November 18, 2024

Been some tough weeks around here lately with my bladder cancer BCG infusion therapy going on now. BCG is a vaccine for tuberculosis that they learned kills cancer cells. Just had the third of six infusions last Friday.

It's a once a week deal and the first week was bad. Second week I developed a urinary tract infection and ended up in the hospital overnight getting big gun antibiotics that worked!

Third week and third infusion and I feel good!  Weird, but happy and lets see what the next three hold and hopefully the infusions work... Now I can get back to being retired with my wonderful wife and doctor here. Could not have done this without her!

This is a Part 1 of the Indy Racing League at the Milwaukee Mile in 2005 for the ABC Supply Company 225 race. Part 2 in a couple weeks will have more photos and history of the race.  In between my cancer treatments I'll get'er done!

The race in 2005 was won by Sam Hornish Jr., Dario Franchitti was second and Tomas Scheckter in P3.

The IRL came to town here and this was during the Indy Car split. Because of that we had Champ Car and the IRL at the Milwaukee Mile in the same summer with different dates. Great, but expensive for fans and busy for this photographer.

How good is your Indy Car knowledge because there are two cars in here that are Champ Cars! Must have been the beginning of the first roll of film that was left over from Champ Car.

Enjoy Part 1 and be well.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

November 4, 2024

During the famous split of Indy Car we had Champ Car and the Indy Racing League both at the Milwaukee Mile in 2006. This is the IRL at the Milwaukee Mile on July 23, 2006 where Helio Castroneves won the pole position but was out of the race quickly in an accident.

Tony Kanaan won the race with Sam Hornish Jr. second and Tomas Schecter third. Young Danica Patrick finished fourth which was a good run for her.

The cars to my eye just were not as good looking as a Champ Car and didn't sound as good. Not as fast as a Champ Car either, I believe.

Take a look at the cars and see if you like them better than the Champ Cars in my last blog.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

April 18, 2022

On June 3, 2007 the Indy Racing League came to the Milwaukee Mile for the ABC Supply A.J. Foyt 225 Race.

The Milwaukee race was run traditionally one week after the Indy 500.  Miss that race a lot.  Bring it back please Roger Penske now that you have control and own the Indy Car series.

Helio had the pole for this race but his rear wing broke during the race right in front of me!  He was done for the day and Sam Hornish had a similar situation and was out of the race a few laps later. Tony Kanaan won it with Dario Franchitti in second. Dan Wheldon finished third.

Danica and Dan Wheldon had a little track incident that had Danica steaming down to Dan Wheldon's pit after the race. They weren't friends anymore and fists almost came out!! Great seeing photos of Dan Wheldon again.  Fun guy that I traded some photos with for his helmet visor that year.  I also have Danica's visors in a photo trade I did every year she was in Indy Cars! I also have a Toyota Atlantic visor of hers from the early days.

Victory Lane was dedicated with a plaque now calling it the A.J. Foyt Victory Lane.  A.J. Foyt loved it and he received a Packers Jersey from A.J. Hawk!

Enjoy a look at the Milwaukee Mile and some great racers.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

Sunday June 3, 2007 the Indy Racing League raced the ABC Supply A.j. Foyt 225!

January 24, 2022

This week we look back at the great days of Indy Car racing with the CART race at Road America in 2002. It was a late season race on August 18, 2002.

These were the days of beautiful cars with big horsepower. Cristiano da Matta won the race with Alex Tagliani finishing second and Bruno Junquiera third. Cristiano da Matta would win the championship that year!

Tony Kanaan started last and finished fourth!!!

Notice a photo of Wilson Fittipaldi watching his son Christian at work. Also, notice a picture of me next to Adrian Fernandez's Indy Car sponsored by Tecate!! Beautiful race car livery!

I'm letting the photos do the talking this week.

Enjoy and be safe.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

December 27, 2021

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Let's hope that the coming new year is a good one.

On May 31-June 2, 2002, the Milwaukee Mile hosted the Miller Lite 250 for the CART Indy Car series. This was at the time when Tony George was trying to take over the series and started the Indy Racing League (IRL). We are still trying to recover from that mess!

The field of cars was down to 19 for this race thanks to the IRL taking a lot of teams over to their side of the fence.

The race was still a good one with Adrian Fernandez on pole position and Paul Tacy winning. Adrian Fernandez finished second and Max Papis third.

This was also the first year of the new grandstands at the Milwaukee Mile.

Today, the grandstands are still there but they actually have tried selling them through the years! Thankfully, that never happened but motor racing has really declined at the Milwaukee Mile.  It's the oldest race track in the country. Traditionally, the race at the Milwaukee Mile was the first weekend after the Indy 500.

Take a peak at the old days of 2002. Those were some great racing cars. There's nothing like the smell of methanol fuel!

Talk to you next year and be safe.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

August 18, 2014

This past weekend was Milwaukee Indyfest 2014! I am writing this on Friday before the weekend that I will be photographing one of my favorite things in life, Indy Cars!!

So, here is a look back at 2013. One of these guys should win, except, of course, for Dario Franchitti who is now retired due to injuries sustained last year at the Houston race. I miss seeing him race. He will be coaching for Chip Ganassi's team and will still be on pit lane. Also, Simona DeSilvestro won't be back because she is now pursuing a Formula One career. Good luck to her with that adventure.

Enjoy a look at Helio, Will Power and the guys from last year. I'm pulling for Helio to get 'er done. Then he could win the championship this year. Good luck to Helio Castroneves. He needs it! He has never won in Milwaukee and The Mile has not been kind to him when it comes to race day.

Next week, we will give you the results blog with some great photos of the guys. Hope to see you at the track.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

December 23, 2013

Recently, Dario Franchitti announced that he was retiring from racing Indy cars. This was a sad day for us Dario Franchitti fans who have watched him race since he came to the United States in 1997.

Dario, won the Indy 500 in 2007, 2010 and 2012. He won the IRL championship in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

The injuries Dario sustained in the crash in Houston this past year have forced him to retire from driving Indy cars. Luckily, he is still with us because if you saw that crash, it is amazing he survived.

I have spent most of my Saturday morning here going through photos of Dario from 1997 to 2013, so we have a lot of photographs today! These are just from my digital collection and do not include any of my film from Dario's CART days! Sometime soon, I will scan those photos and do another blog on Dario.

One of my other favorite racers that I got to know a little bit was Greg Moore who was one of Dario's best friends. Dario has a Greg Moore helmet sticker on the back of his helmet in memory of our friend who we lost in 1999. A while back, I did a blog on Greg and Dario sent me a little note saying that he liked it.

Dario is one of the good guys and has always been real nice to me. Thanks Dario and I wish you the best in your retirement days. I feel that I have not seen the last of you and I think you will still be strolling along pit lane at the track with our friends!

Enjoy the photos folks and have a great holiday with your families!

Please join me on Facebook at Rich Zimmermann Photography and Merry Christmas! Let it snow, let it snow and let it snow some more!!

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