Smoke & Sparks at the NASCAR Banking 500

I had not eaten anything but a horrible egg sandwich from Tony Stewart's favorite burger joint in the airport early that morning and some adult beverages on the plane. We had 2 and half hour drive to Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte and the credential office closed at 7pm. Mark had hopes to make it to the track in time, but only if we drove an average of 82mph the whole way with no stops. I swear I was gonna either die from starvation or his driving.



Having arrived at 7:02pm, Mark's face lit up when he realized they had stayed open a few extra minutes. Time to shoot qualifying and feel out what its like shooting on the infield without a catch fence, rubber crap in my hair and no food in my belly.

Photo by Mark Rebilas

Shooting the garage Friday was horrible. It was very dark and the only light was awful, they even flickered. They would put off this blue hazing effect in the images. I was disappointed with how they turned out.

Max Papis laughs at some fans waving into the garage.

Outside the garage was much better.

Kasey Kahne during practice.

My spot for the weekend was in between turn 1 and 2. The track was lit so well that as the cars raced by me, I got some cool light reflections when they were in the right spot.

After a few laps watching Kasey Kahne, I realized I could see his helmet. His window net had fallen and ended up costing him the race.

Erik Darnell and Jason Leffler hit right in front of me and triggered a bit of a scene.

I was bummed this was out of focus; I locked on after they hit.

My mentor suggested a crop that captured only the spinning car and the empty stands.

Just when I thought it was ending, in comes Ken Butler (23) and Joey Logano (20) spinning behind them.

As it got later into the evening, it got colder and colder. I look over to some fans in the in field and two guys are starring at me waving gloves in the air. I reassure them I'm fine and keep shooting. They don't let up.

One was making a gesture with his hands in the shape of a 1990's sized cell phone. I think he wanted to play telephone, but again, I was working. I tried not to look over again, but I couldn't help but look as I felt his eyes.

Yep, that really happened. I should text him and let him know he made the blog!

I quickly learned to watch for little quirks to happen during the race that don't fit the norm. Cars getting too close to each other, weird sounds or shifting, and oh, smoke, sparks and a sideways vehicle.

I made my way to the finish line with the 400mm to capture a few shots of the winner Kyle Busch as he catches the checkered flag.

Saturday was a long day. We had to get to the track waaaaaay to early for a photo meeting. And seeing how we were in NASCAR-town, there was no leaving and coming back. So I decided to nap for awhile...

Heading out to my turn, I hear a voice in my head phones telling me I'm being watched. Creepy.

Photo by Mark Rebilas

Please excuse such harsh letters created with jello shot cups.

Jimmie Johnson during the NASCAR Banking 500.

I love how the track lights reflected off the vibrant paint jobs.

The drivers were doing their jobs well all night and left little room for error. So I began playing around with some slow shutter speed shots. This shot of Jeff Gordon came out pretty cool with his Transformer paint job. It could have been better, but I still found it interesting.

Once again I made my walk to the finish line with countless NASCAR groupies shouting at me...Take my picture, Take my picture! If you can afford a spot in the infield, I'm pretty sure you can afford a camera.

Jimmie Johnson crew celebrates after as he crosses the finish line.

Coming around for his victory lap made for a great shot with the Chase NASCAR Sprint Cup sign in the background. If only he had his checkered flag hanging out the window!