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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The 2011 NASCAR season is now in full swing and the question everyone is wondering is if Jimmie Johnson will win his sixth straight Sprint Cup Series championship. There is a long line of top drivers doing everything they can to prevent that from occurring. At the top of that list is Carl Edwards. On to the races!
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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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Time for my last Best of 2010 blog of the year. Ladies and gentleman, I proudly present to you my best crashes (and explosions) of 2010.
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For most people the July 4th weekend is spent with family, friends and fireworks. Not for me, the July 4th weekend means one thing to me. Daytona. While the summer time temperature in Florida is ridiculously hot the action on the track is usually hotter. Lets get on with it.
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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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With the opening week of Daytona out of the way all eyes would be on the biggest race of the year, the Daytona 500. Oh and Danicas first Nationwide start. Both races would live up to the hype and then some.
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Just a few months ago the NASCAR season ended in Miami, fast forward three months and about 250 miles north on I-95 and it was time for the 2010 season to kick off with high speed action in Daytona Beach.
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After several weeks in the past few months on the road covering NASCAR it was great to have a weekend at home as NASCAR made their second stop of the year to the Phoenix International Raceway for the second to last race on the year. While PIR isn’t known for exciting races it is absolutely known in the motor sports photography world for some amazing light. Check it out.
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With all the traveling I have done around the world as a sports photographer and a Navy photographer (a few years prior) I have been lucky enough to see all sorts of great places in multiple continents around the world. One place I hadn’t been was Europe. Thanks to an awesome girlfriend I received a plane ticket to Amsterdam as an early birthday present to join her and her friend Amie on their long ago planned vacation. Let the fun begin!
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