Blog
May 21, 2012
Attention lovers of my music blogs- for the next two weeks we are in the Indy 500 mode! It's time for the "greatest spectacle in racing", the Indy 500!
We are almost ready for the 2012 Indy 500 race and it seems strange that we won't have last year's winner, Dan Wheldon, there to defend his Indy 500 win. Dan also won the 2005 Indy 500 and he won the 24 hours of Daytona in 2006. Dan died in 2011 in a terrible accident at the track in Las Vegas, the final race of the 2011 IRL season.
Dan, after finishing second in the Indy Lights championship in 2001, started his Indy Car run with Panther Racing in 2002. In 2003, he became the rookie of the year driving for Andretti Green Racing and then for Target Chip Ganassi Racing. When he won the Indy 500 in 2011 he was driving for Bryan Herta Autosport. He was a superstitious man in that every time he got into the car he would pat the nose of his car three times!
I have a helmet visor of Dan's that he gave me in 2005 when I gave him some photographs. I will be looking at it during the race this year and thinking about Dan. He was a great race car driver and his record shows it. He won the 2005 Indy Racing League championship.
This week, as you enjoy the race, think about Dan and know he watching his friends from upstairs.
Attached are a few photographs from the past few years for you to enjoy.
All blog photographs are for sale at a special price of $30.00 for a limited edition 8 X 10 or 8 1/2 X 11 gloss print which includes shipping in the U.S.. This sale is just during the week of the featured blog. Contact us soon.
Please visit me on Facebook or Twitter @ richzimmermann.com
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
May 14, 2012
In 1963 when I was 9 years old, I watched the Indy 500 on television and kept track of my favorite drivers on my blackboard in our family's basement. My favorite driver was Jim Clark, a man from Scotland that just seemed to be so good and he was a farmer! I got the feeling that he was a quiet man who just wanted to race. Jimmy finished in second place at Indy in 1963 and really impressed me. I kept following him and he won the Indy 500 in 1965. He has always been my favorite race car driver. I was so sad when he died in a crash while in Germany in 1968.
After that, Jackie Stewart became my new favorite race car driver. Then as time went along, I also followed Emerson Fittipaldi and of course Aryton Senna. In 1997 a new Scottish face appeared on the Indy Car trail racing for Carl Hogan. Dario Franchitti is his name and he is another Scottish lad who is very good at what he does. He reminds me of Jim Clark and I noticed that Jackie Stewart took an interest in him, and that told me that he must be good.
Jackie Stewart was right because Dario has won 4 Indy Racing League championships, 2 Indy 500 races and has a great resume in CART and Champ Car too. If he can get some extra power out of the Honda engine that so far is down on power this year, I see him doing another victory lap at Indy. He is good enough that he actually might not need the extra power from Honda because he has the power from inside the helmet!
My race room/man cave has one of Dario's helmet visors and a couple pairs of his driving gloves. We have traded memorabilia for photographs through the years. They are treasures and I'll keep an eye on them during the Indy 500 this year to try to give him some extra luck and push him to another win. Jimmy Clark and Greg Moore will be watching and pushing him along from upstairs.
Attached are a few photographs from the past few years for you to enjoy.
All blog photographs are for sale at a special price of $30.00 for a limited edition 8 X 10 or 8 1/2 X 11 gloss print which includes shipping in the U.S.. This sale is just during the week of the featured blog. Contact us soon.
Please visit me on Facebook or Twitter @ richzimmermann.com
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
May 7, 2012
In 1971, Milwaukee welcomed Mr. Vinton Medbury and his van from California. Uncle Vinty was his stage name and his Dodge van was named the Creampuff! Vinty was a unique performer. He was a musician, a magician, and a clown for all of us grownup kids.
For many years, Uncle Vinty was a one man show living out of his van, traveling all over Wisconsin. He would go back to California now and then but during the 1970's Milwaukee was his home. For a few of those years, he lived with me in Milwaukee and then in Pewaukee, but the Creampuff was really his home. The Creampuff was missing a shower you see, so he needed a break once and a while and he was always welcomed in my home. Besides, Vinty being fun, he was also a great plumber so he was handy to have around.
I believe it was around 1977 when Uncle Vinty, with some help from Micheal Morgan, Peter Barnes, his brother Ted, and a few others, formed "The Movies". It was a big band for Vinty and he was the band leader. Some success was achieved when they made a TV show but Vinty actually never left his one man show. He continued to tour the United States and then moved back to California.
Uncle Vinty is on the great stage in Heaven these days. He died, I think it was in 1994. I miss the old boy, especially last weekend when I needed to call a plumber to fix a faucet.
Enjoy the attached photos of Uncle Vinty and a few of the band "The Movies".
All blog photographs are for sale at a special price of $30.00 for a limited edition 8 X 10 or 8 1/2 X 11 gloss print which includes shipping in the U.S.. This sale is just during the week of the featured blog. Contact us soon.
Please visit me on Facebook or Twitter @ richzimmermann.com
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
