News & Multimedia

Kimball Surprises as Ganassi's Top Fighter in '500'

May 25, 2015 | By Phillip B. Wilson, IMS.com Correspondent

Chip Ganassi’s drivers were determined to give their team owner the most ideal present for his 57th birthday Sunday.

Rival team owner Roger Penske had other ideas with Juan Pablo Montoya and Will Power finishing 1-2 in the 99th Indianapolis 500.

That Ganassi’s top driver turned out to be Charlie Kimball probably raised a few eyebrows. When you’re teammates with 2008 Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon and 2013 Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan, it’s easy to get overlooked.

Kimball had never finished better than eighth in four previous Indy 500 starts, but when Dixon faltered late due to an understeer, the door was open for third place. Kimball took advantage of Dixon lifting off the throttle with two laps to go.

“It was a blast,” said Kimball, 30, an American driver who was born in England but grew up in California. “The guys worked really hard on the car all month. To be so close to winning the pit stop competition on Friday (he was second), then to come close today, I think it makes us all hungrier.”

Kimball started 14th, but steadily moved up the grid. He led the race twice for 10 laps. His third place tied for the fourth-best finish in 70 series starts. His lone win came at Mid-Ohio in 2013.

“All the guys at Chip Ganassi Racing wanted to give Chip a win for his birthday today, but especially the Novo Nordisk team,” he said.

While Kimball hoped for the two Penske cars to do something drastic and take themselves out late, he knew that was unlikely. And he also knew he didn’t have the car to overtake Montoya, who celebrated his second Indy 500 victory, and Power, the defending series champion.

“I didn’t have anything for the Penske boys the last couple laps,” he said.

Dixon finished fourth. Kanaan ran with the leaders until he crashed out in 26th on lap 152. Ganassi’s only other driver, 20-year-old Sage Karam, was taken out in a first-turn crash on the first lap in 32nd place.

Kimball has gained notoriety in racing circles as the series’ only driver with Type 1 diabetes. When he checked his blood sugar levels the morning of the race, the solid “100” reading told him he was ready to race.

A reporter informed him after the race that he was trending in social media as an underdog.

“I think that’s really cool,” he said. “All of my racing career has been about breaking down barriers, if you’ll excuse the pun, but paving new roads, for drivers with diabetes, for anyone overcoming a challenge.

“When I meet somebody who has just been diagnosed, I always try to put as big a smile on my face, maybe not as big as what I had when I got out of the car today, but a big smile that says, ‘Welcome to the cool kids club. You have diabetes, but now you're part of this community,’ to be able to give them that message and hopefully change their perspective.”