The No. 83 Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing car fails, causing a 26th place finish for Charlie Kimball at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma.
When Charlie Kimball left New Hampshire Motor Speedway, his intent was to take the energy of his career-best finish of ninth place and capitalize on it. Kimball would start in the top-10 for his second consecutive outing, and was feeling good about taking the race to the field in Sonoma. Qualifying in 26th position on the grid, the Novo Nordisk team held fast to their convictions that the No. 83 Levemir and NovoLog FlexPen car would gain ground and grind down the competition during the 75 laps ahead of them.
Seven laps after the green flew at Infineon Raceway, the Novo Nordisk team played their hold card. They were pitting for fresh tires. Unwavering, Kimball kept his focus and by lap 50, he had moved up to 18th place.
Lap 54 came too soon for Kimball. The No.83 Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing machine had given its all, while the man looked on in despair. Charlie Kimball's gearbox failed causing an unexpected pit stop. Nine laps down and broken, Charlie Kimball finished in 26th place.
After the race, Charlie poured the accolades on his crew, “It was a tough day for Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing. I think we had the right strategy because the pace was pretty impressive when I had fresh tires. We were quicker than the guys we were racing. We had a gear box issue at the end and I wasn't able to down shift. I was kucky to get it back to pit lane and the Novo Nordisk crew fixed the issue. I think the No. 83 Levemir and NovoLog Flex Pen car will be quick at Baltimore; it's new for everyone, but I think we have a pretty good street circuit setup.”
