What Happened to 2020?

Empty grandstands are symbolic of the racing year

In many ways for me, 2020 has been a lost year. I'm sure I am not alone in feeling that way. Back in February, I had big plans for this year but they all got quashed when the Covid-19 pandemic shutdown hit Indiana on Friday, March 13th. It's the first year I can remember since 1976 when I didn't attend or work an Indycar race. I went from working 21 racing events as a photographer last year to only four so far this with just two more on my radar. The silver lining in all of this has been I am still healthy. I've also probably prolonged the life of my Civic Si by a couple years after so little driving this year!

Chad Bryant (left) and Ron Drager confer in 2019

Watching from the sidelines and seeing what the various racing series have done this year to get their seasons completed has been amazing. The ARCA Menards Series, where I was chief photographer the last five years, has managed to complete 19 races with only one to go now. It's not the same 20 races that were on the original ARCA schedule, but they are getting it done with just the finale in Kansas remaining. While I was not fortunate enough to be assigned to shoot any ARCA races this season, which of course was disappointing, I still have friends in the series and follow the race results closely. It's still a thrill seeing my photos still being used on the series' website or on Instagram. I know they used quite a few in their media guides this year and I downloaded those for my portfolio whenever I saw that. I always know which photos are mine even when they don't have photo credits! Kudos to Ron Drager and all the ARCA staff for managing the season the way they have.

The NTT Indycar Series likewise has only one race to go and the pandemic restrictions on media kept me from shooting any of the races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this year. Missing the Indy 500 was heartbreaking, especially after Takuma Sato won since I have been a regular contributor to Autosport Japan magazine since 2013. I don't know who I will be shooting for next season, so I have my work cut out for me this off-season to find another media outlet to work for in 2021. I have several friends who were able to shoot Indycar races this season and I have been living vicariously through their photos. They have done some outstanding work under some really trying conditions. I hope to be out there with them all next May.

As for the NASCAR Cup Series, they raced at Talladega yesterday and I couldn't help but think about all the times I've made the eight hour, 500 mile trek to Alabama since 2011 to shoot for either ARCA or Associated Press (and sometimes both). I'm pretty sure I would have "made some freaking pictures" yesterday, as the late AP Bureau Chief Dave Martin used to say. The "Big One" where Kurt Busch got airborne happened near the start-finish line and the melee would have come right to me if I had been positioned across the track in my usual photo hole. Unfortunately for me and many of my Alabama friends, none of us got the chance to shoot this weekend due to similar restrictions that I encountered in Indy, so I will set my sights on next Spring and hope that things have opened up by then and I can return to Dega where they say "It's More Than A Race."

Ayrton Senna, USGP Detroit 1984

It still amazes me that racing was able to resume during the pandemic and there hasn't been a catastrophic outbreak similar to what seems to be happening in college and pro football. Restricting photographers at races never made much sense to me since we can still get photos and socially distance simply by using a longer lens, but I understand the need to be cautious and limit "outsiders" who might not be a part of the usual "bubble" of participants. Formula One has probably done the most extreme job of this in racing from what I have seen and has put on great races in new venues while changing its schedule seemingly at the drop of a hat.

All that being said, every series has had to be flexible. Therein lies the lesson for me in all of this: I need to be flexible too. I understand why all the restrictions were put in place but I didn't like them because they put a major crimp in my plans for this year. On the other hand, since I might be more at risk than many people,  I have to say those restrictions were a hidden blessing for me and kept me from being potentially exposed and having to go through what my father endured before he passed away from the effects of Covid-19 this past June. You might say that racing saved my life this year, but in a dramatically different way than in years past. 

As the late Steve McQueen so famously said in the movie LeMans, "Racing is life; anything that happens before or after is just waiting." 

 And so I wait.

All Eyes on 2021

 

Kody Swanson was quickest in Silver Crown at LOR

My last blog post was looking ahead to the 104th Running of the Indianapolis 500 and deferring to friends who got to shoot the race. Afterward, I saw lots of amazing photos from my photographer friends who were allowed to cover the race on August 23rd. Unfortunately, I was not at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that weekend but I was able to watch and listen to the race. Most importantly I got the opportunity to shoot two USAC Silver Crown races as bookends on the weekend. I was really happy to see Takuma Sato win his second Indy 500 and I know my friends at Autosport Japan magazine were too. When Taku won in 2017, they used a lot of my photos so this year I could have perhaps had another nice payday with his win. It was not meant to be, however, so we move on and that's what I've done.

Kody Swanson set quick time in Pro 2000 also

 As it turned out, I got to see lots of great racing over the weekend after all, on two very different kinds of race tracks. They got my creative juices flowing and with my family having the ability to finally have a memorial service honoring my late Father on Saturday, the whole weekend brought a sense of closure and peace about all the loss I've dealt with this year personally and professionally. Added to the two other recent races I shot at Terre Haute at The Action Track, the two around Indy 500 weekend brought my total for the year up to four races photographed. That's a far cry from what I worked in 2019, but it's still way better than nothing. The first event of the weekend was Friday night August 21st at the paved 5/8ths mile oval at Lucas Oil Raceway and featured the USAC Silver Crown cars and the Road to Indy F2000 and Pro 2000 series. Sunday the Silver Crown series moved to the venerable one-mile dirt track at the Indiana State Fairgrounds for the Hoosier 100, a legendary open wheel race which at one point had been canceled by the State. I've been shooting races at both these tracks since I started in motorsports photography in the 1980s. It's still a thrill to stand next to the guardrail as the Silver Crown beasts roar past me just inches away and fling dirt all over me and my camera gear. That never gets old.

Kyle Larson set fast time and took the win

I have to give a big shout-out to my friends at Track Enterprises, the promoter of both events, who I had gotten to know during the years I served as Chief Photographer for the ARCA Menards Series. They made it possible for me to shoot both these events. I was joined by my former ARCA colleague Rich Corbett at the Hoosier 100 who got some spectacular shots of two accidents on the backstretch. Both events gave me the chance to shoot night racing, to work more on my flash photography, and try some experimental photos that I might not normally get to do when I am concentrating on editorial and documentation style photos. Ironically, the Hoosier 100 was the first time that former NASCAR driver Kyle Larson had raced in Indianapolis since his now infamous utterance of a racial slur during a virtual race earlier this year. I am not condoning his use of racially derogatory language in any way. Seeing him sling that Silver Crown car around on the dirt was a sight to behold. I know Kyle has applied to be reinstated by NASCAR and I hope there is a thorough vetting of his application. As a motorsports photographer, having Kyle race on the Indy mile was newsworthy so I made sure I got photos.

Back to racing at the Fairgrounds again!

Being able to get back to racing of some sort was a real Godsend for me. This has frankly been a shitty year for me in many ways and it has affected my outlook on life and my relationships with people around me. Call it grieving or depression or whatever, it sucked and these races, along with my Dad's service, and some counseling help through my EAP at work, have helped me turn the corner on a year of emotional turmoil. Being in a high-risk group during the Covid-19 pandemic has added a layer of anxiety that just won't seem to go away but if you really know me then you know how important my photography work, especially in motorsports, is to me. If you think it's fun hobby that I dabble in then you really don't know me at all. I'm still in good shape physically, I have proven what I can do for more than 30 years, and I will travel. I just need an assignment and I will be there.

Pro 2000 at LOR reflections

This blog post title refers to what's next for me. I don't have any idea. I'm still going to be teaching full time as I have a few more things to accomplish in that field before I am ready to retire. Rest assured I will be taking photos, whether it's increasing my stock photo offerings, boosting my social media presence, ramping up my sites with Canon and Adobe, or contributing to Google Maps. I expect to be looking for new opportunities in motorsports and will be back shooting the Indy 500 next year for some media outlet. I also plan to return to LeMans but it is not clear what MPS Agency plans to do in 2021. The help and assistance of my friends in France at MPS will never be forgotten and I look forward to seeing all of them again next June. As crazy as this year has been, I am certain that next year will be exactly the opposite. When I said, I had turned the corner, that last statement says it all. See you at a racetrack somewhere soon. When you see me, be sure and say hi. I'll take your picture.

7 Days to the Indy 500

 

7 days to the Indy 500. I took this photo of Brian Herta in 2006 so I am declaring my support for his son Colton to win the 500 next Sunday.

I am incredibly disappointed about not getting media credentials to photograph the race, or even being able to attend, and that disappointment has added a foul edge to my life recently. As a result, I have decided to stop my daily countdown to the 500 after this post. I am going to try and let that disappointment go and support my photographer friends and colleagues who were lucky enough to be chosen to document the event. In addition, I will not be posting any more of my Indy 500 photography, which dates back to 1984, until this year’s 500 is over in order to defer to those who are out at the track working this race. .As the late Dave Martin at AP used to say, “Go make some freaking pictures.”

My close friends and family know why I say this most recent disappointment has tainted my life, but people who only casually know me may not understand why missing the 500 is such a big deal. For context, I would suggest the last 18 months of my life needs to be considered as a backdrop for this most recent punch in the gut. In February 2019, I had lung cancer surgery to remove part of my right lung; I had found out earlier in the year that I also had emphysema. As such, all of this year during the pandemic I have had to live with the knowledge that I am in a high-risk group and consequences could be dire if I were to contract the coronavirus. So try to imagine living under the cloud of constant anxiety every time you go out in public.

At the same time I was dealing with lung cancer recovery last year, my fiance was preparing for her own surgery after finding out she had breast cancer. So we were both trying to recover from major surgeries most ofl last year. Earlier this year, my fiance’s brother died of lung cancer. While he was struggling and ultimately succumbing to his cancer, my 85 year old father was in a rehab facility in Indy for a variety of illnesses. The last time I was able to see him in person was February 29, 2020. Meanwhile, a trip we had planned for France and Greece, and a return trip for me to shoot the 24 Hours of LeMans race, was scuttled and the Indy 500 was postponed because of Covid-19. On May 12th, we learned that my Dad had contracted the virus. The last time I talked with my father was on my birthday, May 31st and then he died June 10th as a result. In that last conversation he told me that 19 people in his facility had died from the virus, so watching him fight the virus on top of his other infirmities added stress all year long.

Within the last two weeks, I learned I would not be able to go to the rescheduled LeMans in September, nor would I get credentials for the 500. My string of consecutive Indy 500 races started in 1976 and was unbroken prior to this year, so missing out has just been the straw that broke the camel’s back. So if I’m curt or snap at you, then know in advance that I’m sorry. Try as I might to control my emotions, they burst through sometimes. If I am more of a jerk than normal, it’s because my nerves are raw. Living in a constant state of anxiety can only be done for so long before something has to give.

Being forced to miss The Race is no joke. Did I also mention that my work as Chief Photographer for the ARCA Menards Series totally evaporated this year as well? Loss after loss after loss these last 18 months has exacted a toll on me that’s left me feeling exhausted, constantly angry and nearly broken spiritually. But I am getting help and am grateful for the people in my life who can prop me up and point me in the direction I need to go. If I hadn’t been able to go out and ride my bicycle this spring and summer - and I’ve been riding the wheels off of my Trek  this year - I hate to think where I would be mentally.

I write this now not to make excuses for popping off but to explain the precarious state of mind I’ve been living with. The sarcastic joke in our family is that the “Shue Grit” combined with the Alley stubbornness is a double whammy.  I was raised to figure things out myself so it’s hard to ask for help. I do not normally show much emotion and I don’t get too close to very many people. Moving from town to town frequently as a Methodist’s minister's kid is partly responsible. My training as an athlete is behind some of that too - you can’t let people know when you’re upset or that you’re nervous; you have to keep your cool to perform when the pressure’s on. If you know me, then you know the things I am passionate about and motorsports photography is at the top of a fairly short list.

Like a bad country music song, when the things you love are stripped away one by one, what is left? I’m still trying to figure that out but I guarantee you I will. Once I do, I’ll be able to play that song in reverse and get back most of what I’ve lost and come out the other side a better and stronger person.

Racing COVID-19

Dawn at Indy in 2019

March 13, 2020 was a Friday when they shut down the school where I teach. At that point, the whole world changed as Indiana went into a lockdown quarantine for the coronavirus COVID-19. Now nearly four months later, my son has lost his maternal grandmother (my ex-wife's mother)  and paternal grandfather (my father) to the coronavirus and the world is still in the grips of the worst pandemic in my lifetime. Social unrest over unfair treatment of minorities and police brutality against African-Americans has only added to the anxiety that many people are feeling over the state of society. Even my hometown of Indianapolis experienced rioting and destruction of property, which is highly unusual for this sleepy Midwestern capitol city.

In the grand scheme of things, the erasure of my 2020 racing schedule is a small matter, but I had big plans for this year which all got scuttled with the global shutdown. The Indycar Grand Prix which normally kicks off the Month of May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) is being run this weekend with NASCAR's Xfinity Series on the IMS road course but fans will not be allowed and media restrictions are in place so I will be unable to photograph the race. The Indy 500 which is normally the centerpiece of May and spring in Indianapolis has been postponed to August 23rd and fans will be limited to 50% of capacity. Media status for the 500 is unknown but I hope the fact that I will represent a French media company and the defending 500 champion is French will mean something. At least I know I will have seats for the race if all else fails.

By this time last season, I had been to Daytona, had lung cancer surgery, then went to Salem, Talladega, Nashville, Charlotte, Toledo, Pocono, Michigan, Madison, Gateway and Chicagoland to shoot races for the ARCA Menards Series in addition to the Indycar Grand Prix and Indy 500. This year I haven't even taken a single race car photo or been to any tracks because of the coronavirus. I don't know if I will even get any ARCA assignments at all this season after working 19 of 20 races on the ARCA schedule last year. The only good things about that situation are I haven't hardly put any miles on my car this year and I've only put gas in her twice since the lockdown in March.

I should also have been to LeMans, Paris and Marseille in France and Athens, Greece this month if my original plans had held up. I made plane reservations the first weekend in March for that trip which was planned to take more than three weeks in June. Barely a week later the global shutdown hit so I had to cancel those flights. I still hope I can make it to LeMans this Septemeber on its rescheduled date but the remaining trip for my Lilly Endowment project will just have to wait until June 2021. The airlines have been helpful by giving credits for the flights I reserved that are good for up to two years. Even LeMans has announced it will reduce the number of fans allowed at the race and I still have no idea if I will get a photo credential for my second LeMans or not.

Life is full of uncertainty normally anyway, but it feels like it's all piling on now. With my school year set to resume next week, I don't know what to expect so perhaps the best advice I could give to myself  is to just live today. Another good thing about the coronavirus shutdown is I have finally been able to get my manuscript 90% complete of a story I have been working on for most of my adult life but never had time to really focus on before now. I will have much more to announce on that score soon, as I intend to pursue self-publishing of the book. When that will happen, I don't really know, but it will happen come hell or high water. Or Coronavirus pandemic.

Stay tuned race fans. And stay safe - wear a mask.

Life in the Rear View Mirror

"Mr. Photographer" at the racetrack

What a year this has been! I couldn't be happier that 2019 is almost over, and if you've been reading my blog this year, then you already know why. As 2019 comes to a close, I think back to twenty years ago today, when I was managing a sewer utility and watching the news with trepidation all day, waiting for the lights to go out as "Y2K" hit (what a scam that was BTW). My life has changed in so many ways since then. Today I am excited for the New Year to come because of what I believe lies ahead for me as a teacher and photographer!

I made it to Daytona and had surgery 10 days later

So now it's my turn to do a recap of the last 12 months. I am also going to provide a glimpse at a few favorites from the more than 50,000 photos I shot at races this season. Last year at this time, I was concerned I had lung cancer following a CT scan, and that diagnosis was confirmed January 4th. Thankfully the only treatment that was being recommended was surgery to remove the cancerous spot and the upper lobe of my right lung. My concern instantly shifted from uncertainty about cancer to whether or not my plans to shoot the first ARCA race of the season at Daytona in early February would be effected by the surgery. Thankfully the surgery was scheduled for after I got back from Daytona and I only missed three weeks at my teaching job and one ARCA race in March.

My "hole in the wall" shot means it's Salem

Getting back to "normal" was a challenge and my goals shifted to improving my breathing and my stamina and my racing photography helped me do that, starting with the next ARCA race near the end of April. I also had a deadline coming up in June to complete my "Hoosier Cemeteries" photo project under the grant I had received from the Indiana Arts Commission. While I was getting back to work and finding my feet again, my fiance was hit with her own cancer diagnosis, and we found out her brother also had cancer, so we had to deal with a trifecta of bad news the first quarter of 2019. Just before the Salem race, my fiance had breast cancer surgery and I was running back and forth between southern Indiana and Methodist Hospital in Indy the whole weekend.

Tommy Vigh, Jr. spun right at me at Talladega

Two weeks after Salem, I drove to Talladega for the next ARCA race event which started a string of ten straight weeks with racing to shoot. The Nashville ARCA race followed Dega, then the Indycar Grand Prix was the next weekend, followed by Indy 500 practice during the next week. A weekend in Toledo was next for ARCA and then on Wednesday I headed to Charlotte  for ARCA, driving back to Indy on Friday to shoot the Indy 500 on Sunday. The Thursday following the 500, I drove to Pocono for ARCA, then went to Michigan the following Thursday, then to Madison, Wisconsin the following weekend, then to Gateway near St. Louis the next weekend and finally to Chicagoland Speedway the next week to wrap up the month of June. I was feeling stronger but I was also exhausted having really only taken one day to relax with no commitments that entire ten weeks, as I was still teaching through the first week of June.

After one of my longest drives (to Elko , Minnesota) fans were great 

The first weekend in July, my fiance and I flew to Dallas to see her brother over the 4th of July holiday. When we got back my teaching job was resuming the very next day and then I had three more race weekends in a row in July: Elko, Minnesota for ARCA, then Iowa Speedway for Indycar and ARCA and then back to Pocono for ARCA for the second time in less than two months. August was a piece of cake by comparison as I only had one ARCA race (on the mile dirt track at Springfield, Illinois). Labor Day weekend ARCA had its second dirt track race of the year at the DuQuoin State Fair and I was finally feeling like I was able to catch my breath a little. I only had three more ARCA races to work between Labor Day and the end of October (Salem again, Lucas Oil Raceway and Kansas), and only one of those involved a long drive  (Kansas). That stretch brought my 2019 season to a close with a final tally of 19 ARCA races (out of 20 on the schedule) and three Indycar events.

The Indy 500 is always on my calendar - thanks Simon!

I put over 13,000 miles on my 2015 Honda Civic Si and had six race trips of more than 1000 miles, three of which were over 1300 mile round trips. I had flown to Daytona in February or my mileage total would have been even higher! I did all but one drive solo and the only time I had company was on the DuQuoin weekend when my brother went with me to help cover the race and that trip was only 535 miles! All of that driving and 21 of the race events occurred over the 27 weeks between the first Salem race in April and the season finale in October at Kansas. It was a grind but I loved it all - except for that moment in Shelby, North Carolina in May where I met one of the City's finest while passing through.

See you in June

I had another CT scan in September so I continue to be cancer free and don't have any other follow up scheduled until the next CT scan this coming March. I do not know what 2020 will be like but it has to be better physically than this year. I know I am going back to LeMans in June 2020 but I do not have any ARCA race assignments yet, mainly because new people are involved in the decision making since it will be the first year under full NASCAR control of the series. I know there is a new website in the works for ARCA and I am comfortable with the contribution I made this year to photography for the series. I did everything in my power to be in a position to be considered for future work so I trust that will pay off at some point. When it does, you can bet I'll be writing about it here, so stay tuned.

That's my life in the rear view mirror so the only thing left to do is show you some of my favorite photos from this season. What drove me this year was just getting to the next race. My body was tested but my faith never wavered so I greet the new year with renewed energy and commitment to my goals. Godspeed everyone. Be safe and have a prosperous 2020!

Gotta start them young like this fan at Toledo Speedway!

Where else but Pocono?

The future of racing is here: Ty Gibbs (left), Michael Self and Carson Hocevar (right)

Weather was often an issue this season.

Charlotte with "Big Willie"

Ty Gibbs 

Travis Braden has his game face on.

Indycar under the lights at little Iowa Speedway is always spectacular.

Race fans come in all shapes, sizes and ages.

 

ARCA races on dirt tracks twice every season; this is Springfield from the groundhog's view.

Shooting from the flagstand is always a thrill and Daytona was one of the best!

Grabbing private moments like this with ARCA rookie driver Tim Richmond makes it even more fun.

Getting dirty again.

Future flagman gives the green to the ARCA field.

Ty Majeski was ARCA's hottest driver during the middle of the year.

You see all kinds of people at the races!

I always look forward to throwback weekend at Salem Speedway.

Hailie Deegan was popular with fans every time she raced this season.

Christian Eckes got the guitar trophy this year at Nashville.

ARCA Veteran Bobby Gerhart is still fast whenever he races.

Waiting is the hardest part, right Christian?

Rain brought out the checkers at Toledo for Chandler Smith.

Christian Eckes won at Kansas and clinched the season title in the final race.

Christian Eckes (left) and teammate Michael Self fought for the ARCA driver's championship all season.

Sunrise on a race weekend is something we catch a lot to start long days.

NASCAR executive Mike Helton (left) conferred with ARCA President Ron Drager often this year.

Will Power at Iowa Speedway

Kids making their mark at the racetrack is a common sight.

Travis Braden sparks on the front stretch at Gateway.

Short track racing is a staple of  the ARCA Menards Series.

Carson Hocevar's eyes tell the story .

The trophy at Gateway was almost bigger than winner Ty Gibbs.

Simon Pagenaud swept the month of May at Indianapolis.