Yep, Halloween weekend.
Or, as they say around here.
Hallo-Dega.
They are tempting the gods.
That's what happens when you build on top of an old Indian burial ground, as legend says.
Then they have this race on Halloween weekend.
Enough strange stuff happens here, you shouldn't laugh in the face of it.
We should give praise to the Almighty so he will protect us through the weekend.
Strange things do happen here.
Nobody can explain it.
Then the weekend started off crappy. Rain. And more rain.
Rained out Cup qualifying. And final practice.
And the Truck Race started late.
After the rains stopped and the Camping World Truck race got under way, I caught the trucks of Dennis Setzer(8), Matt Crafton(88), and Jason White(23) coming out of turn two, three wide.
It was a good race with a lot of action, but not the wrinkled up fender kind of action I was looking for. Here the lead pack of Todd Bodine(30), David Starr(24), Kyle Busch(51), and Aric Almirola(15) comes out of turn two.
So much for my kind of action.
I was kinda bored and started looking for person celebrating Halloween before the sun set. Then I saw Jason....I mean Freddie.....uhhhh, Michael Meyers...no, no, no....what made me scream was the 2009 Alabama Crimson Tide Sugar Bowl sweatshirt he had on. I remember the University of Utah whooping somebody's behind.
Then I spotted a spotted cow. I hope those are his teats.
I noticed as it was getting darker, more crazies were coming out, not that Fred and Wilma are crazy.
After an uneventful Truck race, the sun sets on Talladega SuperSpeedway.
I've got this feeling the night will not be uneventful.
I had a special assignment for this race. I had to find people tailgating and dressed up for Halloween. Because of the late start of the race, most of the tailgating was over before I could make my way to the infield. I did find lots of people dressed for the Trick or Treating that was about to take place.
My new friends from Canada, but I can't tell you what their costumes were.
It's not what you're thinking.
Look....cows cook chickin.
And there's always a fat chick in a bikini that thinks she looks good, plus there ain't enough beer in Talladega.
Some of us survived Hallo-Dega better than others.
Maybe we have more practice.
After just a few laps had passed, I begin to feel lucky.
Paul Menard(98) and Joe Nemechek(87) tangled as the were exiting turn two.
But it became appearant early into the race that it would be a loooonnnnggggg and booorrrrriiiinnnngggg day. NASCAR had told the driver earlier in the drivers meeting, not to bump draft through the turns. Boy, they really know how to sell tickets, don't they?
Anyway, something told me Halloween was not over just yet.
I didn't know I was about to turn into Charlie Brown.
Nothing seemed to go right for me all weekend. From Thursday until the end of the race on Sunday, nothing went right. I was having a Charlie Brown weekend. Everybody was Lucy. They always seemed to pull the football back as soon as I was kicking it.
Even my standard blur shot didn't come out like I wanted it too. I was beginning to think I was gettin rocks in my Trick or Treat bag.
Most of the people on the tower where I shoot have been there for years. Here Brian Hallman of NASCAR SCENE and Cody Crisp of the local Talladega paper are hoping they don't get any rocks.
Then the pack started to tighten up and run three wide.Maybe our luck would change.
As the race was winding down, we saw a little bumping as the pack got even tighter.
Jeff Robinson from NASCAR ILLUSTRATED was waiting for some treats, but like the rest of us, all he got was rocks.
We were watching as Jamie McMurray(26) and Dale Earnhardt jr(88) would lead the pack off of turn two. Then they went down the backstretch.
I watched as the cars made there way into turn three. Some cars changed lanes at the end of the backstretch and Ryan Newman(38)had no place to go. As I saw him making a hard left, I started shooting again. Now remember, I'm more than a half mile away from them, but I do have a 400/2.8, but it's still not enough lens for the distance. I did the best I could, but sometimes it's still not good enough.
After a short red flag to stop the race, as the safety crews cut Mr. Newman out of his car and then cleaned up the mess, some drivers just couldn't get started again.
Then the excitement happened. In the tri-oval. The people shooting in that area got another treat. Just like Charlie Brown......"All I got is a rock".
Jamie McMurray won. Then ran outta gas. And got a push from Greg Biffle.
Who got the treats?
My buddy and Associated Press photographer Glenn Smith.
And Associated Press photographer Skip Williams.
This just didn't seem to be my year shooting wrecks.
I don't have another one scheduled this year.
Maybe next year.
