Backing up a bit to three days before our private wedding ceremony, we made our way from San Francisco to Sonoma's Infineon Raceway for the 15th leg (out of 24) of the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. It was Chris' first time at this racetrack (and it's not easy to find a racetrack he hasn't been to!) The minute I (Vic here) stepped out of the car that Friday evening, the first thing I thought was, "it's so loooouuuuud!" Kind of like being smacked upside the head, really. But one becomes acclimated to the noise after a while, and it's not so bad. We had the good fortune to bump into Del Worsham and his wife Connie, relaxing in their pit's dining/hospitality area. I asked Chris to approach Del so that I could get a quick shot of them together. Nightime drag racing is especially exciting -- as the sun sets you see dramatic flames from the headers (exhaust pipes) of the dragsters shooting 10 feet high as they speed down the track at over 300 mph.
We were back at the track about 11:00 the next morning to continue with qualifying sessions. The place is so huge that you have to park in a beautiful hay field about a mile away from the spectator area, and take a minibus over to the grandstands. There was a constant breeze but a steady beating sun, so by the end of the day we were quite "toasty" despite using a high SPF sunblock ... right down to burnt feet complete with blisters from so much walking. We were sitting directly downwind from the starting line where microscopic bits of rubber (contained within the massive burnout smoke) waft through the stands and deposit themselves on your skin and clothes. You'll see evidence of that on my neck in the next picture -- I was quite elated and didn't care what I looked like as I spotted my favorite funny car racer, Ron Capps ... who just so happened to win the title for the Wally award in the Funny Car category! (The word is, he was wearing his 'lucky' underwear.)
On Sunday we were back to the track for Finals. And our lucky stars were still shining as we visited every driver's pit, our camera in hand, and took many shots that I'd not imagined possible -- this is a sport where the fans really have access to the crew and drivers, can ask questions, gain autographs and pose for photos. It was a blast! Here is my favorite driver in the Top Fuel category, Cory McClenathan.
See what I mean by 'access'?!
We were back at the track about 11:00 the next morning to continue with qualifying sessions. The place is so huge that you have to park in a beautiful hay field about a mile away from the spectator area, and take a minibus over to the grandstands. There was a constant breeze but a steady beating sun, so by the end of the day we were quite "toasty" despite using a high SPF sunblock ... right down to burnt feet complete with blisters from so much walking. We were sitting directly downwind from the starting line where microscopic bits of rubber (contained within the massive burnout smoke) waft through the stands and deposit themselves on your skin and clothes. You'll see evidence of that on my neck in the next picture -- I was quite elated and didn't care what I looked like as I spotted my favorite funny car racer, Ron Capps ... who just so happened to win the title for the Wally award in the Funny Car category! (The word is, he was wearing his 'lucky' underwear.)
On Sunday we were back to the track for Finals. And our lucky stars were still shining as we visited every driver's pit, our camera in hand, and took many shots that I'd not imagined possible -- this is a sport where the fans really have access to the crew and drivers, can ask questions, gain autographs and pose for photos. It was a blast! Here is my favorite driver in the Top Fuel category, Cory McClenathan.
See what I mean by 'access'?!
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