Charlie Kimball will race for Chip Ganassi Racing for seventh consecutive season in 2017, the thirty-one-year-old American has confirmed.
Speaking to motorsport.com, Kimball revealed that he has signed a new contract with the team that he first joined in the Verizon IndyCar Series back in 2011 and has taken him to one race victory at Mid-Ohio in 2013 and six podium finishes.
Kimball also made a point that up-and-coming drivers should not just make plans to race in the championship, but to plan for staying in IndyCar for the long term.
“The biggest thing I’ve learned outside the car over the last few months is for Indy Lights guys to stop talking about getting into IndyCar,” said Kimball. “It needs to be about getting in with a long term plan of staying in.
“You work your whole career to get here but if you don’t have a plan to stay here, then… what? Some of the guys arrive and think they’ll figure it out once they get here. And there’s just too much going on.
“This series is so competitive now, the margins are so close, that it’s all you can do to keep your head above water and hopefully make a good impression.
“But you think about the talented guys who’ve come in and done well, showed they have talent… and then they’re gone. It’s not enough to think you can just show up, drive well and teams will be chasing after you with a contract. It’s not like that, and it hasn’t been like that for a couple of decades, to be honest.”
