23 Days in August: No. 17, Denny Zimmerman, 1972 Bryant Heating and Cooling McLaren/Offy

If you joined us for 30 Days in May earlier this year, you’ll see some familiar faces from that countdown. We’ve also added some new entries for 23 Days in August. So let’s celebrate some notable drivers and cars from the glorious past of the Indianapolis 500!

 

Photo credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway photo

Denny Zimmerman drove an updated McLaren in the 1972 Indianapolis 500.

23 Days in August: No. 17, Denny Zimmerman, 1972 Bryant Heating and Cooling McLaren/Offy. Denny Zimmerman was the 1971 Rookie of the Year and returned in 1972 with a new team, driving the Bryant Heating and Cooling Special for Rolla Vollstedt.

During this period, development was proceeding rapidly as the new Eagles and McLarens incorporated even lager wings to enable incredible cornering speeds. Smaller teams, like the Vollstedt operation, added wings to their older cars in an effort to keep up.

Zimmerman’s car is an older model McLaren, dating to 1970, and originally had no wings.

Given this rather steep uphill climb, the team did a fine job just getting the car in the race. Zimmerman started 28^th and finished 19^th, dropping out after 116 laps with a bad distributor.

Vollstedt and Bryant stayed together for several more years, using numbers 17 and 27 for the most part, with an occasional entry of No. 37 sprinkled in from time to time.

Zimmerman couldn’t find a ride for the 1973 500, but was back in 1974 driving the M.V.S. Special, so named for the last names of the three partners – Stan Malless, Bob Voigt and Dick Sommers. (I miss entries like that.)

Zimmerman was bumped out at the last minute by Jan Opperman.

That was Zimmerman’s last appearance at Indianapolis, but another career really took off. He became a successful and respected commercial pilot for several carriers, flying the Boeing 747, among other big jets.