Greg Biffle's pit.
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Image copyright Kokomo Tribune 2008
Update ~ The gallery of photos I shot just went up on the Tribune's website.
Went up to the Chicagoland Speedway this past Thursday to shoot the Nascar races there this weekend. I would have posted this on the days I shot all of this, but the days were so long I just didn't have the energy after shooting all day to then write posts.
This post is a couple days late even past that reason. Over the course of the three days, I shot about 4500 images. It's the equivalent of 125 rolls of film. Makes my back hurt just thinking about carrying all that. After editing the photos over the past couple days, I ended up with 80 images to tone the color and write cutlines for. So this post got put at the bottom of the pile.
It was an interesting weekend tho. It was my first time at the track in Joliet, IL. It's a short 1.5 mile oval track which makes the racing a little different from the 2.5 mile Indy Motor Speedway I'm used to over the past five years.
The reporter and I left on Thursday and got there around noon. Lots of press conferences and media interviews to do and take photos of. Thursday was supposed to be a day for the drivers of the Nextel Cup race to get a feel for the track in practice and then qualify later in the day. Supposed to be. The track got hit with a huge rain storm later in the day.
I was down in the pit lane and all the cars were lined up for the drivers to go out and qualify. All of the sudden, the crews from the various teams started pushing cars back towards the garages. The sky got really dark and ugly, the teams got the cars into the garage about five minutes before all hell broke loose and the rained started coming down sideways.
Cars get pushed back to the garage area. Image copyright Kokomo Tribune 2008
All the media waited around for a few hours until the qualifications were canceled later in the evening. Not a glamorous start to what was to be the first Nascar night race at the track.
Rain falling at the track, almost looks like snow.
Image copyright Kokomo Tribune 2008
Spent part of the day walking around with the reporter, Ken de la Bastide, through the garage areas of the Nextel Cup drivers and the Busch Series drivers. The Nextel drivers are the guys like Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt jr. The big names, so to speak. The Busch Series has drivers like Dario Franchitti who came over from the Indy Racing League, Brian Vickers and Kenny Wallace; the up and coming racers. Some guys race in both series, but only a few.
Like I've said before, I'm not a gearhead. But I have found the more racing I shoot, the more I am starting to enjoy it. Being a night race and seeing how I've never shot one, I pushed to get credentials to go to this one. And I'm glad I did. Unique experience for sure.
As most know, Nascar is referred to as redneck racing. Don't know if I would put it quite like that, but the general idea gets across. More laid back than the Indy Racing League let's say. Different style of cars, different history of racing.
A Nascar driver might tell someone to "meet me in my holler in an hour." Huh? Holler is a southern word for a small valley. In this case it's used as a noun to describe their race trailer they work out of that is parked near the team garage. Like I said, more laid back.
On Friday night there was the Busch Series race, which quite a few pegged Tony Stewart to win. Which he didn't even come close to. As I heard someone in the media room say, Stewart appears to be taking the express bus to last place. Unfortunate, but true. Stewart hasn't done real well this year, sometimes coming close but never quite there.
Kyle Busch celebrates by standing on his car while in a haze of smoke.
Image copyright Kokomo Tribune 2008
Friday was a late night. Didn't get out til midnight. Fortunately, didn't have to be at the track again til noon the next day.
Came in on Saturday and with it being a night race, the mood is pretty relaxed. Most of the drivers didn't show up until around 4pm to start getting ready. Spent some time wandering around shooting features, just finding cool stuff that caught my eye.
Richard Petty jokes with Jeff Gordon.Image copyright Kokomo Tribune 2008
Before the driver intro's, Petty was introduced and honored. Then the drivers for the Nextel race came out on stage, all wearing the same signature cowboy hat Petty has always worn. Pretty funny. Then all the drivers were stopping to get their hats signed by Petty. The guy is a legend for sure, and you would have thought the drivers were all 12-years-old, the way they were acting with asking to get their hats signed.
After the intro's, I walked along the pit area for awhile, shooting drivers as they waited for the race to start, along with getting photos of people involved with their team's sponsors. P.R. stuff they have to do to make sure the money keeps rolling in.
Kyle Busch celebrates his win by smoking his tires.
Image copyright Kokomo Tribune 2008
Busch drove into the grass along the front stretch, partially tearing up the grass. It might have been neat, except for the rain the area got the morning of, causing the field to be a soggy mess. His crew ran out and helped push him out for a proper celebration of another burnout on the front stretch.
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