Brickyard Superweekend Main Event Time!

Jimmy Johnson wears favorite role well

Day four of the 2013 Superweekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is upon us and it's time for the main event:  the Brickyard 400. It is the 20th edition of NASCAR's pilgrimage to Indy and while the bloom seems to be off the rose for many race fans who used to swarm the speedway in the race's early years, Sprint Cup drivers still regard this race as one of the biggest on it's schedule. No one has ever won five races at Indianapolis, either in Indycars or stock cars, and today both Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson have a chance to become the first five-time winner at Indy. If he can keep their fenders clean and stay out front, Johnson probably has the best chance to do it today. His front row start next to surprise pole winner and Hoosier Ryan Newman gives him a great opportunity to arc into Turn 1 at the drop of the green flag and run in the coveted clean air which is so essential for speed on Indy's flat, smooth, narrow surface. 

GrandAm Rolex Series brings more racing to the Brickyard weekend

I am in the IMS media center this morning waiting for today's photo meeting and it's the first chance I've had to write all weekend. That's not a bad thing as one of the chief complaints about the Brickyard weekend in years past has been the lack of track activity. That has certainly not been an issue since the Superweekend concept was created in 2012 with the addition of the Rolex GrandAm and Continental Tire sports car series to the weekend schedule. My three days here so far have involved non-stop shooting, editing and uploading for motorsport.com. Interestingly, even with near perfect weather this weekend, the crowds still are not turning out for this weekend, so at least no one can use the conditions as an excuse not to come to the track. I noticed Indy braintrust Mark Miles sitting by himself in a golf cart yesterday in the infield off of Turn 5 during the Nationwide race just watching. I wondered what he was thinking about as the Speedway management contemplates the future of this great facility and this weekend...

Working at IMS is always a challenge and this weekend has been no different. It is a huge property and to get from one area to another involves lots of walking with few direct routes. I feel badly for photogs who have never shot here before and discover that there's no easy way to get from here to there, and that shooting from preferred locations is often restricted. I spoke with some video shooters yesterday who were lamenting the lack of "hot" passes which severely hindered their access which did not make their boss very happy at all. Having shot at Indy since 1984, I know the restrictions and how to work around most of them, but at least for this race, I do have a hot pass and have been able to go pretty much everywhere I want. That is quite a luxury and I am thankful to have that freedom which shooting for motorsport.com provides.

Today is the "big show" and unfortunately the Sprint Cup cars are not well suited to racing here, unless you are out in front and have big horsepower to pass on Indy's long straightaways. I have not missed a Brickyard and don't intend to in the future, and the rumors about putting lights at IMS and moving the race to a Saturday night are quite interesting. Along with that, the concept of a lengthy endurance race into the night also begins to enter the picture which I would love to see at Indy. With GrandAm and the American LeMans Series merging to become United Sportscar Racing in 2014, the endurance racing landscape in the USA is certainly changing so it will be very interesting to see how that all shakes out since the number of events will be limited as it stands now. All that aside, today's 160 lap stock car race could very well make history of its own and it will be a busy one (again) for me I am sure. Next weekend I am off to Mid Ohio Sportscar Course to shoot the Indycar weekend for motorsport.com so if you need to find me, come on out to the track!

Jimmy Johnson navigates Turn 1 during Sprint Cup practice.

400th Motorsports Blog Post - Milestones From the Road

Yours truly hard at work at Chicagoland Speedway 2009

When I started this blog in 2007, I had no idea where it would lead. My road to racetracks around the Midwest and Southeast United States has brought many interesting experiences, the stories of which I have tried to capture here. Along the way, I have passed through a few hundred towns which end in -ville and hope you've been there with me from time to time. I officially became an "oldtimer" in 2009 when I was accepted into the Indy 500 Oldtimer's Club as a media member with more than 20 years involvement in the Indy 500, so please bear with me as I reminisce!

I certainly didn't envision writing 400 posts, and I am far from done. This will also be one of my longer posts but I will try to spare you the agony of too many of my words at one sitting. At the time I started this blog, I was between jobs, trying to expand my photography opportunities and searching for meaning in life after going through a divorce and a number of other personal travails the previous two years. None of that matters now and all of it has fueled my desire to express myself through writing and photography. Life seems to have come full circle for me, since I am again between jobs and seeking new creative outlets. I have been blessed with luck and opportunity, and today I recap some of my greatest memories from life on the road as a racing photographer who lives for the smell of racing exhaust and tire smoke. Hopefully you get that feeling too, while I recount other significant milestones on this journey.

Lost Friends

Dan Wheldon at Kentucky Speedway, October 2011

As time marches on, there is no escaping the fact that many of the people I have gotten to know through racing are no longer with us. People like Steve Snoddy, who always had spot-on advice and seemed genuinely concerned with how I was doing when I was struggling. I wrote about Steve's passing here and he was a photog for whom I will always feel a debt of gratitude. For Steve and others like him, I try to pass along what I have learned. Two other people fall in that same category - people who were shooting races when I first started and who helped me along the way: Keith Pritchard  and Carl Pendleton. These men both signed my  500 Oldtimers application and fought brave battles with cancer over the last few years of their lives. Then there's Don Hamilton, publisher of American Motor Journal. Don helped me get back into shooting races on a major scale in 2006 when he asked about helping out with his publication. By the time of Don's unexpected passing in late 2012, I had provided thousands of images from races since that day in June 2006 when I bumped into him at Mid Ohio during the Rolex event. I jokingly tell people I bought camera gear instead of furniture after my divorce, and Don gave me the chance to put it to good use, to stretch my creative limits and try to help him make AMJ a success in the topsy turvy media world which has evolved since then. Sadly, AMJ died along with Don and his dream along with it. Lastly, I have to mention Dan Wheldon, whose demise hit me quite hard, as it did so many others in the Indycar community. Having shot dozens of Indycar races where Danny was a participant, the photo above is from the last event where I saw him compete, at Kentucky Speedway, just two weeks before he was lost in Las Vegas. I'm sure my friends Steve, Keith, Carl and Don are swapping racing stories and pulling pranks together with Danny today, as they are all in a better place. Godspeed to you all and others in racing heaven.

Found Friends

Helio & Sam Hornish, Turn 1 Indy May 2006

I was out of racing photography in 2004 & 2005 after Agence France Presse, for which I had been shooting Indy the previous five years, decided to no longer cover the Indy 500. Towards the end of 2005 I began to swap out my old film, manual focus camera equipment for high speed digital and I got the itch to get back to shooting races again. The person who helped me do that was Greg Griffo with the Indianapolis Star. I had known Greg for quite a few years and had shot for the Star in the late 1980's so Greg picked me up for Indy in May 2006 and gave me invaluable tips on shooting digital. He kick started my motorsports work that May and gave me a chance to shoot from the outside of Turn One on Pole Day that year. It was an unforgettable day and I had the spinning car of Thiago Medeiros come right at me during qualifying where all I could do was duck down behind the wall. I still remember the sound as the car hit about ten feet away and showered me with carbon fiber and rubber dust on its way past. After Indy, the next big steps I took were with AMJ and then I started this blog in early 2007. Over the last two years, I have been fortunate to branch out and make many new friends at racetracks and media outlets. In Indycar, I kept running into Eric Schwarzkopf with Trackside Online and Paul Hurley with Paddock Talk. Regis Lefebure gave me great advice during an ALMS event at Mid Ohio. I've gotten to work for ARCA with Doc, George, Deb, Bev, Rocky and others to support its website. The folks at Associated Press in Atlanta,  Daytona, and Talladega have been extremely gracious and I can't thank Mike, Butch, Mullet and Rainier enough. Working with Rainier at AP led me to Motorsport.com this year where I've had the chance to continue learning and growing as a shooter. Special thanks to Rainier, Eric, Ken, Nancy, Covy and their whole crew. This also led to my first international publication this year through Autosport Japan, courtesy of a lead from Eric Gilbert. It's been a long road since Alex Persons gave me a chance to work at Indy for UPI in 1984. I'm sure I've left out the names of others who've helped along the way, so I apologize for that!

The Spectacular

Mike Conway's Turn 3 Indy 500 crash

Racing is by nature a spectacular sport and I've been lucky to be in the right spot and ready to shoot for some amazing race action over the years. By far the most spectacular situation I've shot was the 2010 Mike Conway crash on the last lap of the Indy 500. There have been plenty of other big moments but none like that one. This year I got to shoot Victory Lane at the Indy 500 for the first time and caught a great four-wide photo finish in the Freedom 100 Indy Lights race for motorsport.com. In 2009, I captured Vitor Meira upside down during the Indy 500 in Turn 1 and have shot Indycar and Indy Lights photo finishes at Kentucky Speedway and Chicagoland Speedway. I've been in hundreds of victory lane celebrations, doused with water, Gatorade and champagne, chased out of the pits for not having on my firesuit at Mid Ohio, and climbed untold number of hills and grandstands to get the shots I needed. But you will get no complaints from me as it's a small price to pay for pursuing my passion.

The Mundane

When I started as a credentialed photographer at the Indy 500 in 1984, I was just happy to be there. UPI stuck me in Turn 2 and told me to wait for spins and crashes. Being a turn shooter at Indianapolis involves long hours of waiting for three seconds of action to have a chance to get a picture used. But the payoff is huge emotionally, if not financially. Gone are the anxious days of waiting for the runners to bring your exposed film back to see if you "got the shot" and if it was used on the wire. Now the result is instantaneous and there's no doubt once the image viewer is opened on the back of your camera. You either got the shot or you didn't, and there's been plenty of times where batteries have failed, my framing wasn't right, or I cut off half a car during an accident sequence. Those moments and the long hours waiting for something (anything) to happen seem like distant memories since I have been able to shoot much more than just car action the last few years. I feel like I have graduated in a sense, but I still learn something every time I shoot a race. I hope I never stop learning.

Races

Chad Boat at Kokomo 2009

If I could catalogue all the races I've shot or the racetracks I've been to over the years, it would take up too much space here today but it would include everything from Kokomo and Lincoln Park dirt tracks to the Daytona high banks, from the streets of Toronto, Detroit and Columbus to Talladega Superspeedway. Not to mention Indy, Michigan, Mid Ohio and a host of other tracks in the Midwest. There's an alphabet soup of racing series I've worked as well: ALMS, ARCA, GrandAm, Indycar, NASCAR, NHRA, USAC, IROC, plus all types of cars from midgets to full blown prototype sports cars and Top Fuel dragsters. My best guess is I've captured a couple hundred thousand images in all, and that's probably conservative since I've had hard drives crash, CF cards that got corrupted and three camera bodies whose counters have turned over numerous times after hitting 9999.

The Road

I love to drive. It's a good thing too, as I've logged tens of thousands of miles the last few years, most of it solo, involving long hours at the wheel, often at night. Most of the time I keep the car stereo off and just listen to the 5th gear 3500 rpm hum of my 1999 Acura engine and the tires on the road. Sometimes I think of Dustin Hoffman in "Rainman" when he says "I'm an excellent driver" and just keep on rolling despite all kinds of road conditions, terrible weather, traffic jams and detours. But I've been lucky too, and only had one warning from gendarmes all these years. There have been crashes on the highway where I've arrived on the scene before the emergency crews; I have thanked my lucky stars that I wasn't there a few seconds earlier or I might have been involved. Then there's the ratty overpriced hotels that are jammed on race weekends but vacant most of the rest of the year. I also recall lots of  nice people on the road who share their travel stories along the way. Let's not forget that all that travel often involves making a 7:00 a.m. photo meeting the next day, shooting all day, and then editing and transmitting photos until long past darkness. And then doing it all over again the next day, and maybe the next day as well. 

Rain

Mid Ohio ALMS 2011

Did I mention the weather? My photog friends will not let me live down the time I refused to come in out of the rain at Mid Ohio in a monsoon that hit near the end of the ALMS race in 2011. I got pictures but also almost lost both my cameras to "moisture" and I still had the Indycar race to shoot the next day. I have come to enjoy the teasing over being the "rainmeister" but there have also been times when it seemed like everywhere I went, it rained. My 2007 season was like that, beginning with leaving my sunroof open at the Nashville Indycar race when a downpour hit just before the scheduled start and the inside of my car got soaked. I didn't damage any equipment that night but the race got postponed to the next day and I had to scramble to find a room. Of course the Indy 500 was rain shortened that year. I almost turned back while driving to the Michigan Indycar race on a rain swept day later that summer but I followed a rule I adopted years ago after missing the start of the Brickyard in 1995:  get to the track first and then worry about the weather. I have gotten better prepared to deal with rain as the years have passed. There have also been times during rainy road course events where I think standing next to a metal catch fence under a big tree might not be the best place to be during a thunderstorm filled with lightning...so I move and keep shooting.

As I wrap up this post, I am noting how often I have used terms like lucky or fortunate. Do all these things happen by coincidence or fate? I have heard people say that luck is where preparation meets opportunity, so I try to keep that in mind. At the same time, the older I get the less I believe in coincidence. First and foremost, you have to be at the track to have a chance to do good work. When I'm there, I don't listen to a scanner or radio. I put my earplugs in and dial in to the sounds of the cars, since most of the time I can't hear the public address system over the race noise anyway. It's when it gets quite and the engine notes change that I know I better start pushing the button. If I'm lucky, or fortunate, or it's just meant to be, I hope I can do another 400 posts in the years to come. At any rate, you can find me at a racetrack somewhere and it will feel like home. Just be sure to bring your rain gear.

Mid Ohio Rolex  GrandAm action in 2008

Kimmel Outruns Young Guns at Winchester - Ties ARCA Win Record

Frank Kimmel (#44) led from pole on owner's points after rain washed out qualifications

"Old age and treachery wins out over youth and exuberance." I don't know where that quote originated, but it sure seemed fitting after watching Frank Kimmel get another ARCA win on the Winchester high banks Sunday June 30th. On a misty and wet day which caused the race to start under green/yellow conditions, Kimmel bided his time and pounced in the final third of the  Herr's Chase the Taste 200 after most of his younger competitors ran into problems or each other. After leading quite a few laps, Mason Mingus got caught up in an incident and finished the race with a car that looked like a modified, the team having used a sawzall to cut off the right front fender so he could finish. With the win, Kimmel tied the all-time ARCA wins record of 79 set by Iggy Katona and remains atop the ARCA season points standings with Mingus lurking in second. Austin Self was charging hard at the end but couldn't catch Kimmel and had to settle for second.

Rainy ARCA Autograph session

This was another race where I had the opportunity to shoot for ARCA and my day started off with a short drive through scattered showers between Indy and Winchester. The weather radar looked like it was going to clear off eventually, but the pattern was odd since rain usually doesn't come from the north and east like this system. As I got onto I-69 to head out of town, I saw a large hawk perched on a set of INDOT solar panels, so I had a feeling that the day was going to work out alright. Once at the track, the sprinkles persisted until about an hour before the scheduled start. I was dealing with equipment issues with one of my cameras as a result of the "moisture" but I wasn't totally surprised since that particular camera had gotten soaked at Mid Ohio a couple of years ago in monsoon conditions during an American LeMans series race. But I was able to work around the problem for the most part, as it only seemed to effect one lens, and I was able to do what I needed to do for ARCA. Although the track was still wet at the start, by the time the race was over, there was bright blue sky and sunshine. The lead picture (above) was taken during the pace laps when I noticed an area of ponding water on the inside of  the track between Turns 3 and 4, and I liked the reflection effect. Track officials did a great job getting the racing surface ready and the start was only minimally delayed.

Austin Self's crew gets ready to work on a rainy Sunday

I'm sure the wet weather kept the crowd down, and that's a shame, because ARCA, and especially a small track like Winchester, need the fan support. But those who came and stuck it out were treated to a good race. It's not often fans get to witness racing history and I was certainly glad to do my part in helping document it. I've been shooting ARCA races pretty consistently since 2006, and Frank Kimmel has been a mainstay of the series. He races hard and clean, and I got the chance to shake his hand afterward as I was leaving the track to head home. NBC Sports Network was on hand to tape the event for a special which will air sometime in August, so everyone involved was highly motivated to get the whole 200 laps in and put on a good show. Check, and check, as both missions were accomplished.

Tom Hessert and father walk the track early on race day

It's funny what you see sometimes being on the inside of a racing series. I got to Winchester so early that the credential office wasn't even open, and all the cars were impounded on pit lane covered with rain tarps. Within an hour or so, teams started filtering in and making pre-race adjustments. I saw drivers milling around talking with crew members, friends and family, or checking out the displays of historic Winchester photos inside the main building where fans enter. I always enjoy shooting the ARCA autograph sessions too as the fans genuinely love the chance to meet and talk with these drivers, many of whom are future stars in the making. I was a race fan before I was a racing photographer, so I can sympathize with fans who are going to say "I saw them then.." like I do as time passes. And at a track like Winchester, time passes quickly as 200 laps didn't seem to take much time to complete once the race got underway. I don't know when I will be shooting for ARCA again, but I look forward to it with the same passion I approach shooting any other racing event. Hopefully next time, my equipment troubles will be a distant memory and we'll have another historic moment to write about. See you on the road somewhere soon.

Ominous skies were present right up to the start of the Herr's Chase the Taste 200 at Winchester Speedway

ARCA Driver Tom Hessert checks the historic photo displays with friends

Frank Kimmel during driver introductions

Kimmel Seeks Record Tying Win at Winchester Speedway

Frank Kimmel at Michigan International Speedway

I am back on the road tomorrow for a racing road trip, but this one is practically in the neighborhood. Winchester Speedway is only about 75 miles from my Indianapolis home and marks one of the shortest trips I have to make all year. It's another short, fast, high-banked oval which proclaims itself as the "World's Fastest Half Mile". I will be helping out ARCA again at this race and am looking forward to getting to see my friends run here again, something I've been able to do now for several years in a row. The track hasn't changed much since I started coming here in the 1990's to shoot USAC midgets and sprint cars, but the ARCA teams really put on a good show here and use every inch of race track during their 200 lap features. There may also be history in the making here as veteran Frank Kimmel has the chance to tie the all time ARCA wins record of 79 victories set by Iggy Katona.

If Frank were a university professor, he would have achieved emeritus status in ARCA long ago, but he's a racer and is determined to win a record 10th series championship in the twilight of a great career in the series. Regarded by some as a big fish in a small pond, Kimmel shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon, has the best sponsor in ARCA and is one of the most fan-friendly drivers you would ever want to meet. The lines are always longest to get his autograph during ARCA's pre-race autograph sessions and Winchester will be no exception. There is no questioning his desire to win every time he races and if he is disappointed about not making it to the top of the stock car racing world, you would never know it when you see him at a racetrack.

Yet the ARCA series is changing, having become a training ground for young up and coming stock car drivers. Two years ago, Dakoda Armstrong won at Winchester and last year it was Alex Bowman's turn, both young guns with bright futures in stock cars. This year Mason Mingus, Justin Boston and Mason Mitchel are among the young guys hoping to make names for themselves by winning at this historic track. At Michigan two weeks ago, youngster Ryan Blaney was on the pole while another fresh faced "kid" Brennan Poole snagged the win in his first ARCA start of the season. While Blaney - who won the pole here two years ago - is not currently entered this weekend, Poole's win at Michigan has to put him among the potential race winners. Poole has won at Salem Speedway before so he clearly knows the fast way to get around short tracks like this. Along with Kimmel and the other young guns I've noted.

Winchester seems calm before the ARCA storm hits the high banks

The race is typically well attended, similar to the ones at Salem as Winchester has a long history and loyal, albeit regional, fan following.  This event  also has a title sponsor which is a great thing for ARCA. The "Herr's Chase the Taste 200" recognizes a company which makes some fantastic chips and snack products. I had a chance to sample some at the Michigan race for the first time and wish I could have pirated out a case or two to take with me. While that wasn't possible, it's good to see an event sponsor like Herr's jump into ARCA. This series needs support like any other racing series, but especially one which has been around longer than any other stock car sanctioning body and which races on every kind of track imaginable. They raced at Elkhart Lake on its scenic four mile road course last weekend and before August is over the series will also have run on another road course, two mile dirt tracks, other paved short tracks, and on mile-and-a-half ovals. Running at big tracks like Pocono, Talladega and Daytona gives ARCA drivers well rounded experience unparalleled in any other series, but it is still Frank Kimmel's show until more drivers and team owners commit to running the full season schedule like Chris Buescher did in 2012 in winning his ARCA championship before moving up.

Winchester ARCA action from 2011

In the meantime, I've added a few pix from the last couple years to get you warmed up for Sunday's action. Winchester promises lots of close racing with multiple grooves for passing, a bumpy and weathered surface which challenges teams to find grip with their Hoosier tires, and likely some beating and banging among those in the top ten who are fighting for a win. That's what I've seen here in years past and Sunday will probably not be any different. I am looking forward to it after two weeks away from a racetrack. Be sure to visit the ARCA website after the race at www.arcaracing.com to check out photos and race results from little old Winchester. If you're in east central Indiana and love short track stock car racing, then just go! Head over to Muncie and turn east on State Road 32 - in about 20 minutes you'll feel like you're at home at the races. You won't regret it. See you there!

Tim George, Jr. didn't have a good day at Winchester in 2011

2011 Winchester winner Dakoda Armstrong (22) presses the issue with Chad Hackenbracht

Matt Lofton (16) and Jared Amrks (12) demonstrate two groove racing at Winchester in 2012

Frank Kimmel's crew provides quick service on a beautiful day for racing in 2012

Michigan Road Trip Done: ARCA Victory to Brennan Poole

Brennan Poole takes ARCA win at Michigan

Michigan International Speedway has changed a lot since I was last here in 2007. Gone are the majority of the grandstands that used to wrap around the outside of Turns 3 and 4. In their place is a new motorhome area and part corral sponsored by Budweiser where fans can get within about 10 feet of the outside wall. Gone is the old media center building behind pit lane, replaced with new facilities that are quite ample, lined with full height glass windows, and topped by pit area suites which have access to roof level viewing platforms. The one thing that hasn't changed is the access. US 12 remains a two lane highway on the south end of the track where the main entrance is located, and getting out of here after a full NASCAR weekend is probably still a bear. But I didn't have to worry about that this year since I headed back to Akron once my duties with ARCA were complete.

Ryan Blaney was quickest in ARCA practice and took pole position

Thirty cars were on the ARCA entry list for this 200 mile, 100 lap race. Once again the younger generation showed the way in Thursday's practice, and Friday's qualifying and the race itself.  Races of this length in ARCA typically involve two pit stops as teams were allotted two additional sets of Hoosier Tires in addition to the ones they started. My favorites going into the race was Frank Kimmel who is one win shy of tying the all time wins record in ARCA, but he would start from the third position and while he ran in the top five all day, he never really had the speed to match the Venturini Motorsports tandem of Justin Boston and race winner Brennan Poole. Pole winner Ryan Blaney, the son of NASCAR veteran Dave Blaney, led early but an out of sequence pit stop pushed him down the order. ARCA vet Tom Hessert blew a tire and hit the wall late in the race while another ARCA regular Grant Enfinger was strong but could not match the leader's pace.

Justin Boston's zloop ride

I felt badly for Justin Boston who spun out of the lead under pressure by Poole with about 10 laps to go, but Boston will have to be reckoned with as the season unfolds. Poole won in his first ARCA start of 2013 and since this race was being televised live on SPEED, teams desperate for television air time to showcase their results and attract sponsor attention were there to run Michigan. The resulting field was a mixed bag of competitive cars in the top 10, a couple of start-and-parks, and mid-pack runners who were just happy to finish without tearing up their equipment. My role this weekend as chief photographer for ARCA for the first time meant I had a lot to do for two days, and it was strange being at the track on Thursday when ARCA had the facility to itself and the public did not have access.

Godspeed Jason Leffler

Friday was a different story as NASCAR's Nationwide and Sprint Cup teams had most of the track time and fans were there all day. My day was spent covering qualifying, wrapping up ARCA driver head shots, documenting safety and driver/spotter meetings, shooting a driver autograph session, and then shooting the race itself for the series. Safety was on everyone's mind with the recent death of Jason Leffler in a sprint car accident, the second such racing death in the last two weeks. Honoring Leffler was a frequent topic and some NASCAR drivers had Jason's traditional "LEFturn" logo above the driver's door in his memory. I think ARCA does an excellent job with its safety initiatives. The use of Mallory ignition boxes is a good tool for governing the engines, both for longevity and managing speeds. The latest in technology is required for driver seats, seat belt restraint systems and head and neck restraints. As a training ground for drivers, crew members and even team owners, ARCA has done a great job of providing a level playing field in a safety conscious environment. Having a series-issued radio and listening to the ARCA officials for two days really brought that home for me and I left Michigan Friday evening with a greater appreciation of all the things a series must do to put on a good safe show for all concerned.

Leaving Friday night was the strangest part of the weekend, as there were still two more days of track activity and two races for NASCAR on the MIS schedule. I don't recall another race weekend where I left a track with more racing on the docket, but I needed to get back to Akron and had no other responsibilities at the track. But the weekend got stranger on the way home as I got pulled over for speeding near Litchfield, Ohio, although I only got a warning after talking with the officer. When I finally pulled into my Mom's driveway after midnight, I was grateful to get there safely, especially after the way the road trip started. Thursday morning on my way to MIS, I drove past a serious accident on Ohio State Road 18 involving a head-on collision where one car was on fire and other drivers were tending to an injured person in the middle of the road just before dawn. So my ARCA Michigan weekend ended well, all things considered, and my photo journey concluded safely with more lessons learned both from the road and through my lenses. In two weeks, I will be helping ARCA again at Winchester Speedway, and am excited to get another opportunity to work with my growing group of ARCA friends. Until then, here are a few pictures from the event; more can be seen and purchased from ARCA's website.

On the Road Again - Next Stop: ARCA Michigan

My lady friend and greatest supporter outside my family often calls me the "Energizer Bunny", and not because I use their batteries in my camera gear (which I do). She also calls me a madman because of the pace I work and the schedule I keep. Last week a teaching colleague called me "The Machine", which was a new one, but I like it. As an old TV commercial pitch man used to say, "I don't care what you call me as long as you call me."

This week I am called to Michigan International Speedway to fill in for the chief photographer at ARCA. This is a wonderful opportunity to support a racing series which is among the most varied on the planet. This trip is sandwiched within a visit to Akron, Ohio to help my Mom, so I will be logging some serious miles on the road to Indiana-ville over the next few days. Veteran Frank Kimmel currently has the season points lead and seems ready to finally snag his 10th ARCA series championship. Kimmel will be challenged by the usual assortment of young guns, future stock car racing stars, and older veterans who just love to race. This past weekend, Chase Elliott, one of those talents on the rise and son of NASCAR legend Bill Elliott, won at Pocono. With the wide open high banks of Michigan holding the promise of two- and three-wide racing, 100 laps for the ARCA contingent should be fun and exciting to shoot.

Going to Michigan is sort of a homecoming for me as my first race there was in 1981 at the CART Michigan 500 and several of us from Indy regularly made the trek to MIS for the Indycar races over the years. Sprinkle in a few NASCAR races in the '90's, and I've probably shot 25 or more races there. This week will mark my first time back at MIS since 2007 when Indycar Last ran there. I know I'll have a busy two days shooting this week and hope I can do a good job filling in for my friend Doc Hunter.

Once my duties during the ARCA 200 miler are finished Friday night (you can catch it live on SPEED at 5 p.m. Eastern), I will be back on the road to Akron to be with Mom as she deals with a serious medical issue. Prayers for her would be appreciated. She's a great race fan and comes by it naturally as her father, (and my namesake) Jay Shue, helped get a dirt track built in her hometown of Warsaw, Indiana, at the county fairgrounds after World War II. Her recent physical difficulties kept her away from the Indy 500 this year, much to her dismay, but she's got the family's  "Shue grit" and proudly goes racing when she can. Pretty good for a 78 year old,  little white haired lady - once a racer, always a racer.

That's it for now until I get to the racetrack, so I will see you at Michigan, or in Akron, or somewhere on the road soon.

Never Say Never: Tony Kanaan FInally Wins Indy 500

Tony Kanaan finally tastes the milk at Indy

Never say never. At long last no one can ever say that Tony Kanaan has never won the Indianapolis 500. He did it yesterday with the same style and passion that has made him a fan favorite at Indy for years. He did it with a late race pass of my pre-race pick Ryan Hunter-Reay on a restart, then the racing Gods finally smiled on him as a crash brought out a final yellow flag and he cruised to the win at Indianapolis where he has led so many times but never before won. Now he's an Indy 500 champion and his image will be added to the Borg Warner trophy alongside his former teammates Dario Franchitti and the late Dan Wheldon. In a race for the ages which obliterated previous records for lead changes, the new standard of 68 lead changes may never be topped. Tony got the last one, the one that truly mattered, and I'm sure he was thinking of Danny when he pulled into Victory Lane.

Tony starts the winning pass...

After Friday's four-car photo finish in the Indy Lights Freedom 100 race, I wondered how the 500 could top that in terms of drama and excitement. I should have known better, as I had seen many times during  practice days how passes were abundant on the straightaways and whoever was in the lead car was a sitting duck with the slingshotting that drivers are able to do in the current Dallara design.  The 97th Indy 500 will be remembered for fast, furious, clean wheel to wheel racing at its finest but I will remember it for other reasons.

...and completes it into Turn 1

My reasons fall into the "never" category, as in never done before. I've never had a Victory Lane pass for the 500 and it was the most chaotic and crazy winner's circle I have ever been in, with people in the way and photogs getting upset that their shots were being compromised. I've shot a lot of race victory lanes the last few years at a bunch of different racetracks but never anything like this one. I hope I get the chance to do it again.

The grid from the roof of Stand E

In all the years since shooting my first Indy 500 in 1984, I've never shot the race from on top of the Penthouse stands. I was on top of Stand E where it starts to curve around the outside of Turn 1 and only got the opportunity  because the person from motorsport.com who normally takes that position was unable to make the race this year. What a view from up there! It's too bad the field never really got aligned into the classic 11 rows of three but I had the chance of a lifetime to shoot from the rooftop and victory lane in the same 500. I've also never worked so hard to shoot the 500 and never shot pit stops from the outside grandstands. I went from the roof to ground level at the end of the frontstretch, then to the drop gates outside of Turn 1, back to the Penthouse stands, then inside the track to the top of the F1 garages, then to the roof overhang by the Pagoda, and finally to Victory Lane. After getting up at 3:30 on race morning and getting into the track at 5:00 a.m., the stairs and the walking were quite a workout, but I didn't really feel it until late last night as I was running on adrenaline and Excedrin on race day.

Kanaan races through Turn 1 ahead of pole sitter Ed Carpenter

Tony Kanaan never said never, and he got it done on an overcast and chilly day that was perfect for speed. Last week I wrote about odds on various driver's winning Indy this year, and I never mentioned Tony as he has not been topping the speed charts or generating headlines this month. He has quietly gone about his business as the consummate Indycar pro and showed everyone how to really race on Indy's flat oval. At 15-1 odds, a $10 bet on Tony would have paid off nicely, and those who aren't around Indy much will never know all the people Tony has touched with his spirit and generosity over the years, like newspaper salesman Chuck, The "Wolfman", who got one of the biggest hugs of all from TK during the kissing of the bricks after the race. This guy is special, having nearly been out of Indycars a few years ago after Andretti Autosport did not renew his contract. Tony has driven the KV Racing Technology team to the top and although we may never see another race like the one we had May 26, 2013, we can never again say  Tony didn't, or can't, win Indy.

TK's winning pit crew in action

All Roads Lead to Speedway for the 97th Indy 500

They say that everyone loves a parade. And in Indianapolis, the day before the Indy 500, you know it's true. The 500 Festival Parade draws throngs of parade lovers and race fans to downtown Indianapolis every year and it is as much a part of the Indy 500 as the winner drinking milk in Victory Lane. For many, the parade may be their only connection to the race as it is the uber-family friendly event of a month of race themed events. There are lots of lifelong Indy residents who would never go near the Indy 500, but they will go to the parade to see the bands, floats and all the drivers who've made the race. Today Charlie Kimball was not in his designated convertible Camaro pace car but the rest of the field was there to soak up the adulation of those lining Pennsylvania and Meridian Streets, or perched on Monument Circle. It's the final hurrah before race day and signals the countdown of the last 24 hours before the green flag flies.

Monument Circle

Indianapolis has come a long, long way since my family moved here in 1968. Even though this is my 38th straight Indy 500, there are many who have longer consecutive strings than I do, and a big theme this year is "all roads lead to Speedway". This is certainly the case for people like me who wait 364 days a year for race day and struggle through Indiana winters asking complete strangers "Is it May yet?" No longer is Indy just a cornfield with a racetrack around it, although it is not exactly a cultural mecca either. It's a big, small town full of sports lovers of all sorts where you can get anywhere in about 30 minutes by car. I met an Australian journalist on Carb Day who hadn't been to the 500 in about 25 years, so I am anxious to hear his impressions of the City I call home and the race that brings this town to life. Gone are the superstitions about racing green cars and the prohibition against women in the pits and garage area. Thank God for that! Indy has been built on the reputation of the 500 and in just three years, the 100th running should be a monumental day in this city's history.

Ed Carpenter - a Butler Bulldog

I don't know how the drivers privately feel about all the hoopla which surrounds the Indy 500 but their public statements suggest that they do more than just tolerate it. The biggest cheers today during the parade went up for Ed Carpenter and most of the drivers seemed to genuinely enjoy the fans hooting, hollering and shouting out their names along the parade route. I grew up a block from Hinkle Fieldhouse, home of the Butler Bulldogs and where scenes from the best basketball movie ever made (Hoosiers) were filmed, so it's not surprising that local fans are getting behind Ed to win Sunday. And like the Hickory Huskers who won the state title for all the little that never had a chance, Ed has a chance to do the same on race day with his own one-car team taking on the goliaths of Penske, Ganassi and Andretti. If Ed were to win Indy, and if the Pacers can beat the Miami Heat again on Sunday night at their Banker's Life Fieldhouse home downtown, then Indy may come apart at the seams.

A "Pacers and Racers" weekend in Indianapolis hasn't happened in a long time so this one really has sports fans in Indy excited. Lots of "Beat the Heat" signs were on display at the parade today and race day weather is predicted to be cool and overcast, which means the day should be comfortable for everyone visiting 16th and Georgetown in the Town of Speedway. I know I'm ready to go to work for motorsport.com. I'll be headed into the track on race day before the public gates open at 5:30 in the morning, and the Greatest Spectacle in Racing will then be just a few hours away. Are you ready for race day?

James Hinchcliffe burns rubber leaving the pits on Carb Day in his bright green GoDaddy colors

Indy 500 By The Numbers

Polesitter Ed Carpenter is one favorite to win the 500

My full time job is teaching math and science to middle schoolers so I'm a numbers guy. The Indianapolis 500 has been contested 96 times already so the event is full of numbers to play with so I thought I would take a spin of my own through this year's race figures just for kicks. Although I play the lottery occasionally, I am not a gambler but I wondered who the oddsmakers in Las Vegas had instilled as the favorite this year. according to Linemakers, this year's pole winner Ed Carpenter, three-time Indy winner Helio Castroneves, Marco Andretti and 2008 winner Scott Dixon, have been tabbed at 7-1 odds. Another three-time winner and the defending Indy 500 champion, Dario Franchitti, is next up at 8-1. Interestingly, Dario and teammate Dixon start next to each other on Row 6. James Hinchcliffe is also at 8-1 and he has won twice already this season in the IZOD Indycar Series, and been a stalwart in the Andretti Autosport onslaught on top practice speeds this past week. Hinchtown's teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay, my pre-practice pick to win this year, is at 10-1 while another Andretti racer, rookie sensation Carlos Munoz, is at 20-1. Even though I wrote earlier this month that Ed Carpenter should be considered a darkhorse candidate, this may no longer be true since he has won twice on ovals in Indycars, and now he gets to start from P1 at the track owned by his relatives. If car numbers mean anything, the last driver to win with #20 was Emerson Fittipaldi in 1989 in his legendary duel with Al Unser, Jr., so Ed would be in good company were he to follow in Emmo's wheel tracks.

A. J. Allmendinger has support to win Indy

Oddly enough A. J. Allmendinger is posted at 12-1 along with Penske Racing teammate Will Power even though the Dinger has never run the 500 before. Chalk that up to the strength of the Penske team and A. J.'s prowess in Champ Car a few years back. The pride of Japan, Takuma Sato, is listed at 30-1 but I would put five bucks on him in a heartbeat since he came so close to winning last year and won an Indycar race this season at long last. Sato's teammate, rookie Conor Daly, is only given a 300-1 chance of winning from the last row but rest assured that race fans in Noblesville, Indiana and Heritage Christian High School would be willing to take those odds and blow a few dollars to show their support. Needless to say, the top drivers with the top teams are being touted as potential winners this year, but the 500 usually has its share of surprises in store. 

My pick to win:  Ryan Hunter-Reay

Lots of other numbers factor into this year's race. There are four previous winners and four women starters. Dario won in #10 in 2010. The most experienced and oldest driver is Buddy Lazier at 45 years of age with 16 Indy 500's under his belt, although he starts next to Daly in Row 11, and isn't likely to do much on race day. Carols Munoz is the youngest at 21 and hopes to follow the example of fellow Columbian Roberto Guerrero challenged for an Indy as a rookie in 1984. Eighteen drivers, including Munoz,  have experience in the Firestone Indy Lights Series, so the Road to Indy feeder system must be judged a success on that basis. Seventeen drivers in the field have led laps at Indy previously, and Dario has led more than anyone who is starting the race this Sunday. The lowest starting position ever to produce a 500 winner is 28th, and you have to go back to Louis Meyer in 1936 and Ray Harroun in the inaugural 500 in 1911 to find them. When Lone Star Johnny Rutherford won the 1974 race, he had started 25th but since then 30 of 38 winners have started in 10th or better. J. R. Hildebrand starts 10th this year and was one turn away from winning as a rookie in 2011 when the late Dan Wheldon got his second Indy win in car #98. Starting next to Hildebrand? Alex Tagliani in Car #98. Don't count Tags out, even at 50-1 odds. There's another five bucks that would be well spent.

If these numbers don't make your head spin, then try these: as I recall, the teams ran over 11,000 laps (27,500 miles) in the nine days of track activity, which is more than enough to make a lap around the earth at the equator (24,859.82 miles), or for every car in the field to run the full 500 miles 1.67 times. My camera counters were spinning too as I shot 4,490 images (that I kept), and that's with a schedule that only allowed me to be at the track full time on four out of the nine days. If you add up all the car numbers for the 33 starters, the total is 1,028, so the average car number is 31.15152. While there is no car #31 in this year's race, all the cars in Row 11 end in the number 1 - (41, 91, 81), and the last driver to win in #31 was Al Unser, Jr. in 1994. The third row car numbers add up to 31 and it includes three of the odds-on favorites:  Ryan Hunter-Reay, Helio Castroneves and James Hinchcliffe. Finally, in Row 6, the car numbers add up to 33, there are 33 cars in the field, and 3 + 3 equals 6. This row features Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti and Takuma Sato, so watch out for these guys!

The most important number is that the 97th Indianapolis 500, which used to also carry the moniker of an "International Sweepstakes", is now just a little more than three days away. It will my 38th in a row and I can hardly wait to see you all at 16th & Georgetown!

A Week at the Indy 500 Lasts a LIfetime

Katherine Legge is happy to be back in the 500

What a week this has been. Nine days of preparation for the 97th Indianapolis 500 are now over and I feel it in my bones. Bump Day wrapped up qualifying today with zero drama after Saturday's rain delayed Pole Day shootout. Other than Ed Carpenter, Katherine Legge is probably the happiest driver in the 500 as she jumped in a car this morning, got it up to speed, qualified on the bubble as 33rd fastest and never had to deal with a serious challenge from the only other car/driver combination, Michel Jourdain, Jr. I felt bad for the Rahal Letterman Lanigan team which thrashed all day to find speed for Jourdain but he just kept going slower and slower the later it got today. And that was even after teammate Graham Rahal took the car out for a few laps in the middle of the afternoon to try and help sort it out. Neither driver looked comfortable in the 17 car at all. I hate that there was no bumping today once the field got filled around 1:00 p.m., but most of the qualified teams took advantage of the track time, spending most of the day running race trim in traffic and emerging with their equipment intact. Carburetion Day this Friday will likely be just a quick shakedown for most teams.

Pole Winner Ed Carpenter leads a pack into Turn 1

I wish I knew how many miles I walked this week at the Speedway as I was able to be there eight out of the nine days the track was open. Every year I talk about wearing a pedometer but it never seems to come to mind when I'm getting my stuff together for the track and this year was no different. With the warmer weather the last few days, it's a challenge to stay hydrated while lugging a few extra pounds of camera gear around. Today I had a special treat as I borrowed a 400 mm lens from Canon and went to shoot in Turn 1 while all the top teams were in race preparation mode. The down side of schlepping that 400 around was it was damn heavy but the opportunity was too good to pass up. Traipsing up and down the pit lane to get driver shots is one of the most enjoyable parts of working Indy but also one of the most tiring. Hot, loud, smelly - wait a minute; it's perfect! All the sensory stimulation anyone could want for people who love that sort of thing. And I do.

Indy's Infield Hawk

Another aspect of walking so much at Indy that may not occur to casual fans is the nuances of the track. Yesterday as I was going back to my car to swap out some gear, I noticed something in one of the last remaining large trees in the infield. From prior experience I knew that was a large redtail hawk nests in that tree so I got my longest lens and took a break from the race cars to shoot some wildlife - and I don't mean in the snakepit. The hawk waited there for me to get close and kept a keen watch on me as I circled the tree and took pictures. Race fans walking by probably wondered what the heck I was doing, but I did hear someone say "Look, there's a bald eagle". I cut them some slack for not knowing their birds and went about getting shots of this beautiful creature. I've seen this bird, or a family member, numerous times on race day circling the crowd high above the track so it was a real blessing to be able to take its picture while it was guarding its nest. I have a special affinity for hawks - and I believe they do for me as well. I see them all the time while traveling, there's a pair that lives at the cemetery in Muncie, Indiana where my sister Carol is buried that I see almost every time I go pay my respects, and whenever I see one I know everything is going to work out the way it's supposed to. I use one of my hawk photo on my website and business cards, and have a hawk based on that photo tattooed on my left shoulder. Lo and behold, at the end of Bump Day today as I stood on the 2nd floor balcony of the media center, there he was, circling high overhead in the middle of the track, white belly exposed as it lorded over its territory. Seeing it today was no accident.

And I suppose it was no accident either that a group of total newcomers from Manassas, Virginia struck up a conversation with me about 5:00 this afternoon as I shot from the rooftop platform seating area above the formula one garages. They were college students and teachers in Indy for a robotics competition at IUPUI, and they literally knew nothing about the track or the 500. One young man asked why they were called Indycars; another asked how qualifying worked and what the teams were doing running so many laps at that hour. I got the chance to explain the history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway again, just as I had on Friday to my middle schools students, and explained how the video displays showed current lap times for cars on track and what the numbers on the main scoring pylon meant. It was a fitting way to end another memorable week at IMS, and now I have a few thousand more digital images to add to my archives, and more memories which will last a lifetime.

The best is yet to come. Next Sunday at this time I will be recapping the 500 itself, carving more indelible scenes into my brain and contributing photos to the great story which is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. You have to come see for yourself; I promise it will be worth it.