I have been shooting NHRA drag races for over 22 years (since I was 10 years old!) and thought I had seen and shot it all. With all the wild rides I have seen over the years, nothing really surprises me. During the first round of eliminations in the top alcohol dragster category at the NHRA Winternationals, driver Mike Austin got my attention as he went for quite possibly the wildest ride I have ever seen in my life.
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Baseball has the World Series, Football has the Super Bowl, when it comes to NHRA, the biggest race on the calendar is the prestigious US Nationals near Indianapolis. I am weeks behind on posting this blog due to an out of control work schedule so lets jump right in.
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The last time I shot a drag race at Bristol was in 1991 when I was an 11 year old punk kid with an old Nikon FM2 film camera. My father Gil would put me on top of a motorhome near the finish line and only instruct me to push the button if I saw a crash or a fire. Well the last time I was here it was for an IHRA drag race and funny car driver Richard Hartman would have a big fire in front of me. I shot a sequence of the whole thing only to find out when I handed my dad the camera to take the film out that he had forgotten to load the film for me. I was devastated and am pretty sure I cried when I found out. Well fast forward 20 years and check out my return to Thunder Valley!
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We are down to five Best of 2010 blogs. Now on tap is my best of drag racing. 2010 was a great year in that I got to cover more drag racing than I have covered since 1997. By covering several races this year I got some pretty cool stuff. Check it out.
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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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Once again for no good reason I spent a weekend shooting NASCAR in Fontana, CA. Now don’t get me wrong, its a nice track, with a great staff and plenty of good shooting positions but plain and simple, its a boring track. Trust me I am not the only one who feels this way, just take a look at any race here and you will see thousands of empty seats that end up being more of a story each year than the races themselves.
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My busy schedule hasn’t allowed me to shoot one of my favorite sports, Drag Boat Racing, in over a year so when I actually had a few days off, with the worlds fastest boats in town, it was an event I was not gonna miss. Some of my favorite career photos have taken place while covering the 250mph fiberglass boats skipping across the water, this weekend would provide me more wild images. Continue reading to see the catastrophic results of a 200mph right turn!
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Only in the world of NASCAR can the driver who finished second be called the winner while the driver who finished first be called the 18th place finisher. Sound a bit confusing? Continue reading to see how that happens.
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