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
March 7, 2022
The world is in a crazy place these days but the Indy Car season has begun!
It's great to see Scott McLaughlin win the first race of the year in St. Petersburg, Florida. He has a great future in Indy Car.
Last week was Mario Andretti's 82nd birthday and Sebastian Bourdais on the same day! Will Power's birthday was the following day. He had a strong showing in St. Petersburg. Will is trying to beat Mario Andretti for most pole positions with only one more to do it.
Here are a few photos of the Indy Cars through the years to get us in the mood for the season.
Good luck to all. Last year's champ ,Alex Palou, has some competition this year. Colton Herta is my pick on his way to the championship!
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
November 1, 2021
This blog is going to be short and sweet! There is so much going on around here during retirement! Wait until you all retire and are as busy as me and having as much fun too!
On July 14-17, 2022, the WeatherTech International Challenge with Brian Redman will feature some of the Dan Gurney stable of Eagle race cars!!!!!! Very, very cool idea of Ron Nelson's! Checkout his website www.elkhartlakesracingmuseum.com for more event information. To see a bunch of Eagles together will be awesome thanks to Ron Nelson, Justin Gurney and the Dresang family. Jacque Dresang still runs an awesome Eagle or two and they are beautiful. One is Mark Donohue's.
Dug up a few photos of the old days at Road America and the Milwaukee Mile.
Enjoy, and buy your tickets now for a great weekend at Road America!
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
August 5, 2020
Writing this blog a bit earlier than the usual release date because of the IMSA weekend at Road America August 6, 7 and 8th. I'm just crazy busy lately and I'll be photographing at Road America all weekend!
This blog is on the Millers at Milwaukee and the Vintage Indy Registry guys that came along July 9th and 10th to the Milwaukee Mile. At night on those two days, I was photographing Trace Adkins and then Cheap Trick. About 3500 images later I was done and tired!
So, here are a ton of photos of some great old cars that speak for themselves rather than me writing about them. They are cool cars for sure and it's amazing that some drove 500 miles at Indy!!
I stuffed an 8 foot ladder into my Acura MDX to get a different view of the grid. We usually do it from the starter stand. This time I put the ladder at the start/finish line and climbed up for a few shots.
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
June 14, 2021
Congratulations to Helio Castroneves, aka Spider Man, for his fourth Indy 500 victory!!
We call Helio Spider Man because after he wins a race, he gets out of his car and climbs the track fence! He cheers with the fans and goes wild. His crew even joins him! It's fun to see his excitement and amazing enthusiasm.
I've photographed and known Helio since his Indy Lights racing days.
In 1998, Helio was in the CART Indy Car series with Hogan Racing. He was a great qualifier but never got the win with them. One of the photos here shows him coming into pit lane after qualifying on the pole position and breaking the track record at the Milwaukee Mile in 1998! It is the photo with his fist in the air.
The year 2000 brought Helio to Team Penske. That seat was to go to racer Greg Moore but he unfortunately passed away in an accident during a race in California in 1999. Who knows how far Greg Moore could have gone, but I think Greg would have won multiple Indy 500's and championships. Sadly, Greg was gone, but now Helio was on his way to a great career with Team Penske.
Helio started in CART and has raced in the IRL and Indy Car for Team Penske.
The past few years Helio has been racing in the IMSA series for Team Penske in an Acura NSX. Last year at the Road America IMSA race ,in pouring rain like I have NEVER seen during a race, he won despite two red flags. It was an amazing victory!
While in IMSA racing, he would still do the Indy 500 for Team Penske. That is until this year when he raced the Indy 500 for Meyer Shank racing in the SiriusXM car. He won and climbed the fence at Indianapolis!!! Spider Man is back!!
Winning the Indy 500 four times has allowed Helio to join a very exclusive club of racers, Rick Mears, Al Unser and AJ Foyt. He said that he is not done with his Indy Car career just yet!
Enjoy a look at these photos of Helio through the years. He is a family favorite. We have a pair of his gloves and a helmet visor of his. They look great in our race room!
My next blog will be on the Indy Cars and the Vintage Indy Cars at Road America which is coming up soon!!! Come join us on Father's Day weekend June 18, 19 and 20 at Road America!!
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann