John Edwin Mason: Documentary, Motorsports, Photo History

ChumpCar World Series at VIR, 30 March 2013

I spent a warm, sunny Saturday photographing the ChumpCar World Series at Virginia International Raceway [VIR].

It was a lot of fun.  VIR is beautiful.  The people were friendly.  And ChumpCar is a hoot -- racers have to build fast, safe, durable machines that can be worth no more than 500 bucks (safety equipment excluded).  Doing well in ChumpCar requires passion, tremendous mechanical skills and creativity, and an appreciation of the absurd.

In the spirt of ChumpCar, I made a bunch of photos -- racing photos -- with my iPhone.  It was stupid, but a hell of a lot of fun.  You can read all about it and see a bunch of photos over on my racing blog, here.

 

ChumpCar at VIR, 30 March 2013.  [Click on the image to see a larger version.]

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The Capitol Offense 24 Hours of Lemons at Summit Point, 18-19 June 2011

Things have been slow at blog headquarters, but they're about to pick up.  I'm preparing a post on Mac McKenzie's Cape Town (South Africa) Goema Orchestra, a fascinating experiment in blending local folk and popular music with western classical music and jazz.  I'm also writing about South African photographer Constance Stuart Larrabee's beautiful, but troubling 1940s images from the Bo-Kaap district of Cape Town.  Stay tuned for all that.  Of course, I've also been spending my weekends at various race tracks.

A couple of weeks ago, I was hanging out at the Capitol Offense 24 Hours of Lemons, at West Virginia's Summit Point Motorsports Park.  What's the 24 Hours of Lemons, you ask?  You could say that it's part circus, part serious endurance racing, and entirely fun.

 

 

The overall winner was the 1998 Mercedes S500 of the Opulence We Has It team.  [All photos copyright John Edwin Mason, 2011.  Click on any photo to see a larger version.]

More concretely, the 24 Hours of Lemons is a national racing circuit for cars that have been bought and prepared for the track for $500 or less.  That sounds impossible, I know, but 102 teams pulled it off and hauled their cars to Summit Point for the race.  (I should mention that brakes, tires, and safety equipment, such as roll cages, are exempted from the $500 limit.)

 

 

Booby Prize Racing's "Save the Yellow Ducks" 1996 Nissan 200SX.

I'd read about Lemons in various car and racing magazines (it's been generating a fair amount of press), but this was my first time at one of the races.  I figured that I was in for a treat, and I was right.  The people were great, the cars were fast (sorta) and funny (mostly), and there were a lot of photos to make.

 

 

The 1987 Audi 4000 CS of Rally Baby Racing,

You can read more about the race, the people, and the cars (and see many, many more photos), here, on my racing blog.

Weird and Wonderful: Dodo Brockman's Ex-Nascar Superspeedway Modified Mustang II

In the last week or so, I've learned more than I ever dreamed I'd know about the wacky, wonderful race cars called Superspeedway Modifieds.  My interest was sparked when I saw Dodo Brockman behind the wheel of his 1977 Mustang II Superspeedway Modified at the Vintage Racer Group's annual Turkey Bowl race at Summit Point Motorsports Park, in late November.  What I learned makes me want to add a bit to what I said in my report on the race.  It's also an excuse to show different versions of my photos of Dodo's 'Stang.  Instead of black and white, here it is in living color.

 

Dodo Brockman flying down the main straightaway at Summit Point track, in his Superspeedway Modified Mustang II, during the Turkey Bowl, 28 November 2009.  (All photos copyright John Edwin Mason, 2009.  Click directly on any of the photos to see larger versions.)

The Superspeedway Modifieds have a curious history.  Modifieds -- non-Superspeedway Modifieds, that is -- have a long been a part of the Nascar family.  They've been a popular division with sportsman (non-professional) racers, for decades, and have a strong fan base in the Northeast and South.  They race on short oval tracks (under a mile in length) and put on a hell of a show.

In the mid-1970s, Nascar decided to give Modified drivers a chance to race at Daytona International Speedway, its most prestigious race track and one of its longest and fastest.

 

Dodo Brockman and his Superspeedway Modified Mustang II, at Summit Point Motorsports Park, 30 November 2009.

Nascar understood that cars designed to run on short tracks would be a dangerous handful on the high banking of a superspeedway like Daytona, so from 1974 to 1976, the Modifieds raced on the track's combined oval/road course, in an effort to keep speeds down.

In 1977, the sanctioning body rewrote the rule book and unleashed the Superspeedway Modified -- that is, Modifieds designed specifically to go fast on Daytona's high-banked oval.  The result was cars like Dodo's Mustang -- light, absurdly overpowered, with swoopy aerodynamics.  Eventually, they ran faster than the cars in the premier Winston Cup series, something that Nascar could not tolerate.  In 1980, the legendary Modified driver Richie Evans qualified at 196 mph, which was then a record for any kind of race car and the end of the line for the Superspeedway Modifieds.  Nascar canceled the series.  You could say that speed killed the Superspeedway Modifieds, and you wouldn't be wrong.

But you'd only be half right.

 

Yep, that's still Dodo Brockman in his Superspeedway Modified Mustang II, at Summit Point Motorsports Park, 30 November 2009.

The biggest problem for the Superspeedway Modified division wasn't the quickness of Evans and others --  such as Harry Gant, Darrell Waltrip, and John Anderson -- who ran at the front of the pack.  It was the slowness of the guys in the middle and at the back.  The fields were wildly uneven, and many of the cars simply weren't competitive.

The fields were also small.  Modified drivers spent virtually all of their racing lives on short tracks and most couldn't justify spending the big bucks necessary to keep up with the Richies, Harrys, and Darrells of the world.

It seemed like a great idea, in the beginning, but the series just wasn't meant to be.

Dodo Brockman's car is one of only three Superspeedway Modifieds known to survive, and it's the only one still being raced.  It was built in 1977 and raced at Daytona and Pocono Raceway (another superspeedway), among other tracks.  It gathered dust in the back of a speed shop until 1996, when Dodo bought it.  He had it restored and has fun racing it on ovals and road courses up and down the East Coast and in Canada.  It looks just like it did in its glory days.

Turkey Bowl 2009: The Vintage Racer Group @ Summit Point

My friend Jon Paulette, the writer, dragged me up to the Vintage Racer Group's 13th annual Turkey Bowl road race, at West Virginia's Summit Point Motorsports Park, last Saturday.  I'm glad he did.  I'd forgotten how much fun it is to be at a race and not be on assignment.  I was shooting for the heck of it and having a blast.

Mark Palmer, president of the Vintage Racer Group's board of directors, sits on pole and leads the pack around the course in his '57 MGA, during a warm-up lap.  (Click directly on any of the photos to see larger versions.  All photos copyright John Edwin Mason, 2009.)

I've spent the last few years photographing drag racing exclusively, so it was liberating to be back at a road course, facing a very different set of challenges.

Sam Smith in his 1960 Alfa Romeo Giulietta. 

The cars raced in several different classes.  I wish that I could identify the cars and drivers more fully, but there were no programs at the track, and I couldn't find an entry list or printed results.  I'll be grateful to hear from anyone who can help.  Just leave me a comment or send an email.

Update, December 02, 2009:  Bob Graham and the VRG's Mark Palmer have sent information that has helped me to identify some of the cars and drivers.  There are still some holes to plug.  If you can help, let me know.

 

The class that small cars competed in--like this late '60s Fiat Abarth 1300, driven by Hugh Tompkins--was a hoot to watch.

It was good to be reminded just how sweet a snarly four-cylinder engine can sound.

 

There were several Minis on hand.  This driver remains unidentified.

It was also nice to discover that I haven't forgotten everything that I know about shooting sports cars.

  

Dave Smith in a 1959 Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite.

 

There were a fair number of true exotics at the race, as well.  This is the real deal, a '60s-vintage Ford GT40, driven by Robert Andersson.

 

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.

Update, December 05, 2009:  The GT40 may have gotten past, but it didn't stay there.  Pfeiffer and his Porsche finished the race in front of the Ford.

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.

It took a few laps, but the Ford finally got around the Chevy.

This particular Mustang was the class of its field, blazingly fast.  If you know who this guy is, send me a note.  I want to give credit where credit is due.

A Lotus 7 or one of its successors.  Another mystery driver.

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.

Open wheelers (mostly) take the green flag at the start of their race.

A very pretty 1967 Lotus 51C, with Dick Leehr at the wheel.

Bill Maisey, driving a 1969 Crossle 16F FF.

That's a Mini Cup car, leading the pack down the hill.

You usually see this Mini Cup cars on oval tracks.  They looked right at home on Summit Point's road course, and they were impressively fast.  I don't know the drivers.

Like the Mini Cup cars, Legends racers are usually found on oval tracks, but they didn't seem at all bothered by road racing.

To get a sense of just how small those Legends cars really are, take a look at that Mustang looming behind them.

A Lotus Esprit X180R, driven by Jaime Gaffaux.

 

A couple of Mazda Miatas duke it out on the main straightaway.  The one on the left is looking a little battered, but as the circle-track drivers say, rubbin' is racin'.  Mike Schwarz is in number 0.

George "Dodo" Brockman in his 1977 Mustang II Super Speedway Modified.  (Remember, you can click directly on any of the photos to see larger versions.)

I've saved the rarest and most exotic car at the track for last.  Amid the Lotuses, Ford GT40s, and even a Peerless, the car that stood out for me was "Dodo" Brockman's 1977 Mustang II Super Speedway Modified.  Only three of Super Speedway Modifieds of any sort are known to exist, and this is the only one still being raced.  (By way of comparison, there are six Bugatti Royales--one of the rarest and most expensive of all classic automobiles--in existence.)

Nascar developed the class in the late 1970s, to race at super speedways (as the name suggests) such as Daytona and Pocono.  It canceled the class when it discovered that the Modifieds were faster than the Grand National cars, which were then Nascar's premier class.

Brockman had the car restored in the late '90s.  It looks just like it did in its glory days.

The car looks great and sounds amazing.  It's quick, too.  But, sorry Blue Oval fans, there's a Chevy big block under the hood.

I did a lot of talking, as well as shooting, at the track.  Everyone that I met was terrific, willing to share their knowledge of the course and the cars or just tell racing stories.  Thanks to the Vintage Racer Group and the Summit Point crew for making it such an enjoyable day.