Outside The Fast Lane: Charlie Kimball Talks IndyCar Lifestyle

What is life really like for a Verizon IndyCar Series driver? Charlie Kimball takes us inside his pursuits off-track and how he balances them with racing.

Charlie Kimball is an IndyCar driver, but that means much more than racing every Sunday. Kimball has a wide variety of interests outside of the car, in addition to his commitments to Chip Ganassi Racing and sponsor Novo Nordisk, and he took Beyond The Flag inside what it really means to live life in the Verizon IndyCar Series.

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Racing keeps Charlie busy most of the year, not just in the actual IndyCar events but with various pre-season and in-season tests, as well as other obligations that come with being a driver. How does he find time to pursue outside interests?

“It is a challenge for sure,” he told us. “You have to make it work and frankly, the way the schedule is and the summer being our busiest time, it doesn’t always work with what I’d like my summer to look like.”

But when he does have a chance to get away, you’re likely to find him doing something outdoors. “I love being out on our boat. I love spending time with friends,” Charlie continued. “We always do a houseboat trip on the one weekend off we get during the summer and if I wasn’t racing, I’d spend a lot more time on the boat.”

“One of the things I started to get into, at least over the last year, is we built an outdoor kitchen and it’s got a Big Green Egg,” he continued, “so I started smoking ribs and brisket and different things like that. My wife does a great job in the kitchen but the grill is kind of my area of expertise. So I’m enjoying figuring that out.

“The great thing about our season kind of ending in the middle of September is before it gets too cold here in Indianapolis, I’ve got October, November and even into December to do a lot of outdoor grilling, especially for tailgates or football games and stuff like that.”

Charlie and his wife Kathleen recently performed some renovations on their Indianapolis home, and he enjoys being hands-on with a variety of projects. “I really like doing things for myself and figuring it out. Figuring out how it all works,” he explained.

So last fall he went to work on their backyard. “I built two raised garden beds,” he said. “I got the ground real level, put gravel down and then stone and glued it all together. Then in the spring we went and got fresh soil and mulch in the back of my truck and loaded it up and we had a crazy garden this year. It took over with lettuce, peppers, jalapenos, tomatoes, green beans, zucchini and cucumbers and it’s really cool to get these big bowls in our kitchen at the moment filled with tomatoes and peppers and chilies.

“To me the really cool thing about figuring something out like that and doing house renovations or construction like that around the house is,” he added, “that A) I figure out how to do it and B) It’s something that we will use and appreciate as we live here at the house for the next ten, fifteen years.”

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He’s one of several IndyCar drivers who reside in the Indianapolis area, including his CGR teammate Scott Dixon, James Hinchcliffe and Graham Rahal. After seeing each other all season long, do they also run into each other during the off-season? Not necessarily.

“Some of us definitely cross paths,” Charlie said. “It’s hard because especially during the month of November – Diabetes Awareness Month – I do a lot of traveling and speaking. When I’m home, a lot of the other drivers are out doing the same thing for their sponsors.

“James Hinchcliffe and Josef Newgarden and I, we’re all really good friends and we try and get together for dinner when we can, but a lot of times when they’re home I’m on the road and when I’m home they’re on the road. There’s this kind of fluid schedule and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.”

But when they do get together, magic happens like this classic “The Offseason” IndyCar video from three years ago featuring Kimball, Hinchcliffe, Newgarden and Will Power:

There’s one thing about Charlie Kimball that’s different than any other IndyCar star, however. Kimball has been sponsored by Novo Nordisk since he joined the league and it’s more than just a sponsorship to him. Kimball is diabetic – the first licensed driver with diabetes in the history of IndyCar – and he actually uses the products that his sponsor makes in his everyday life.

“With Novo Nordisk, the insulin they make and the delivery devices they make that I use, I use it everyday if I’m a racing driver or not. I’m using their insulin to manage my diabetes,” he explained. “That connection makes it so personal and allows me, when I tell my story, to really bring it home to a lot of people.

“I think that a lot of families who have kids with diabetes or have lived with diabetes for a long time, the fact I’m out there talking about having diabetes but also talking about a product that I use everyday, it gives them a personal connection. They go, I use the same insulin as Charlie Kimball. That inspiration is something I never thought would be as important to me as it’s turned out to be.

“I really enjoy hearing the stories of families, especially kids, who are inspired to play Little League or to sign up for basketball camp or to get into a go-kart for the first time and understand that maybe their dream job is an option because of what I do,” he continued.

“It just really added a lot of balance to racing, which frankly can be a very selfish sport…It’s still a team sport but you only ever hear about the driver. Having that balance and being able to tell my story and hear the stories of other families has been extremely fulfilling.”

If there’s one thing Charlie Kimball wants fans to know about the life of an IndyCar driver, it’s that racing is only a fraction of it.

“One of the things I get a lot is oh you raced last weekend, what are you doing until the next race?” he laughed. “It’s not sitting around eating bon-bons. I spend a lot of time in the gym, as much time as I possibly can, and when I have an afternoon off I’ll go and get a second workout in or go to the race shop and meet with my engineers and get a second workout in.

“There’s a lot of time that I spent this week watching the race from Texas on Saturday night, and making notes for when I go back and race next year and watching old races and reviewing the catch data from when we were in Texas. There’s a lot of the racing side that is doing things not in the race car.”

And there’s also plenty of things that keep him busy off-track.

“If you put a percentage to it, I think driving a race car is 15 or 20 percent of my life as a racing driver,” he continued. “The rest is all the other stuff. It’s working with the sponsor, it’s doing media promotion, it’s talking about where the future is – we’re negotiating contracts years in advance and that takes a whole team – and managing a business. As a racing driver you are your own brand and so you own your own business essentially. It’s a lot harder to build a brand than it is to destroy it. With the wrong thing it’s easy to tarnish a brand.”

While he looks toward finishing the 2016 IndyCar season on a strong note, it’s just the latest part in the story of Charlie Kimball. Not only is he one of the stars in an incredibly competitive racing series, but when he’s not driving the No. 83 Chevrolet he’s out working with his sponsor to inspire others, making strides in his home life and still finding time to educate us on the difference between himself and JR Hildebrand.

The life of an IndyCar driver is far from just racing – but as Charlie Kimball can attest, it’s incredibly varied and tremendously fulfilling.

Watch Charlie Kimball when the Verizon IndyCar Series races at the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma on Sunday, Sep. 18. The race will be televised on NBCSN.