Notes from the Field

Three years ago I took the opportunity to attend an event that I had watched on TV since I was a child, the 24 hours of Daytona. Like many kids in America , I grew up with a passion for cars, with their speed and sound. As I grew older, I also started to love racing and I became a fan of auto racing. I mean I will watch anything that involves a motor and some form of competition. I would watch grow men race lawn mowers, if I am sick and there is nothing on TV. But for me, endurance or 24 hour racing is one of the greatest forms of sports out there.

This weekend marks the 2010 edition of the 24 hours of Daytona, which is usually a dead sports weekend, with the break between the NFL division championships and the Super Bowl. And unlike many other types of auto racing, the 24 hours of Daytona gives you access and stories no other race or sporting event can offer.

If you are new to the idea of 24 hour auto races, or endurances races like the Dakar Rally or the Baja 1000; there are some concepts you need to understand before you tune in. First, the press outside of racing really doesn’t cover these events. They are off the map for many people in America, which mean there is not a ton of glory and fame for winning these events. Second, they don’t pay a ton of money. Many of the drivers at the 24 hours of Daytona do not drive full time, they have day jobs that may have nothing to do with racing. Third, they are grueling events. While drives can’t drive more more than 4 – 6 hours, depending on event rules, the pit crews get little to no sleep and have to be ready at a moments notice to fix or repair a car so it can keep running. This tells you that all the participants are beyond passionate about racing.

Many teams that enter these types of races, like Daytona or LeMans, never have a chance of winning the thing. They work for months to scrape money and resources together and go to these events just to see if they can do it. Can they drive day and night, in all sorts of weather, fixing all sorts of problems so vast, they couldn’t think of them all if they tried, and still manage to finish the race? Some of the best images come from the garage as the pit crew runs around the car, trying to fix it and get through the final hours to the finish. Many a car crosses the finish line, a mere shadow of its former self.

And what is even more odd, especially in this day of the proffesional sports athelete, is who races in these events. While many are drives who are a part of the series, there are also many major named drives from other disciplines, that you may know. What makes the 24 hours of Daytona special, is that it is one of the few races of its kind that takes place in the off season of the other race schedules. The field is full of Indy and NASCAR series drivers, who just want to race. There are no commitments for them to fulfill, they are there to drive, to race and maybe if everything falls into place, to win a race that you may have never even heard of.

Sam Hornish Jr., left, and Helio Castroneves, center, have 4 Indy 500 wins between them.

That is what is fantastic about the 24 hours of Daytona. Everyone there, from drivers and their crews, to the fans, are at this race because of a passion and love of racing.

Now if you are looking to break out of your mold as a photographer and cover a major event, then the 24 hours of Daytona is for you. It does not cost a lot of money to get into the event. You can get into the event, including the garage areas, for $85 for the entire 4 days of the event. I think parking was $10 each time you entered the track, which surprised me. Imagine getting into the Super Bowl for that kind of money, hell I think food at Yankee Stadium is more than that.

Once you are there, you have all sorts of chances to make great actions shots, portraits, editorial work, and even great landscapes. The venue is so large that there is a lake inside the track. You biggest hurdle you may face is having enough memory cards and batteries to make it through the entire race.

But what makes the 24 hours of Daytona different than any other event, including a NASCAR race, is total access. Other than the pits and the track itself, you can go just about anywhere you want, while the race is going on. You can’t get right to the edge of the track, but you can get real close.

The first great thing of the 24 hours of Daytona is that before the race, in the early morning, they host a run/walk type race that goes around the entire track. Most walk the track, stopping to take pictures. I showed up early with my Mother, and Claudia and we walked up the banking to turn four, sat down, took some pictures and watched the sun rise over the track. Most baseball fans will never set foot on the grass at Fenway or Wriggly field.

Another event, before the race, that took me completely by surprise is that they parade the cars down pit lane and let everyone down on the track, and the infield, to get closer to the cars and the drivers. There are no security guards or roped off areas. Many drivers are there, signing autographs and posing for the endless amount of camera phone pics. You can’t sit on the field when they call out the standing lineup for the World Series, hell, you can even do that for spring training.

Once the race starts, you can walk around the entire track, go from infield to grand stands. What gave me great access, was the community of people that attend this event, in some cases staying there for weeks to catch all the motor events at Daytona. So many people brought their RVs, busses, and motor homes and all of them are camped out on top of their roofs, watching the race. I made the rounds of the track asking each owner if it was OK to jump on the roof, which no one said no to my request. To my surprise I found large groups of people on top, sometimes with couches and easy chairs to watch the race. It is an amazing collection of people from all sorts of walks of life. Some RVs are simply rentals, while other buses cost more than my house and everything in it. Outside of the track, they may never cross paths in their day to day life, but at Daytona they are all part of the same fan base.

From the roofs of the RVs, I could see almost the entire track and get great angles that I had never seen before. The elevated view also gave me shots that I think members of the press where missing, plus they didn’t have access to these great fans and the occasional free beer offer.

Of course the 24 hours gives you access to all times of the day, like sunrises and sunsets during the race, which make for amazing images. They even do a full fireworks show at 10 pm.

If you are thinking making the trip, this weekend or next year, you may want to take the following gear:
Camera, batteries and some long glass. I used my 100-400mm lens for most of my daylight images. You may also want to rent a 400 or 600mm lens.
Tripod for those sunset and sunrise images and some serious wide glass to capture the entire layout of the track.
Comfortable shoes and sock. This one was learned the hard way by yours truly. My feet were so torn up; I looked like an old man as I walk through the airport the next day.
It will rain, count on it. You want good rain gear for you and your gear. At least a few garbage bags should be on you. If you don’t have an RV, you will have trouble finding cover.

I am no mechanic, but that doesn't look good.

One last item that I picked up before the race was the Think Tank photo Speed Belt and Harness. This piece of gear allowed me to carry all of my lenses, flashes, cards and batteries around that track, without having to carry a bag of the shoulder. That is huge when you are climbing up and down ladders on RVs. The Think Tank system has become my go to item when I am going out the door to shoot any event. And as I mentioned earlier, I was able to get into the pits, because most security guards think you are press with all of that gear strapped to your body. The two guards on post let me stick my head in and shoot for a bit.

I can go on and on about how great the 24 hours of Daytona is from a race fan and photographers point of view. Going is not only fun, but a true adventure that has an energy that is shared by everyone involved. Not only is the event amazing to watch, but with the price to get in, very cheap to cover. And while I can’t make it out to Florida this year, I will be glued to my TV, planning my next trip, dreaming of endless nights of sleep, screaming fans and the sounds of engines.