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
September 19, 2022
Now that our Indy Car season is done which makes me sad, here is a look at the 1995 CART race at the Milwaukee Mile. The Miller Genuine Draft 200 was held on June 4th 1995, the weekend after the Indy 500 which was traditionally when they ran here in Milwaukee.
These cars were fast and sounded so great! Plus, I think one of my favorite liveries of a race car is the car of Christian Fittipaldi seen here. It has a bit of the Brazilian flag and his helmet is awesome too.
Some good memories here with Bobby Rahal, Stefan Johansson, Christian Fittipaldi, Al Unser Jr, Jeff Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi and more. I remember using actual film in my cameras then. It was Kodak's Extar 25. It was a slow film but the colors were great.
Paul Tracy won the race with Teo Fabi second and this was the old Milwaukee Mile with the old grandstands. Good times!
Enjoy a look back.
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
May 16, 2016
Well, as I see it, 1993 was a VERY good year for Indy car racing. Last week I shared some pictures with you and now I have more for you to see from 1993.
Bobby Rahal won the 1992 CART championship and Emerson Fittipaldi had just won the Indy 500, a week before these photos were taken.
Jacques Villeneuve is shown in his Toyota Atlantic car here. This being the year before he went on into Indy cars. Nigel Mansell and Mario Andretti were teammates who did not get along. There are so many stories here in these photos. One of my favorites is the photo of Mario and Paul Newman. Then we have Carl Haas and his never lit cigar that he always seemed to have. These were the people that made Indy car racing what it is today and I thank them for that.
There are a lot of photos here for you to enjoy! Check them out.
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann