[Leica] Friday night races, 4-28

[don.dory at gmail.com (Don Dory)]

Arche,
Good shooting, and a good story.  On a technical side it appears that some
of your negatives were a little thin.  How did you meter or do you think
that this was a processing problem(you used Xtol which doesn't like oxygen
and could have been weak)

Don
don.dory@gmail.com


On 5/6/06, Arche, Harvey <Harvey.Arche@jp2hs.org> wrote:
>
> I got so involved with that Sebring stuff (which isn't finished yet) that
> I put off dealing with the subject that got me started on it. I finally
> souped and scanned the film I took at the stock car races last Friday 
> night,
> and have put together this over-long photo essay. Unfortunately, for me,
> stock cars have none of that exotic eye-pull quality that the old sports
> cars do. What draws me to these races is the face of teamwork and
> competition, and how it is presented as public entertainment.
>
> After several hours of practicing and tune-up laps, there is a break at
> dusk before the evening's races start. This is that hour during which, in
> the South, people set on their porches.
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/4_28_officials
> (If you're hoping this shot sets the level for the rest of them, you're
> SOL. Geez! I wish)
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/4_28_delivery
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/4_28_lull
>
> Prepping the cars, or, more often, making them legal, can be a frantic
> activity that goes on right up to the last minute, when cars have to be
> rolled to the pre-start grid. Everyone is involved. You can recognize the
> drivers in these shots by their fire-retardent coveralls, sometimes worn
> with the top undone and the arms tied around the waist.
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/4_28_prep
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/4_28_prep_2
>
> Nashville Motorplex, according to Wikipedia, is one of the country's
> oldest race tracks. It began as a horse track in the 1800's, and Barney
> Oldfield drove there in 1904. It was a Nascar Winston Cup track until the
> mid '80's, and the modern superspeedways started being built. Originally in
> the sticks, the city has grown up around it, and it is now closely
> surrounded by residential neighborhoods. If you know Chicago, think old
> Comisky park. Management is greatly concerned with the possibility of noise
> ordinances eventually shutting the place down, so races proceed on a
> clock-like schedule in order to be finished by 11 pm. Cars have to be in
> their places in the infield grid 15-20 minutes before race time, and cars
> stage in the open infield for the event of rolling up to the grid lane.
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/4_28_rollup_1
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/4_28_rollup_2
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/4_28_rollup3
>
> Once the cars have been pushed into position there is nothing to do for
> the next quarter hour but to wait, which the drivers do, usually with their
> crew/friends, in varying degrees of pre-race tension.
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/4_28_wait_1
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/4_28_wait_2
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/4_28_wait_3
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/4_28_wait_4
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/4_28_wait_5
> Guess which two pictures are of the guys who won their respective races.
>
> During the race, focus shifts to the loop around the infield, and everyone
> stands in one spot, turning little circles, watching the cars go 'round the
> track. Its only a 1/2 mile so you can see the whole thing. Each car must
> have at least one spotter, whose job is to warn the driver of accidents out
> of his sight ahead. Crew chiefs run a constant patter of information about
> the compettition, the relative position of other cars, and obsess about the
> finer details of how the car is handling.
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/4_28_spotter
>
> Of course the punchline of the whole operation is to reach the winner's
> circle in victory lane. This is the closest the genral public comes to
> intersecting with the cars and drivers. Here's the son of one of the 
> winning
> drivers.
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/4_28_Kin
> The official photographer, Miss Motorplex, and the winner, wait for the
> track announcer to arrive and make the trophy presentation.
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/4_28_presentation
> A young boy and the winning car.
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/4_28_touch
>
> Races are over by 11 pm, but all cars that finished in the top three must
> stand down for post-race inspection by the track officials. Owners must be
> willing to strip-down anything requested of them. Everyone still has the
> packup and trailer-drive home.
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/4_28_final_inspection
>
> Thanks for your persistence,
> Arche
>
> Tech blab: M3, bugeye Summicron 35, Ilford Delta 3200 at 1600, Xtol 1:3.
> The guys who won their races are in pictures 'wait 2' and 'wait 5'.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>