The Lady In Black

I had the opportunity to visit with an old friend this weekend.
Someone I had not visited with in a few years, and is looking good despite her adding a few more years.
Darlington Raceway and the return of the Southern 500.
I don't get to make it back as often as I would like, and a few changes have been made since the last time I visited with her, but overall, it was a good trip.

The Lady In Black was not the only old friend I visited with.
I had a good long conversation with a friend I've lost contact with for the last couple of years.

It's good to get back to a place like Darlington Raceway and re-visit past history.


Eric McClure(24) fights to stay on the lead lap before getting passed by leader Kyle Busch(18) in Friday nights Nationwide race.


Jason Keller gets pit action from his crew during the Nationwide race.


Kenny Hendrick earns his Darlington stripe.


This boy tried to knock the wall down several times Friday night. Here is a better view of his Darlington stripe.


I was shooting from the photo tower at the turn one end of the grandstand. Joe Gibbs Racing used this position for their spotters. Here is Mike Alexander spotting for Kyle Busch. Mike was a really good race car driver until he had an accident that ended his career.


The Toyota's of Scott Lagasse jr.(11) and Kyle Busch(18).


Erik Darnell and his crew at work on his Rousch-Fenway Ford.


Late in the race, after an incident with another car, Scott Lagasse jr brings his car on pit road to work on the damage on his front end.


With two laps remaining, Kyle Busch has to give up the lead to change a flat tire.
Matt Kenseth would win the race.


Now....on to the main event.
A late start to this event, and ho-hum skies, had the sun setting on Darlington.


Max Papis(13) and Joe Nemechek(87) get tangled up early to ruin their day.


Michael Waltrip(55) slide thru the field early in the race.


I noticed from my shooting position in the grandstands, that when the drivers would back off the throttle going into turn one, the unused fuel would burn out the ends of their headers. I started trying to capture the flames from their cars as they would come by me.
Here, Joey Lagano(20) and Kevin Harvick(29) race side by side going into turn one.


Finally, some real action.
Michael Waltrip lights up the night sky as his car erupts in flames.
Too bad he is on the far end of the track from me.


I decided to shoot from this high vantage point because I wanted to capture a slow shutter speed / blurred action pit stop.
Here, the crew of Matt Kenseth works their magic on his car.
I work mine, and get a decent image like I wanted.


What would Darlington be without a typical Darlington race fan(well.....maybe not typical).
Talladega has ta-ta's......Darlington has many of these guys.
Just one of the differences I've noticed.


A rare sight at Darlington.
Three wide racing.
Very dangerous here.


I thought this was a cool image of Joey Lagano entering his pit for service.


In the later stages of the race, Mark Martin(5) lead Jimmie Johnson(48) is some close and exciting racing.


Here is a close detailed image of Carl Edwards pit crew at work


What would race coverage be without a standard image of Little E in his race car.


I did find some good race fans at Darlington. These are more typical. The other image is more of an inside joke between me and my buddies at ISC.


Another image I wanted to capture was another slow shutter speed / blurred action pit stop, this time from a low angle.
I like it. It's what I wanted. It just seemed like every single time I was in place for a pit stop, I was next to Kenseth's pit stall.
Sometimes it just works out that way.


One of the big stories of the Southern 500 was when Kyle Busch wrecked his car late in the race.
Here is his crew trying to get it ready to go back on the track.
I was scolded by J.D.Gibbs for shooting a couple of images at a low angle to show his crew members working in the wheel openings.
It seems they don't wan't anyone seeing the suspension parts and pieces.
They're very sensitive about something down there.



And finally, an image of the 2009 Southern 500 race winner Mark Martin.
You may have seen this image in Sunday's edition of USA Today.

Cool, Huh?