John Edwin Mason: Racing Photography

2009 Rewind: Dodo Brockman's 1977 Mustang II Superspeedway Modified

I'm spending a wet, pre-season weekend, putting together this new blog.  (I've decided to separate my racing photography from my documentary photography and writings about photo history.)  It's been a chance to go back through my files and find highlights from last year.

Without a doubt, the wackiest car that I saw last year, was Dodo Brockman's ex-Nascar Mustang II Superspeedway Modified.  Oddly (very oddly) enough, Dodo was taking part in the Vintage Racer Group's annual Turkey Bowl, at Summit Point Motorsports Park.

Dodo Brockman flying down the main straightaway at Summit Point Motorsports Park, in his Superspeedway Modified Mustang II, during the Turkey Bowl, 28 November 2009.  (Photo copyright John Edwin Mason, 2009.  Click directly on the photo to see a larger version.)

Light, absurdly overpowered, swoopy Superspeedway Modifieds like Dodo's flourished briefly during the 1970s.  They were designed specifically to allow Modified drivers, who usually raced on short tracks, to experience superspeedways, such as Daytona and Talledega.

The best of the cars were blazingly fast.  Faster, in fact than the Cup cars in Nascar's premiere class.  That was way too fast for Nascar's suits, who rewrote the rule book and legislated Superspeedway Modifieds out of existence.

I told this curiously twisted tale, last year, on my main website, when I first wrote about Dodo and his Mustang.  You can read what I had to say about the Modifieds' demise and the restoration of Dodo's car, plus see additional photos, here.

By the way, even though this Mustang was built for high-speed oval tracks, it looked pretty composed on Summit Point's road course.

2009 Rewind: The Vintage Racer Group's Turkey Bowl @ Summit Point

One of the best races I went to last season was the 13th annual Turkey Bowl at Summit Point Motorsports Park, in West Virginia.  The action on the track was one of the reasons that I enjoyed myself so much.  So was the hospitality of everyone connected to the Vintage Racer Group.  It was also the first time in many years that I'd photographed racers on a road course, and it was nice to discover that I still knew what to do.

Most importantly, however, I was there just for fun.  No assignments, no deadlines.  Just fun.

The GT40 is a heck of a machine, but Robert Andersson had to work hard to get past Fred Pfeiffer in this very quick 1974 Porsche 914-6.  (All photos copyright John Edwin Mason, 2009.  Click directly on any of the images to see larger versions.)

I'm spending this weekend (with no races anywhere within driving distance) inaugurating my new racing photography blog, by looking at personal highlights from last season.  The racing photos had been sharing my main website with my documentary photography and musings about photo history.  It seems to me that they deserve a home of their own.

No joke, this is the quickest Volvo I've ever encountered.  It's a 1963 122 Amazon, driven by Rich Kushner.  It was very competitive in its class.

But back to the Turkey Bowl...  It was great to be reminded that road racers, like drag racers, will hot rod anything with wheels.  (Scroll down to the next post to see a drag racing minivan.)  I really like the looks of this flying Swedish taxicab.

There was a lot of terrific on-track dicing in every class.  Here Bill Schwacke, in a '55 Corvette, tries to hold off a mid-60s Mustang.

You can read my original write-up about the Turkey Bowl and see many more photos (and many more wonderful cars), here.