Winter Doldrums or Brief Hiatus?

Acura Leaves Team Penske Next Season

Now all the major North American racing series have wrapped up their seasons and the 12 Hours of Sebring just concluded the wackiest year in memory for major motorsports series in America. Sadly I couldn't shoot at Sebring this month but next March is a possibility since it fits into my teaching calendar better. I have photographer friends who were in Florida for Sebring so I just enjoyed their photos and the television coverage of this year's delayed IMSA sports car classic. Ironically, Sebring was the last major United States race of 2020 and was one of the first races postponed this year by the coronavirus. It was great to see long-time Penske Indycar driver Helio Castroneves finally win a season championship, even though it was in sports cars. He'll be back in Indycar next year with Meyer Shank Racing for six races including the Indy 500 to go after that elusive fourth 500 win which would elevate Helio to legendary status along with AJ Foyt, Al Unser, Sr. and Rick Mears.

Mazda finally won an endurance race 

I am working on scheduling race assignments for next year which might include the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona at the end of January. That would be an awesome start for 2021 and it would be my fourth Rolex since 2014. Given how virus cases are spiking across the country right now, I must say I'm a little skeptical that the Rolex will be held without restrictions on fans, media or both. Shooting at Daytona would mean a short hiatus for me from racing which I would dearly love, but like seemingly everything else these days, planning must remain flexible so I won't be booking any flights or hotel rooms anytime soon. Watching Mazda win at Sebring over the weekend was satisfying since the marque has consistently had beautiful machines since joining the prototype ranks in 2014, which was ironically the first year I shot the Rolex 24. Even though I'm personally a Honda/Acura guy, I've had several of my Mazda prototype photos used in Autosport Japan magazine so they hold a special place in my heart.

Will Tony Kanaan return to the 500  in 2021?

I have three main goals for my 2021 racing photography. First, shoot the Indy 500 again. To do so, I need a team or media assignment and I will be in hot pursuit of that the next few months. Second, I must get back to the 24 Hours of LeMans, preferably as a credentialed photographer, but that will take some work. Absent credentials, if travel to Europe is allowed, then I will go as a spectator anyway as I know plenty of places where I can still get photos of this epic event. On top of that, I have friends in France now that I'm dying to see again. Third, I'd like to continue my relationship with the ARCA Menards Series in support of their marketing efforts and hope to do more than the one race I got to shoot this year

LeMans is calling with echoes of 2017

I have other photography goals for next year, including doing more assignments for Speedway Illustrated magazine and promoter Track Enterprises that I hope will involve dirt track races in USAC or other open wheel series. Of the seven races I shot this year, four were on dirt tracks and I loved them. They took me back to when I first started shooting races but more importantly, they reminded me of how my love of racing was originally sparked by my Grandpa Jay Shue at the fairgrounds track in Warsaw, Indiana before I was even in kindergarten.

My other photography goals involve branching out into other ventures. I've already put some of those into place by contributing stock photos to Adobe Stock, setting up a retail store on my Alleygroup website, and creating artistic content for sale on the website Fine Art America. Along with my photo work, I have a non-fiction book that I've been working on especially hard during this pandemic that I should have more announcements about very soon. If you are a regular reader of this blog and would like to among the first to get those announcements, I am starting to build an email list so please let me know if you'd like to be added to the list. Until next time, please visit the store on my website and order some unique photo products - just in time for Christmas! Thanks!

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.

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.

If It's Thursday, This Must Be Indianapolis

Simon Pagenaud won his first Indy 500

What a week it has been! If I didn't have my Google calendar handy on my Pixel 3 phone, I'm not sure I would know what day it was or where I was.  After bouncing from Toledo, to Indy, to Charlotte and back to Indy over the last two Sundays and the week in between leading up to Memorial Day, I need to pinch myself to be sure I'm not dreaming. And now I'm headed to Pocono Raceway to cover another ARCA race! The numbers are in as well, and reflect my travels. Three races in 8 days in three different cities. I drove over 1800 miles to get to those races. I shot over 7000 images between the three races. At Charlotte Motor Speedway last Thursday, I walked over 16,000 steps shooting the ARCA race and then at the Indy 500 on Sunday I logged nearly 18,000 steps. I get a little tired just thinking about it! I've never had a week like this past one ever before on my motorsports photography journey.

The start of the 103rd Indianapolis 500 had been threatened by rain for days

In many ways it has been a magical week, capped off by some suitably magical weather on Sunday at the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500. The trip to Charlotte was a first for me and it was hot and humid for ARCA's 100 lap event that was won by Ty Majeski with a late pass for the lead. Then it was back to Indy, where the weather forecasts prior to last weekend had been dire, with predictions of strong storms for all day race day. I saw people on social media start asking on Thursday about what the Speedway would do if the 500 got rained out. I quit looking at the forecasts after a while and just decided that whatever would be, would be, as I had to be out there anyway, so I would hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Race morning at about 5:00 a.m., I was parked in the outside media lot on Georgetown Road with thunder and lightning in the distance to the north so I checked the weather radar in order to decide when to go inside as I wanted to get my traditional sunrise over the Pagoda photos. It looked to me like the whole weather system was drifting north of the track but there were a few sprinkles on my car windshield so I decided to pack up and go in the track in case things got worse. While my sunrise shots didn't involve much sunlight, I felt pretty good about the day ahead and the fact that the "Tony Hulman weather" was going to prevail. I had already had enough bad weather at three ARCA races this season, and this was the biggest race of all so having a dry day was essential.

My first Charlotte trip was last week too

Hallelujah was a good word for Sunday at Indy and I know I was relieved when the race got to lap 101 to make it an official race, as I had headed over to the pit area around lap 90 to be there in case the race was stopped early. I spent the rest of the race trying to get pit stop action or passing on the frontstretch and I headed to Victory Lane just before the late red flag for the big wreck in Turn 3 and grabbed a spot near the photographer's riser that I thought would give me an angle for the winner.  The fact that Frenchman Simon Pagenaud won the 500 and I was shooting for French media company MPS Agency (see my Indy 500 race photos here) meant my photos were going to be in demand. I didn't get a Victory Lane pass this year which sure would have made my job easier, but if it were easy then everyone could do it, right? I still got pictures (I always get pictures) and I learned a few more things about my craft and race planning that will come in handy in the future. My French colleagues were happy with my work so that was all that mattered in the end. Click here to see my photo gallery from Simon's memorable first Indy 500 win.  I didn't leave the Speedway until 7:00 p.m. Sunday and I still had more photo editing to do when I got home so it was a very long but satisfying day at the track and I knew I'd be going back in the morning for the traditional photo shoot involving the winner and the Borg Warner trophy.

The pre-race festivities at Indy are hard to beat

As long as I've been shooting the 500, I still get chills before the start of the race and the folks at IMS have done a great job carrying on various traditions with fantastic replacements for people like the late Jim Neighbors who always sang "Back Home Again in Indiana". The flyover this year was absolutely epic with a squadron of Blackhawk helicopters first flying over from south to north and then a pair of jets circling the track after approaching from the north. When that F16 hit the afterburner and rocketed straight up into the clouds, anyone with a pulse was cheering that sight as it was simply spectacular. The race itself was fast and sometimes furious, especially in the pits, as lots of guys seemed to make mistakes or had misfortunes in pit lane with spins or mechanical malfunctions. If Alexander Rossi hadn't had his fueling issue, he probably would have won, but with Indy you just never know. That's why I always tell people to get a ticket and get out there to experience it in person. You can't rely just on the television coverage - you need to be there to see the sights, smell the ethanol exhaust and witness the excitement shared by 300,000 of your closest friends! I've been to a lot of races all over the world and the only race to rival the 500 in terms of tradition and pageantry is the 24 Hours of LeMans in my opinion.

Ty Majeski won his first ARCA Menards Series race last Week at Charlotte

Now I am getting ready to wrap up my teaching year and I go to Pocono today to work Friday's ARCA race. May has been crazy busy but June isn't going to provide much relief since I have ARCA races at Michigan International Speedway, Madison (Wisconsin) and Chicagoland Speedway the next three weeks after Pocono. On top of that I have to finish my cemetery photo project for the Indiana Arts Commission to complete the grant I was awarded last summer. I hate the fact that I lost some time on that project this winter due to my cancer surgery and recovery, but I am near the finish line and just need to complete my photo book deliverable and send a final report to the State. I couldn't be happier about the way things are turning out this year in so many ways. I write this blog to share my journey with the universe so that maybe someone else can see there way to finding success while pursuing their passions no matter what. Godspeed everyone. See you at a race somewhere soon. In the meantime, here's some photos from last week's ARCA race at Charlotte and the 103rd Indy 500 for your enjoyment (I hope!)

The 500 featured a spectacular duel between Simon Pagenaud and Alexander Rossi

Michael Self had dominated at Charlotte but faded after late wall contact

Pagenaud gave Roger Penske his 18th Indy 500 win

My week had started with a rain shortened ARCA race at Toledo Speedway