This past Sunday was my annual NASCAR day in Phoenix. Along with friend Barry Stewart, I attended the Advocare 500, named for this year’s race sponsor. There are two NASCAR races each year at the Phoenix International Raceway, one in March, the other in November. I prefer the latter because it is the second last race of the season and it almost always plays a pivotal role in deciding the championship. This year’s race did not disappoint. In fact, there was a significant shift in the points standings and a new favourite heading into next weekend’s finale in Florida. Anything can happen with cars hurtling around the track at well over 100 mph (160 kph), fuelled with a blend of 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline. Combine that with drivers fuelled by ambition and testosterone, there was lots of excitement and some mayhem as well.
Note about speed: the fastest lap on Sunday was about 125 mph, speeds on the straightaways are considerably higher. Speeds on the faster tracks can approach 200 mph (320 kph).
I was able to get a few good shots, including this first one featuring some pre-race activity. It shows the car driven by Jeff Gordon being pushed onto the pit road after completing its pre-race inspection. All cars are checked for compliance with mandated specifications prior to each race. They are pushed, rather than driven to conserve their ration of fuel.
Once the race got underway, it was dominated by the #18 car, driven by Kyle Busch. The M&M-sponsored car led 237 of the 319 laps yet failed to seal the win. Here you can see it rounding the #1 turn just below where we were seated.
This photograph, along with all the action shots on the track was taken with an 18-200 mm lens at full extension, a focal length of 200 mm. Sitting in the grandstand at Turn #1, this was as close as were to the cars on the track. I had the camera set at ISO 400 to achieve a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the action and varied the aperture setting between f8.0 and f16.0 depending on the light available and the speed of the action being photographed. This shot was the most difficult because of the stark contrast created by the shadows cast across the track by the grandstand . I opened the aperture to f8.0 to help overcome what was a fairly dark area to photograph.
One of the advantages of our seating location was its proximity to the pit area. Faced with changing 4 tires and re-fuelling the car in 12-13 seconds, pit crews have little time to waste. Any slip-up can delay a car’s return to action and affect the race outcome. The crews must combine dexterity with speed to be successful. Some of the best action takes place in the pits, as shown in the next two pictures.
Pit Speed, above shows the crew of driver Tony Stewart’s car performing a four-tire change and a refuel. The right side tires have been completed and the changers are racing around to the left. You can see one of the changers at the right front carrying the jack that will be used to raise the car’s left side just before replacing the worn tires with those you see being held in position by pit crew members leaning over the wall. The car has been re-fuelled and you see a crew member carrying his canister away from the left rear side of the vehicle, just in time to get out of the way of the arriving tire changers. The two men dressed in white are track officials monitoring the change to ensure safety procedures are being observed. Infractions are penalized.
Another pit scene, this time featuring the crew of Jeff Burton’s #31 car. Note the crew member on the opposite side at the rear, pouring in fuel.
Once the car has been serviced, drivers waste no time in rejoining the action. The following picture shows driver Jamie McMurray leaving his pit stall.
My last photo is a long distance shot of the far end of the track in Turn#4. It captures an accident that occurred near the end of the race.
Incidents like this are not unusual. Typically there can be a half dozen in each race. Surprisingly, the drivers rarely get injured. Safety has improved progressively over the years, in the design of the cars and in the procedures followed on the track.
It was a good day of racing. There was a change in the leadership of the points race, a last minute winner and to top it all off, a fight between crews over an on-track incident. Just like hockey!