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| Charlie Kimball prepares to compete at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with AJ Foyt Racing for a second time. This will mark his 11th start in The Greatest Spectacle In Racing. Image Credit: Chris Owens via NICS (2020) |
That's it, only two races at one venue. Indianapolis Motor Speedway plays host
to two races for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES each year, one dedicated road course
known as the Grand Prix, and the INDY 500. It is planned to be able to reinstate the Month Of May back at IMS with the GMR Grand Prix on May 15th, and the Indy 500, "The Greatest Spectacle In Racing" on May 30th, 2021.
This announcement will need to be considered a late start agreement and cornerstone for the 2021 rebuild season from the disrupted pandemic-shaded 2020 season where the professional racing series was lucky to finish with 14 full races thanks to some creative double race event weekends.
Charlie Kimball has two races, Race 5 and Race 6, locked up for the planned NTT INDYCAR SERIES season that features seventeen races. The first race will be at Barber Motorsports Park April 18, 2021.
NTT IndyCar Series News Conference - Thursday, February 11, 2021
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Larry Foyt - President, A.J. Foyt Racing
Charlie Kimball - Driver, A.J. Foyt Racing
Press Conference
THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. Glad you could join us for a big announcement
from A.J. Foyt Racing this afternoon.
Larry Foyt is in his hard-to-believe 16th season with A.J. Foyt Racing,
seventh season as president of the team. It was announced about an hour ago
that Charlie Kimball would be returning to A.J. Foyt Racing, participating
in the Grand Prix May 15th on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway, as well as the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500. He'll drive
the No. 11 Tresiba Chevrolet as he's set to compete in his 11th season in
the NTT INDYCAR Series, 13th consecutive season that Novo Nordisk will
sponsor Charlie, which of course the relationship goes back to his days in
Indy Lights in 2009.
We'll start with Larry. Congratulations. Charlie joins Sebastien Bourdais
and Dalton Kellett to make it a three-car effort in May. How happy are you
to get Charlie back into the mix?
LARRY FOYT: Very happy. Thank you. It's a great announcement for us. We all
know what a challenging year 2020 was. Charlie was awesome to work with. We
know he runs great at the Speedway. Really glad we're able to run the GP
running up to the Speedway, get that team clicking, ready to go into May. I
know Charlie feels like he's got unfinished business there.
I'm really excited to be rolling into Indianapolis with three guys we know.
I feel like that gives you kind of a bit of a head start going into that
because even as much practice as we have there, it tends to go pretty
quickly. You never know what's weather is going to do. There are a lot of
unknowns. To have Charlie back onboard with Novo Nordisk and Tresiba is
really great for A.J. Foyt Racing.
THE MODERATOR: Charlie, 11th Indy 500 start, third place back in 2015. It
would seem returning to A.J. Foyt Racing is a bit of a natural fit, correct?
CHARLIE KIMBALL: Yeah, it definitely feels very comfortable heading back to
working with A.J. Foyt Racing. Larry was great to work with last year,
continuing the relationship that's for more than a decade now with Novo
Nordisk and the Race With Insulin program, which is atypical in sports,
especially in racing, to have a relationship that lasts for that long.
Heading back to Indianapolis, Larry talked about unfinished business. After
last year we have a solid foundation. I really enjoyed working with the guys
from the team manager, Scott Harner, all the way down to the engineers,
mechanics, everybody there. I think it's a great fit to be in the No. 11
Tresiba Chevrolet for this year's Indy 500 as well as the Grand Prix.
The month of May here in Indianapolis is kind of the cornerstone of the
INDYCAR Series. For me, it's exciting to be a part of that.
THE MODERATOR: You mentioned Tresiba back on the fire suit. That
sponsorship, it goes back years and years. That's meant so much to your
career, hasn't it?
CHARLIE KIMBALL: It really has. For me, it's more than just what happens in
the race car. It's the fact that I've used Novo Nordisk insulin to manage my
blood sugar and diabetes from the day I was diagnosed in 2007. To be part of
the Race With Insulin community, giving back to the diabetes community,
empowering those people with diabetes around the world, it's important to
me. It's important to Novo Nordisk. I think the fact it allows me to live my
dream and race cars in the INDYCAR Series is the cherry on top of that.
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| Charlie Kimball won’t be back for a second year as a full-time driver for A.J. Foyt Enterprises in the 2021 IndyCar season, but the 35 year old is still slated to return in a two race deal to the team and partner with longtime sponsor Novo Nordisk. Image Credit: Joe Skibinski via NICS (2020) |
THE MODERATOR: We'll go ahead and open things up for some questions this
afternoon.
Q. Charlie, what are you going to do the rest of the season? I know
obviously you would like to drive the full season. With that not being a
situation for this year, what do you plan to do the rest of the year?
CHARLIE KIMBALL: I think I'll just sit around, read books (audio
disconnection) travel, work to put some more opportunities together,
maximize that. I'm a racing driver. I love being in a race car, whatever
that looks like.
I think for me, I spoke earlier about what I really missed in 2020. Even
though it was a full season, I felt like I missed some of those events that
are really special to me: Long Beach Grand Prix comes to mind, Grand Prix up
in Toronto as well. If I can put an opportunity together that allows me to
be in the cockpit in the INDYCAR Series for those events, I will. I'm
continuing to work towards that goal.
At the same time I'm focused on getting the job done in May. I'm focused on
going out, getting the best result possible for A.J. Foyt Racing, figuring
out how to get this big nose and ugly mug onto that Borg-Warner trophy.
Q. A chance that Sebastien is back with the team, Dalton. To be able to work
again with those guys, how much do you think you can help the whole overall
effort?
CHARLIE KIMBALL: That's the goal, is to add to a program rather than detract
from it, especially as a third car. Those two guys are running all year,
confirmed with Larry and A.J. Foyt. The more I can do to help their program
in those two races, as well as races before then and after then when I'm not
in the car, but still plan to be at the racetrack, make sure my face is
still being seen, but also contribute to the team however I can.
I think the results at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg at the end of last
year with Sebastien, myself, both of us inside the top eight, really showed
the progress we made as a team over the course of the year when we didn't
have any testing, weren't able to really develop the car with all new
drivers, all new engineers after that reset in that previous winter.
To be able to build on that progress that we showed in the last race,
contribute to the team however I can, that's my goal and that's what I'll be
doing.
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| The Tresiba Chevrolet prepared by AJ Foyt Racing is hoping to bring a higher level of focus to a three car team for the month of May. Journeyman Charlie Kimball may bring a balancing perspective to a team that has a four-time INDYCAR Champion in Sebastien Bourdais and second-year driver from Canada, Dalton Kellett. Image Credit: Joe Skibinski via NICS (2020) |
Q. Charlie, how beneficial is it to you obviously coming back to a team that
you know, but also the fact you worked with Dalton and Seb before?
CHARLIE KIMBALL: I think it's really valuable. Larry talked about the amount
of practice we get at the Indy 500. Seems like a lot, but for that size of
that event it goes quickly. You throw the weather in there, pretty soon
you're thrashing and trying to get a lot of work done in a very short amount
of time.
So having drivers that I've worked with as teammates, both Sebastien and
Dalton, who I'm very familiar with from training, things like that, is
helpful. Also knowing the engineers, having worked with the engineers last
year all season long, I think it really is important to keep that teamwork
going and also just the mentality of working together that we built last
year. That momentum will really carry us through the start of the season in
April but then into the month of May here in Indy.
Q. Larry, for yourself, how kind of beneficial is it to you guys as a team
running Charlie, the fact that he's been with the team before?
LARRY FOYT: Yeah, exactly. I think the thing is now we know Charlie and we
trust Charlie. What's good is like he was saying, we feel like we have three
guys now that we can be trying things with during practice and be learning
from. That's just a really big advantage. It's a known thing, we know his
feedback, we trust him.
That's just really helpful because, like he said, you have not only your
race setup but also your qualifying setup at Indy that you have to develop.
We've been working hard on our shop program here over the winter. We take a
lot of pride in our Speedway cars. We definitely have some things we need to
evaluate, so it will be really helpful.
Q. Larry, we understand that Charlie is running the Indy GP and also the
Indy 500. For the third car, for the rest of the season, are you planning on
filling that?
LARRY FOYT: Right now, no, we really don't. It's easier in May, just you
have a lot of people that are used to -- as the INDYCAR Series grows to 33
from what is normally 24, a lot of those people live and are around
Indianapolis. I think that just makes it easier to put a good group together
for this third car.
We actually got this deal done, we kind of knew what we were doing pretty
early, so we were able to already get a head start on that and be working on
that. That's really important.
No, right now there's no plans to do anything outside of these couple races,
so that's really our focus right now.
Q. Larry, you've talked about and been asked about several times over this
last year the prospect of A.J. Foyt Racing transitioning into a three-car
team full-time. Now that you have Charlie as a third driver for these two
races in May, you said you don't anticipate transitioning into a bigger team
this year, but when you have a veteran driver like that, a sponsor like his
behind him that's been with him for more than a decade, do you see any
opportunity for you guys being able to work together in the future, perhaps
2022?
LARRY FOYT: Well, I'd love to have Charlie and Novo full-time. That would be
wonderful.
Sure, as a business you're always thinking of growth. Growth is good as long
as you do it the right way. We struggled a little bit just from our growth
from one car to two cars. So going to a third car, it would have to be a
really good situation.
It's always on my radar. We'd love to do it. I think Charlie would love to
do it. We'd all love to do it. It just comes down to financially what can we
get done and what can we put together.
We're always working on it, always looking forward, looking years down the
road to try to keep growing our business.
So right now, nothing definite. Always things are bouncing around the
paddock, you hear of things going on, a lot of teams talking about growth
and whatnot. But right now for us, we're just focused on this year, focused
on results. Us as a company, we've had some bad years that we need to
recover from, we need to show what we're capable of. That's what the goal is
for this year.
Q. Larry, what is the engineering lineup for the 14 and the 11? Who is going
to be race engineering each of them?
LARRY FOYT: So basically we added, as you know, Justin to our lineup this
year. He'll be engineering the 14 full-time. Mike Pawlowski will still be
running the 4. Mike Colliver is moving to more of a technical director role.
I believe we will have another engineer who is used to the Foyt team, will
be running Charlie's car as well, to keep Mike in that technical director
role. If not, Mike will fill in and do that car. We're just kind of debating
that now.
We're really happy with the way the engineering group is working right now.
I think it will be pretty seamless bringing Charlie and should flow really
well.
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| Tresiba and Novo Nordisk sign up for two races out of a possible seventeen - one suspects that the confidence to support a full season may be tempered through the uncertainty and experiences thrown at all of athletic competition through the reduction in the gathering of eyes at event venues. 2021 is a year sponsors feel that they are digging out of a hole, a very deep hole. Image Credit: Chris Owens via NICS (2020) |
Q. Charlie, what do you feel your best-ever race at Indy was? Obviously you
had a third and a fifth. You've also kind of punched above your weight in
cars that weren't so strong. What do you feel was your best-ever performance
at Indy so far?
CHARLIE KIMBALL: I like that 'so far' because I hope it's going to be 2021,
at least results-wise.
I mean, I think back to a couple of years. I mean, 2018, 2019 with a new
team qualifying for the race, then running well inside the top 10, top 15.
Then looking back, I can't remember the year it was, it might have been '17,
when we were running right up front, running in the top three coming up to
the last pit stop, and I had a mechanical failure. Those are the results
that no one ever sees because you don't see them on the final scorecard.
You know the work you put in all week long, qualifying weekend, Carb Day,
race going to plan, then sometimes the racetrack doesn't give you that
little bit of Lady Luck you need to get across the finish line and confirm
that result.
Those three years really stand out to me. The results are nice, but a lot of
times the result doesn't show the quality of work that you've put in over
the whole month of May.
Q. Last year you guys finished off the year with one of your strongest runs
of the season at St. Petersburg. How much does that help the confidence for
the team going into 2021?
LARRY FOYT: Well, what I'd say is I'm glad hopefully we're going to have
more street course races because our street course program seems to be very
competitive.
Just no doubt the Indy 500 is on the top of our list. We really care about
that race. We've been working hard to get our permanent road course stuff
better because we felt like we were lacking some competitiveness at the Indy
GP and struggled there. We've been working on some shop development stuff
for that kind of racetrack. We have a Barber test coming up. All stuff that
will hopefully benefit Charlie and the whole team as we roll into the month
of May.
Q. Charlie, do you want to touch upon that?
CHARLIE KIMBALL: Yeah, Larry talked about the momentum and the belief. I
think it definitely energizes the whole engineering office, the mechanics,
both race shops, in Speedway and down in Waller.
A good result like that, it's the proof that the work you've put in all
season, the development you've done over the course of race weekends, is
paying off. That gives everybody confidence to keep working and keep that
work ethic up.
I've seen that in conversations with Larry, the team management, with
engineering, that there is a solid belief in the work that we accomplished
last year and how that's going to pay off this year based on the continuing
development over the winter.
Q. In spending last season with the team, what are your expectations heading
into both events? What do you feel you need to improve upon as a driver?
CHARLIE KIMBALL: I think as a driver, I'll answer the second part first,
you're always looking for gains. The Indy 500, we ran really well last year
when you look at comparisons and equal things. Yes, the 18th isn't the
result we wanted as a team. The 4 car, we were definitely disappointed. But
we overcame some challenges that I don't know anyone ever really saw from
the outside. It was nice to get that result, have a nice clean month.
The Indy GP, I think we learned some things not only that July 4th weekend
but also at the Harvest Grand Prix later in the year. For me as a driver, I
definitely learned some things that paid off when we got to St. Pete, then
beyond that here into 2021.
Q. Larry, your team has won a race here and there, but you haven't been
consistent winners. Where do you think you're lacking? Have you ever
considered doing any technical relationship like Meyer Shank Racing has with
Andretti where they get engineering knowledge or maybe even a shop program?
Have you ever considered doing that with one of the bigger teams?
LARRY FOYT: Yes, good questions.
I think one of our issues has just been in recent years too many changes. We
haven't had consistency in drivers. We haven't had consistency in
engineering. Just the way things have played out. We've gone through a
manufacturer change, trying to get caught up with that. Just been on our
back foot a little bit.
We really feel like this group we have together now is all pulling in the
same direction. Probably has been a long time since we felt that way.
There's a lot of positive vibes within the team. Like Charlie said, the
results laid toward the end of the year last year made us all believe we're
heading in the right direction. That's what I'm excited about, the
consistency we have going in with the group and the drivers into 2021.
Technical shares? Certainly we've thought about it. Had some conversation.
It's just never been something that really we were able to put together for
whatever reason, albeit financially, whatever reasons, teams that just
weren't in a place where they felt like they were ready to do it.
We're carrying for us, as a smaller team, a pretty large engineering staff
right now. We really are putting our resources, as we have pivoted from just
being a normal, I think, old-school INDYCAR team, we're really an
engineering-led team now. That's been the goal over the last four or five
years. We feel like it's all headed in the right direction.
We want to come out next year and start to turn I think what people think of
when they think of A.J. Foyt Racing. We want to be back up front.
No doubt this INDYCAR field is ridiculously strong, I mean, from top to
bottom. It is incredibly strong. Fighting for top 10s, then getting in that
top five has got to be what the goal is.
Q. Charlie, is the Tresiba deal just a sponsorship deal in that they're
putting the name on the car or is there planned activation during the month
of May?
CHARLIE KIMBALL: I'm happy to answer that.
The whole Race With Insulin program for the 13 years now we've worked
together has been about more than just a brand on the race car. We have done
a huge amount of work within the diabetes community. Up until last year
in-person events, community events, educating healthcare professionals about
how I use the medications within a high-performance occupation like driving
a race car. Interacting with families. For me, that's one of the largest
values.
Obviously representing the diabetes community on the racetrack, and a stage
like the Indianapolis 500 is special. But when you talk to parents about
empowering their kids with diabetes to overcome that challenge and still do
what they want in life, chase their dreams, that's when it's really
valuable.
I'm so grateful for the work with Novo Nordisk and the Race With Insulin
program, to be able to share that story and hear other people's stories.
When I meet someone who's had diabetes for 50, 60 years, just ran their
first marathon, it inspires me to keep doing what I do on the racetrack, and
also keep doing what I do within the community.
It's always been about more than just what happens on the racetrack. I know
that the last 12 months has looked very different for a lot of people. I'm
not sure what the activation around it is going to look like yet. I think
there are still plans coming together for that.
But the more I can do to help empower the diabetes community and go out and
win on the racetrack, I think we would call that a win-win.
Q. For example, given COVID, would there possibly be a commercial with you
involved, TV commercial that would run during the races or even outside the
races on general TV?
CHARLIE KIMBALL: I'm not sure what activation plans are coming together.
Like I said, I think they're still in development. That's something that as
those things come together we'll roll them out.
Novo Nordisk always does a great job of supporting the team, working with
the team very closely. I know they enjoyed working with Larry and everyone
at A.J. Foyt last year in a very unique situation.
We're still working on what 2021 is going to look like.
Q. After you win this year's Indy 500, will you use the money to run some
more races?
CHARLIE KIMBALL: I don't know. We'll have to see if Larry can keep the
people onboard. I think people are more likely to stay onboard when they're
wearing a 500 winner's ring.
THE MODERATOR: Charlie, Larry brought up a good point, how competitive the
NTT INDYCAR Series has become. It's hard to believe you're now in year
number 11 in the series, when you were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed 10 years
ago until now, the competition level has only just increased. It's been
amazing to watch over the last decade.
CHARLIE KIMBALL: 100%. I think you see that not only in the level increasing
within INDYCAR, but you see that with the interest from outside. Marcus
Ericsson was one of the first to come over from a Formula 1 experience, come
to INDYCAR and see how challenging it really is. Obviously Romain coming
over and signing for the road courses, road and street circuits this year is
another indication of that. Romain and I were teammates years and years to
go, man, I want to say that was 2005, 2006 we were teammates back in Formula
3 Euro.
There's a long history of drivers doing well in Europe and looking to
INDYCAR because of the level of competitiveness, the fact that anybody can
go out there and win on any given weekend if you get it right.
For me, I've always grown up watching the Indy 500. It's such an important
race, largest race in the world, largest sporting event. To be able to
continue to compete in that, my attempt to qualify for my 11th Indy 500 is
not something that I scoff at either.
THE MODERATOR: Might be your biggest supporter, let's turn things over to
Asher's Racing Channel.
Q. This question is for Charlie. Is there any chance that you could be
joining A.J. Foyt for the rest of the races or maybe another team for some
of the other races, too?
CHARLIE KIMBALL: Well, it's good to see you, Asher. I appreciate the
support. I appreciate you pushing Larry on the last call about getting me
back into the fold and on the team. I think it definitely helped get this
deal done.
At the same time I'm working all the opportunities. I know Larry is, as
well. He talked about the company growing, the race team growing, doing it
right. I'd love to be a part of that. At the same time I'm trying to make
sure I maximize every opportunity from when I'm in the car, other
partnerships, try to put more together.
As I said earlier, I have helmet, will travel. I'd love to be behind the
wheel at any point, at any race this year.
THE MODERATOR: Asher with the hard-hitting questions there. Nicely done.
Good to see good people back in the series. Congratulations, Charlie
Kimball. The Grand Prix in May, of course the Indianapolis 500 after that.
Congratulations, a three-car effort heading into the month of May.
The race comes up Sunday, May 30th. 100 days out from the race comes up next
Friday, a week from tomorrow, February 19th.
[ht: FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports]
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.”
[ht: NBC News]
The career of Charlie Kimball in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES may be another possible reduction in force given the challenges this Wuhan Virus has delivered to our culture over all ... let's ask Marco Andretti who will be competing to join the field of 33 with Charlie Kimball in the 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500 during the month of May.
... notes from The EDJE
TAGS: Charlie Kimball, Larry Foyt, AJ Foyt Racing, GMR Grand Prix, INDY 500, The EDJE, Tresiba, Novo Nordisk, Marco Andretti, The EDJE
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