With Teammates Bumped, Charlie Kimball Holds Torch for Carlin in Indy 500

By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer

Sunday Bump day was not nice to Carlin Racing.

Coming into the Month of May in Indianapolis with four cars under their wing, the team left Sunday’s qualifying day with only one set for next weekend’s Indianapolis 500, veteran Charlie Kimball.

The thrilling Bump Day saw rookie Patricio O’Ward and three-time runner Max Chilton fail to qualify along with the allianced McLaren of Fernando Alonso. For Kimball, a four-lap average of 227.915 mph put him 20th on the boards.

Though his lowest qualifying effort at Indy since 2014, the American driver was proud of the run and will hold the single torch for Carlin for the 103rd running Sunday.

“You’re always looking at what other people do,” Kimball said. “It is a day that it is the absolute easiest for common sense to become completely uncommon.

“I’m really proud of the No. 23 crew for Carlin. We executed when we needed to. We got the one run in the books. It was good enough to put us in the show.”

With eight prior starts in the 500, Kimball brings experience to the table.

“When I’m at the racetrack, I’m trying to contribute and lend the benefit of my experience as much as possible,” he said. “Carlin is a great team that has a very storied successful pedigree in lots of different racing series, but it’s still only their second year in IndyCar. And when you’re racing the Penskes, Ganassis, Andrettis, Schmidt Petersons, there’s a depth of knowledge there that’s very specific.”

Kimball’s career took a turn in 2019 when he shifted to a part-time schedule for the first time in his ninth year in the NTT IndyCar Series. Making his first start since the season opener at St. Petersburg, Kimball’s goal is to return to full-time racing.

“If it was up to me, I’d be in the car every day of the week, 365 days of the year,” he said. “There’s no place I’d rather be than in a racecar. My goal is definitely to work toward being back in a car full-time. But motorsports is a sport and it’s also a business, so I’ve got to make sure that I take care of both those sides and work with partners and work with the team to develop relationships.

“If it was about — if it was only about results on the racetrack, I think there would be some drivers that would still be in INDYCAR, and then other drivers that may not be. But it’s not, and that’s the reality. I think a lot of people underestimate the business side of the sport, but it’s critical. You know, partnerships are key to it.”

With a couple months removed from the cockpit, Kimball’s preparations have changed for the 2019 running.

“I have trained and prepared differently for this month of May, not having the rigors of the Indianapolis Grand Prix and the road course before getting on track on the oval,” he said. “It’s also helped me grow as a driver because being on the timing stand and consulting, it has really opened my eyes to how much actually is happening on the timing stand, and it’s a lot more than I ever thought it would be.

“Being a part-time driver is challenging, but at the same time, I think it has allowed me the opportunity to learn, grow and develop and become a better driver because of it.”

In the meantime, Kimball has kept close with the Carlin tea in 2019, aiding advice to teammates O’Ward and Chilton.

“Sometimes I try and help translate from driver speak to engineer speak, and vice versa,” he said. “Sometimes I just lend perspective to drivers about — to both Pato and Max. Max obviously has more IndyCar experience, but Pato, it’s his first year and he’s quite young.”

With a long relationship that has come full-circle, Kimball is confident in the team’s ability to overcome the teammate losses and give his No. 23 a shot on Sunday.

“Having driven for them back in 2005, I can look back a long ways and see a lot of examples of how strong they are as a team,” he said. “They’ve faced adversity before and come up with solutions, and there are a lot of very smart, very qualified people within the organization.”