Nascar

[HDNitehawk]

This was my first NASCAR event, I know NASCAR has the "Red Neck" reputation. For years I thought that possibly the reputation was more a label put on the event by people in other parts of the country that thought all Southerner's were Red Neck. But, after going to the event I can assure you the "Red Neck" reputation is earned starting with the guys we parked next to. They were tailgating in the parking lot, and had brought their leather love seat from home to sit on.

Any way enough of that. Some interesting things I saw:

Starting with the photog's, I realized I had everything I needed except a $7.00 vest;

Nascar Photog 101 by hdnitehawk01, on Flickr

Keep this picture in mind the next time you think about buying a supertele from a "Pro";


Nascar Photog 102 by hdnitehawk01, on Flickr

I have played Mario Cart before, never realizing that they may really use banana"s to cause other cars to spin out;

First pic is taking the banana out of the tool box


Planting the Banana 103 by hdnitehawk01, on Flickr

I am not sure where he loaded it on the car


Planting the Banana 101 by hdnitehawk01, on Flickr

This was the first pit stop, 420mm little or no croping, I just leveled the pic up;


22's First Pit Stop 105 by hdnitehawk01, on Flickr

[Sean Setters]

I live smack-dab in NASCAR's target demographic (middle TN). Although not a fan myself, I assure you that your preconceived notions about the NASCAR fanbase are quite accurate.

Everytime there's a race, I get the checkered flag play-by-play from a co-worker. He can tell you what deodorant each driver was wearing for the race--I can't even tell you what state the race was in. :-)

[HDNitehawk]

Sean; we both live right in the middle of what some would consider "Red Neck" country. But one of the preconceived notions that all "Red Neck's" are poor country hick's isn't true. The guys I parked next to were in a new pickup truck that cost over $40,000 and their loveseat was leather and looked as if it had just been plucked from the wife's living room.

Of course I am not opposed to tailgating and taking the wife's love seat out to the party. I just know the price of doing so. (Maybe I am just a more mature Red Neck, after all the years of marriage I know it would be easier to just go and buy a new love seat and just leave it in the parking lot when your done.)

[Sheiky]

Haha great story and photos! Did the banana trick work or could they jump over it? You came there to see crashes right? Couldn't you just request a press accreditation? At a lot of the normal events(not the big ones) they don't really check your background at all I realized over the last couple years. If I was in the photographers place, I'd probably take a chair as well, looks to me like his back must have hurt after the race

Sean; we both live right in the middle of what some would consider "Red Neck" country. But one of the preconceived notions that all "Red Neck's" are poor country hick's isn't true. The guys I parked next to were in a new pickup truck that cost over $40,000 and their loveseat was leather and looked as if it had just been plucked from the wife's living room.

Some things don't add up here Anyway Top Gear had a nice part about Nascar and the culture around it last season. Season 18 episode 2 if you're interested.

[Steve U]

Like the story and the pics Rick.
Thought you might add some shots of those pit groupies??

[HDNitehawk]

Jan; They must have jumped over the banana, there were no wrecks at all. The race was kind of boring, only two yellow flags.

The photog's were on their knees most of the race shooting through the little opening. I wouldn't want their job, it would be tough. If I did have it I would invest in some knee pads, that had to kill their knees. The guy in the picture stayed down and shot for over 3 hours through the little hole. There were photog's lined up all around the fence every 100 yards or so. Not one had a chair so it may not be allowed. If I go again I may ask and see if I can get press credentials.

Steve; the place was packed, I spent most of my time trying to take pictures that didn't have to many people in the frame. We had pit passes, what we could see was pretty boring. The pass to get is the garage area pass. People in that area were able to walk right up to the cars.

I did find this inspirational though, I know I could do this job, glueing on the lug nuts to the wheels before the race. I am not sure I could do his race job and change two tires in 9 seconds though;

Glue the Lug Nuts 101 by hdnitehawk01, on Flickr

[Sheiky]

Lol I just browsed trough all your Nascar shots on Flickr, I love your photoset! It's like watching photos from tourists who don't want to take the standard shots while visiting a big town. I love it! I expected lots of racing cars and panned shots, but this is way better. I wouldn't want to sit by the fence for three hours raking the same photos on different cars. A few of those are great, but this is way more interesting.
It must have been quite a big event as well with so much photographers and an F-15 fly-over. Too bad you didn't capture the cars jumping the banana.

As for Mr Bolt. I think if you had to take over his job without knowing how to do it perfectly, you would probably screw such an easy thing up I reckon. It's amazing how fast these guys are, but it's probably only possible by their good preparations. I really like the photo

[HDNitehawk]

The thing is, sitting by the fence looking through the hole is where the great pictures will come from. As a fan attending the event we almost never get the oppritunity for a great racing shot because we don't have the position necessary. Best pictures I could get during the race were of the pits. Everything else was really to far or through a fence.

The event is huge, I read that the capacity of Texas Motor Speedway is 212,000. I believe it was sold out for this event.

There is one thing I noticed after the race when going through the pictures. I wish I had noticed they were on the cars at the race I would have loved to gotten some decent pic's of these. The one below had the geiko and it is heavily croped so its not so good. The Cat car had a dumptruck, the moutain dew car had cans of moutnain dew. Next time I will get some good pics of them;


Gieko 101 by hdnitehawk01, on Flickr

[Sheiky]

Wow, that is a big event! I think you're right that sitting by the fence gets the best action shots, but when you sit there every photo will look the same after a while. I hope you get a better view next time. I wouldn't mind taking pictures over there I think

The things like the Geiko and the pit crew gluing screws are really nice details. Sometimes I visit the local motocross track and I really enjoy standing at the best ramp. When you're watching all the jumps and tricks they do look really great. Back on the computer most of the shots turn out to look about the same. Then it's also nice to have some different types of photos and detail-shots are what I really like. It's hard to spot though, because the whole picture grabs the most attention.

[Kayaker72]

Nice set Rick....I am not sure I want to imagine how much grim ends up on the phototog's front element/UV filter. And I would love to know what happened to the banana....