When my boss originally asked, “Do you like racing?” I didn’t even know if she meant people, horses, cars or dogs. I just said “Uh…” until she said cars. Having never even watched a NASCAR race on television, I just replied with a “maybe,” though let’s be honest: My truthful answer should have been “no.”
But see, the problem was that I had envisioned this large, asphalt track with pristine looking cars going around lap after lap for hours. What I was actually in store for was a lot more intimate and much, much dirtier. When I showed up at Speedway 81 in Park City, KS I got excited. The pit, simply the center of the track, was filled with these cars that looked like they had been pieced together at the junkyard and then given a quick coating of paint to try and hide it. And that’s where I was stationed. Right in the middle of it all. Unfortunately, I had a good list of racers I had to keep an eye out for on the track, so I wasn’t able to spend as much time getting some shots of the happenings of the pit itself, but I did snag some photos from my phone, the color ones in this set.
And in case you were wondering, I had completely changed my mind about racing by the end of the day. Sitting right along the edge of the track while sprint cars (the kind of car in the photo above) whiz past at breakneck speeds was quite a rush for me. Yes, I live vicariously though the adrenaline of others.
(And apologies. I’ve been in a bit of a black and white mood lately.)
Hey man, Pat your preceding Hutch News intern here, just looking through your blog. Nice work. Seeing Hutchinson through new eyes is pretty cool. It’s definitely not a perfect place, but they really do give you a lot of awesome assignments and the time to do them right. Kansas is a sweet place to shoot. I’m really missing that about the Hutch News right now. Anyway, best of luck with the rest of your time there. Cheers.