~ NHRA Winter Nationals ~

I want to expand my photography into different sports so I was very pleased when my editor gave me the nod to shoot the NHRA Winternationals at Pomona over Valentine's Day weekend this year.

I haven't been to the drag races since I was about two or three years old and my dad was a mechanic on the Invader Corvette during the famous Lions' Drag Strip days from the late 60's to early 70's. My earliest memories are of standing alongside the track with my mom as the funny cars roared by, so to say I was excited to shoot the drags is an understatement.










The pro stock class was fun and easy to shoot. I felt like it was a great warm up for the funny cars because they leave the starting line a little slower and enabled me to get my timing down a bit.














After the Pro Stock class came the Funny Cars. I was super excited and had no idea what I was in for. However I learned real quick (and quite abruptly) that standing at the wall when two Funny Cars roar by you at a couple hundred miles per hour is not the most comfortable sensation in the world! It's sort of like walking through the concussion of a very strong bomb and not only did I feel it reverberate through my entire body, I actually felt my hair vibrate.









The Top Fuel Dragsters were exciting and fun to shoot. They weren't as loud as the Funny Cars and it didn't hurt as badly when they went by.














I really loved the night racing as the flames from the exhaust made for dramatic images.














As I was wandering around searching for something a little different to shoot, I came across this image of the crowd while I was under the grandstands.














February 14, 2010, Pomona, CA: NHRA Funny Car driver John Force (top) beats Ron Capps (bottom) to win the Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway.














Funny Car driver John Force pays homage to his crew after winning the Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway.















Well, that pretty much sums up my first experience shooting the drag races. I had so much fun and I'm glad for the experience. I made several new friends, and received more of an education that I ever thought I would. All in all, it was a great time and I can't wait to do it again!

~ Jody ~