Friday, May 17
4:30 p.m.
Well, track activity for the day is officially done due to rain. The good news is that the No. 83 team got back to the garage before it started!
Overall, it was a pretty good day for the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team. We rolled out and had a decent baseline. The HPD/Honda group made the adjustments to the boost levels over night, which we needed a little bit for calibration stuff. We’re focused on qualifying, but making sure to doing it intelligently. We’re making progressive steps with down force and trying to get the speed out of the car. We’ll see what the weather does tomorrow. I think we ended up with a pretty good car so we’re pretty happy with that. We have another round of practice tomorrow, so we’ll see what we can tweak on it.
While we wait for this rain to pass, check out a quick Q&A I shot with Ryan recently:
4:30 p.m.
Well, track activity for the day is officially done due to rain. The good news is that the No. 83 team got back to the garage before it started!
Overall, it was a pretty good day for the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team. We rolled out and had a decent baseline. The HPD/Honda group made the adjustments to the boost levels over night, which we needed a little bit for calibration stuff. We’re focused on qualifying, but making sure to doing it intelligently. We’re making progressive steps with down force and trying to get the speed out of the car. We’ll see what the weather does tomorrow. I think we ended up with a pretty good car so we’re pretty happy with that. We have another round of practice tomorrow, so we’ll see what we can tweak on it.
While we wait for this rain to pass, check out a quick Q&A I shot with Ryan recently:
10:30 a.m.
Just finished up with a media availability with my teammates. Today is Fast Friday, which means we get an extra boost of power from Honda. We like to go quick, so the opportunity to go quicker? Even better! We'll work a bit on our qualifying setup today and see what track time we get, with the possibility of rain later.
Thursday, May 16
6:30 p.m.
Today was another really good day of practice. We spent a fair amount of time working on race stuff. We did a couple of solid, full-tank, new-tire runs in traffic. The car feels really stable. I think we made progress and found a couple of things today that some of my teammates ran and liked, and I agree with them. So we went in that direction, as well. I think we’re in really good shape for next Sunday. Now our focus kind of shifts to qualifying on Saturday. Obviously with Fast Friday tomorrow, we’ll get a little more boost. As race car drivers we always like to go faster, and I think we have a good shot with the No. 83 car as we increase that boost. We’re going to trim out the car and see what we can get out of it.
6:30 p.m.
Today was another really good day of practice. We spent a fair amount of time working on race stuff. We did a couple of solid, full-tank, new-tire runs in traffic. The car feels really stable. I think we made progress and found a couple of things today that some of my teammates ran and liked, and I agree with them. So we went in that direction, as well. I think we’re in really good shape for next Sunday. Now our focus kind of shifts to qualifying on Saturday. Obviously with Fast Friday tomorrow, we’ll get a little more boost. As race car drivers we always like to go faster, and I think we have a good shot with the No. 83 car as we increase that boost. We’re going to trim out the car and see what we can get out of it.
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| Going out for the first laps of the day. |
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| Pitting! |
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| Talking to engineers during a yellow. |
10:30 a.m.
Just finished up with a drivers meeting. It's a sunny morning here at IMS but it looks like we might have some rain later on today. We'll try to get out early and get some track time before the weather changes.
Wednesday, May 15
6:25 p.m.
What a day! I had a couple of members of the Colts team as guests here at the track for a couple of hours. It was cool to show them my "office" and all of the behind-the-scenes action of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway! I totally become a football geek when I have the chance to go to games, so it was neat to do the same for them.
Moving to on-track... we ran through a lot of stuff this afternoon. We did nearly 70 laps in different conditions, both early in the afternoon and late in the afternoon. We worked on a lot of race stuff and are still focusing on next Sunday, for the race. We have to make sure that the No. 83 car is going to be happy in different situations and different conditions, whether we’re running in traffic or running by ourselves. We worked on some developmental stuff, just to make sure we have as many tools in our toolbox as possible come race day. I think the car is pretty happy. We just have to keep making adjustments and paying attention as things develop. Obviously, as we’re getting closer to the end of the week we’ll start looking towards qualifying. What’s really important is what happens a week from Sunday, not necessarily what happens on Saturday in qualifying. Saturday is important; it’s just not the only important thing ahead of us. All in all, today was a really good day for the No. 83 team.
6:25 p.m.
What a day! I had a couple of members of the Colts team as guests here at the track for a couple of hours. It was cool to show them my "office" and all of the behind-the-scenes action of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway! I totally become a football geek when I have the chance to go to games, so it was neat to do the same for them.
Moving to on-track... we ran through a lot of stuff this afternoon. We did nearly 70 laps in different conditions, both early in the afternoon and late in the afternoon. We worked on a lot of race stuff and are still focusing on next Sunday, for the race. We have to make sure that the No. 83 car is going to be happy in different situations and different conditions, whether we’re running in traffic or running by ourselves. We worked on some developmental stuff, just to make sure we have as many tools in our toolbox as possible come race day. I think the car is pretty happy. We just have to keep making adjustments and paying attention as things develop. Obviously, as we’re getting closer to the end of the week we’ll start looking towards qualifying. What’s really important is what happens a week from Sunday, not necessarily what happens on Saturday in qualifying. Saturday is important; it’s just not the only important thing ahead of us. All in all, today was a really good day for the No. 83 team.
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| Early afternoon practice. |
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| Jumping back in the No. 83 car. |
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| Garage tour for our Colts guests. |
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| Griff takes a seat in my office! |
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| Hanging out in pit lane. |
11:30 a.m.
A great job by the No. 83 guys... Ended up with the second quickest time in the pit stop competition qualifications at 8.950 seconds! Always can count on them to be fast on pit lane.
We'll likely run as soon as the track goes green at noon, so I'm just grabbing some lunch before heading out.
8:50 a.m.
Good morning! I had a lot of fun at Riley last night. The kids were so excited and had a lot of great questions about IndyCar Hopefully they'll all be rooting for the No. 83 on race day!
I got to the track just a little while ago and am headed out to pit lane now. This morning the No. 83 team will compete in the pit stop competition time trials, for a spot in the actual contest later on. I have total faith in the guys and I know we'll be quick!
Keep following me on Twitter @racewithinsulin for more behind-the-scenes action!
Tuesday, May 14
6:30 p.m.
Today was a good day. As far as weather conditions, it was the first time we really had warm on-track temperatures. A lot of times, race day temperatures are this warm and this windy so we tried to do as much as we could with the No. 83 car in race trim. We ran with my teammates on full tanks and did a long run to see how the tires were holding up and see how the car was going to do. We did a few hot stops and pit stops with launches to get the guys warmed up. Everything feels really good. Towards the end of the afternoon, we thought we may have lost it a little bit but we made some changes and put the car right back in the ballpark so everything is good. It’s just a question of what the weather does towards the end of this week and make sure we can keep it in that range and make sure we can be competitive as we trim it out for qualifying.
I'm just finishing up a meeting with my engineers, then I'll head to Riley Hosptial for Children for their annual Indy 500 party. It's always a fun chance to meet a great group of kids and hang out with them for a bit.
10:15 a.m.
Good morning! It's a bright, beautiful day in Indy. Looks like we'll finally be getting some warmer track temperatures during practice later today. I just got finished doing a video blog with my teammate Ryan... stay tuned for the final product!
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| Interviewing Ryan this morning. Photo via @CGRteams. |
In case you missed it, here's my interview from yesterday on WISH-TV's Indy Style:
6:30 p.m.
Another good day in the No. 83 car. The Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing guys were on it. We just worked through our program, went through a couple of engineering changes, and we will just keep working toward our program and the end of the week. We’ll have to see what the weather does but today turned out to be a really nice afternoon. There’s every likelihood that tomorrow will be beautiful so we’ll inevitably do a lot of running then and we’ll be in good shape for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. We’ll just keep working in that direction.
I'm quickly changing then heading to dinner with the boss, Dario, Scott, and Ryan!
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| First laps of the day in the No. 83 |
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| Happy Hour practice |
11:30 a.m.
Busy morning already! Earlier I went to the WISH-TV studios for an appearance on "Indy Style." Always a fun interview! Then I headed to the track for a quick photo shoot at the motorcoach, but first picked up Long's Donuts (a must-stop for breakfast in the Indy area) for the No. 83 team. A happy crew is a speedy crew, right?!
Just grabbing some lunch before we head out to the track around 12:30 or so for practice. Catch live timing and video at racecontrol.indycar.com!
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| Live on Indy Style |
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| Photo shoot in the Monaco motorcoach |
6:30 p.m.
Today was a good second day at IMS. We shook the primary car down and went through a couple of changes. It's still early in the week and we're still trying to get a handle on where the track is going to be, especially as we get closer to qualifying at the end of the week. It was a good opening weekend. We're really happy with the pace of the car. As far as knowledge of what we've got heading into the week of practice, I think we feel pretty good. We've got a good foundation, and we'll keep working on the No. 83 car and get quicker all the time. The guys have been really good on practice pit stops. We'll keep working on that too because I know they'll be rock solid on race day.
Tomorrow morning I'm headed to WISH-TV for an "Indy Style" interview. If you're in the Indy area, be sure to tune in! I'll be live at 9 a.m.
Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @racewithinsulin for updates during on-track sessions from my Pit Lane Reporter!
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| First laps in the primary car. |
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| Happy with today's progress! |
Happy Mother's Day to all of the IndyCar-loving moms out there! And especially to my own mom--can't thank her enough for her support. Can't wait to see you later this month, Mom!
The No. 83 crew is switching from the backup car to the primary car today, so we won't be on track until a bit later. It's another chilly day here in Indy, but the sun is out and we're at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway so life is good!
While we're off track, check out some news from earlier this week:
Diabetic race car driver visits children with diabetes
Race car driver visits kids at Memorial Hospital
Diabetes won’t slow Indy 500 driver
Saturday, May 11
6:00 p.m.
Today was a great start to the month of May. The No. 83 backup car gave us a good baseline to work from. We made a couple changes, and I think that made a lot of sense. We were able to work around the weather a little bit and work around rookie orientation practice. The crew has been working really hard, so I think that we’re going to try and focus on the rest of the month now and run the primary car. We still have to see where the track is going to grip-up. Right now, there’s very little rubber down and we’ll see where we go. Hopefully, it’s not 60 degrees on race day, and it’s closer to 80, and we’ll be in good shape.
Heading to an engineering meeting before a nice dinner out. Looking forward to day 2 tomorrow!
2:15 p.m.
Not a bad start! We did an install lap and a couple of baseline runs in the No. 83T car. The guys are making a few changes to the car now, and we'll likely go back out after the rookie laps are done.
Already meeting a ton of fans here at IMS today! Thanks for coming out, even in the chilly weather!
10:00 a.m.
Good morning from the greatest place on earth... no, not Disney. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway! Though this is considered "Opening Day," it's hardly Day 1 for us. The Indianapolis 500 is one you work for all year and think about every single day!
I think my favorite part of living in Indiana is being part of Indianapolis during the month of the May. That excitement, that enthusiasm it brings to the whole city the town of Speedway, all of the different events, the chance to interact with fans, and most importantly going 225 mph around the greatest race track in the world.
We'll be on track early today, get the No. 83 car shaken down, get ready to go, and start working through our program for the rest of the month. About to head to our first drivers meeting of the month.
Check out live timing and scoring (AND... live streaming video!) for all practice sessions at IMS at racecontrol.indycar.com! More info and an on-track schedule here. If you're in Indy or plan to be during the month of May, click here to find all of my public appearances! Hope to see you soon.
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