The second race on the 2012 NHRA was my favorite stop on the circuit. Not because its a cool track or its a big race but because I get to sleep on my own bed every night. Lets get right to the action of a gorgeous weekend in the Arizona desert.
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At the beginning of January I made my first flight of the year up to Indianapolis to shoot portraits of the 2012 Aarons NHRA drivers.
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Now that 2011 is coming to a close it is finally time to begin my fourth year of annual “Best of” blogs. Leading off the 2011 series of blogs is my best Celebration/Dejection shots. This year is heavy on celebration images but you will also find some good dejection shots mixed in as well. Enjoy!
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After a long season coming for the NHRA tour it came down to the final race at the most historic track on the NHRA circuit in Pomona, CA. On top of the high number of professional cars it is always a great event to cover for the fact that the champions will be crowned in all classes. This is a long blog but I assure you its a good one!
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With the NHRA down to its final two races, the stop at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway would be a pivotal race for those with 2011 championship aspirations. With the largest nitro fields of the year it was sure to be a can’t miss race!
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With doing the NHRA tour this year I have had the opportunity to visit several tracks for the first time. Brainerd, Minnesota would be the final track on the season that I had never been to so I was looking forward to checking the track out as well as making my first visit to the infamous “Zoo” at the tracks campground. It would end up being quite the fun and interesting weekend.
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For the third weekend in a row I would find myself at yet another drag race, this time up in the Pacific Northwest as we wrapped up the “Western Swing” which took us to Denver, Sonoma and finally Seattle. I last shot at this track back in 2005, my last year in the Navy when I was stationed in the Seattle area. I have done pretty well at this track with getting some cool photos and this year would be no different.
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Race two of the three races on the Western Swing brought us to one of my favorite tracks on the NHRA circuit, Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA. I usually have pretty good luck at this track so I was hoping to continue the streak this weekend.
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Having never been to Bandimere Speedway before I was really looking forward to my first trip to the Mile High Nationals. New tracks are always fun to shoot at because I have three days of racing to explore the track and learn for myself where all the cool shots are to be had. Sure I could (and sometimes do) get advice from the other photographers out there but its honestly more fun to find out for myself and hopefully come up with shots the other guys don’t notice. Strap in as we go a Mile High with the stars and cars of the NHRA Full Throttle Series!
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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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