NASCAR West came back to Portland this weekend, coming to PIR after many, many  years. I had gotten up early to finish staining the decks and hoped it would work out that I might be able to get to the track to do some shooting. Had a lot to do that day and finished up the staining about 9:30. The gals and I walked one block over to the Velodrome and caught some bike racing at the Alpenrose Challenge, had lunch, then I headed over to the track to cruise the pits and do some shooting. I’m working on a project about Speedlites so I needed to get some outdoor before & afters. As the race was about to begin, I headed over to my favorite spot to shoot (so far), three quick turns at the end of the main straight called the Festival Curves. You can get fairly close and the cars come in at top speed then go all the way down to first gear under hard braking through that first left-hander. Some guys come in a little deep and they lose a ton of grip. Conditions like that often make for good action photos. It’ll happen, you just have to wait. And wouldn’t you know it , along the way, ran into a few old buds.

Eventual winner, Jim Inglebright, is on the right.