April 22, 2024

The weekend of September 11, 1994 at Road America, the CART Indy Cars raced in the the Texaco Havoline 200.

That was a big year of change in CART because of the formation of the IRL series starting up. It was trying to take over the series. That is a whole story in itself someday for another blog, book or movie, but 1994 was a great year of CART racing.

On that nice Fall weekend at Road America we got to see a Canadian in the front row with Paul Tracy in the pole position and a young superstar named Jacques Villeneuve right next to him.

Nigel Mansell was on his last visit to Road America and had the fastest lap of the race but Jacques Villeneuve won it that day.

Team Penske showed up with Emerson Fittipaldi, Paul Tracy and Al Unser Jr. who won the Indy 500 that year with the very secret Mercedes Benz 500I engine that had 1,100hp! Al would end up winning the 1994 championship.

Michael Andretti came back to CART after a year in F1 that didn't go so well. Michael came back driving for Chip Ganassi's new team and won the first race of the year. This was also the last year of Mario Andretti racing in CART and Indy Cars.

Some other great racers you will see here in my photos are Stefan Johansson, Raul Boesel, Arie Luyendyk, Teo Fabi, Adrian Fernandez, Willy T. Ribbs, Scott Goodyear, Mauricio Gugelmin and Bobby Rahal in his beautiful Miller Genuine Draft race car.

Nice to see and remember Dick Simon who was a great team owner for several years for multiple drivers.

Notice the top of Al Unser Jr.'s helmet full of tire rubber and someone else's oil leak!!

Enjoy a look and some beautiful sounding and great looking Indy Cars.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

The annual race the weekend after the Indy 500 was always at the Milwaukee Mile for many years.

March 22, 2021

On September 10, 1989, the CART Indy Car show came to Road America.

I was just getting back into racing photography after some years of commercial work, rock and roll photography and having fun participating in BASS fishing tournaments.

For this race I only took a few photos and actually attended for the race itself. Now, I'm usually up at Road America for the full three days of competition. I travel back and forth each day from home so I can see my wife and download the day's work.

The cars in 1989 were awesome looking and sounded even better! They were powered by methanol. It is a nice, unique smell in the morning with Indy Cars in pit lane!

The race had the now famous Porsche Indy Car with driver Teo Fabi. Teo and his Porsche won only one race in the history of Porsche Indy Car racing with a win at Mid Ohio in 1989. Here at Road America, Teo Fabi finished second. Considering all the problems with the Porche racing program in Indy Car this was very good.

Danny Sullivan won the race and Rick Mears finished third. Wisconsin favorite Arie Luyendyk finished fourth.

Miss those great high horsepower cars and wish I had taken more photos of them in 1989!

Enjoy a look the photos and imagine the smell of methanol fuel.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

September 10,1989 at Road America with the great CART Indy Cars!

Danny Sullivan won it with Teo Fabi second and Rick Mears third.

January 25, 2021

Today we look back at the first racing team I worked with in Champ Car, Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing with driver Tiago Monteiro in 2003 at the Milwaukee Mile and Road America.

These photos are from the Road America Champ Car race weekend. The race itself was red flagged twice because of rain and was shortened because of darkness.

Tiago had Emerson Fittipaldi as a coach and mentor. You can't get much better than Emerson for sure to help you out!

The team only lasted one year and James Dingman didn't really help anyone by not paying them.

Tiago would go on with his career in racing with Formula 1 in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

He still is racing in Europe in touring cars and has won the Nurburgring 24 Hour the past two years in a Honda TCR.

I love Emerson Fittipaldi's motorcycle you see here. Sargento Cheese at this 2003 race weekend made a cheese head sculpture of Emerson!! Where else but in Wisconsin can you get that?

Enjoy a look back at 2003 Road America where Tiago finished 11th after two red flags because of the rain.

Thanks,

Rich ZImmermann

Here in Wisconsin, snow is on the ground and it's going to be 6F tomorrow with a crazy windchill!! We should be seeing daffodils and rabbits outside instead of snow, ice and cold.

On February 28th, two of my favorite race car drivers celebrated their birthdays. Mario Andretti turned 79 and still drives the two seat Indy Car. I still want a ride in that car Mario! Sebastien Bourdais turned 40 on the same day!

On March 10th, the Indy Cars have the first race of the season in St. Petersburg, Florida. Sebastien Bourdais has lived in St. Petersburg for a few years and won that race twice I believe.

To get ready for the season let's take a look back at the birthday boys and some of the Indy Cars.

Last year Scott Dixon won the championship and I think he could do it again! Good luck Scott!

Stay warm and get ready to hear the awesome sounds of Indy Car again!

See how many drivers you can recognize here.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

December 19, 2016

Winter is in the state of Wisconsin, finally! We have snow and the cold all at once it seems. It's really beautiful and the snow is very fluffy. It's easy to shovel. The snowblower is out for repair, but it worked great when I tested it a month ago! Hopefully we will get it back soon, more snow on the way.

Well, I am scanning the 2003 race at Road America lately and for a few more weeks that is what we will be looking at. The cars were so great then. They had so much horsepower and they looked really nice.

These were the days with different engine and chassis manufacturers. It was during the years when teams put blankets over the car wings, both front and rear, to hide their secrets for more speed.

Enjoy a look at Tiago Monteiro again, plus Rudolfo Lavin, Mario Haberfeld, Ryan Hunter Reay and Oriol Servia.

Time to keep working on our basement project. We finished the painting last week and I finished the floor tiles yesterday on a day off of work! Now it's time for the cove molding and then it's about done!!!!!

Have a great week. Don't shovel too much and stay warm.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

P.S. Thanks to everyone who bought one of my Rich Zimmermann Photography rock'n roll calendars! Sold out early this year!

The CART race at Elkhart Lake's Road America in 2003. When we had REAL race cars!!

December 13, 2016

Well, it's been very busy around here lately and this is the first time I have ever missed writing my blog on time!! Sorry to my 2 followers! Hah!

We have been busy painting our basement and doing some remodeling work. We actually can see the finish line, I think!

So yesterday, 12-12-2016, was Emerson Fittipaldi's 70th birthday! I was planning on doing some Road America 2003 work here and with Emmo's birthday it works out nicely.

In 2003 I worked for Emerson's team, Fittipaldi Dingman, with driver Tiago Monteiro. Those were fun times!

Here are a few photos of Tiago and the birthday boy!

More to come soon.

Still have a couple 2017 Rich Zimmermann Photography calendars if anyone is interested. Email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and I can get one to you for Christmas!

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

The 1991 CART race at the Milwaukee Mile, won by Michael Andretti.