What I love about this blogging deal is that I can write about whatever part of the race night I want to, which may or may not be the actual racing. For me, race nights are about much more than who won the event, or who racked up the fasted time. The racing is the biggest draw and the most important part, of course, but on nights like last night, it is also about meeting people, observing, learning and just taking it all in. That’s what I did at Gateway.
Standing just a few feet away from cars with amazingly powerful engines, one is on full sensory overload. First, is the artistic beauty of some of these cars with their custom paint jobs and in intense graphics. What broke our hearts was the late-sixties era Camaro that hit the wall down at the end of the track. It’s just devastating when something that nice is lost, but it’s the gamble every driver knowingly takes every time they drop the hammer.
There is the smell of the fumes that a burnout stirs up, a combination of rubber and spent fuel that makes your eyes and nose burn and also leaves an acrid taste in your mouth.
The roar of those powerful engines, is like a living breathing thing, filling your ears and making them throb, even with the earplugs firmly seated. Drag racing is a noisy, smelly, heart-pounding, foul-tasting visual feast. It’s easy to see why fans come back, time after time, to watch.
We didn’t see any women racers last night (that we know of) but we did see quite a few female fans, and several gals working with the sanction, track and teams. Spring did a great job of capturing many of them in her work, and I know she is excited about sharing those photos. I got to see them today, and was very impressed.
Spring, Randy and I got a wonderful initiation to the sport last night. We were made welcome, by everyone we met. Photographers, the guys in the media room, fans and teams all opened up to us by sharing information, answering every question we put to them, and even offering up some tasty bar-b-que.
Yes, the night ended early because of lightning, but that just gave us the opportunity to talk even more folks than we may have had the chance to otherwise.
I got to watch Spring work, which was a lot of fun. She was a great sport about the black specks that covered the white jacket she wore, and she was terrific about just diving in and trying to get the best possible shots. Watching all the photographers gather around comparing photos, and seeing her right in the thick of them was very rewarding.
I would be remiss if I failed to mention one little thing, and Randy asked me to make sure I included this in my part of the blog. The racing came to a standstill at one point in the evening, and Spring asked one of the photographers what was going on. He told her they were having problems with the tree, and she asked, “What’s a tree?” Every one of those photographers just looked too dumbstruck to speak, but one of them finally pointed toward the tower of lights and told her what it was called. I know you were a little embarrassed, Spring, but how would you have known if you hadn’t asked? There really are NO dumb questions at the race track!They may have teased her a little bit about the tree question, but I know that those guys respected her as a fellow photographer, and that goes a long, long way in my book.
There are still so many images in my head from last night that I find it difficult to put them into words here. One of the highlights was the run that ADRL President Kenny Nowling made with a young boy in an amazing old Camaro. The wheelstands were awesome and I know that boy had the ride of his life. It seems to me that there’s not a racer out there who doesn’t have a soft spot for kids, which is just one more reason that you’ve got to love this sport.
To everyone who made last night possible for us, I thank you. My most sincere thanks goes out to all of those people who were so patient about answering our questions. We went into this with absolutely no pre-conceived notions or expectations, and we learned once again just how gracious those in the racing community can be.
Here are links to just a few of the people who were so nice to us:
American Drag Racing League
George and Rhonda with Denny Brothers Photography
Jeff Burk at Drag Racing Magazine Online
Roger Richards at Competition Plus
For conversation and excellent BBQ, the nice folks at Troy Critchley Racing
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