Dirt Track Racing (Hey Paul Maskins!)

[megan]

I went upstate (NY) this past weekend for my cousin's son's graduation party. Saturday night a bunch of us went to the races at Lebanon Valley Speedway. My uncle has been involved in racing since he was about 16, was an electrician for the speedway, and worked on a pit crew. He's now a "Hall of Famer," and I got to accompany him in the pit for the night. Perfect place to let loose the pony car girl and her camera! An aunt and a cousin are still also very involved at the speedway, so in addition to being a ton of fun watching the races from the pit, it was cool to share in that part of their life. The following images are shots of some pure stock cars (must be American made, post-1955, all "straight from the crate" parts and bodies, no performance parts whatsoever) in the pit, and the activity around them:

[megan]

These are the modifieds. I admittedly don't know enough to tell the difference between the small block modifieds, big block modifieds and budget workman. I think the last shot of the car racing is a budget workman. I took most of the shots of what was going on in the pit, but I did try my hand at shooting the cars racing as well. I finally got the hang of it towards the end. Next time I'll rent a longer lens, but the last shot isn't bad for my 12-60mm (with flash.) I was right up against the concrete barrier for that shot. Oh and the shot of the flagger? That's my cousin.

[Photo-John]

Sweet, Bubba! How come you didn't post this in the sport forum?

[megan]

Feel free to move it over there! (Didn't think about it, I usually post here. Sorry!)

[Photo-John]

Feel free to move it over there! (Didn't think about it, I usually post here. Sorry!)

Done! And it's no problem. I figured you just posted where you were used to posting. But here on the sports forum you might get some tech tips from our resident motorhead experts.

By the way, I like this series. I love run-what-ya-brung amateur racing and I'm excited to see you expanding your repertoire

[megan]

Thanks! I'm still brushing the dirt out of the corners of my E3, but I had a BLAST doing this. I swear, my uncle is the Mayor of the pit, and introduced me to everyone. He told me to relax and sit down a bit, but I couldn't! I ran around the pit all night.

[Tyson L. Sparks]

Great pictures, I use to race street stock at Muskingum County Speedway. It was a blast.

[SmartWombat]

Nice to see you here, Megan !
I had similar dust problems at the forest rally stage at Goodwood Festival of Speed, it's unusual in having a chalk/flint bed so it's not only slippery when wet, but terrifically dusty when dry. I wanted to change lenses, but couldn't because of the dust.
Looks like you've got the timing on the race shots, as you say now you need a longer lens.
I'm impressed with the low light shots, my old 1DmkII have trouble getting results near that quality in the dark.
My E-P1 gets about the same as your E3 but I can't get used to the lack of viewfinder so I don't use it for sports.

[megan]

Thanks! I was lucky that my uncle's SUV was parked in the pit. He likes to keep it clean, so he keeps the doors shut - I just went inside and changed the lens there.

[shootme]

Megan, great series, my favourite is the guy holding the yellow flag, each shot though very interesting. Congrats on feature.

[OldClicker]

Nice shots! I raced 1/4 mile clay track many, many years ago - 6 cylinder '67 Mustang and later a 'coupe' (probably close to your 'budget modified'). The 4th one especially brings back memories. Terry

[megan]

Thanks! The flagger is my cousin.

[megan]

Thanks for looking! (Man, I love Mustangs.)

[Jimmy B]

Looks like you had fun! I have been to busy to get out to the local track for some shooting:-(
Jimmy