Motorsports Magic

(Val) Over the years I have used many different adjectives to describe various racing facilities, but never once have I used the one that I find appropriate for DuQuoin State Fair Speedway. This track with its lush green infield, canal, and perfect one mile dirt oval can only be described in one way: Beautiful.

For a long time now, my Dad has been trying to get me to join him for the annual Ted Horn 100 USAC Silver Crown event at DuQuoin. Every year, it seemed that something came up and I couldn't make the trip. This year, things finally came together and boy, am I glad they did!

On a beautiful Labor Day Sunday, my son, Dad and I made the 108 mile journey to the old Fairgrounds in southern Illinois. I had requested credentials just a few days before, because I was dying to try out the new Pentax SLR from the infield and had a hunch this would be a great place to do it. Fortunately, the credentials came through (thanks, Jay!) and I had access to the infield at the Magic Mile.

Awestruck with the grandeur of the place, with appropriately named "grandstands" stretched down the front straightaway, I wandered through the pits just as drivers were strapping in for qualifying runs. Reaching for my camera, I started snapping away: Driver close-ups, distance shots of cars and teams, a picture of Josh Wise (the first of many) for Spring, and more.

One of the best things about using a digital camera is being able to see your shot right away, while you still have a chance to take another picture. It's also nice not having to pay to develop all those pictures, scan them in, and then finally upload the to the web site. I took well over 150 shots, but I think I ended up with roughly 50 or 60 on the web site. And while not all of those are breathtaking, I think I did ok for an amateur photog on her first day out.

The weather could not have been better for shooting. The sky was brilliant blue, with just a few clouds, the temperature was cool and the humidity almost non-existent. For the midwest in August, this was a rare treat indeed!

I spent a lot of my time between turns 3 and 4 trying to get the hang of shooting the cars in motion. It didn't take long to figure out that doing this while they are at full speed was next to impossible, yet snapping them when they were just getting started, or just wrapping up worked really well. Some of the shots I got turned out great, but in many I managed to catch just front wheels and a hood or back tires and gas tank. With practice, I know I will get better.

Because I do not yet have a mondo flash, I figured that staying in the infield for the race and trying to take pictures at night was pretty pointless, so I met my guys over in the stands and settled in. My Dad had warned me that racing on the big one mile track could get kind of boring when the cars got strung out, but I think he downplayed it for no reason. I loved every minute of watching those big cars roar around the speedway. The best part was when, after driver introductions, they fired up those engines all at once and took off into turn one. What an awesome sound!

There were several cautions, and that helped the cars to not get too strung out. Plus there were a lot of little races inside the big race, with guys battling constantly for position. Bud Kaeding had amazing run, going from last to second in the "last chance" event, and from last to fourth in the feature. Wow, can that guy drive!

I managed to work my way down to the gate to get in the front of the line when the race was over and was able to snap some decent winner's shots before the crowd filled in and chaos ensued. The shot of Josh Wise's tire just shows how these tires wear after 100 miles of work.

We walked through the pits for a few minutes, but it was pretty crazy there so we headed out to hit the road. The two hour drive went pretty fast, and I think everyone slept in the next morning, but as always, it was worth it. I loved having three generations there together watching the race and I hope we get to do it again real soon!