December 23, 2013

Recently, Dario Franchitti announced that he was retiring from racing Indy cars. This was a sad day for us Dario Franchitti fans who have watched him race since he came to the United States in 1997.

Dario, won the Indy 500 in 2007, 2010 and 2012. He won the IRL championship in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

The injuries Dario sustained in the crash in Houston this past year have forced him to retire from driving Indy cars. Luckily, he is still with us because if you saw that crash, it is amazing he survived.

I have spent most of my Saturday morning here going through photos of Dario from 1997 to 2013, so we have a lot of photographs today! These are just from my digital collection and do not include any of my film from Dario's CART days! Sometime soon, I will scan those photos and do another blog on Dario.

One of my other favorite racers that I got to know a little bit was Greg Moore who was one of Dario's best friends. Dario has a Greg Moore helmet sticker on the back of his helmet in memory of our friend who we lost in 1999. A while back, I did a blog on Greg and Dario sent me a little note saying that he liked it.

Dario is one of the good guys and has always been real nice to me. Thanks Dario and I wish you the best in your retirement days. I feel that I have not seen the last of you and I think you will still be strolling along pit lane at the track with our friends!

Enjoy the photos folks and have a great holiday with your families!

Please join me on Facebook at Rich Zimmermann Photography and Merry Christmas! Let it snow, let it snow and let it snow some more!!

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