Andretti Autosport Andretti Autosport is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series, Indy Lights, Indy Pro 2000, and Formula E. The team also has a 37.5% ownership stake in the Australian Supercars Championship touring car team, Walkinshaw Andretti ...

. Despite not winning a race or pole, Kimball had four second-place finishes on the season and captured 4th in points, one spot behind his teammate

Martin Plowman Martin Plowman (born 3 October 1987) is a British professional racing driver from Tamworth currently competing in the British GT Championship for Paddock Motorsport, which he co-founded with Kelvin Fletcher. In 2013, he won the 24 Hours of Le Ma ...

IndyCar Series (2011–2021)

It was announced on December 16, 2010, that Kimball would move up to the

in 2011, in which he would drive the No. 83 entry for Chip Ganassi Racing. Kimball finished 19th in points with a best finish of ninth at the

New Hampshire Motor Speedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire, which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1990, as well as the longest-running motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nicknamed "The Magic Mil ...

. Kimball returned to the team in 2012 and again finished 19th in points despite missing a race due to injury. He finished second at the

Honda Indy Toronto The Grand Prix of Toronto (known for sponsorship reasons as the Honda Indy Toronto) is an annual Indy Car race, held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally known as the Molson Indy Toronto, it was part of the Champ Car World Series from 1986 t ...

, 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 9th in points. In

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, he competed in his first

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layo ...

race with Ganassi and was on the race-winning team with co-drivers

Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (; born September 20, 1975) is a Colombian racing driver. He won the International F3000 championship in 1998, the CART FedEx Championship Series in 1999 in his debut year in the series, and the IMSA WeatherTech ...

, Scott Pruett, and

Memo Rojas Guillermo "Memo" Rojas Jr. (born August 18, 1981) is a Mexican professional race car driver. Successful in American sports car racing, Rojas is a four-time series champion in the Rolex Sports Car Series, a three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Day ...

. In the 2014 IndyCar season, Kimball scored four top 5 finishes and placed 9th in points. In 2015 he finished third at the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

and the Grand Prix of Sonoma, and finished 5th at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. The driver finished fifth at both Indianapolis races and got 11 top 5s in 16 races, which earned him a 9th overall position in 2016. He scored no top 5s 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 10s. Kimball ran part-time in 2019, scoring two tenth-place finishes. He joined

in 2020, where he scored two top 10s. In 2021, Kimball failed to qualify for the Indy 500 for the first time in his career.

Personal

Kimball was born in England but grew up in Camarillo, California. His father Gordon was a designer of

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

and Indy cars. At 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. He is also the first licensed driver with diabetes in the history of IndyCar racing (

Howdy Wilcox Howard Samuel Wilcox (June 24, 1889 – September 4, 1923) was an American racecar driver active in the formative years of auto racing. Biography He was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana on June 24, 1889. Wilcox won the 1919 Indianapolis 500 ...

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).

Novo Nordisk Novo Nordisk A/S is a Danish multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Bagsværd, Denmark, with production facilities in nine countries, and affiliates or offices in five countries. Novo Nordisk is controlled by majority shareholder ...

, 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 James Douglas Meredith Hinchcliffe (born December 5, 1986) is a Canadian race car driver and commentator best known for competing in the IndyCar Series. Hinchcliffe won six races for Andretti Autosport and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. In 2015, ...

. 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 The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

baseball team.

Racing record

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

( key)

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

( key)

American open–wheel results

( key)

Indy Lights

IndyCar Series

( key) * Season still in progress. * ¹ ''The Las Vegas Indy 300 was abandoned after

Dan Wheldon Daniel Clive Wheldon (22 June 1978 – 16 October 2011) was a British motor racing driver who won the 2005 IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship for Andretti Green Racing (AGR). He won the Indianapolis 500 in 2005 and 2011, and was co-winner ...

died from injuries sustained in a 15-car crash on lap 11.''

Indianapolis 500

References

External links

*
Career summary at Driver DatabaseIndyCar Driver PageIndyCar 11 in '11 videoIndyCar 36: Charlie Kimball
- IndyCar documentary {{DEFAULTSORT:Kimball, Charlie 1985 births A1 Team USA drivers Racing drivers from California British Formula Three Championship drivers World Series Formula V8 3.5 drivers Formula 3 Euro Series drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers Indy Lights drivers IndyCar Series drivers Living people Sportspeople from Chertsey People with type 1 diabetes 24 Hours of Daytona drivers Rolex Sports Car Series drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers International Kart Federation drivers U.S. F2000 National Championship drivers Sportspeople from Ventura County, California Carlin racing drivers Signature Team drivers Victory Engineering drivers Prema Powerteam drivers AFS Racing drivers Chip Ganassi Racing drivers A. J. Foyt Enterprises drivers Andretti Autosport drivers