INDY Grand Prix of Alabama

I had the pleasure, once again, of shooting the most recent event at the incredible Barber MotorSports Park, just outside of Birmingham Alabama.
This time, it was the INDY Grand Prix of Alabama.
That's right. Deep in the heart of NASCAR country, and just 27 miles from the Talladega SuperSpeedway, Indy cars invade our little corner of the world.
And not only did the Indy cars run on Sunday, but the Grand Am ROLEX Sports Car Series ran the Porsche 250 on Saturday.
And both series brought their big name stars.
The Daytona Prototype series had Scott Pruitt, Memo Gidley, Max Angelelli, David Donohue, and Jon Fogarty. The GT series had John Edwards, Sylvain Tremblay, Joe Foster, and, oh yeah.....Patrick Dempsey.
The Indy Cars brought Tony Kanaan, Dario Franchitti, Helio Castroneves, Will Power, Marco Andretti, and some girl by the name of Danica Patrick.
It was easy to tell where Mr. Dempsey and Ms. Patrick were.
Just look for the crowds. You kinda feel sorry for these stars. If they want any kind of peace and quite during the weekend, they have to hide out in their transporters. But, thats the life they chose. Right?


OK....lets get the Dr. McDreamy, I mean Patrick Dempsey picture, out of the way and get on to the good stuff.




Here's the number 40 Mazda of Patrick Dempsey making his way through turn 15. This is one badass little RX-8. Most of the Mazda's run good on this track.




The more I look at this image, the more I like it. I like the late afternoon sun, the out of focus trees and leaves, and the diffused cars in the background. I don't even have a problem with the catch fence at the bottom of the frame.
I think it's kinda cool.


I had to get an image of a car going airborne over the curb going downhill towards the museum. The Daytona prototypes and GT cars are too heavy don't hit the curb and get airborne, so I waited all day when the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge cars began their race to finally get one with the tires off the ground.


And the winners of the 2010 Porsche 250. Memo Rojas and Scott Pruitt in the Chip Ganassi 01 TEL-MEX Dinan BMW.


Indy cars had a practice session and qualified on Saturday.
It's a different experience for someone used to the good ol boys of NASCAR qualifying.


As I was walking down behind the war wagons on pit road, I saw Helio Castroneves talking to his crew chief. He looked relaxed and didn't try to avoid the cameras that gathered, as I stopped to capture a few images.



The great A.J. Foyt. What more can I say?



OK.......You're asking me "where are the pictures of Danica"?
Let's get this out of the way, too.


Personally, I like Milka Duno. Not only is she a race car driver, she is the highest finishing female ever in the 24 hour of Daytona race. She finished second in 2007. She is also a fashion model, featured in adds all around the world. And lastly, she holds four masters degrees, from business, to architecture, to engineering. Not only does she look good, she's smart, too.


During driver introductions, the NASCAR drivers stand around backstage and shoot the bull. Here, I caught Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan having a serious discussion about Grand Marshall Charles Barkley's weight.


Tony Kanaan finally had to ask Sir Charles if he could still dunk a basketball.


A very good crowd arrived early for Sundays INDY Grand Prix of Alabama. People would set up umbrella's or awnings for the event. Some even spread out blankets and just enjoyed the good ol Alabama sun.


And all of the aspiring young photographers were trying to get good action shots down close to the fence.



Danica smokes her tires as she get on the brakes hard entering turn two.




There was an international crowd represented in the spectators and the media.




I was looking for something interesting to shoot on pit road, when I came up on these two crew members.




And the winner of the first INDY Grand Prix of Alabama........Helio Castroneves.
Unlike some winners in another racing series, Helio seems to truly appreciate winning.


After the podium awards, Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon waste some perfectly good champaigne by pouring it over the head of Helio during the celebration.

I hope to see this event stay at the Barber MotorSports Park for many years. With over 87,000 spectators attending the event this weekend, I seemed like the promoters and the INDY car people were well satisfied.
Most things seemed to run smooth, but you can't have a first time event of this scale and not have a few glitches. I did notice a few shortcomings, and maybe before next years Grand Prix of Alabama, the good folks at Barber will have those bugs worked out, too.

I Love The Smell Of Nitro In The Mornings

Nothing like a little nitro-methane to open your sinus cavities.
You should try it. I gar-run-tee.
Oh yeah......and the sounds.
Or should I say NOISE!!!!
Ear splitting, ground pounding, high octane, put your little fingers in your ears, but it ain't gonna do any good.
I let the first set of cars slip up on me Saturday. Well, my lack of attention got the better of me.
I just was not thinking very clearly. Not enough nitro in the air to wake me up.
Then the big boys came out to play with their big boy toys.
After the first pass down the track, I could swear my ears were bleeding. I've never felt that feeling before.
I didn't lose any body fluids, but it woke my brain up.
I quickly put my noise reducing headset on.


Shooting NHRA drag racing is a lot different than shooting NASCAR. We are allowed to walk the staging lanes and get close to the drivers.
That don't happen in NASCAR. The NASCAR guys are experts at keeping someone between them and the camera. Kinda like turkey hunting (a turkey will run through the woods keeping a tree between you and them).
The drivers from this series will put up with us most of the time.
They go about their business without trying to hide from you.


Last years GatorNationals Champion Bob Tasca III was fast all weekend. He was runner-up this year. He still ran a 4.192 in the final round.


Girls are fast to.
Karen Stoffer pilots the GEICO Suzuki.
She also was the number one Pro Stock Motorcycle this weekend.
She tied the national speed record with her final qualifying run.


I wonder if GEICO would insure her if they know she drives her motorcycle at 194.77 MPH. It takes her 6.855 seconds to drive a quarter mile.
She is fast. I bet she is so fast, that before she can explain why she can't, she already has.


As Ashley Force Hood lined up for her first pass on Sunday, I noticed her mom Laurie and dad Funny Car driver John Force watching from the side.


Unlike last year, this year I made sure I had ALL of my compact flash cards this year. No unplanned trips to Best Buy this time.
Everything went as planned, until I got to the track. I didn't seem to budget my time wisely. I got some decent images but my time just didn't seem to flow right.
In the wrong place at the wrong time.
Fur instance......as Ron Capps made a qualifying run down the track, the trackside announcer interviewed Michael Waltrip, who was standing back at the starting line.
I might as well have been miles away.



The 2010 GatorNationals Top Fuel Champion is Tony Schumacher. He was the number one Top Fuel qualifier with a new National Record of 324.98 mph for 1000ft.
That is fast.






In the second round of Funny Car action, NAPA driver Ron Capps beats John Force to the line by less than 3/100's of a second. Capps ran a 4.066 at 312.35 to Forces 4.135 at 310.05.







I found Tom and Jerri's motorhome just past the thousand foot mark, and they were gracious enough to let me on top of it to shoot from.
I really like this position. It let's me see the whole track, but still be close enough to get some good images if something happens.
This was all the carnage I saw during the weekend. Not much.
I guess they were taking a weekend off, since they used most of it up the previous weekend.
Doug Foley explodes an engine in a quarterfinal match with Tony Schumacher.


This little girl had a really good seat just past the finish line. And she thought this was loud? She should have been on the starting line.


Yeah.....it's that loud.


May the Force be with you............




I kinda like this image of Antron Brown. I like the way you can see his eyes between the reflections on the windshield.




I just liked this backlite image of John Smith's Funny Car. Something different.
It was fun. It was different. And I was in the wrong place all weekend.
But I still had a good weekend shooting.
It was reported that several NASCAR stars were in attendance.
Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Scott Speed.
Kurt Busch did race his 1970 Dodge Challenger Sunday afternoon. It happened while I was sending images to my editor. Watched him race from the third floor of the media center.
Just my luck.