Catchfence

Race: Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Sunday, April 17 (3:30 PM ET, VERSUS)

Track: Streets of Long Beach (1.968-mile street circuit)
Location: Long Beach, Calif.

NOTES/NEWS

Follow CGR on Twitter: Follow @CGRTeams for official updates from Chip Ganassi Racing’s INDYCAR and GRAND-AM teams.

Managing Director Mike Hull on Long Beach: “The Long Beach Grand Prix has enormous Open Wheel equity – the winners of this race in F1, CART, and IndyCar represent the very best. The locals refer to it as the “race.” For us, it’s a Big Race to Win. All of our people are very energized to be recognized in Long Beach. Over the years, the race track configuration has been changed to match the downtown planners aggressive growth, but the common denominator continues to be curbs, concrete, and uneven surface. It truly represents a technical driver who finds the quickest route. Watch closely, as it isn’t always conventional.”

CGR Wins: Chip Ganassi Racing’s Indianapolis-based operations have won four out of the five races they’ve entered so far in 2011 (Rolex 24 At Daytona-GRAND-AM, Grand Prix of Miami-GRAND-AM, Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg-INDYCAR and the Porsche 250-GRAND-AM). The TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates team’s win at Barber Motorsports Park gave CGR its 138th victory.

Charlie Kimball and the No. 83 Novo Nordisk Team

Follow Charlie on Twitter: Follow @charliekimball for updates as the driver of the No. 83 Levemir and NovoLog FlexPen Honda completes his rookie year with Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing in the IZOD IndyCar Series.

Drive the Switch: Kimball kicked off Drive the Switch, a national campaign for Novo Nordisk on options for insulin delivery on March 23rd in Tampa, FL. Fans can check out the Drive the Switch booth located in the Long Beach Expo Center and sign a replica of the No. 83 Levemir and NovoLog FlexPen Honda Dallara. Kimball will be signing autographs at the Drive the Switch booth on Saturday, April 16th from 12:30 -1:00 pm PST.

Hometown Hero: The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is a hometown race for Kimball. The 26-year old is from Camarillo, CA and will have over 50 friends and family members watching from the stands as he competes on one of his favorite tracks Sunday, April 17th.

First Top-10: Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing scored their first top-10 in Round 2 of the IZOD IndyCar Series at Barber Motorsports Park.

Kimball on Barber: “It was a great day for Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing. This was the first IZOD IndyCar Series race that I finished and I definitely learned my lesson from St. Pete. The guys pulled off great pit strategy throughout the race. All I had to do was drive by cars on the track and was able to come home 10th. Points mean prizes at the end of the year and now we can build on this for my home race at Long Beach next weekend.”

Points Gain: Kimball gained 10 positions in the IZOD IndyCar Series championship point standings, advancing to 14th place.

Blog About It: Keep up with Kimball’s progress as an IICS Rookie in his season-long blog with SPEEDTV.com.

TEAM ROSTER

Mitch Davis – Team Manager

No. 83 (IndyCar)
Crew Chief (Air Jack): Mark Sampson Race Strategist: Mitch Davis
Engineer: Brad Goldberg Gear Box (L/F): Jerry Bouchard
Assistant Engineer: Luke Goldenstien Rear End (R/F): Josh Junge
Tires/Transport Driver: Mark Easley Front End/Fueler: Brad Wright
Spotter: Mike Burrell Front End (R/R): Mike Soboleski
Rear End: George Sladky Composite/Body (L/R): Jeremy Washburn

About Chip Ganassi Racing Teams

Chip Ganassi created his own one-car IndyCar team in 1990 and established a partnership with sponsor, Target. Today, Chip Ganassi Racing Teams includes two entries in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, four in the IZOD IndyCar Series and one Daytona Prototype in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Cars Series. Overall his teams have 12 championships and 138 victories, including three Indianapolis 500s, a Daytona 500, a Brickyard 400 and four Rolex 24 At Daytonas. Ganassi boasts state-of-the-art race shop facilities in Indianapolis and Brownsburg, Ind. and Concord, N.C., with a corporate office in Pittsburgh, Penn.

- Chip Ganassi Racing, Press Release