It is finally time to bring my “Best of 2011″ series to an end with everyones favorite category (except those who appear in these pics) with my Best of Crash and Burn. Not many years ago many of the crashes you see in this post would have resulted in injuries for the drivers but thanks to todays safety technology every driver seen in this blog would walk away. The same can’t be said for their race cars!
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My last NASCAR race was back in March in Las Vegas so I had been itching for awhile to get back on the circuit to shoot some stock car action. For the fifth straight year I would be fortunate enough to cover the July Daytona race. Now most of my photographer friends despise this race due to the hot weather and high chance of rain but I honestly love this race. It always makes for great photos and this year would be no different!
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After several months of only shooting football and basketball it was time to get back to shooting one of my favorite sports, NASCAR. Unlike nearly every other sport in the world which has their biggest event towards the end of the season, the biggest race on the NASCAR calendar is the first race of the season. Strap in as I show you my best imagery from 12 days at the World Center of Speed in Daytona Beach.
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Ever since the beginning of the year when NASCAR officials made the now famous quote, “Boys have at it” in regards to relaxed rules with bump drafting and drivers self policing the garage everyone has been waiting for the drivers to get on track at the biggest and baddest track on the circuit. Talladega. The racing would more than live up to the hype. Strap in tight, its gonna be a bumpy ride!
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After a wild and crazy weekend of NHRA in Phoenix it was on to Vegas for NASCAR. Driving up to the shoot I thought to myself it was going to be very tough for Vegas to top Phoenix. Boy was I right. Try not to fall asleep during this blog!
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So on the first day of 2010 I present my final Best of 2009 blog. So without further adieu here are my best crash and burn images of 2009. Enjoy!
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With the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in their playoffs, also known as the Chase, it is now time for me to shoot less football and now focus on lots and lots of NASCAR. My first of seven playoff races I will be covering was at the 1.5 mile Kansas Speedway. While it is not one of my favorite tracks, it is a nice facility and (most importantly) its a less than two hour flight from my home in Phoenix.
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When you go to a restrictor plate race the chances of seeing some spectacular racing is typically very good. Thats why the races are so popular with the fans and its also why I have gone to the past 11 restrictor plate races and will continue to go to every one for many more years. The latest stop was at the historic high banks of the Daytona International Speedway where Kyle Busch would attempt to win back to back July Daytona races after his victory the previous year.
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After 5 days of attempting to get over screwing up and missing the Carl Edwards crash in Talladega it was time to put it behind me as I made the trip up to Richmond, Virginia for a nice weekend of NASCAR on the 3/4 mile short track of Richmond International Raceway.
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Every once in awhile a crash occurs that has the sports world talking for days. Carl Edwards experienced one of those crashes when he went airborne on the last lap of the Aarons 499 at the Talladega Superspeedway. With its location in the tri-oval plus occuring on the last lap it would be one of the most photographed NASCAR crashes ever. Sadly I wouldn’t be one of the many photographers who would have their coolest crash shot ever. Read on to see my failure.
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