Charlie Kimball Is Racing With Insulin

Since his diagnosis, IndyCar driver Charlie Kimball has been a hero to the diabetes community.

Charlie Kimball and his race team. Photo by Mike Levitt. Courtesy of LAT-USA. All rights reserved.
Charlie Kimball and his race team. Photo by Mike Levitt. Courtesy of LAT-USA. All rights reserved.

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Race car driver Charlie Kimball. Photo by Mike Levitt. Courtesy of LAT-USA. All rights reserved.
Race car driver Charlie Kimball. Photo by Mike Levitt. Courtesy of LAT-USA. All rights reserved.
Charlie Kimball is making history on two fronts—as the first and only licensed driver with diabetes in the history of IndyCar to race at the highest level of the series, and now, as a 2012 recipient of the prestigious Jefferson Award, the “Nobel Prize” for public service.

An avid racer since age 9, Kimball was abruptly forced to abandon an emerging professional career in June 2007, when he was diagnosed with diabetes during a routine physician’s visit. Determined to get back behind the wheel, Kimball worked with his doctor and team to map a diabetes treatment strategy that includes competing at speeds exceeding 200 mph.

Now in his second season with Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing, we asked Kimball which was his top challenge: driving an open wheel race car, or living with diabetes?

“Driving an IndyCar! We have great tools for diabetes. Racing is always changing with new drivers and equipment. But I’m fortunate to have racing as a goal. It makes me face the challenge of diabetes,” says the young American driver.

Modern devices like continuous glucose monitors and meters are vital to diabetes control but sometimes you just have to get creative, says Kimball.

IndyCar racer Charlie Kimball at the 2012 Toronto finish line.
Charlie Kimball and Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing scored a career-best second place finish at the IndyCar Honda Indy Toronto 2012. Courtesy of LAT USA. All rights reserved.

Congratulations, Charlie Kimball! The world’s fastest race cars snaked through Toronto streets lined with speed-loving fans on July 8, 2012, where Charlie Kimball captured his first podium-finish!

Follow Kimball on Twitter at @RaceWithInsulin.

Click here for the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Racing Schedule.

Record-high heat at Indy made hydration a priority,” he explains. “So my team rigged up two insulated drink bottles—one with water and the other with sugared orange juice—and placed them in the side pod in the car as close to race time as possible. But it’s not just in racing. When you have diabetes, you have to keep learning and adjusting to challenges that pop up in life.”

Kimball keeps his glucose levels in check with the insulin-delivering FlexPen from Novo Nordisk.

“I was afraid the doctor was going to hand me a big, scary, glass syringe and a huge vial,” he recalls. “With the pre-filled FlexPen, I can use it at a restaurant before, during, or after a meal and my friends won’t even notice. It’s that discreet and that simple.”

Since his diagnosis, Kimball has been a hero to the diabetes community, regularly making appearances and spreading awareness of diabetes via social media—work recently recognized with a 2012 Jefferson Award.

“Using Twitter reminds me that I’m not alone and helps me manage aspects of diabetes separate from the glucose numbers. I’m living proof that people with diabetes can live their dream and achieve what they want in life. I was the first diabetic to race the Indy 500 in 2011, and to lead it in 2012. Now I just have to be the first to win it!”

New Treatment for Kids with Diabetes

Charlie Kimball and his race team. Photo by Mike Levitt. Courtesy of LAT-USA. All rights reserved.
I’m a better athlete because of diabetes rather than despite it, says IndyCar driver Charlie Kimball. Photo by Mike Levitt. Courtesy of LAT-USA. All rights reserved.

In June, diabetes care company Novo Nordisk announced FDA approval of Levemir® (a man-made insulin) for children ages two to five with type 1 diabetes. The prescription is now available for type 1 diabetes patients ages two through adulthood and adult patients with type 2 diabetes.

About Diabetes
In the United States, 25.8 million people have diabetes, a condition in which the body does not produce enough or properly use insulin, the hormone needed to convert sugar, starches, and other food into energy needed for daily life.

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