I have shot some drag races at Charlotte before but never the four wide race. This year with multiple clients it became a race I had to come to. Continue reading to see the results of my first trip to the Four Wides!

The 4 wide race in Charlotte is one I have always wanted to attend as a fan but never a photographer. With four cars running at once, my odds of following the right car when something goes wrong its 50-50 which is acceptable. With four on track it drops down to 25% odds I will follow the right car. Not so good odds…

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Below, Shooting from six feet away with a 400mm made for an extreme close up into the eyes of NHRA funny car driver Courtney Force in her car during qualifying for the Four Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway.

Nikon D4, 400mm, 3200iso, f2.8, 1/800th, Aperture Priority

By kneeling on the ground in a place I probably shouldn’t have been kneeling gave me the below shot of funny car driver Alexis DeJoria waiting in the burnout box prior to making a run. The secret to breaking the rules is to act like a ninja!

Nikon D700, 400mm, 145iso, f5.6, 1/1600th, Aperture Priority

As most people know, my main client on the NHRA tour is Toyota Racing. This year they debuted a new 2012 body. Alexis DeJoria was given the first one. The second one with the new body would be Jeff Arend, below.

Nikon D4, 400mm, 200iso, f5.6, 1/2000th, Manual

On his maiden voyage in the new car he would be racing alongside Matt Hagan. If you follow drag racing even a little bit I am sure you saw the crazy video of Matt Hagans fiery explosion. Once the cars go past me its hard to shoot photos due to the heat waves from the car, after seeing the explosion I threw the camera up and shot as Arend had to dodge some rather large car parts. Hagan and Arend would be ok. Arends one run old body would suffer enough damage that they’d have to go back to their old body for the remainder of the weekend. This moment really sucked for Arend and Hagan but it did make for a unique photo that I have never seen before so that was one plus.

Nikon D4, 400mm, 200iso, f5.6, 1/2000th, Manual

The destroyed remains of Matt Hagans car were tossed into a pile beside the track. Since I was the first person to photograph the body after it was initially completed I decided to do a before and after shot of his Aarons sponsored car. When I was a kid my dad always used to call this a “Funny Car Puzzle.”  Makes sense to me!

Below, smoke comes from the exhaust of the dragster driven by Pat Dakin as they fire up the car for a qualifying pass.

Nikon D4, 400mm, 200iso, f5.6, 1/1250th, Manual

Below, fans surround the bright orange funny car of Todd Lesenko as they pull the car out of the pits to head towards the staging lanes.

Nikon D4, 400mm, 200iso, f5.6, 1/800th, Manual

For the second qualifying session on Friday I went atop of the grandstands down past half track to try and get the one of a kind 4 wide racing shot that only this track can facilitate.

Below, pro stock drivers (from top) Kurt Johnson, Erica Enders, Rodger Brogdon and Shane Gray race downtrack during qualifying for the Four Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway.

Nikon D3S, 70-200mm, 500iso, f6.3, 1/4000th, Aperture Priority

If the below shot was of a burnout it would be a great shot for the driver, sadly that is not burnout smoke, thats a blown engine suffered by NHRA funny car driver Dale Creasy Jr during qualifying for the Four Wide Nationals.

Nikon D4, 70-200mm, 800iso, f8, 1/2000th, Aperture Priority

Getting a clean shot of four dragsters running four wide proved to be much much harder than expected. Someone would either red light and be way in front of the other three or someone would smoke the tires and ruin the four wide. It was honestly incredibly frustrating!

Below, after one driver smoked the tires I had to be happy with a three wide shot of top fuel dragster drivers Shawn Langdon (near), Tony Schumacher (center) and David Grubnic. This would be my best shot of the session of nitro cars.

Nikon D4, 70-200mm, 1000iso, f6.3, 1/1000th, Manual

Hopefully Saturday would bring better luck!

For the third qualifying session held on Saturday morning I would once again go high atop the grandstands in an attempt to nail the rather elusive four wide shot.

Below, top fuel dragster drivers (left to right) Spencer Massey , Clay Millican , Shawn Langdon and Hillary Will race four wide during qualifying. Looks like its gonna be a perfect four wide shot right!

Nikon D4, 70-200mm, 500iso, f8, 1/1250th, Aperture Priority

FALSE. Just after the shot one of the cars would shut off and ruin it for me.

Below, after a weak crowd on Friday the fans were out in full force Saturday. Check out that crowd on the midway!

Nikon D3S, 70-200mm, 500iso, f4, 1/8000th, Aperture Priority

Below, in the first round of top alcohol dragster, driver Doug Foley (far lane) would stay in the throttle as he drove dangerously close to the centerline alongside Aaron Tatum. If you look closely at his rear tires you can see dust kicking up since he was so far out of the groove. Foley would hold on to win the race.

Nikon D4, 400mm, 500iso, f6.3, 1/1600th, Aperture Priority

Below, the packed grandstands get a healthy bath of burnout smoke. No smell is sweeter…. except nitro!

Nikon D4, 70-200mm, 500iso, f6.3, 1/4000th, Aperture Priority

Jeff Arend would end up getting his new body repaired for Saturday but then he would experience another wild ride when the right spill plate came off the car at speed. Somehow Arend was able to save the car. Others who have experienced the same issue were not so lucky.

Nikon D4, 70-200mm, 500iso, f6.3, 1/1600th, Aperture Priority

Following the second round of qualifying you can see crew members (below) loading the car of Morgan Lucas into the hauler for the night.

Nikon D4, 70-200mm, 500iso, f5.6, 1/2000th, Aperture Priority

On my way out of the track I came across the below scene of a fan taking a camera phone photo of the John Force Racing stable of drivers. What exactly does someone do with a camera phone photo of drivers on the side of a trailer with a fence covering up 2/3rds of their body? Maybe I shouldn’t ask questions I’d rather not know the answers to!

Nikon D700, 24-70mm, 400iso, f5.6, 1/640th, Aperture Priority

Time for Sunday,

With the race occurring in the middle of NASCAR country on a rare off Sunday for the boys we would have several people from the NASCAR community in attendance.

Below, NHRA top fuel dragster drivers Morgan Lucas (left) and Brandon Bernstein (right) pose for a photo with fellow Toyota Racing driver  Joey Logano.

Nikon D700, 24-70mm, 250iso, f7.1, 1/250th, Aperture Priority

Below, NASCAR driver Martin Truex Jr (left) with NHRA funny car driver Ron Capps prior to the Four Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway.

Nikon D700, 24-70mm, 250iso, f7.1, 1/320th, Aperture Priority

After two days of failure trying to get a four wide shot (the entire reason I came to this race!) I decided to take the easy way out and just stand directly lined up with the starting line which guaranteed a perfect four wide shot.

Below, top fuel dragster drivers (from top) Spencer Massey, Antron Brown, Hillary Will and Morgan Lucas launch off the starting line in the first round of the 4 Wide Nationals.

Nikon D4, 70-200mm, 800iso, f8, 1/2000th, Aperture Priority

Crew members push funny car driver John Force around the corner to the track during the first round.

Nikon D4, 70-200mm, 800iso, f8, 1/1600th, Aperture Priority

Below, funny car drivers (from top) Johnny Gray, Alexis DeJoria, Mike Neff and Blake Alexander race in the first round.

Nikon D4, 70-200mm, 800iso, f8, 1/2500th, Aperture Priority

Below, pro stock drivers (from top) Allen Johnson, Kurt Johnson, Mark Martino and Greg Anderson race down track in the first round of eliminations in the Four Wide Nationals.

Nikon D4, 70-20mm, 800iso, f8, 1/3200th, Aperture Priority

Below, top fuel dragster driver Antron Brown puts on his fireproof head sock prior to hopping into his Matco Tools dragster.

Nikon D3S, 70-200mm, 400iso, f4.5, 1/640th, Aperture Priority

Using my 400mm lens from about 8ft away gave me the below shot right into the eyes of funny car driver Jack Beckman as he prepares to attack the track.

Nikon D4, 400mm, 2000iso, f5, 1/640th, Aperture Priority

Below, one of the most successful NASCAR team owners, Jack Roush, left, talks with NHRA team owner Don Schumacher on the starting line prior to the second round of racing.

Nikon D4, 400mm, 500iso, f5.6, 1/2000th, Aperture Priority

Below, pro stock driver Mike Edwards does a burnout in the second round.

Nikon D4, 400mm, 500iso, f8, 1/6400th, Aperture Priority

I had to leave after the semi finals to catch flight home so that wraps up this blog. Up next in my quest to get caught up on blogs before the Olympics is my best images from NHRA Houston. If aerial photos of 300mph cars gets you excited then you will love the next blog!

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