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July 15, 2024
The annual Road America visit for Indy Car this past year was a memorable one with rookie Linus Lundqvist grabbing the pole position for the first of his career!
This blog is just part 1 of a few blogs to come on the Indy Car drivers as it was an amazing weekend of rain and fun.
Saturday, June 8th was qualifying day and it did not disappoint. The rain made it very exciting.
The rookie drivers were showing up strong but the final six drivers going for the pole position in the Firestone Fast 6 qualifying session came down to the following drivers who then qualified in this order.
Linus Lundqvist
Colton Herta
Marcus Armstrong
Kyle Kirkwood
Will Power
Josef Newgarden
It was a bad day for my man Scott Dixon qualifying 10th as was the race the next day where he finished 21st.
Will Power won the race and that was long overdue for him on Sunday.
Here are some qualifying photos and be sure to look how the Indy Car rain tires move that rain!! Also I got a few glowing brake photos here.
Race photos coming up in the next blog.
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
June 3, 2024
I took another item off my bucket list! I went to the Indy 500 at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway! I have never been there to see the famous Brickyard.
It figures that I go for the longest Indy 500 ever in one day as we had a four hour rain delay.
When I went there a week earlier to get my credentials and become a little familiar with the place, I wasn't that impressed by the size of it all. Access was limited and we couldn't really see much.
Well, that changed come race weekend when I saw most of the track, the media center and more. Never got to turn 2 or 3 because it's so big and I had a lot going on.
Nice to meet Rick Mears, Scott McLaughin, Pato O'Ward, Mario Andretti again and so many more like Kyle Larson, the NASCAR star who did a great job racing. It was fun to tell Rick Mears while we were in an elevator, that I sign my blog like he signs his autographs with a Thanks!! That made him smile.
Walked in on Friday morning for the photo meeting and then went to work right away with a half hour interview with Mario Andretti for IndyCastBrasil. I worked with IndyCastBrasil all weekend. They are great folks. Check them out on You Tube, Instagram and all the social medias.
I could go on and on but I'll let the photos do the talking. Take a look at the race won by Josef Newgarden. Pato O'Ward was heartbroken finishing in P2 and then my main man, Scott Dixon, finished P3. Scott almost won it but he did win yesterday in Detroit!
Time to get ready for Road America and Indy Cars this coming weekend.
Hope you enjoy these photos.
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
July 11, 2022
On the weekend of June 12, 2022, the Indy Cars came to race at Road America. The Sensio Road America Grand Prix was a spectacular race! For a while we figured it was going to take all day though.
Alexander Rossi won the pole position and Josef Newgarden won the race with a great pit stop that put him ahead of Alex for the win.
The first 10 laps or so had a bit of crazy driving. Jimmie Johnson went off course on the first lap in turn 3 which brought out the yellow flag.
Alex Palou had contact on lap 4 for another yellow flag and then Will Power had a wild accident in turn 5. Will Power got a little push by Devlin DeFrancesco that put him into the wall and was facing the wrong way with a broken nose on his car. He attempted to continue on right in front of me, but had to stop on track and get the nose removed.
Finally, at lap 10 we got going again for a great race.
In my photos, checkout the hot brakes on many of the cars. Then look at winner Josef Newgarden doing some really nice victory donuts with alot of smoke and perfectly shaped donuts! Those tires were done after that for sure but his "favorite race car" he said was fine to race again.
Had great weather and it was a fun time at Road America!
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
April 18, 2022
On June 3, 2007 the Indy Racing League came to the Milwaukee Mile for the ABC Supply A.J. Foyt 225 Race.
The Milwaukee race was run traditionally one week after the Indy 500. Miss that race a lot. Bring it back please Roger Penske now that you have control and own the Indy Car series.
Helio had the pole for this race but his rear wing broke during the race right in front of me! He was done for the day and Sam Hornish had a similar situation and was out of the race a few laps later. Tony Kanaan won it with Dario Franchitti in second. Dan Wheldon finished third.
Danica and Dan Wheldon had a little track incident that had Danica steaming down to Dan Wheldon's pit after the race. They weren't friends anymore and fists almost came out!! Great seeing photos of Dan Wheldon again. Fun guy that I traded some photos with for his helmet visor that year. I also have Danica's visors in a photo trade I did every year she was in Indy Cars! I also have a Toyota Atlantic visor of hers from the early days.
Victory Lane was dedicated with a plaque now calling it the A.J. Foyt Victory Lane. A.J. Foyt loved it and he received a Packers Jersey from A.J. Hawk!
Enjoy a look at the Milwaukee Mile and some great racers.
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
January 24, 2022
This week we look back at the great days of Indy Car racing with the CART race at Road America in 2002. It was a late season race on August 18, 2002.
These were the days of beautiful cars with big horsepower. Cristiano da Matta won the race with Alex Tagliani finishing second and Bruno Junquiera third. Cristiano da Matta would win the championship that year!
Tony Kanaan started last and finished fourth!!!
Notice a photo of Wilson Fittipaldi watching his son Christian at work. Also, notice a picture of me next to Adrian Fernandez's Indy Car sponsored by Tecate!! Beautiful race car livery!
I'm letting the photos do the talking this week.
Enjoy and be safe.
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
December 27, 2021
Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Let's hope that the coming new year is a good one.
On May 31-June 2, 2002, the Milwaukee Mile hosted the Miller Lite 250 for the CART Indy Car series. This was at the time when Tony George was trying to take over the series and started the Indy Racing League (IRL). We are still trying to recover from that mess!
The field of cars was down to 19 for this race thanks to the IRL taking a lot of teams over to their side of the fence.
The race was still a good one with Adrian Fernandez on pole position and Paul Tacy winning. Adrian Fernandez finished second and Max Papis third.
This was also the first year of the new grandstands at the Milwaukee Mile.
Today, the grandstands are still there but they actually have tried selling them through the years! Thankfully, that never happened but motor racing has really declined at the Milwaukee Mile. It's the oldest race track in the country. Traditionally, the race at the Milwaukee Mile was the first weekend after the Indy 500.
Take a peak at the old days of 2002. Those were some great racing cars. There's nothing like the smell of methanol fuel!
Talk to you next year and be safe.
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
July 12, 2021
Last week, I focused my blog on the Vintage Indy Reserve cars. This week, I'm showing you the Indy Cars that ran that same weekend at Road America.
Included in this blog are some Indy Lights, USF2000 and Indy Pro 2000 race cars and drivers.
The Indy Cars are my favorite race cars of all. They never cease to amaze me with what the drivers can do with them! Takuma Sato is a wild driver and his car shows it as the race went on. It will need some bodywork!
After two days of practice and qualifying, it seemed Joseph Newgarden had things under control for the pole and the race. Well, he got the pole position and led a lot of the race but did not win.
Joseph really seemed to have it done until the last few laps when his gearbox had other ideas. Alex Palou won the race and Colton Herta was close behind in second. Will Power finished third followed by Scott Dixon and the Formula 1 racers Marcus Ericsson and Romain Grosjean.
It was interesting to watch NASCAR Champion Jimmie Johnson trying to handle an Indy Car. It's going to take some time for him to get up to speed.
Not so for Formula 1 veterans Marcus Ericksson and Romain Grosjean. Romain really is fast and has adapted very well to Indy Car and is having fun being very competitive. Marcus and Romain will be winning soon I believe.
Check out the photos and enjoy the HOT brake photos taken near the end of the race. One actually looked like it was on fire! Unfortunately I missed that shot though..
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
May 3, 2021
It is the month of May and that means it's Indy Car time and the Indy 500 is coming up on May 30th!
Time to practice for the greatest spectacle in racing as they say. Most of the month is dedicated to practice and setup of the cars.
Indy Car has had two races so far and it's been interesting with both races. The young drivers are moving up and really stepping it up. Colton Herta won the St. Petersburg race and Scott Dixon, the old master, won the first race in Texas. Pato O'Ward won the second race!
Felix Rosenqvist, Pato O'Ward, Colton Herta and more are very aggressive and ready to pounce for a victory. Veteran driver Scott Dixon will be trying for another Indy 500 win and moving for his seventh championship as well.
Here we look back at Road America last year where it was a great battle between Felix and Pato lap after lap. During the final ten laps they were a few feet apart from each other with Felix taking the win!
Get ready for some action with the Indy 500 and for Road America Indy Car June 17th through June 20th! The Vintage Indy Car series will be joining the Indy Cars at Road America again which is very cool to see and to hear those old cars.
Very sad to learn we lost Uncle Bobby Unser last night... One of the greatest old school Indy Car drivers around and all around nice guy. RIP Uncle Bobby...
Enjoy a nice month!
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann