Iowa Corn Indy 250 Notes: Kimball receives award for service

Charlie Kimball received a special honor this week, leading up to his appearance in the IZOD IndyCar Series Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway in Newton.

Kimball, who has Type 1 diabetes, was given the Jefferson Award Tuesday in Washington, D.C., for his work to raise awareness about the disease. The award is one of the nation's top honors for community service and volunteering.

"It was an absolute honor to receive the Jefferson Award as recognition for my work with Novo Nordisk in the diabetes community," Kimball said on his website. "To be included in such an inspirational group of people is truly special! I am very blessed to be able to do what I love and at the same time inspire people to overcome obstacles and live their dreams."

Kimball wears a continuous glucose monitor during a race and has a bottle of sugar mounted to keep his blood sugar at proper levels during the race.

Kimball, 27, who was diagnosed with diabetes in 2007, visited the Eastern Iowa Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation last year. See our story from last year.

He also did a remote Sports Desk with us.

ANDRETTI BRINGS POOCH TO THE TRACK

Andretti Autosport owner Michael Andretti observed Take Your Dog To Work Day on Friday.

The Hall of Famer brought his German Shepherd, Leroy, to the team's garage. Leroy, a trained protection dog, was a gift to his wife, Jodi. The dog will attend races Jodi Andretti attends from here on out.

"He was watching the cars go around," Andretti said. "I think he likes being here."

According to a IZOD IndyCar Series news release, Take Your Dog To Work Day was started in 1999 to celebrate dogs as companions and to promote adoptions by showing the bond between dog and owner.