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Denny Zimmerman began racing at the
Riverside Park Speedway in 1957, driving in the Tuesday night
Sportsman Division. While he was soon winning at “The Park”, it was
a rollover in 1958 that really had a positive effect on his career.
Ed Flemke, Sr was at fault in the accident. After the crash, the two
talked, and Flemke took a liking to the young driver. “Ed Flemke
taught me more about racing than any other single person in my
career”, says Denny. “He knew how to set up a race car, he taught me
driving techniques, we worked out of his garage for awhile. He had a
flatbed truck that he would haul his car with, and he would tow my
trailer and car with that flatbed of his.”
From sportsman cars, Zimmerman
moved on to sprint cars and then tried his hand running at
Indianapolis. Through the years, Denny competed at dozens of tracks,
including Riverside, Plainville, Waterford (although he was thrown
out for being underage), and Norwood. He also ventured out to
Albany-Saratoga and Utica-Rome.
Heading south, he competed at
Marlboro, Maryland, Old Bridge, NJ, and Fredricksburg and Manassas,
Virginia. At the old Fairgrounds in Richmond, Denny broke a track
record time trialing, started on the pole, and finished second to
Ray Hendrick in the last sportsman race before the track was torn up
to build the Richmond International Speedway, which now stands on
the site.
Denny owns NASCAR State Sportsman
Championships in both Maryland and Virginia. He began running
sprints in 1966 under the sanction of the United Racing Club, where
he was named Rookie of the Year. Zimmerman later competed in USAC,
and, in 1969, attempted to qualify for the Indy 500. The following
year, he passed his driver’s test but again didn’t qualify. In 1971,
he qualified, finishing eighth and winning the Indy 500 Rookie of
the year honors. In 1972, Denny again made the field for the Indy
500, running as high as tenth before a blown engine took him out of
competition.
Denny Zimmerman retired in 1974.
His final race was at Islip, driving a Sportsman Division car owned
by Ed Flemke, Jr. |
