Ford 400 - Homestead-Miami Speedway: 11/22

History was made at the Ford 400 when Jimmie Johnson #48 broke a NASCAR record and became the first race car driver to win 4 consecutive Sprint Cup titles.

The Ford 400 was my first time ever attending a NASCAR race and what a blast it was to be able to photograph the experience!

I don't care what anyone says, I never really thought I'd like NASCAR too much until I attended the race yesterday. I had a REALLY good time, maybe it's just because I was photographing the event but genuinely, the fans are HARDCORE about NASCAR and there's no denying that. As drunk and belligerent some of them may be, I'll be damned but they LOVE that sport.

Here was my view while photographing the race:

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Full gallery from the race can be found at: NASCAR Ford 400 Photo Gallery

Johnson wins 4th consecutive Sprint Cup title:


Start of the Ford 400 at turn one:




Victory burnout:




The media loved him:


The famous Richard Petty during a media conference:

 

Jeff Gordon:


Packed house:


One of the locations where I was photographing. Talk about adrenaline pumping being that close:


Darrell Waltrip broadcasting for SpeedTV:

 

A TON more photos are up on my website. I took more than 1,500 photos while I was at the race yesterday. I kept pretty busy to say the least!

As always, if you have any questions feel free to ask.

Thanks for looking, hope you enjoy!

- Chris

 

Nice shots Chris! Had to be tough given some of the distances and the changing lighting throughout the day. That first shot in your second post (the line up) is schweeeet!

 

A Chevy won the Ford 400 crap. And Johnson actuall did it, wow.

Great pics man.

Did your heart skip a beat being that close to the cars passing by?

 

I appreciate it! I actually got a poster made today of this picture:


I try to get one picture blown up into a poster for every major event that I photograph as a keep sake. I ran out of room on my walls a long time ago.

The lighting was definitely interesting. Luckily, we had quite a bit of overcast for a good portion of the day that really accentuates the paint jobs of these cars.

The worst is photographing directly into bright Florida sunlight since it drains all of the colors out of the subject that you are photographing and overall, just makes for terrible photography.

I was really lucky to be situated with the photography cut outs in the fences facing the opposite direction of the sun on an overcast day. I couldn't have really asked for much better photography weather if I wanted to.

Beautiful 85 degree Florida weather, photographing track side at an automotive event and I'm still alive to talk about it. I can't complain!

 

HAHA That's a fantastic observation. I didn't even think about the irony in that, that's great. Thanks for pointing that out, it made me laugh.

It definitely took me 5 minutes to even get acquainted with being that close to the action. I have no idea how fast they were going on the straights but it has to be well in excess of 150mph+ EASY.

The only photo I got from that position worth keeping was:


And that photo was after MANY failed attempts.

You could definitely get photos from that angle but you'd have to literally stick your arm out and into traffic or photograph from a ladder which I did not have access to. It's a tricky situation to shoot from there but I've seen photographers successfully do it (after many many attempts) but the result is worth it.

I will be bringing a step ladder with me next year.

 

awesome awesome awesome

 

Great shots Chris! You deserve a big pat on the back and you've had an awesome year from the sound of it! I take it that the new job is working out pretty well for you?

Keep up the great work, man.

 

Awesome Chris....Not a big fan of Nascar myself but really great shots. Must have been a blast.