Jim Ayello | IndyStar

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Patience is a virtue most racing drivers are not blessed with, so waiting for something as important as his IndyCar fate to be decided has been challenging for Charlie Kimball.

"I had hoped we’d have something to talk about by now,” the 32-year-old California native laughed, “but the rest of the world doesn’t move quite as fast as a racing driver does.”

Kimball, who has driven for Chip Ganassi Racing each of the past seven seasons found himself without a ride for the first time in his IndyCar career when the team opted to trim their garage from four cars to two this offseason.

With a resume that includes one career victory, six podiums, two top-five finishes at the Indianapolis 500 and a strong relationship with sponsor Novo Nordisk, Kimball has been actively seeking employment since before the 2017 season concluded. While he’s not ready to announce anything just yet, he said that time might be coming soon -- hopefully, sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Kimball refused to confirm speculation that he’ll be driving for the also yet-to-be-confirmed Carlin racing team next year but said he’s very confident he’ll be in an Indy car come March 11 in St. Petersburg.

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“The rational, logical part of me, looking at all the factors, I’d put it at north of 90 percent,” said Kimball, who acknowledged his options are limited with few full-time rides still available. “But that emotional part of me is afraid of something going wrong, and knows nothing is done until I show up at the race track and climb in the car.

“But I’m very bullish and very confident -- and I have been through this whole offseason -- that a program’s going to happen.”

To Kimball’s credit, he isn’t sitting around waiting for 90 percent to become 100 percent to begin preparing for the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season. While he awaits word that his deal has come to fruition, Kimball has been putting himself through the usual paces of a rigorous offseason training program.

Kimball recently returned to the kinesiology department of Michigan State University -- where he now goes every offseason -- to work with exercise physiologist David Ferguson on preparing his body for the upcoming IndyCar season.

Years ago, upon learning that Kimball was a diabetic, Ferguson reached out to the driver to talk with him about creating a training program tailored specifically to Kimball’s unique physiology and body chemistry.

Together, they aimed to find the optimum glucose levels for him while on track as well as learning how to best prepare Kimball’s body for exposure to high G-force levels.

The training, Kimball says, has worked marvelously.

“My training has gotten so much more focused,” Kimball said. “I feel better after spending an hour in the gym knowing I’ve spent that hour effectively. I know I haven’t spent an hour just burning calories but had a workout directed toward precisely what I need in the car.”

Kimball said that landing a full-time IndyCar ride is getting more and more difficult in the current racing climate, so he wants to leave little doubt that when the opportunity finally comes knocking, he will be ready to answer. He just hopes that knock comes soon.

"I think we're getting close to the window of being critical," said Kimball, who is keenly aware that team testing of the new Indy car begins in January. "I don't think we're behind. Other than the four cars that have been (manufacturer) testing sort of non-stop since the end of the season, we're not any further behind than those teams who aren't testing. So when team testing starts in January, we'll be ready to hit the ground running."

Follow IndyStar Motor Sports Insider Jim Ayello on Twitter and Instagram: @jimayello.

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