California Roadster Association Sprint Car Champion
1971

Courtesy of Influential Moments in Racing.

Some people just really love to race, and will do so as long as they can. But it’s rare that you see a driver continue on into their 70s and when they do it’s for historic racing. For one driver, however, racing simply never got tiresome, and his love of racing lasted seven decades. Today we’re looking at R.C. Zimmerman, who was still an active race car driver at 94 years old.

Richard Cyril Zimmerman was born on December 17, 1918 in Michigan. Not much is available about his early life, but when World War II started, he entered the military and was shipped off to Italy, where he saw combat for some time before returning to the States. After a brief jaunt on the West Coast, Zimmerman decided to join the burgeoning midget racing scene and purchased a car. By this point, he was living in Milwaukee, and had taken up work as a mechanic, a position he’d maintain his entire life. His racing ventures brought him out to Langhorne, where he entered a 200-mile NASCAR Strictly Stock race to be held September 11, 1949. Running a car for Don Gallagher, Dick Zimmerman, as he was called, set a lap of 73.224mph. He lined up 26th, and brought his #14 ’47 Mercury home 13th, 22 laps behind the winner.

Zimmerman mostly ran midgets in the early 50s, though he occasionally ran stock cars. At one point, he hopped behind the wheel of Rodger Ward’s car at Soldier Field, not to race it unfortunately, just to warm it up. Ward was there in time for the race, and Zimmerman wasn’t able to actually compete against Ward. He did later recall an instance where he raced against Troy Ruttman at the Pomona Fairgrounds. He was even able to overtake Ruttman, but mostly credited that on Ruttman not having a great car, a Plymouth Coupe to Zimmerman’s memory, compared to Zimmerman’s relatively new Ford.

Zimmerman next headed back out west to Los Angeles (this time for good) and joined the AAA Stock Car Series for a few rounds. In 1953, Zimmerman found himself caught up in one of several massive accidents at the Carrell Speedway. His 1953 Ford turned over with four to go in the 200 lap jaunt while running up front. He was unhurt, but several drivers weren’t so fortunate. Andy Linden left the speedway on a backboard with several broken ribs, and Harold Morse was killed when his roof collapsed. Six cars in all flipped during the race.

Zimmerman’s final four Grand National starts came the next year, in 1954 and 1955. Piloting Mercurys for Les Brand, Zimmerman ran eight NASCAR Pacific Coast Late Model races, four of which counted for Grand National points. His best finish in the Grand National races was 12th. Of course, he wasn’t about to retire.

According to Zimmerman in a later interview, he should have focused his talents elsewhere. A 1950 Milwaukee Voice article called him “a driving threat in stock cars”, yet Dick decided to run midgets. Nothing was ever mentioned of his efforts to advance to Indycar. His racing career continued through the years, mostly in midgets, and he still ran up front often. He raced at tracks such as Orange Show and Ascot regularly, occasionally doing special events at big speedways like Phoenix, where he ran against Mel Kenyon, Stan Fox and Rich Vogler. He even took part in the infamously tragic 1970 U.S. Open Championship for Sprint Cars and Super Modifieds, the final race at the old Sacramento Fairgrounds. Two drivers were killed in a violent accident during the first semi-final, and one more perished during the main event, which was stopped on lap 35 of 100 by promoter J.C. Agajanian. Zimmerman, against opponents like Bob Cleberg and Joe Saldana, started 12th and came home 11th, last car on the lead lap.

Zimmerman found himself on the front pages in early 1992. Five laps into the Formula Vee season opener at Saugus Speedway that year, Zimmerman vaulted over someone’s wheels, tipped all the way forward, and crashed down onto its roll hoop. The crowd of 5,000 was stunned to see the 73-year-old on his roof, but Zimmerman gingerly crawled out of his car unhurt.

By this point, Zimmerman was mostly racing for enjoyment. His winning days were over, though fans still loved seeing him show up. They didn’t call him Dick anymore, however – Zimmerman had started going by R.C. in the early 90s.

Zimmerman switched to stock cars at some point in the mid-90s and started mostly running at Orange Show Speedway in the Pony Stock Division.

In 1997, 78-year-old Zimmerman was still competing every chance he could. His ’74 Pinto was fairly quick, it never got him a main event win, but he was able to win a few heat races. Zimmerman often showed up to the speedway on his own, he worked on his own cars, and served as his own crew chief. In fact, he’d gone the past two years without a crew chief. He retired at the end of the year.

In 2008, Zimmerman picked up racing again in the NASCAR Mini Stock Division at Irwindale. By this point, he was approaching 90. Zimmerman simply showed up to the speedway to race, in fact, he didn’t even sign autographs before the race, as it was too difficult to get in and out of the car. He was mostly at the back, but the fact that someone his age was racing at all amazed his younger competitors and fans alike. Zimmerman made the headlines one more time when ESPN did an editorial in 2010. He’d also switched his name again by this point. He went by Richie, in tribute to Richie Evans. It’s not very well documented how many races he ran, but he was still going as late as 2013, when he was 94. It appears Zimmerman retired after 2013, as this is where reference to him stops.

R.C. Zimmerman’s long, storied life never really stopped being eventful. Even when he was 94, he was still racing. The father of five, occasional school bus driver, and longtime mechanic passed away on December 17, 2016, one day before he was to turn 98. Zimmerman’s passion for his hobby was amazing.