Hot 'Lanta at Night

Signs, signs, everywhere a sign.
Blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind.
That old song from the Five Man Electrical Band was what I was thinking when I was looking through the viewfinder at all of these pit signs.
I don't know why, but stuff like that just fills my head sometimes.
It's been a couple of weeks since my last post and a load of stuff has happened in between.
It's my favorite time of the year. Football is in full swing, NASCAR is in the Chase, baseball is making it's way to the playoffs, the weather is trying to turn cool, and everything is right with the world. Well.....almost.
High school, college, and pro football every weekend, and I ain't shot the first game yet.
Too much other stuff going on. Just wait. I get around to posting it.
First things first.


I was the only photographer at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday for my wire service. Everyone else was shooting football.
I got to shoot Martin Truex jr getting out of his car after he won the pole for Sunday's race.


Just a head on image of Martin Truex jr during Sunday's race.


And a head on shot of Tony Stewart (you can tell I ain't put too much effort into this latest post).


Sunday's race, as are most Sprint Cup races in Atlanta, can get a little bit boring. I spent most of my time walking around looking for something out of the ordinary.


I was almost as bored as this NASCAR official. I just wish I could have propped my feet up.


Pit stops are much easier to shoot from the outside, but sometimes they don't show the action or drama involved taking place in the pits, like an image shot from the pits.


Later in the night, as I was still looking for different angles, I shot a pretty cool image of Jeff Gordon. I knew it was what I was looking for, so I turned away from the opening in the fence and started chimping (OK....I admit I chimp).


Even though I had my head set on, I heard a loud 'BOOM' just behind me, and when I looked up, I saw Kurt Busch, smoke, and sparks. I knew from the sound I heard, he hit the wall close to where I was shooting from. It could have been a really decent photo.

This is my view from the opening in the fence. Notice the tire tracks left by Mr. Busch as he was screaming and hollering and driving right at me. Kinda made me feel like I was the target.


This is the view from inside of turn four showing where I was shooting from. Notice the scuff marks on the wall where it says 'ATLANTA'. That is where he hit the wall.


This is a close-up of the same frame. The opening in the fence is outlined in white. This is shere I was shooting from seconds earlier.


OK......kinda like my night, the excitements over.
Back to the boring race images, this one of Kasey Kahne. He led late in the race.


Maybe my luck was finally changing. I got this image of Joey Logano spinning coming out of turn four.


I wanted to try to capture the intense look of the pit crews as they prepare to service the car. Oh well... I'll keep trying.


Like I said, Kasey Kahne, led most laps late in the race. Yep, he won.
He appreciates the wins.
Sometimes it seems like some of the other drives don't.