After lots of football and basketball during the NHRA off season, I was more than happy to be heading to Pomona to kick off the 2012 season. Lots of new drivers, teams, paint jobs and for me clients had me super stoked for the season to begin.
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Just over a month ago I packed my suitcases and flew to West Palm Beach, Florida for a week of NHRA preseason testing. I was working for several clients so it would be one hell of a busy week for me.
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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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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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Nearly all my life I have been covering drag racing but never have I covered near as many events as I did in 2011. With that said lets jump right into the second to last “Best of 2011” blog with my best drag racing photos of 2011.
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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 the NHRA circuit down to just three races remaining, the Arizona Nationals near Phoenix would make our break the championship hopes of several professional drivers. While temperatures would exceed 100 degrees all weekend at Firebird International Raceway making for a miserable time shooting and getting down the track for drivers, it was still 20 minutes from my place so I would get to sleep in my own bed every night.
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After the previous weekend where 100 degree temps ruled the weekend in Dallas it was off to the green hills of Pennsylvania for the tours annual stop near Reading for what would be a record setting weekend at Maple Grove Raceway… Oh did I mention the weather was over 50 degrees cooler?!
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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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