September 9, 2024

On Friday, August 30th I turned 70 and the Indy Cars came into town to the Milwaukee Mile where they haven't raced in years. Qualifying took place at my favorite race track and to me it's the best portrait session a photographer can get with the Indy Car racers because they go out 1 at a time.

This blog is just on the qualifying on Friday but two races were held August 31 and September 1 with the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s. The racing will be the next blog but enjoy the qualifying and a look at the tight confines of the present day Indy Car cockpit. It's a little different now with the nice air conditioning and blowers that they all have hooked up while waiting to get going.

The Indy NXT cars look a little different and notice Yuven Sundaramoorthys helmet with the Wisconsin Badgers football team theme. Very cool and he is from Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.

Each Indy Car driver got 3 laps in qualifying with the second lap being your qualifying lap for race 1 and the third lap your qualifying lap for the second race.

Josef Newgarden won the pole position for race 1 and Scott McLaughlin for race 2.

It was a wonderful weekend of weather and 42,000+ in attendance at the Milwaukee Mile which makes for a very successful weekend!

Enjoy a look at qualifying. The two races will be the next blog coming up.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

A nice Indy Car and Indy NXT testing day at the Milwaukee Mile June 11th and 12th.

June 17, 2024

I've been a busy photographer since the Indy 500 and I'm trying to catch up here.

I've been doing a lot of editing and shooting Indy Cars at Road America with Vintage Indy Reserve which was followed by a test of Indy Car at the Milwaukee Mile the following Tuesday and Wednesday.

I'm going do the Indy Car test blog first because it's the least amount of photos taken!

Tuesday June 11, 2024 was a great day for running Indy Cars, especially in the morning.

We had about a 30 minute delay because they worked on the fence to make it perfect. The track with all it's improvements is really looking great.

So I'm standing next to driver Will Power watching the repairs going on across from his car in pit lane. We had a nice chat for about 10 minutes about his race win at Road America a few days earlier and the new hybrid power unit.

The new power unit brings Honda, Chevrolet and Ilmor together making parts to bring 120 plus extra horsepower with hybrid assist and push to pass combined horsepower.  It will be the first time in over 20 years with more than 800hp.

The car is also around 20 pounds heavier which Will wasn't too happy about it seemed.

With myself being a music photographer since 1971, we got talking about music since Will is also a drummer. I'm 69 years old and he said that I've photographed the good music days but he didn't know who guitarist Jeff Beck is!  I'm working on that education with him!

They had a great test with David Mulukas being the fastest of Indy Cars and Louis Foster the fastest in Indy NXT.  It was a test to learn the new engines and to become familiar with the track that Indy Cars haven't been to since 2015.

Enjoy a look at the cars and come join us on my 70th birthday weekend August 30th through September 1. There will be two races-  one on Saturday August 31 and the other Sunday September 1.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

May 20, 2024

The world's oldest race track is 15 minutes from our house here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I have been there often since my first visit in 1968 with my Polaroid camera at 14 years old. I still have three of those photos!

Since 1876 the track has seen hot air balloon races, horse races and ostrich carriage races!  Auto racing didn't start until 1903 with Indy Car/Champ Cars coming from 1933 to 2009. Then a little break and Indy Cars were back in 2011 to 2015.

Our Green Bay Packers played there a bit from 1934 to 1951 with the "Dairy Bowl" and in 1939 won the NFL Championship game 27-0 over the New York Giants. That had to be quite a game!

The July 17, 1933 race was rained out and Wilbur Shaw suggested a rain date for the following day. The term "rain date" was first used that day here in Milwaukee.

The track was dirt for many years and finally paved in 1954 which is the year I was born! Ha!!

Rock 'n' roll has been performed at the Mile and the Wisconsin State Fair for many years starting with the "Midwest Rock Festival" in 1969 with Led Zeppelin, Blind Faith, Joe Cocker and others. My father didn't allow me to go...but I still became a rock 'n' roll and racing photographer.

The old track has seen many improvements since 1876 especially in the last two years with many more to come.  It's looking better every day.  Recent improvements include a new concrete pit lane, new inner walls, a lot of fencing and new safer barriers are coming soon.

The crews are getting the track ready for Indy Cars coming back on August 31 and September 1, 2024. It will be the first time Indy Cars are racing at the Mile since 2015. I had the opportunity to see Will Power running the first laps October 18, 2023 in an Indy Car at the Mile. It was awesome to see and hear him running a Firestone Tire test.

Jim Trewtow of the "Racing Roundup" radio and television show and race promoter Bob Sergent had a press conference with NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series driver Tyler Ankrum a few days ago. They announced the sponsor for the LiUNA! 175 NASCAR CRAFTMAN Truck Series Race.

The plan was to run some RC cars around the Victory Circle but rain had us running the cars in the newly remodeled Media Center.

We also have the Father's Day June 16th ASA tour racing and the Menards ARCA Sprecher 150 with the Liuna 175 NASCAR CRAFTMAN Truck Series Playoffs on Sunday August 25th.

The crews are working very hard to get the track ready and they very much deserve our gratitude and thanks as well as the State Fair board and the State of Wisconsin.

Here is a peak at some of the improvements being done.  Come join us for some great racing at our awesome track, The Milwaukee Mile.

Time for this track to get rockin' again!

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

The CART Indy Cars at the Milwaukee Mile in 1994.

February 12, 2024

I keep finding photos of races that I don't have in my website at www.richzimmermann.com. Here is one of those missing races that I've scanned in now.

It is the Road Runner 225 Champ Car race held on June 3, 2005 at the Milwaukee Mile.

Jimmy Vasser would get the last pole position of his career and I have his helmet visor from the pole winning run!

Paul Tracy won the race and led most of the laps of the day with his beautiful Forsythe Racing Champ Car.

I spent a lot of time with the Mi-Jack racing team with drivers Andrew Ranger from Canada and Nelson Philippe from France.

Andrew had a lot of promise as did Nelson but they finished the race 16th and 12th respectively. Andrew would continue racing after one more year of Champ Car then back to racing in Canada.

Nelson Philippe had a heavy shunt during a practice session and was just very sore. I shared my Bio Freeze with him!  I always carry it with me and use for my sore neck and back. Got his helmet visor for that. He's a very nice guy.

Oriol Servia was racing for injured Bruno Junquiera and finished third with future star A. J. Almendinger finishing second.

Great late racer and friend Justin Wilson finished fourth. Justin was one of the nicest guys in pit lane.  He always had time for a chat.

Sebastien Bourdais won the championship in 2004 and would win it again in 2005 but only finished sixth here. Love the photo of Carl Haas giving Sebastien a thumbs up before the race and hugging the nose of Oriol Servia's car as he always did with his cars.

Enjoy a look at that weekend.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

The Road Runner 225 Champ Car race at the Milwaukee Mile on June 3, 2005 won by Paul Tracy.

January 29, 2024

Listening to the 24 Hours of Daytona IMSA Race as I write this and there is one hour left to race! Pulling for my friend Pipo Derani in the Cadillac who had the fastest pole position ever at the track and has led many of the laps. Team Penske Porsche with Pipo's old teammate Felipe Nazr is leading right now...

My blog this week is about one of our great Indy Car, CART and Champ Car drivers, Cristiano da Matta. He won the CART Championship in 2002 for Newman Haas Racing.

Cristiano drove F1, Indy Lights where he won the championship in 1998, F3, Formula Ford and more after starting racing in karts at 16 years old. His father was a 16 time Brazilian touring car champion so Christiano had racing in his blood.

On August 3rd in 2006 Christiano collided with a deer that ran across the track at Road America as he was coming up the hill to turn 6 during testing. Thankfully, Christiano survived but had a head injury that took him until September 21 before being released from the hospital in Neenah, Wisconsin. On September 24th he gave the command to start your engines at Road America for the Champ Car race.

Thanks to his great physical shape and a great safety team, he made it back to a race car in 2008 and then raced in 2009 and 2011 in the American LeMans Series.

The Championship Auto Racing Auxiliary (CARA) was formed years ago to help drivers and their families pay for medical services and other things.  Insurance for race drivers is like being a fisherman for a living. CARA has helped injured racers for years and had an auction with Autoweek magazine to raise money for the Christiano da Matta Recovery Fund.

I bid on a Firestone race tire signed by all the drivers and Paul Newman.  Surprisingly, I won it. I later had Mario Andretti sign it and that photo is on my Rich Zimmermann Photography Facebook page. The tire proudly sits in our race room/man cave.

Christiano is doing well now and so is his family. Did you know that he is a musician too?

Enjoy some photos of racer Cristiano through the years.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

Cristiano da Matta through the CART and Champ Car years in the early 2000's and winning the championship in 2002.

January 15, 2024

In this blog we take a look back at the 1994 CART Miller Genuine Draft 200 at the Milwaukee Mile on June 5, 1994.

The weekend prior to the Milwaukee Mile race was the Indianapolis 500 which was won by Al Unser Jr. in his Team Penske Ilmor powered Indy Car.

There are not too many racers that have won the Indy 500 and the Milwaukee Mile race the following weekend but Al Unser Jr. was one of them to win both in 1994!

This was the year that Michael Andretti came back to Indy Car with the Target Chip Ganassi Team after an unsuccessful year in Formula 1.

Notice also the photos of Rick Mears giving Casey Mears some advice in his Indy Lights car.

One of the best liveries ever of an Indy Car is Adrian Fernandez Tecate car seen here. It's just beautiful, as is Bobby Rahal's Miller Genuine Draft car.

The Miller Genuine Draft 200 actually became the Miller Genuine Draft 192 because rain ended the race on lap 192.

Raul Boesel was on the pole position but Al Unser Jr. dominated the race.

Finishing second to Al Unser Jr. was Emerson Fittipaldi and Paul Tracy making the top three cars, all Team Penske.

Enjoy a look at the Milwaukee Mile in 1994 and get your tickets for the races this year on August 31 and September 1.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann