June 1, 2020

A long time ago in 1987 I was sitting in the stands at the Milwaukee Mile watching the CART Indy Car race.  That was before I was getting access to pit lane and just having fun with the boys. Pardon the photos that are shot through the fence, which would be all of them!

I had to dig these photos up for someone doing an article on Arie Luyendyk's 1987 car.  Then I thought I'd put them in the system and write a blog about it!

It's fun to look at the cool old cars of Arie Luyendyk, Bobby Rahal, Roberto Guerrero, Rick Mears, Michael Andretti, Tom Sneva, Kevin Cogan and more.

Rick Mears had a bad day and had an accident during the race as you will see. Other than that, it was a great weekend.

Check the photos out and enjoy a look back in time.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

November 14, 2016

In a continuation of my past couple of blogs, I'm focusing on May 24th and 25th of 1993. These were two testing days at the Milwaukee Mile for CART drivers.

Way back when in the old Indy car days, the guys would practice and test at the Milwaukee Mile in between the Indy 500 and the Milwaukee race that was traditionally the weekend after the Indy 500. Not anymore, but back then and for many years it was tradition to come up and test at Milwaukee. The guys couldn't practice at Indy and they were looking for something to do! You could say that they were a little itchy for some driving or practice!

Paul Tracy is pictured here with Rick Mears coaching him along with Teddy Mayer who both were Team Penske engineer wizards! Teddy Mayer worked at McLaren F1 with the legendary Bruce McLaren and many others.

The biggest thing I remember of this test session was Paul telling Rick Mears that "wait until Nigel Mansell gets here and feels the bump in turn one"! There used to be a big bump in turn one that caught everyone by surprise. The track has been repaved since then of course.

Paul Tracy was in his first full season of Indy cars in 1993 and was Rick Mears' replacement driver. He scored five victories and finished third in points. He also led the most laps, named most improved driver by his peers and won from pole position twice.

Enjoy a look at 24 year old Paul Tracy at Milwaukee.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

Paul Tracy testing at the Milwaukee Mile on May 24th and 25th of 1993.

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

September 12, 2016

Wow!! It's a very busy weekend around here fighting horn worms on our tomato plants!!!! Never heard of these things until a month ago and now I can't get rid of them and I'll be dreaming of them soon!!

First one, then another and then Friday night three of them!!  Today, one this morning and now I come back from our bike ride to find another!! Yuck!!! Photos will have to come soon I guess because you will not believe these things!!

Anyway, here is a follow up to the 1991 Indy cars at the Milwaukee Mile! Last weeks blog featured photos of Al Unser Jr. in 1991 at the famous Milwaukee Mile.

Here is Mario and Michael Andretti and Carl Haas giving a blessing to the nose of Michael's car on race day morning! It was a ritual every race day!!

Enjoy, and join me on Facebook at Rich Zimmermann Photography if you haven't yet.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

July 25, 2016

On race day morning the Indy cars usually do a warmup session to make sure that all systems are working on the cars. This year at Road America it was raining in the morning for the warmup session. With the race weather predicted to be sunny and hot, nobody was going out for the warmup it seemed.

Then, I heard one Indy car spring to life and saw Sebastian Bourdais getting ready to go out! He was wearing some big wet weather boots until he got into his car. He had the track to himself for almost the whole session other than Graham Rahal going out for just one lap.

How much fun was he having?? I think a lot by the look on his face when he got out of the car. He was out there for probably about 10 laps and had the whole four mile track to himself. The sound of just one car and seeing the spray of water behind his car was awesome! In the photos you can see what a wet weather rain tire looks like. They move a lot of water! Normally, an Indy car runs slicks with no grooves at all. I have included a photo of Sebastian during the race and you can see the difference in the tires.

I also have included photos of Sebastian being introduced to the fans with Miss Wisconsin's help.

Also included here are photos of Mario Andretti and the lucky winner of the sweepstakes who got to ride in the two seater Indy car with him. A little height difference between the two men! Enter the sweepstakes at Honda.com and you might get to ride too!

Have a good week.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

June 27, 2016

It was fun this past weekend with Indy cars back at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

Not enough time to go into everything and edit a million photos today though.

So here are a few photos from Sunday, with our race winner Will Power and my new friend, Indy Lights driver, James French.

Enjoy, and more coming soon.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

June 13, 2016

It is Sunday June 12 as I write this and the tragedy in Orlando is all over the news. Terrible, sad, and what a crazy world we live in these days...

So, let's look at some good days in 2001 at Road America again. I have so many images from that weekend and I am sharing today some of my favorite photos of a young Helio Castoneves and more, of course.

Bryan Herta, Max Papis and Alex Zanardi were racing with Helio and a lot of other good racers!

Looking at the high technology steering wheel with the map of the track on it is interesting.

Enjoy a look back and next week I will share some more pictures from that weekend as we get ready for the Indy cars coming soon to Road America.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

May 23, 2016

This week's blog takes us back to CART racing in 1990 at Elkhart Lake's Road America.

These were the days when Porsche was into Indy cars, and had Teo Fabi as it's driver.

Alfa Romeo was also on the grid along with Cosworth and Chevy and more.

Competition was good with the different engine manufacturers.

Roger Penske had Danny Sullivan, Rick Mears and Emerson Fittipaldi who had won the championship in 1989. A three car team was not normal in 1990 like it is today.

So, take a look at Eddie Cheever, Didie Theys and Al Unser Jr. in the good old days. A.J. Foyt was still racing then too.

After taking a second look, a few of these photos are from 1989 at Road America! Still good old stuff to look at!

Get ready for the 100th running of the Indy 500!

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