Kimball finishes 12th at Iowa Speedway

NEWTON, Iowa – Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing (NNCGR) driver Charlie Kimball finished 12th in Round 10 of the IZOD IndyCar Series in the Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway.

After rolling through Saturday’s Heat Race format on the 7/8-mile oval, the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team finished sixth in Heat Race 2, which initially placed them 17th in the starting line-up for Sunday’s race. Due to early engine changes made by other teams overnight, the No. 83 was able to advance three positions on the grid to start from 14th position.

Kimball rolled-off the 250-lap race from the outside of row seven and spent his initial laps trying to find a comfortable line on the traffic-laden short oval. The first caution period fell on lap 38 for debris on the front straightaway, where once pit lane opened, the entire 24-car field took their pit stops including the No. 83 for tires, fuel and a right-front tire pressure adjustment.

Following his first pit stop and coming out of the caution, Kimball lined up for the double-file restart at 17th position until losing a couple spots to heavy traffic. Shortly after, the adjustments made in pit lane began to benefit the team in the second stint and the No. 83 battled its way up the field.

As the race rolled to its halfway mark, the pit stop cycle moved the No. 83 Honda as high as seventh position before Kimball was called to pit lane for his own stop on lap 118, where he ran his fastest lap of the race four laps later.

Through the course of two additional cautions thrown in the second half of the race, the No. 83 team continued to work its way up the field through quick pit strategy and strong restarts.

The NovoLog FlexPen Honda made its fourth and final pit stop with 46 laps remaining and exited pit lane in 17th. Kimball worked his way to 12th by lap 225, where he held position for the final 25 laps until eventually crossing the finish line.

With the result in Round 10, Kimball moved from 13th to 14th in the IZOD IndyCar Series point standings with 193 markers, -139 points behind leader Helio Castroneves.

Honda is second in the manufacturer point standings with 69 points, trailing Chevrolet with 81.

Up next for Team Novo Nordisk is Round 11 of the IZOD IndyCar Series with the Pocono INDYCAR 400 from Long Pond, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, July 7th (12:00pm ET, ABC).

Charlie Kimball: “Overall, today was pretty good for the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car. The Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing crew did a great job all day in the pits, and made the car better every stop, so that the last half of the race I was able to really go racing. It felt good.

We were able to make up some spots and just keep making the car better along the way. We were able to build some momentum today and come out of this race smarter so we’ll be ready to carry that momentum to Pocono.”

Chip Ganassi Racing