Novo Nordisk Ganassi’s Kimball with Players’ Tribune: Inside his racing with diabetes

By Tony DiZinnoJul 17, 2015, 5:19 PM EDT
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You often hear about Charlie Kimball’s racing with Type 1 diabetes when watching the Verizon IndyCar Series.

What don’t necessarily know is the detail about how he does so.

Luckily, Kimball has penned a well-written piece for Derek Jeter’s The Players’ Tribune entitled “Driven.”

In it, Kimball chronicles his diagnosis, his adaption, and his resiliency in being able to race with diabetes.

A quick excerpt is below:

I’m a race car driver. I don’t get timeouts. I can‘t ask the other drivers to slow down while I grab a granola bar because my blood sugar is low. I also don’t get to check my blood sugar at halftime or between innings. Once I climb into that race car, whether it’s an hour-long practice session or a 500-mile race, it’s on.

The full piece is linked here.

It’s the second Chip Ganassi Racing-affiliated driver piece on the Tribune this year, along with Dario Franchitti’s take on his life outside the cockpit, post-retirement.

Kimball currently ranks 11th in IndyCar points in the No. 83 Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet heading into this weekend’s Iowa Corn 300 (Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra).

IndyCar will eliminate double points from the 2020 season finale

Larry Placido/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
By Nate RyanMar 30, 2020, 6:15 PM EDT
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Though the NTT IndyCar Series hasn’t confirmed the date of its 2020 season finale, it has determined that double points won’t be in play.

An IndyCar official confirmed Monday to NBCSports.com that whether the season ends at Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California, or on the streets of St. Petersburg, neither race will feature double points. Team owners were informed of the change during a conference call last week.

The news was first reported by RACER.com.

With the original 17-race schedule having been shortened by the cancellation of at least three races (Circuit of The Americas, Barber Motorsports Park, the Long Beach Grand Prix), using double points in the finale would have carried even greater weight (and perhaps more so if more races are unable to be run because of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

IndyCar has been using double points at select races since the 2015 season. The 104th Indianapolis 500 will remain a double-points event.

In rescheduling the Indy 500 to Aug. 23 last week, IndyCar unveiled a revised schedule that listed Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg as TBD for its season finale. The race originally had been scheduled to open the season before being called off because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

IndyCar CEO Mark Miles told reporters last week that St. Pete probably would be slotted into the first two weeks October after the Sept. 20 race at Laguna Seca that had been slated to be the season finale for the second consecutive year.