July 23, 2012

My blog today is about Elkhart Lake's Road America.  The first road race was in 1950 going down the county roads and through the streets of Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. It totaled 3.3 miles.  In 1951 and 1952 a different 6.5 mile course was used.  One can still drive most of the original course which was registered on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.  Signs have been installed marking key locations on the course.  It is on my bucket list to drive the original course one of these days.

In 1955 Clif Tufte started what is now known as Road America.  The track is a little more than 4 miles long and reminds a lot of drivers of the tracks in Europe like Spa in Belgium and Monza in Italy.

A lot of trees have come down and fencing has gone up for safety but the sounds of the race cars coming through the trees is still awesome.

All kinds of food is available at every turn on the track and it's all great track food.  The food stand at each turn on the track, seems to have a different specialty and taste.  Turn 1 is probably my personal favorite.  It features Mexican food and the tacos are great.  At this track leave your food at home and enjoy the track food!

The attached photographs show the track in 1973 during my first visit.  The original start house had a lot of character. It was was replaced years ago with a nice air conditioned building on the other side of the track.  Pit lane is also a lot different now and has been moved up the hill. 

All blog photographs are for sale at a special price of $30.00 for a limited edition 8 X 10 or 8 1/2 X 11 gloss print which includes shipping in the U.S..  This sale is just during the week of the featured blog.  Contact us soon.

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Rich Zimmermann

July 16, 2012

He was born Ronald Clyde Crosby in Oneonta, N.Y. but adopted the stage name Jerry Jeff Walker in 1966.  Jerry Jeff Walker plays an outlaw style of country music that I have always loved.  I have seen him refer to his music as "Cowjazz"!

Jerry Jeff is most famous for a song he wrote called "Mr. Bojangles" that is about an obscure, alcoholic, tap dancing drifter that he met and not the actual Bill "Bojangles" Robinson the famous black, stage and movie dancer.  Jerry Jeff's song has been covered and performed by Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond and many others.

My personal favorite Jerry Jeff song is "Up Against the Wall Red Neck Mother"!  It's one of those songs that just gets you singing along with him and the band.  Jerry Jeff and his Lost Gonzo band also perform some Townes Van Zandt songs that I like and got to see them perform at "The Amazing Grace" in Evanston, Illinois on February 7, 1975. The attached photographs are from that show.

All blog photographs are for sale at a special price of $30.00 for a limited edition 8 X 10 or 8 1/2 X 11 gloss print which includes shipping in the U.S..  This sale is just during the week of the featured blog.  Contact us soon.

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Rich Zimmermann

July 9, 2012

Marco Andretti is the first Indy car driver that I have photographed exclusively with digital equipment!

Marco started his rookie year in 2006 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway where he started 13th, broke a halfshaft during a pit stop, ending his race that day.  At the Indy 500 in 2006, he became the third Andretti to finish in the top five. It was his first Indy 500 appearance.  He finished second to Sam Hornish Jr. in the second closest finish in Indy history (0.0635), joining his father Michael (5th in 1984) and his grandfather Mario (3rd in 1965 and first in 1969).

On August 27, 2006 Marco became the youngest winner (19 years, 5 months, 14 days) of an Indy car race with his victory at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA.  That race, not far from grandfather Mario's winery, made Marco the 2006 IRL Bombardier Rookie of the Year.

Driving for his father Michael Andretti and Andretti Autosport, Marco has teamed up with some very good talent in Ryan Hunter Reay and James Hinchcliff. 

Enjoy these photographs of Marco.

All blog photographs are for sale at a special price of $30.00 for a limited edition 8 X 10 or 8 1/2 X 11 gloss print which includes shipping in the U.S..  This sale is just during the week of the featured blog.  Contact us soon.

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Rich Zimmermann

July 2, 2012

After an audition to become the lead vocalist for the band King Crimson didn't work out, Brian Ferry formed Roxy Music in 1971.  Robert Fripp of King Crimson was impressed enough with Brian Ferry's audition that he helped Roxy Music get their first record contract.

On February 26, 1975 I photographed Roxy Music at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee.  Also playing that night were the bands StarCastle and Babe Ruth, which is another story sometime soon.

Brian Ferry, with his signature look of the white jacket, bow tie and cumberbun was dressed for the night.  He was amazing but the clear plexiglass violin played by Eddie Jobson was really something to witness.  Plexiglass or composite violins like the Vivo2 Clear played by Vanessa Mae are fairly common these days but in 1975 I had never seen one before.

The saxophone playing by Andy MacKay and the drumming and percussion by Paul Thompson were also excellent that night.  It was a night of Roxy music by Roxy Music!

All blog photographs are for sale at a special price of $30.00 for a limited edition 8 X 10 or 8 1/2 X 11 gloss print which includes shipping in the U.S..  This sale is just during the week of the featured blog.  Contact us soon.

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Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

June 25, 2012

Thank you Michael Andretti for believing in Milwaukee and the continuation of the Milwaukee Mile's history with Indy cars.  On June 15 and 16, Michael Andretti and his team put on an incredible show with the Indy cars and they made it a family affair.  This wasn't your normal race weekend.  Michael Andretti made it a festival with an infield full of fun.  There was a carnival atmosphere with a ferris wheel, bumper cars and even a concert with the band Smashmouth after the race Saturday.  All that was missing was funnel cake!

If you want rain, just schedule an Indy car race because in Milwaukee we haven't had rain in over a month and as soon as it was race time it poured.  The race was delayed for about 1 1/2 hours but the crowd didn't leave since they had things to do while waiting.  There were all of the many infield activities and all kinds of food to eat.  Once the race started, the crowd came back to their seats and they stayed for the whole race.  I sat in the grandstands for the last 30 laps and watched Ryan Hunter Reay pull away.  Usually you see people leaving towards the end, but not this time.  Everyone enjoyed a good race and a good concert afterwards.

The race itself had Dario Franchitti on the pole position with his Honda engine that has apparently been figured out.  At the beginning of the season the Hondas were slow but Dario won the Indy 500 and took control with the beginning of the race in Milwaukee.  Unfortunately,  Dario crashed out after leading for a bit and then Ryan Hunter Reay was coming.  Watching a couple of restarts from the grandstands Ryan just pulled away from the pack.  Tony Kanaan usually is the master of restarts but Ryan was the guy with the perfect setup at the end as he just pulled away from Tony.  Ryan won the race and Tony finished second for an exciting race.

Before the start of the race Michael Andretti announed he would promote the Milwaukee race again next year.  I can't wait for our 2013 Milwaukee Indy Fest!

Attached are a few photographs from the past few years for you to enjoy.

All blog photographs are for sale at a special price of $30.00 for a limited edition 8 X 10 or 8 1/2 X 11 gloss print which includes shipping in the U.S..  This sale is just during the week of the featured blog.  Contact us soon.

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Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

June 17, 2012

Just a quick Father's Day blog today.  Here we have Joe Walsh March 19, 1975 at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee during his Barnstorm band days.

These photographs are with film and one of the photos is an ACTUAL double exposure with film!!!!!!!!  There were no digita fixes in 1975!

Which do you think was better,  Joe Walsh in his Barnstorm band days or his James Gang days??

Enjoy these images on my new website and please keep checking it for more photos and stories. 

Please visit me on Facebook or Twitter @ richzimmermann.com

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

June 11, 2012

Tony Kanaan is probably the most physically fit person on pit lane.  He has become a triathlete and has competed in the Iron Man marathon in Hawaii with fellow Indy Car driver Vitor Meira.

His Indy Car career began in 1998 after winning the Indy Lights championship in 1997.  Through the years he has driven for Forsythe Racing and had Alex Zanardi as a teammate in his second year with Mo Nunn Racing.

In 2003, Tony moved to Andretti Green Racing taking over for retiring race car driver Michael Andretti.  Tony won the 2004 IRL championship and completed every possible lap for the season (3,305)!  He is the first Indy Car driver to complete every lap in a season and that is amazing to me.

In 2011 Tony moved to the KV Racing Technology Team driving for team owner Jimmy Vasser. 

Enjoy these images on my new website and please keep checking it for more photos and stories. 

Please visit me on Facebook or Twitter @ richzimmermann.com

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

June 4, 2012

Jim Seals and Dash Crofts are two musicians from Texas who were very popular in the 1970's, known as Seals and Crofts.  Today, you can still hear some of their songs such as Hummingbird, Diamond Girl and Summer Breeze. Those were some of their biggest hits.   Their music was inspired by their Baha'i faith beliefs which gave the songs some spiritual themes and lyrics.

The photographs here are from November 30, 1972 when Seals and Crofts played at UW Milwaukee. At that time I was working as a photographer for the Bugle American newspaper.  It was in 1972 that Seals and Crofts released their second album, "Summer Breeze" which charted #7 with Billboard and they were awarded a gold disc for over one million copies sold.

After success in the 1970's they took a break, and in 1980 they lost their contract with Warner Brothers.  A short reunion tour was held in 1991-1992 and they have appeared at Baha'i gatherings.  In 2003, they reunited, recorded and released "Traces" with limited success.

Jim Seals lives in Nashville and Costa Rica where he has a coffee farm.  Dash Crofts and his wife raise Arabian horses on the Crofts family farm in Texas.

All blog photographs are for sale at a special price of $30.00 for a limited edition 8 X 10 or 8 1/2 X 11 archival gloss print which includes shipping in the U.S..  Contact us soon and keep checking the website for new images and updates.

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Rich Zimmermann

May 27, 2012

In 1997 Dario Franchitti started racing Indy cars in the USA and little did we know how great he would be.  Today, Dario won his third Indy 500! We can only think that his good friend Dan Wheldon must have helped him on the last lap.  Takuma Sato and Dario had a little incident racing on the last lap and amazingly Dario came away clean and won the race.  Takuma went into the wall.

Dan Wheldon's face is now sandwiched on the Borg Warner trophy at Indy with Dario Franchitti.  If you win the Indy 500, the winner's face is sculpted on the Borg Warner trophy.  Dan would have loved seeing Dario in victory lane today wearing a pair of white framed sunglasses which Dan was always wearing if he did not have his helmet on.  White sunglasses and drinking and pouring milk over your head in victory circle today was a very good thing to see.

The two photographs here are of Dario in 1997 and a little part of my race room collection.  The visors shown are Dario's and Dan Wheldon's.  I think they were talking to each other today!

Enjoy these images on my new website and please keep checking it for more photos and stories. 

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Rich Zimmermann

May 14, 2012

In 1963 when I was 9 years old, I watched the Indy 500 on television and kept track of my favorite drivers on my blackboard in our family's basement.  My favorite driver was Jim Clark, a man from Scotland that just seemed to be so good and he was a farmer!  I got the feeling that he was a  quiet man who just wanted to race.  Jimmy finished in second place at Indy in 1963 and really impressed me.  I kept following him and he won the Indy 500 in 1965.  He has always been my favorite race car driver.  I was so sad when he died in a crash while in Germany in 1968.

After that, Jackie Stewart became my new favorite race car driver.  Then as time went along, I also followed Emerson Fittipaldi and of course Aryton Senna.  In 1997 a new Scottish face appeared on the Indy Car trail racing for Carl Hogan.  Dario Franchitti is his name and he is another Scottish lad who is very good at what he does.  He reminds me of Jim Clark  and I noticed that Jackie Stewart took an interest in him, and that told me that he must be good.

Jackie Stewart was right because Dario has won 4 Indy Racing League championships, 2 Indy 500 races and has a great resume in CART and Champ Car too.  If he can get some extra power out of the Honda engine that so far is down on power this year, I see him doing another victory lap at Indy.   He is good enough that he actually might not need the extra power from Honda because he has the power from inside the helmet!

My race room/man cave has one of Dario's helmet visors and a couple pairs of his driving gloves. We have traded memorabilia for photographs through the years.  They are treasures and I'll keep an eye on them during the Indy 500 this year to try to give him some extra luck and push him to another win.  Jimmy Clark and Greg Moore will be watching and pushing him along from upstairs.

Attached are a few photographs from the past few years for you to enjoy.

All blog photographs are for sale at a special price of $30.00 for a limited edition 8 X 10 or 8 1/2 X 11 gloss print which includes shipping in the U.S..  This sale is just during the week of the featured blog.  Contact us soon.

Please visit me on Facebook or Twitter @ richzimmermann.com

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann