NASCAR usually visits Fontana, California once a year, which I covered around the end of last year. But the schedule changed for this year, which moved the Sprint Cup race up to March of this year. I was asked again to cover both days, including the Nationwide series but was only able to stay on Saturday for some head shots of the drivers for the Sprint Cup Series. When I arrived to the racetrack, I didn’t waste any time since I already knew the routine. I got a few photos of the pits such as the extra tires outside of Jimmie Johnson’s garage.

I also got a few photos of Jimmie Johnson in his car, he just magically appeared out of no where already suited up. It seems like I have to stalk the drivers in order to get a decent picture.

I also was able to snag Jeff Gordon, which was a little easier than some other drivers.

Greg Biffle was already suited up by the time I reached his garage, it’s pretty hard to time it all. You win and you lose some.

Tony Stewart, which I felt like was a gem since he usually avoids photographers at all costs.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was also surprisingly willing to stand in the open for some photos. Last year, he just climbed into his car and left like Jimmie Johnson did this year.

I liked the gas caps, so I got a few photos of the good ol’ American Ethanol. Here is a photo of the seal leaking a little off of Mark Martin’s car.

Caught in the act, Jimmie Johnson trying to run away.

And Carl Edwards, another more approachable driver.

And a pretty good picture of Kyle Busch.

Which lead to a special moment when he changed his own tire on his car.

And his brother Kurt Busch sporting the Southern California AAA sponsor.

I ended the day by just getting a general view of the garages.

The next day I arrived early to get some shots of cars being inspected just to get some photos out to news agencies in case they had some pre-race coverage. Jeff Gordon’s car was being checked when I arrived at the inspection station.

Most of the cars were covered with plastic tarps because of the rain the previous day and in the morning. I thought the race was going to be delayed for hours.

The Sprint officials checking on Kurt Busch’s car, the current leader of the Sprint Cup series.

After I went back in to file some photos and prepare for the race. I met up with the other US Presswire Photographer, Jayne Oncea. Shortly after, I was getting ready for the start of the race. I decided to get some more head shots from drivers I failed to catch the previous day. Here is Mark Martin posing in front of his car for the fans.

Another of Kyle Busch with his stylish sunglasses.

I rushed over to the edge of turn 1, but the photo hole was full. I wanted to get some photos of pit row from this location, but it was going to be a lost cause. I did end up staying for the beginning of the race. Here is a view of pit row prior to the start of the race.

And just before the start, I saw some refraction of air caused by the heat or exhaust of the car. I thought it made the cars look like a water painting.

Then the race was on, which I tried to get a wider view of the start. Next time I might go up top to get a super wide angle and try that out.

After a few laps went by, and a little shuffle down the track I decided to get a few pit photos. David Gilliland was one of the first to stop in the pits.

I really liked this angle, but I think it might have worked a little better with a little less angle. Juan Montoya also stopped in.

After, I decided to get some stock images of the cars from turn four, which was kind of boring. So I walked up to the risers and climbed up a sketchy ladder to a high point to get a general shot of the race track. It wasn’t really a nice day out, or the photo might have been a little more interesting.

I then went back in to file the first few photos of the race and then walked out to the pit area to practice panning shots. I really liked this shot with both Red Bull drives, Casey Kahne and Brian Vickers

This was a good time filler while I waited to get some closer pit shots, such as this one from Jeff Burton.

And next up Joey Logano.

Overall I felt like I got a lot of really standard shots, there isn’t really much to do in Fontana. But it was a few hours spent until the last exciting moment when Kevin Harvick passed Jimmie Johnson for the win.

We always need to get some celebration shots, so here is a photo of the burn out. I might want to try a different angle since the smoke covered up the car from this one.

But a wide angle with the smoke clearing gave me a pretty interesting shot.

And the ensuing celebration, you got to love these shots.

Web Clips:

My car has been with me since high school. With Marvin talking about getting a new car, we wanted to figure out how to take pictures of the car in motion. Tonight was a complete fail for us, because what we produced was sub par. I hope next week, after getting a new mast, that we will make better images. I can’t wait to see what car Marvin gets either. Well here what I think is the best of today.

I decided to use the strobes to get a more “studio” look of my car. I want to do some more of this in the future.