My Thoughts Are Racing

Top 5 Favorite Races of 2011

2011-12-03T16:30:00.000-08:00

We're now fully engulfed in the worst time of the year for a race fan: the Off-Season! It was a season I'll never forget as it was my first where I truly dove into racing videography. I hit just over 60 races in the Midwest from March through November. I didn't video at all of those however but the following are my top 5 favorites that I did video at!

5) Paducah International Raceway - USA World 50 - August 26th, 2011

I've never considered myself a big fan of racing with fenders...but I'll take one in from time to time. That was the case on this weekend in August as I had an open Friday night and headed the Paducah International Raceway for the annual USA World 50. Plenty of the top names in midwestern Late Model racing turned out for this one and the first half featured some stellar racing among those names!

4) Jacksonville Speedway - POWRi Midgets - September 16th, 2011

Rough track, talented drivers, and slide job's every lap. This was a rough one with plenty of beating and banging...but overall, a heck of a midget race to watch!

3) Lincoln Speedway - MOWA 410 Sprints - July 8th, 2011

A first year series making a first appearance. Lincoln Speedway became one of my favorite tracks this year in the 3 visits got to make. But this one was my first visit and the ensuing A-Main was one to remember. It's always cool to see a guy get his first win...

2) Jacksonville Speedway - MOWA 410 Sprints - July 29th, 2011

Danny Smith and Jerrod Hull are names that most Midwestern sprint car fans are familiar with. Most fans are also familiar with the name Chris Windom though usually in a nonwing sprint car. But Chris put on the wing and ran the first 3 night's of MOWA's Illinois Sprint Week with his 3rd and final night being a spectacular showing in a great 3-way fight with Smith and Hull. This was by far my favorite MOWA race of the year. Plus, who doesn't love some last-lap slide job action...

1) "The 66" Mike Phillips Memorial - POWRi Outlaw Micro Sprints - June 25th, 2011

This one had all the right elements to be an unforgettable race and it did not disappoint. 24 of the best micro drivers from around the country, a 40-lap A-Main, and $10,000 to the first man across the finish line. Christopher Bell and Trent Beckinger delivered one of the greatest fights for the lead in recent memory as they battled on the 1/8th mile Southern Illinois Raceway.

Like I said, it was an amazing year for me with new sights, new people, and great racing around every turn. I'm already looking forward to what promises to be an even better 2012 season!

Snubbed Again?

2011-06-15T19:00:00.000-07:00

WOW! It's been a LONG time since I've written on here. Been really busy lately but recent events in the NASCAR world left me with some things to write about.

Raymond Parks

Red Byron

The two men pictured here were pioneers in NASCAR. Raymond was the owner of the first "super-team" in NASCAR with his driver Red Byron. Together they won the first NASCAR Championship in 1948. Byron was a World War 2 veteran and raced until his death with a piece of Japanese shrapnel in his leg; this requiring a special clutch in the car allowing him to shift. Parks made his name as a moonshiner and through owning a successful string a vending machines in the Atlanta, Georgia area. together they experienced great success and were among the first stars of the newly formed NASCAR racing series in the early 40's and on into the 50's.

Tuesday we saw the 3rd class announced for the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina. Cale Yarborough, Darrel Waltrip, Dale Inman, Richie Evans, and Glen Wood were inducted in the 2012 class. But sadly, for the 3rd year in a row, both Raymond Parks and Red Byron were left out of the Hall of Fame. How can a sport have a Hall of Fame without having it's first champion in it? As on owner, Parks notched multiple wins in NASCAR with Byron as well as several other famous pioneers in the sport.

So what do you think? Has the voting committee gotten it wrong so far? Or should these men be enshrined in the Hall of Fame farther down the road?

Red Byron with his 1948 NASCAR Championship trophy.

Win 1 for the Flipper!

2011-03-08T14:18:00.000-08:00

Does Carl Edwards stand the best chance of de-throning Jimmie Johnson?

First backflip of 2011 but the third backflip in the last five races!

After a strong showing in the Kobalt Tools 400 that gave Carl Edwards his first win of 2011, many believe he is poised to challenge for the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title. At this point, fans are looking for someone, ANYONE, who can step up end the stranglehold that Jimmie Johnson's #48 Lowe's Team has had on the sport for the last five seasons. Edwards is showing he has the muscle to be that someone.

So far, 2011 is appearing to be a resurgence for the Ford camp as a whole. After a dismal 2010 that left Ford with only 4 wins in NASCAR's top division, the Blue Oval's have won two of the three races run this season and appear to be in contention for many more throughout the rest of the season.

Edwards is flexing his muscle early. Carl currently sits 3rd in the Sprint Cup Standings after a 2nd place finish in the Daytona 500 and his Las Vegas win. Had it not been for being caught up in a wreck at Phoenix, in a car that Edwards fully felt could've won the race, he would probably be leading the Sprint Cup Series standings.

Victory Lane in the 2011 Kobalt Tools 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway

So tell me what you think: Carl Edwards, Contender or Pretender?

The Coolest Trophies in NASCAR!

2011-03-03T14:58:00.000-08:00

I wanted to do something a little different with this post and after a discussion at work this morning about NASCAR Trophies, I thought this would be a really cool one. NASCAR gives out some amazing trophies that are sometimes closer to a work of art than an actual trophy! So here are a few of my favorites trophies that are given out during the racing season:

HARLEY J. EARL TROPHY - RACE: DAYTONA 500

This one is in here on sheer tradition alone. Winning the Daytona 500 is a career defining moment for the driver lucky enough to win the annual race. The names that have won this trophy in the past read like a who's who of NASCAR Legends: Petty, Allison, Waltrip, Earnhardt, and Gordon. Also, racing legends Mario Andretti and AJ Foyt made the jump to stock cars and were each able to take home a Harley Earl Trophy!

INFINEON RACEWAY

The Infineon Raceway is located in California in the heart of the Sonoma wine country. Thus, the winner of NASCAR's once-a-year visit to Infineon gets this wine-inspired trophy to put in their trophy case back home!

NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY - NATIONWIDE/TRUCK SERIES

Located in Lebanon, TN, the Nashville Superspeedway sits in the shadow of Music City. So for the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series drivers who manage to win the races at Nashville, a custom Hand Painted Gibson Guitar awaits them in Victory Lane. Official NASCAR Artist Sam Bass designs and paints the guitars for all of Nashville's races throughout the year.

TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY - FORT WORTH, TX

Everything is bigger in Texas, right? There are two Sprint Cup Series races held a year at the Texas Motor Speedway and the winners of these events go home with plenty of shiny stuff to put up on the wall. Besides the really cool looking Boot Trophy, drivers take home a Cowboy Hat and a pair of 6-shooters. Texas has also been known to give 6-shooters or a Shotgun to the driver that wins the pole for either of the two NASCAR races!

MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY - MARTINSVILLE, VA

As the oldest track on the Sprint Cup circuit, it could be said that time has stood still for the paper clip shaped half-mile Martinsville Speedway. But to the drivers that win either of the two-annual events, they receive a way to make sure that time KEEPS moving! For many years, Martinsville Speedway has given winning drivers the Grandfather Clock that you see pictured above. For drivers like Jimmie Johnson or Denny Hamlin who have won 5, 6, or even 7 races at Martinsville, it begs the question: Where on earth are they putting all these clocks???

So what NASCAR trophies would YOU put on the Top List?

Remember: Your Ruler MAY Be Different

2011-02-26T18:17:00.000-08:00

WARNING: This is a pet peeve blog post...

How different are they?

You see it often in posts on your favorite social network site:

NASCRAP...
NAPCAR...

Usually followed by whoever made the post referring to the "boring-ness" of NASCAR and how it isn't real racing. It goes both ways though, NASCAR fans regularly bad mouth Indy Cars and Formula 1 for not being real racing either. That being said, what exactly is "real racing"?

I feel that, too many times, race fans get blinded by their love for one type of racing and totally discredit any other type. In his 2003 book, True Speed, Tony Stewart said:

"Stock car people look at an Indy car, and to them it's so fast and so different that they forget it's just a race car. Indy car people do the same thing: they look at a stock car and see a big, heavy thing that's a challenge to turn and a challenge to stop, and they lose sight of the fact that it's also just a race car. Every race car has four wheels, a throttle pedal, a brake pedal, and a steering wheel; if you drive them too hard, every one of them either pushes, gets loose, or does a four-wheel drift..." (p.224-225)

Stewart hits the nail on the head with this one. Judging one type of racing with the skill set it takes to succeed in another is just plain wrong. I find that it is unfair to drivers of any series to judge them with the "ruler" of another field of drivers. Everyone has their preferences, I can't discount that, but you need to realize that racing is racing regardless of if it's on dirt or asphalt, open wheel or with fenders, or winged or non-winged.

I'll be the first to admit, I'm guilty of this. I like my NASCAR and my dirt racing. I've never been one to watch Formula 1 or Indy Cars. I don't necessarily LIKE to watch them either...BUT I will not discredit the drivers of either series because of that. It takes a different skill set to wheel an Indy Car or Stock Car than it does to wheel a Sprint Car or a Late Model.

So remember, YOUR ruler MAY be different...so don't measure someone else's racing series with it.

Book Cited:
Stewart, Tony, and Bones Bourcier. True Speed: My Racing Life.
New York: HarperEntertainment, 2002. Print.

Wait, Who?

2011-02-20T16:00:00.000-08:00

Trevor Bayne, that's WHO!!

The 2011 Daytona 500 is now in our rear-view mirror but this one will be talked about for a long time to come. In a race that saw a record number of lead changes AND caution flags, 20-year old Trevor Bayne scores his first career Cup Series victory in just his second career start!

What makes this such a great win is that he didn't back into it. He was up front and competitive for the majority of the race. He showed maturity behind the wheel well beyond his level of experience. TREVOR BAYNE is a name we will be hearing alot more for several years to come.

Other News/Notes/Thoughts from the Daytona 500:

- BAD DAY TO DRIVE FOR RICK HENDRICK:
ALL 4 Hendrick Chevrolet's were involved in some type of wreck during the Daytona 500. Mark Martin was able to come back and secure a 10th place finish after repair work was done on his car car. As for the other 3 Hendrick cars; Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, and Dale Earnhardt Jr scored finishes of 27th, 28th, and 24th, respectively.

- YOU WANNA DANCE?:
The 2-car breakaway came into play as it did in the Budweiser Shootout and Gatorade Duels BUT this time it made for a good show. This was one of the most entertaining Daytona 500 that I can remember. That being said, the constant shoving through the corners made for ALOT of crashes (a record number of caution flags actually!). All in all, the 2-car draft made for an interesting race and it will be interesting to see what, if anything, NASCAR does about it when we go to Talladega in a few weeks.

-MORE SURPRISING FINISHES:
Sure, Trevor Bayne winning was surprise but he wasn't the only surprise finish of the day. David Gilliland came across the stripe in 3rd and Bobby Labonte came home 4th! Great finishes for two drivers who haven't had much good news to speak of the past few seasons.

So tell me, what were your thoughts/reactions to the 2011 Daytona 500?

IT'S A SHOOTOUT!!...without guns apparently

2011-02-12T19:35:00.000-08:00

The 2011 edition of the Budweiser Shootout is now in the books. Overall, I think the race was horrible. The two car breakaways ruined what COULD have been a great race. So let's break down some of the elements of the race:

1. ME AND YOU...AND YOU AND ME!

Drivers in the 2-car breakaway formation at a test in January 2011.

I'm not sure anyone know what causes these two car breakaways but they are a force to be dealt with. They showed up in this year's Shootout with a vengeance and totally ruined the racing. For weeks we've heard from commentators and track officials how the new surface at Daytona would make the racing there better than ever and while the speed's were the highest they've been since the mid 80's (Michael Waltrip topped 206 mph!) the overall "racing" was poor. Sure, there was a record number of lead changes but watching the groups of two for 75 laps tonight was not fun at all. I would just about bet that NASCAR makes a rule change on Monday or Tuesday to 1. reduce the speeds and 2. attempt to find a way to limit or cut out entirely the two-car breakaway.

2. THE FINISH
The finish of this year's Shootout will certainly leave alot of folks talking for weeks to come. For all the benefits of the "yellow-line rule" it sure does cause alot of arguments as well. Coming to the checkered flag, Denny Hamlin was pushing Ryan Newman and Jamie McMurrary was pushing Kurt Busch. As they came to the stripe, Hamlin ducked out from behind Newman and made a move to the inside. (WARNING: the next few sentences contain my opinion based on what I saw in the live finish and replays!) As Hamlin was making the pass, he crossed below the yellow line JUST AFTER HE PASSED RYAN NEWMAN FOR THE LEAD. The NASCAR rule book says you can't cross below the double yellow line to advance your position. If Hamlin already had the lead, how was he advancing his position below the line? In a post race interview he said he did so as a safety move since spinning Newman at those speed's would surely mean Newman would get airborne. NASCAR said he was advancing his position though and gave the win to Kurt Busch, who made a late charge with McMurrary pushing to secure what looked like a 2nd place finish.

Well, those are the two biggest things I took away form this years Budweiser Shootout but I'm sure everyone has a thousand different opinions. So please, share your comments, thoughts, and opinions on the 2011 running of the Budweiser Shootout!

Always and Forever...The Man

2011-02-10T18:09:00.000-08:00

Dale Earnhardt after winning the 1998 Daytona 500

It's hard to believe that its been ten years since we lost Dale Earnhardt. Plain and simple, the man WAS Stock Car racing (and still IS to alot of folks). Every sport in the world has their legend, their "greatest", Dale Earnhardt was all that and more in the NASCAR world.

2001
Daytona, Florida
We were about a quarter mile from a great running of the Daytona 500. Michael Waltrip came off turn 4 headed for the Checkered Flag, his first ever in Sprint Cup competition, with his teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. right behind him. A little farther back was the owner of those two cars in his traditional black number 3 Chevrolet. Some say he was holding off the pack to help his two cars stay up front while others say there's no way he was holding back, he's DALE EARNHARDT, the man doesn't know what holding back means! But in that pack of cars, Dale found himself 3-wide and in the middle as they came through turn four. And then...

We'd seen wrecks that looked alot worse. Heck, just earlier in the race Tony Stewart barrel-rolled down the backstretch and walked away! Dale just hit the wall a little but...dang, that WAS a bad angle he hit and...no, no, no, he's DALE EARNHARDT. He'll walk away just like he always has, right? RIGHT??

It wasn't until later that afternoon when NASCAR President Mike Helton confirmed everyone's worst fears....."After the accident in Turn 4 at the end of the Daytona 500...umm...we've lost Dale Earnhardt". That line will live in infamy in the history of NASCAR.

The racing world was shocked. He can't be dead, he's DALE EARNHARDT...the man was a god in stock car racing. He can't die behind the wheel, can he??

The sport has continued along fine these last ten years though it's not quite been the same without The Intimidator out there mixing it up. So on this 10th Anniversary, I open this up as a forum to the readers: What is YOUR favorite memory of Dale Earnhardt?

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

2011-02-01T17:57:00.000-08:00

It was a goal thought unreachable with today's level of competition...

Surely no one could EVER do what two of the sports greatest have done, right???

Wait, he won three Championships in a row?

Crap, nobody's ever done four-in-a-row before...

HOLY S**T!! 5 IN A ROW?????

Besides maybe Kyle Busch, no driver can stir up a crowd of NASCAR fans better than Jimmie Johnson. Most fans either love him for what he's accomplished or they hate him for what he's accomplished. Some say he's too "vanilla" for the sport and doesn't show enough emotion during or after a race.

Love him or hate him, Johnson now stands a chance of reaching the "unreachable" mark of 7 championships in his career, a mark now held only by NASCAR legend's Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. Alot of folks assumed that with today's level of competition, no one could ever get to seven championships again. But it's been said that records WERE made to be broken, right?

"The King" Richard Petty (left) and "The Intimidator" Dale Earnhardt (right)

I can't lie, I've spent the last several seasons really hating Jimmie Johnson. Who likes a guy who wins all the time? But while I may not be able to stand the guy, I can't discredit what he and #48 Lowe's team have accomplished these past five years. Alot of fans like to accuse the 48 team of cheating all the time or that NASCAR rigs the races in Johnson's favor. I find both of those claims crazy. Sure, Johnson's crew chief Chad Knaus has had his run-ins with the NASCAR officials for cheating in the past, but to think that there is some large conspiracy among officials to let Johnson get by with something every week is insane.

I'm not saying any of you out there have to burn all of your favorite driver's gear and buy a Jimmie Johnson t-shirt; everyone having a favorite driver makes watching the races with a group that much more fun. But give the guy at least a little respect...the dude can drive.

So what do YOU think:
1. If Johnson reaches 7 championships someday...
2. If you DON'T like Johnson, why?
3. If you DO like Johnson, why?

2011-01-21T20:15:00.001-08:00

"...AND THERE'S A FIGHT!"

2010-11-08T14:23:00.000-08:00

Ahh, NASCAR. Just when even more fans were about to give up on you, you go and give us a show like that. For those of you who missed the "AAA Texas 500" you missed one of the best NASCAR races in awhile! Drivers fighting, drivers flying the bird to officials, and to cap it all off, a fantastic dash to the finish that saw Denny Hamlin pick up the win and, more importantly, the points lead with two races to go.

But it is the fight that inspired me to write today. Over the past several seasons, NASCAR's policy has been severely punishing drivers involved in fights and overall trying to prevent them from happening. But at the beginning of the 2010 season, NASCAR instituted a new policy that has come to be known as "Have at it, Boys!", meaning that the reigns were going to be loosened a bit and the drivers could show some personality without fear of being fined money or points. The drivers have taken that to heart this season which was evident by the "altercation" between Jeff Burton and Jeff Gordon in Sunday's race at Texas.

Fights like the one Sunday truly serve to increase interest in the sport. For example, I had a fellow student in one of my classes tell me today that while he hardly ever watches NASCAR, he watched all the highlights from Sunday's race on SportsCenter because he saw the fight and wanted to know more about the race. While this Sunday's race was a minor example of how fights can increase awareness of the sport, it was a fight in the late 70's that catapulted NASCAR into the national awareness.

The year is 1979 and CBS has signed a contract with NASCAR to air the Daytona 500 live flag-to-flag for the first time. For the first time in history, all of America would have access to the still largely Southern sport of NASCAR. The situation got even better for NASCAR when nearly the entire East coast was hit by a huge blizzard that left many people stuck in their homes with only one thing to do......watch TV. This, in the end, gave CBS huge ratings for the race and made alot of people tune in for the race who may not have otherwise; and what they saw was NASCAR history.

Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison fight
at the conclusion of the 1979 Daytona 500.

Donnie Allison

Cale Yarborough

The closing laps of the race saw 2 NASCAR veterans battling for the win. Donnie Allison in the #1 Hawaiian Tropic Oldsmobile and Cale Yarborough in the #11 Busch Beer Oldsmobile.

As the two drivers tore down the backstretch on the final lap, Donnie tried to block Cale and they kept going lower and lower on the track until Cale's left-side tires were in the grass. After much beating and banging, both drivers crashed hard into the outside wall and came to rest at the bottom of turns 3 and 4. Richard Petty, who was running 3rd, drove by both of them to win his 6th Daytona 500. Once Cale and Donnie got out of their cars, they both felt it was the other drivers fault they had crashed. Donnie's brother, Bobby Allison, who was also in the race, pulled up to see if his brother needed help. The fight was on from there! Allison vs. Yarborough in front of an enthralled nation! The American people had never seen anything quite this on their TV before and alot of them were hooked that day.

Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison fight
at the conclusion of the 1979 Daytona 500.

(Video of the final lap and fight can be seen be clicking this link!)

So will the Burton/Gordon fight have the same effect and revitalize some interest in NASCAR? While the circumstances are not the same as in '79, the effects have really yet to be seen for this fight. NASCAR has fought sagging attendance and TV ratings for several seasons at this point. But if the races can continue to be as entertaining as Texas (and if the drivers continue to let their personalities show), attendance and ratings should BOTH go up!

Let me know what YOU think:
Should fighting be a commonly accepted thing in NASCAR or any other sport?
Should those fights be used for publicity?

Safety vs. "The Show"

2010-11-03T13:52:00.000-07:00

The finish of last weekends "Amp Energy Juice 500" brought up a debate that arises in NASCAR circles often: namely, Should the race be declared official and the caution flag thrown if a wreck occurs on the last lap? The crash in question was for a large crash that occurred right at the start-finish line as the field was taking the white flag and resulted in A.J. Allmendinger getting some air time.

Up until the summer of 2003, NASCAR had the policy of letting drivers "race back to the caution" meaning that if the yellow flag waved the leader finished the lap they were on at full speed with no regard for where the cars causing the caution might be. The drivers could continue to advance their position after the yellow flag had waved until they raced back around to the start-finish line when they would then assume "caution speed" behind the pace car. This produced some fantastic racing for the fans but posed a serious threat to the drivers who were involved in the accidents.

The problem finally came to a head on September 14, 2003 in the running of the "Sylvania 300" at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Dale Jarrett wrecked on a restart and was left, stalled, in the middle of the track right before the start-finish line. The leaders continued racing so as to race back to the caution and several of them nearly hit Jarrett's stalled car as they raced to the line. In the wake of this near incident, NASCAR enacted a new policy where the field was frozen as soon as a caution came out and the cars slowed down immediately. If the caution flag comes out on the last lap of the race, the race is declared finished and whoever was leading at the time of the caution is credited with the win.

This was the scenario that arose at Talladega last weekend, as you saw in the link above. Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick were side-by-side racing for the win when the large crash broke out at the start finish line. The race was declared official and after several minutes of unknowing while NASCAR checked video and scoring monitors, Clint Bowyer was declared the winner.

Clint Bowyer celebrates his win in the "Amp Energy Juice 500"
October 30th, 2010 at the Talladega Superspeedway

The question that arises is: Should the race be declared "finished" before the drivers have actually completed the scheduled distance? It comes down to the safety of the drivers vs. the quality of the show. NASCAR always wants to put on the best race they can for the fans, but should some of that involve unneeded risks for the drivers? The 43 men who strap into their cars each Sunday are already aware that if the right scenario occurs at the wrong time, they may not get to see their families again.

In my opinion, the "show" is never worth risking the life of one the stars participating in it. In the instance of Allmendinger's crash at Talladega, had the race been allowed to finish, the leaders would have come screaming back across the finish line at nearly 200 mph while several wrecked cars sat on the apron of the track. Had another crash then occurred at the finish line, who knows what could have happened.

I think that sometimes people see the bright-colored and flashy racecars and can easily forget the fact that there is a human being strapped inside who may or may not need help after a crash. With all the safety innovations in the last 10 years, the risk of injury has been greatly reduced from what it once was. With that being said, I don't believe we should lull ourselves into a false sence of security and assume the driver is okay after a crash. The sooner that the cars can be slowed and medial/safety personal can get the the driver's aid, the better.

But enough of my ramblings...what do YOU think?

Credentials!

2010-10-27T15:23:00.000-07:00

Hello! and welcome to my first post.
If you're an auto racing enthusiast, chances are this is the blog for you! I hope to do more writings about my various racing adventures as time goes on. But to start this first post I'd like to talk about a HUGE experience recently for me.

I've gotten the opportunity this summer to cover all types of motorsports in the Southern Illinois area but nothing topped my chance to go to the Gateway International Raceway in Madison, IL to cover the NASCAR Nationwide Series "5-Hour Energy 250". It was a special event as it was, for now, the final NASCAR race to be held at the facility as the current promotor can no longer afford to run the track and chose to give up the track's 2011 NASCAR's Sanctions.

As pictured above, I got Media Credentials to cover the event. It was my very first experience covering a NASCAR event and it was great learning experience.

I left home at 6AM the day of the race as there was a mandatory photographers meeting at 9AM at the track. NASCAR mandates all photographers attend this event or they are not allowed to photograph/video any of the days events! At the meeting, the chief photographer and NASCAR's head of security basically explained where we could and couldn't be throughout the day. The procedure for qualifying allowed us to be on pit road but we could not leave the confines of the pit boxes (which are striped boxes on pit road for those of your who aren't big followers of the sport). Before qualifying started we were allowed to be in any of the pit boxes but 30 seconds prior to the 1st car going on to the track, NASCAR's security man moves all the photographers 5 cars down the qualifying line and we can get no closer to the front of the line for the remainder of the session.

So qualifying was held and saw Riverton, IL native Justin Allgaier pick up the pole at his home track. The race was not scheduled to begin until 2:30 PM so I had some time to kill so I went and visited with some friends in the infield. At 2PM I went to driver introductions where I was able to get several drivers for interviews, which was an awesome experience. I did interviews with Mike and Kenny Wallace, Brad Keselowski, Justin Allgaier, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Once the race started I hung around pit road and shot video from there. As we were informed in the photographers meeting, any empty pit box on pit road during the race becomes a photographers pit box and all other fans are kept out. If a photographer wishes to enter an occupied pit box, they have to have the permission of the team occupying it.

Justin Allgaier, Jason Leffler, and Carl Edwards fight for 3rd, 4th, and 5th, at the finish line!

During the closing laps of the race, all the photographers gathered in the empty pit box at the start finish line to get the leader crossing the finish line. This was a procedure that I found very interesting. When the white flag flies, and no sooner, photographers can jump up on the pit wall to shoot the finish. We all then had to wait for the NASCAR Security guy to give us clearance to run across the pit lane and shoot the leader's celebratory burnout's.

I wound up getting back to the TV Station around 9:15PM that night! All in all it was a long and tiring day but I had an absolute blast. It was an awesome learning experience that will for sure help me in my career down the road!

Well thanks for reading this first post! If you liked it, become a follower of my blog on the right side of this page so you can get e-mail notifications when I load new posts. If you don't "like" it already, I also have a Facebook page: www.facebook.com/racingsuperfan

Stay tuned for more posts in the future. I will begin a series of recaps of my various 2010 racing experiences both on camera and off!