Novo Nordisk Ganassi's Kimball with Players' Tribune: Inside his racing with diabetes - MotorSportsTalk

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).

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ANAHEIM, California – Ken Roczen will make the move from HRC Honda to H.E.P. Motorsports with the Progressive Ecstar Suzuki team, ending a long and eventful offseason that saw his split from his longstanding team after he committed to running World Supercross (WSX).

“H.E.P. Motorsports is thrilled to announce that the team has signed Ken Roczen as its premier rider for the 2023 season,” the team announced on Instagram. “Former AMA Motocross champion Roczen will be aboard a Suzuki RM-Z450. Roczen, who won his most recent championship on a Suzuki, will be reunited with the brand and bring his exciting style, determination, and grit back to the RM Army.

“Ken Roczen will compete in the upcoming 2023 Supercross and Motocross Championship series which is set to start on January 7 at Anaheim Stadium in Southern California.”

For Roczen, it is a return to the bike of his youth and on which he had some of his greatest professional success.

“This thing has been going on for weeks and weeks and weeks in the making, but there was so much uncertainty,” Roczen told NBC Sports during Monster Energy Supercross Media Sessions. “It was a very unique situation. I just finally signed two nights ago, so it’s really only legit once the ink hits the paper. It’s been in the works for a long time, but there were just a lot of questions and a lot of input from a lot of other teams too.

“Good things take time, and I’m okay with that. I grew up riding Suzuki. Ot’s like a homecoming. It’s a special feeling”

Roczen won the 2016 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship on a Suzuki before making the move to Honda. That year he won nine of 12 Nationals and finished no worse than second as he easily outpaced Eli Tomac by 86 points. He finished third in his next Pro Motocross outing in 2018 after sitting out the outdoor season in 2017.

“I am beyond excited to reconnect with Suzuki for the 3rd time in my career. We’ve had a lot of success in the past and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish together in our future.” Roczen said in the Instagram post.

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

Ken Roczen signs with HEP Progressive Ecstar Suzuki for 2023

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