Thursday, December 22, 2011

A Mile of Asphalt & A Ton of Dirt

For over 35 years I chased race cars across America.  Dirt ovals from 1/4 mile to 1 mile in length. Paved ovals from 1/10th mile to 2 1/2 miles in length.  Road courses, one drag strip and one dirt off road course not including the Pike's Peak Hill Climb. Open wheel cars of all kinds, stock cars and sports cars. Major races and weekly short track races. NASCAR, USAC, WoO Sprints & Late Models, IRL, CART-Champ Car and many others.  I have been privileged to work for National Speed Sport News, Midwest Racing News, The Checkered Flag Racing News, Stock Car Racing Magazine, Open Wheel Magazine and many more publications and promoters.

From NASCAR at Bristol, to ASA at Anderson, and on to the WoO at Knoxville.  Richard Petty, A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Steve Kinser and Dick Trickle. Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Tony Stewart when they were just teenage wonders.  This has been a wonderful trip.

My addiction to photographing the speed and mayhem is difficult to explain to those who have never been bitten by the bug. 

The pictures below are just a handful that I made during the last few years of racing photography. This was the 2003-2006 seasons.  These were the only years in which I used Digital Capture for racing photography. For 31 of my 35 years, b&w and color print film as well as color slides in both the 35mm and medium format were used.

I have watched auto racing in the U.S, decline in my lifetime.  Yes NASCAR is well known and heavily attended, but racing starts near home, and the racing world has changed for the worse in my lifetime.  There used to be one local six night a week circuit in my home area of Wisconsin. There were mid-week tracks operating throughout the state.  The Milwaukee Mile used to hold seven races a year.  I used to attend weekly tracks with two divisions and a total car count of well over 100.  Today a track with four divisions, will see maybe sixty cars, and two division tracks are lucky to have 35 total cars show up.  Most fans that I have met in recent years barely know that there is racing beyond NASCAR'S Cup Series.

MSA Sprint Cars, Sun Prairie Wisconsin



Local sprint cars from Wilmot Speedway, Kenosha county, Wisconsin

IMCA Modified, Wilmot Speedway, Kenosha county Wisconsin


Dirt Late Model, Hales Corners (now closed) Speedway, Franklin, Wisconsin



Pavement Late Models, Lake Geneva (now closed) Raceway, Lake Geneva Wisconsin




Asphalt Late Models at Slinger (WI) Speedway


 

Lake Geneva Sport Trucks




USAC Midgets, The Milwaukee Mile, Wisconsin

Champ Car/CART (Indy type) at the Milwaukee Mile

IRL ( Indy type) at the Milwaukee Mile

USAC Championship Dirt Car (Silvercrown) The Milwaukee Mile

Badger Midgets, Angell Park Speedway, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin


I just want to thank all of the racers, crews, other photographers and fans that helped make this 35 year journey special.
The Outsider