Max Papis at Road America in 2003 and the Milwaukee Mile in 2000.

April 6, 2026

Hope everyone had a very nice Easter like we did thanks to my gourmet chef wife. I ate too much but it was the first day in about a week I felt close to normal thanks to chemotherapy making me sick again.

So my blog this week is on friend and racer Max Papis. He continues to be in Indy Car as the chief steward along with Arie Luyendyk.  Arie is another friend and an old neighbor of ours. 

I can't believe that I've never done a blog on "Mad Max" or even have photos of his racing career in my website. So here we go!

Max earned the nickname "Mad Max" after the drive he did towards the end of the 1996 24 hours of Daytona. He was a lap down in his Ferrari 333SP but got the lap back and almost won the race chasing Wayne Taylor. He even did a pit stop at racing speed and that changed the following year when you could no longer drive in on racing speed. Mad Max finished 64 seconds behind to finish second.

A true racer in just about all types of racing as he has been in Formula One, Indy Car, CART, Champ Car, IMSA, NASCAR and even Stadium Trucks. He started winning in go karts as a very young driver in his native Italy and in the CART Indy Car Series he won 3 races.

I've gotten to know Max and his family through the years. Married to Tatiana Fittipaldi they have two children that are racing now of course. Matteo and Marco have a great coaches with Max. Max even helps out his cousins Pietro and Enzo Fittipaldi in their racing careers.

If that isn't enough Max and Tatiana started Max Papis Innovations in 2009. They supply racing steering wheels and many more new racing products every day. Checkout www.maxpapisinc.com to see all their products.

I've photographed Max for years in Indy Car at Road America and  at the Milwaukee Mile.

Attached here are photos of Max at Road America finishing 4th in 2003 and the Milwaukee Mile where he finished seventh. I'll continue digging in the archives and add more photos of Max in the future.

Enjoy some photos from 2000 and 2003 and have a great week.

Thanks,

Rich

March 9, 2026

I am taking a look back at Michel Joudain Jr. racing in Champ Car in 2003.

Michel started racing in the Mexican Formula Junior series at 12 years old and in 1996 started in the IRL racing series. From 1997 to 2004 he was racing in Champ Car with 2 wins in 2003 for Team Rahal at Milwaukee and Montreal.

The Milwaukee Mile 2003 race was a night race and cold! I remember putting on a heavy coat, hat and gloves to shoot a few photos from the spotters stand on the roof of the main grandstand. 

It was a big weekend at the Milwaukee Mile for the Centennial 250 race on the tracks 100th anniversary of auto racing.

It was also a big weekend for me because I got a photo job with Fittipaldi Dingman racing and their driver Tiago Monteiro for Milwaukee and Road America. Still waiting to get paid for that and so is most of the racing team crew.

Michel Jourdain Jr. had a great race and his first win in the series at Milwaukee. 

A few photos here are from Milwaukee and Road America where it was a mess of weather in 2003 with a lot of rain delays.  I remember the race finishing finally at about 7 or 8pm.

He raced in NASCAR, WTCC, A1GP, Craftsman Truck Series and he now is still in the Super Copa GTM Series in Mexico for Andretti Jourdain Autosport where he was champion in 2020.

He's a nice racer and still racing in anything he can even having done the Baja 1000 in 2003 finishing sixth.

He placed second overall in a 1953 Studebaker in the La Carrera Panamericana in 2010.

Enjoy a look at some photos from Milwaukee and Road America in 2003.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

February 23, 2026

This coming weekend is the beginning of the 2026 Indy Car season with the Firestone St. Petersburg Grand Prix on February 27 through March 1.

There is a major team change with Will Power moving over to Team Andretti after years at Team Penske. Mick Schumacher is coming over to race with Rahal Letterman Racing which should be very interesting too.

Alex Palou and Scott Dixon are staying in their familiar liveried cars and will keep Chip Ganassi Racing on top for sure.

Joseph Newgarden and Patricio O'Ward will be hot on everyone's tail and look fast.

So pick you driver and get ready for a new season of great racing.

Enjoy a look at the cars at Road American last year. 

Hoping that my cancer saga will be a lot better by the time they get to Road America this year.  It just drains me of energy. It has been almost 3 years but on February 18th my neph tube was taken out. It was in for 18 months and used for chemotherapy. The rest of my chemotherapy sessions will be straight into the bladder.  With the tube out ,hopefully I won't get anynore urinary tract infections. 

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

February 9, 2026

Sir Scott Dixon has always been a favorite race car driver since his early days in 2001 at Pac West Racing in the CART Indy Car Racing Series.

In 2002 he switched to Chip Gannasi Racing as Pac West Racing (1998-2000) folded due to finances. Scott continues race with Chip Ganassi Racing.

Stefan Johansen was helping Scott during his first days in 1998 and continues as his manager helping him secure his ride at Chip Gannasi Racing in 2002.

Sir Scott or Dixie as a lot of people call him, has won in about all divisions of racing he has entered since 1998.

He is also the nicest and one of the most humble guys in the paddock. He is married to an Olympic runner, Emma. They have a nice little family of 3 kids.

The Rolex 24 hours at Daytona has been a favorite IMSA race of his for years. He has won it 3 times.

At the end of this coming Indy Car season he will be knighted in England for all he has done during his racing career, hence Sir Scott!

A good example is that he is donating $300,000. to a young Australian boy who swam a long distance to save his mother in the ocean. She drifted away paddle boarding.

That boy has a great future in swimming and Scott's donation will help his swimming career.

Here are some photos of Scott's racing career.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

November 10, 2025

Recently Marco Andretti announced his retirement from auto racing to focus on just his family.

He had a few shinning moments in his Indy Car career that were mostly at the Indy 500 where he got close a few times to winning but never got it done.

He won 2 Indy Car races in his career from 2006 to 2025 and competed in just about every form of racing. That includes Star Mazda, Indy Car Pro Series, Nascar, Formula E, International V8 Supercars, ARCA, Craftsman Truck Series, A1 Grand Prix, Infiniti Pro Series, Star Mazda, the American LeMans Series and won the Camping World SRX Championship in 2022.

His grandfather, Mario Andretti, and his father, Michael Andretti, were always coaching him and Mario could always be found in his pit area trying to help. 

Marco didn't have the race craft of his father or grandfather, but he tried.

Enjoy retirement Marco with the family.

Here are a few photos of him from through the years.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

September 15, 2025

Here is part 2 of the Indy Car race at the Milwaukee Mile on August 23rd and 24th 2025.

Saturday was hot and humid with Alex Palou taking the pole position and Sunday was a cool jacket weather day.  Christian Rasmussen getting his first win in Indy Car was the excitement of that day. 

Alex Palou finished second with Scott McLaughlin in third. Nolan Siegel spun right in front of me and was the first car out of the race on lap one.

Indy NXT had a great race with Salvador de Alba taking the win and his Andretti Global teammates Dennis Hauger second with Lochie Hughes third.

The driver to keep an eye on is Myles Rowe.  He got the win in the final Indy NXT race in Nashville a week later.

The main grandstand sold out which was great to see and hear as they were very loud and into the race.

Marshall Pruett, Dario Franchitti and Will Buxton had a little meeting with the media on the 10th anniversary of Justin Wilson's passing. Marshall told us that a documentary is in the works and can't wait to see it as Justin was a great racer and friend. Miss him.

Enjoy the photos and thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

Race day at the Mile saw Alex Palou on the pole but Christian Rasmussen got his first win!

Qualifying day at the Milwaukee Mile for the Snap-On Milwaukee 250 race.

September 1, 2025

On August 24th we had the Indy Cars and Indy NXT at the Milwaukee Mile for the Snap-On 250 race.

This blog is just part 1 with qualifying and practice photos. Part 2 will have the race photos.

Big crowd and of course Alex Palou got the pole position, but he did not get the win. Christian Rasmussen got his first win in a wild race with a ton of passing.

Enjoy a look at the guys and the big crowd with a sold out grandstand on Sunday.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann