Charlie Kimball returning to AJ Foyt Racing for Indy 500

Charlie Kimball will return to AJ Foyt Racing for the 105th Indy 500, the team announced Thursday.

Kimball, 35, also will race the No. 11 Dallara-Chevrolet on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course May 15 in the Indy GP.

The driver will be sponsored by Norvo Nordisk’s Tresiba, the insulin brand that Kimball uses to manage type 1 diabetes. Norvo Nordisk has backed Kimball since his 2009 debut in Indy Lights and in every Indy 500 since his rookie season in 2011.

“I am excited to once again represent Novo Nordisk and the diabetes community and to join AJ Foyt Racing for the month of May,” Kimball said in a release. “I have never run at Indianapolis without Novo Nordisk and to be able to return this year with the support of the legendary A.J. Foyt, Larry Foyt, and everyone at AJ Foyt Racing, will certainly be special.”

AUTO: AUG 29 IndyCar Series - Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline — *Charlie Kimball raced the full 2020 NTT IndyCar Series season for AJ Foyt Racing in the No. 4 (Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images).*

Kimball will be teamed with Sebastien Bourdais in the No. 14 and Dalton Kellett in the No. 4, the full-season drivers for AJ Foyt Racing. Kimball was full time last season in the No. 4 for Foyt, scoring a season-best eighth in the season finale at St. Petersburg, Florida.

This will be Kimball’s 11th attempt at the Indy 500. he finished a career-best third in 2015 and fifth the following season for Chip Ganassi Racing.

“It’s awesome to have Charlie and Novo Nordisk back for the month of May,” AJ Foyt Racing president Larry Foyt said in a release. “They were both great to work with throughout the challenges of 2020, and I’m glad we can continue the program. Charlie is focused on producing great results, and we are working hard to put the best group together for success.”

In 155 races, Kimball has one victory (at Mid-Ohio in 2013) and six podium finishes.

“Over the last 13 years, Charlie Kimball and Race with Insulin have become an important part of Novo Nordisk,” Chip Amrein, lifecycle management and connected care lead, said in a release. “We are pleased to join AJ Foyt Racing for both the Indianapolis Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 this year and to continue supporting Charlie as an ambassador and inspiration within the diabetes community.”

Media and fan attention focused on a controversial run-in between Haiden Deegan and his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Jordon Smith during Round 10 of the Monster Energy Supercross race at Detroit, after which the 250 East points’ Hunter Lawrence defends the young rider in the postrace news conference.

Deegan took the early lead in Heat 1 of the round, but the mood swiftly changed when he became embroiled in a spirited battle with teammate Smith.

On Lap 3, Smith caught Deegan with a fast pass through the whoops. Smith briefly held the lead heading into a bowl turn but Deegan had the inside line and threw a block pass. In the next few turns, the action heated up until Smith eventually ran into the back of Deegan’s Yamaha and crashed.

One of the highlights of the battle seemed to include a moment when Deegan waited on Smith in order to throw a second block pass, adding fuel to the controversy.

After his initial crash, Smith fell to seventh on the next lap. He would crash twice more during the event, ultimately finishing four laps off the pace in 20th.

The topic was inevitably part of the postrace news conference.

“It was good racing; it was fun,” Deegan said at about the 27-minute mark in the video above. “I just had some fun doing it.”

Smith had more trouble in the Last Chance Qualifier. He stalled his bike in heavy traffic, worked his way into a battle for fourth with the checkers in sight, but crashed a few yards shy of the finish line and was credited with seventh. Smith earned zero points and fell to sixth in the standings.

Lawrence defends Deegan — *Jordon Smith failed to make the Detroit Supercross Main and fell to sixth in the points. – Feld Motor Sports*

“I think he’s like fifth in points,” Deegan said. “He’s a little out of it. Beside that it was good, I don’t know. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Deegan jokingly deflected an earlier question with the response that he wasn’t paying attention during the incident.

“He’s my teammate, but he’s a veteran, he’s been in this sport for a while,” Deegan said. “I was up there just battling. I want to win as much as everybody else. It doesn’t matter if it’s a heat race or a main; I just want to win. I was just trying to push that.”

As Deegan and Smith battled, Jeremy Martin took the lead. Deegan finished second in the heat and backed up his performance with a solid third-place showing in the main, which was his second podium finish in a short six-race career. Deegan’s first podium was earned at Daytona, just two rounds ago.

But as Deegan struggled to find something meaningful to say, unsurprisingly for a 17-year-old rider who was not scheduled to run the full 250 schedule this year, it was the championship leader Lawrence who came to his defense.

“I just want to point something out, which kind of amazes me,” Lawrence said during the conference. “So many of the people on social media, where everyone puts their expertise in, are saying the racing back in the ’80s, the early 90s, when me were men. They’re always talking about how gnarly it was and then anytime a block pass or something happens now, everyone cries about it.

“That’s just a little bit interesting. Pick one. You want the gnarly block passes from 10 years ago and then you get it, everyone makes a big song and dance about it.”

Pressed further, Lawrence defended not only the pass but the decision-making process that gets employed lap after lap in a Supercross race.

“It’s easy to point the finger,” Lawrence said. “We’re out there making decisions in a split millisecond. People have all month to pay their phone bill and they still can’t do that on time.

“We’re making decisions at such a fast reaction [time with] adrenaline. … I’m not just saying it for me or Haiden. I speak for all the guys. No one is perfect and we’re under a microscope out there. The media is really quick to point a finger when someone makes a mistake.”

The media is required to hold athletes accountable for their actions. They are also required to tell the complete story.

Charlie Kimball will return with AJ Foyt Racing for the Indy 500 and Indy GP

Hunter Lawrence defends Haiden Deegan after controversial block pass at Detroit

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