stephen_justice

Please critique the composition of the image; the crewman has cluttered up the

background, but the car was being towed up through the staging lanes and it was this

shot or nothing. The young driver in the cockpit is only 19 years old and I think I

captured a little bit of tension he was feeling at the time. This drag car has run 233

mph on methanol.

The driver of this nitromethane-fueled dragster, Dennis Allen, lost control of his race

car at the end of this run. He escaped serious injury, but the $150,000.00 dragster was

"totalled".

Drivers of drag cars either have an extra gene or are missing one considering the risk

they take every weekend.

Just driving home after work and saw this amazing sunset developing as the sun dipped into

the Pacific Ocean.

These guys showed up the California Hot Rod Reunion a couple weeks past; put on quite a show for the fans. If you like drag cars, CHRR is a must-many fans show up for this event from Australia, Canada, and the UK. See my folder for a shot of this car--Stephen Justice

This young racer just before launching down the drag strip on a

qualifying run at Sacramento Raceway, California. This is a 150 mph

Harley drag bike that qualified #1-I love this guy's red and black

outfit, especially the gloves.

I know I sliced away some of the tire on the bike closest to the

camera, but did so for the sake of symmetry. I wanted to obtain the

perfect juxtaposition of the two riders and think it's close. Note

the alignment of the molded rear sections and the leg angles of the

two racers. Darryl (near) and Scotty (far) are teammates for Watson

Racing, but in this case had to race head-to head; Darryl won this

individual duel and the entire event. These nitrous enhanced

turbocharged Suzukis run over 200 mph in a 1/4 mile.

The Micky Thompson Challenger will be at the Goodwood Festival of Speed June 22-24.

Alistair,

 

You may be interested in this>Micky Thompson's 400 mph streamliner that he ran at Bonneville in the early 1960s is coming to England this summer. I will get more details to you-Steve J

Alistair,

 

One great attribute of drag racing is the physical proximity fans have with the racers. At Sacramento Raceway fans standing at the fence are no more than 10-15 yards from the racing surface. It is so in the pits where the fans are allowed to stroll up and down the rows of race cars and get exceptionally close to their heros. The racers love this interaction with the fans, and in turn, do their upmost to put on a great show. The men and women who ride these methonal-burning drag bikes take unbelieveable risks just to entertain us. They are many times more exciting than even the 300 mph top fuel dragsters.

Scotty better be in "The Zone"; he only weighs 130 lbs. and rides a

bike that covers the quarter mile in six seconds at over 200 mph. One

mental error or lapse in skill can put him in immediate physical

peril. I tried to capture the control and concentration required of a

professional like Scotty. Obviously, the crew member understands the

great risk Scotty takes every time he makes a run.

This is Andy, the neighborhood feral cat. He is one tough hombre;

forget trying to get close to him. However, life on the lam has been

tough on him as evidenced by the skin problems on this nose (and,

just his overall appearance). He sleeps in the junipers and hangs

around because my wife feeds him Fancy Feast.

This (photography) is a new endeavor for me. I'm definitely in the

novice/ beginner category. I have up to now just been shooting race

cars because I'm a fan and get in the track at no expense. Wanting to

try something new, on the way to the track I pulled off the road and

took this image. Please give some helpful advice; I would like to do

more like this; A digital camera is a mysterious and wonderful toy!!

This dragster caught my attention because of the type of powerplant

being used. These engines are specially cast aluminum and

iron "flathead" blocks (the OHC configeration); engine builders quit

using them decades ago! But not Jack "Flathead" Schafer from Walnut

Creek, California.