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

August 12, 2024

This is Part 2 of my Indy Cars at Road America blog. The race was June 9, 2024 and it's been a busy summer.

Part 1 was on the Indy Cars in the rain qualifying on Saturday June 8, 2024.  I went through 2 pairs of shoes and I was soaked!

So here we look at the race after Linus Lundqvist got the pole position with qualifying on that Saturday in a  great session. Linus finished the race 12th and Will Power finally won a race again and congratulations to him. It's been a while for Will to get a win on a road course.

The race was a tight battle with Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin coming in second and third. Team Penske had the top 3 positions so Captain Roger Penske had to be happy.

A bright spot in the weekend was Indy NXT driver Jamie Chadwick taking pole position and dominating their race for the win. Remember that name because she has a great future and is a really nice person. She is car #28 here in a few photos and Louis Foster in the #26 finished second.

Enjoy a look at a fun and exciting weekend.

On a personal note I have mentioned before that I have stage 2 bladder cancer and today is another big day with another blue light cystoscopy procedure to try to figure out where the cancer cells are coming from. Keep me in your thoughts today.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

July 29, 2024

This blog was going to be part 2 of the Indy Cars at Road America last June but that will have to wait until the next blog.

Reason being, we just lost one of the most influential musicians ever with the passing of John Mayall on July 23, 2024 at 90 years old. He was still touring and playing but passed away at home in California.

He got into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of fame as a musical influencer this year. My photos of him have been submitted for his induction.

John started in the early 1960's and his lineup of fellow musicians through the years is amazing. Without John we wouldn't have a lot of musicians that he hired and discovered.

Some of them are Eric Clapton, Peter Green, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Mick Taylor, Harvey Mandel, Keef Hartley, Jack Bruce, Sugarcane Harris, Jon Mark and Johnny Almond. That's just a few and he really brought to us a lot of great musicians in his John Mayall and his Bluesbreakers band.

John was a great guitar player but also an amazing harmonica and keyboard player.

I first met John in 1971 doing an interview for the Bugle American newspaper and photographing his show. He was a very nice and talented man.

I also photographed him in 1975 and 1978.

Enjoy some old photos of the master and notice his very cool harmonica holder and unique guitar.

Gonna miss you John and thanks for all you did.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

July 15, 2024

The annual Road America visit for Indy Car this past year was a memorable one with rookie Linus Lundqvist grabbing the pole position for the first of his career!

This blog is just part 1 of a few blogs to come on the Indy Car drivers as it was an amazing weekend of rain and fun.

Saturday, June 8th was qualifying day and it did not disappoint. The rain made it very exciting.

The rookie drivers were showing up strong but the final six drivers going for the pole position in the Firestone Fast 6 qualifying session came down to the following drivers who then qualified in this order.

Linus Lundqvist

Colton Herta

Marcus Armstrong

Kyle Kirkwood

Will Power

Josef Newgarden

It was a bad day for my man Scott Dixon qualifying 10th as was the race the next day where he finished 21st.

Will Power won the race and that was long overdue for him on Sunday.

Here are some qualifying photos and be sure to look how the Indy Car rain tires move that rain!!  Also I got a few glowing brake photos here.

Race photos coming up in the next blog.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

The Vintage Indy Registry cars running at Road America June 8, 2024 during Indy Car weekend.

July 1, 2024

During the Indy Car weekend at Road America, the Vintage Indy Registry cars come along and run some track sessions.

It's always fun to see these beautiful cars that don't get enough track time unfortunately. They usually run the first and last session of the day so a lot of fans miss seeing them on track but they are on display all day to look at.

It's good to learn the history of our sport and learn about the beautiful sounds they make. The woosh of the Lotus STP turbine car is something to hear as it is hot exhaust from kerosene that it is using for fuel. Makes for an interesting photo if caught right and I've got a couple here..

Al Unser Jr. was our usual pace car driver but in a beautiful orange Corvette this year rather than the usual Mini Cooper S.

Enjoy a look at the cars during one of the few dry sessions of the weekend. They won't run in the rain because it would be a lot of work to dry these old cars out. I even went through two pairs of shoes and got soaked!!

Next blog will be the present day Indy Cars running in the rain during this race weekend.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

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

What a race at this years 2024 Indy 500!! Can take it off my bucket list now!

June 3, 2024

I took another item off my bucket list! I went to the Indy 500 at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway! I have never been there to see the famous Brickyard.

It figures that I go for the longest Indy 500 ever in one day as we had a four hour rain delay.

When I went there a week earlier to get my credentials and become a little familiar with the place, I wasn't that impressed by the size of it all.  Access was limited and we couldn't really see much.

Well, that changed come race weekend when I saw most of the track, the media center and more. Never got to turn 2 or 3 because it's so big and I had a lot going on.

Nice to meet Rick Mears, Scott McLaughin, Pato O'Ward, Mario Andretti again and so many more like Kyle Larson, the NASCAR star who did a great job racing. It was fun to tell Rick Mears while we were in an elevator, that I sign my blog like he signs his autographs with a Thanks!!  That made him smile.

Walked in on Friday morning for the photo meeting and then went to work right away with a half hour interview with Mario Andretti for IndyCastBrasil.  I worked with IndyCastBrasil all weekend. They are great folks. Check them out on You Tube, Instagram and all the social medias.

I could go on and on but I'll let the photos do the talking. Take a look at the race won by Josef Newgarden. Pato O'Ward was heartbroken finishing in P2 and then my main man, Scott Dixon, finished P3. Scott almost won it but he did win yesterday in Detroit!

Time to get ready for Road America and Indy Cars this coming weekend.

Hope you enjoy these photos.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann