John Edwin Mason: Racing Photography

An iPhone at the Races: Trans Am at VIR

The first time I shot a race with an iPhone, it was a stunt.  I just wanted to show that it can be done (for instance).  Since then, I shoot with an iPhone every time I go to the track.  I like the results.

More often than not, however, the tracks that I go to are dragstrips where you can get very close to the action if you've got media credentials.  Road  courses are different beasts altogether.  Even with credentials, you often can't get particularly close to the cars on the track.

 

Trans Am cars racing through the Roller Coaster down to the Hog Pen.  Virginia International Raceway, 29 September 2013.  [Click on the photo to see a larger version.]

I spent part of the weekend watching the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association races at Virginia International Raceway [VIR].  VIR is one of my favorite tracks, in part because it's beautiful and the people who work their are great.  To be honest, I also like it because you can get reasonably close to the action, even without credentials.  "Reasonably close" doesn't mean dragstrip close, but it doesn't mean far away either.

I like the photo above a lot.  It's from Sunday's Trans Am race that was held in conjunction with the vintage events.  I'm always impressed with what the iPhone can do -- even my obsolete iPhone 4.  (I cropped it and adjusted levels in Photoshop.)

Later this week, I'll post more iPhone images from both the Trans Am and vintage races.

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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.