INDIANAPOLIS – Charlie Kimball’s usual No. 83 Tresiba Chevrolet will take on a different number for the remainder of the month of May, with an announcement Monday morning he’ll swap to No. 42 for the 100th Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil.
His team boss Chip Ganassi, his NASCAR teammate Kyle Larson and Novo Nordisk executive Michael Bachner joined Kimball for the announcement.
It’s a promotional program for Novo Nordisk, as Tresiba lasts at least 42 hours after first use, and also will honor 42 pioneers within the diabetes community.
“The 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 will be the highlight of this year’s season and it gives me a great opportunity to honor the diabetes community and help inspire those people living with or affected by diabetes,” Kimball said in a release.
“As a race car driver and a person living with diabetes, the duration of action of Tresiba® is important to me and plays an important role in my management plan. I am honored to represent Novo Nordisk and Chip Ganassi Racing and to share my story with the diabetes community.”
For Kimball, the hope is that the number change mirrors Ganassi’s last 500-only one-off change – Dario Franchitti switched from No. 10 to No. 50 in 2012 at the ‘500 owing to Target’s 50 years in business, and promptly proceeded to win his third and Ganassi’s fourth Indianapolis 500 following a dramatic late race battle with Takuma Sato.
Kimball has been on a roll of late in the ‘500, with three top-10 finishes in the last four years including a third place finish last year.
He’s also fresh off his best run of the season in Saturday’s Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis, where he qualified a career-best second and finished fifth, and yet afforded to feel slightly disappointed.