The fire was only huge for less than a second, then it died down as the oil burned up.

(Note the flying spark plug in the upper right!)

Nikon D3, 600mm, 400iso, f8, 1/1600th

I also had a remote camera set up. Here is he shot it got when the fire was still big. The main problem with the camera being so low is the heat waves give it the appearance of being out of focus.

Nikon D3, 300mm, 640iso, f10, 1/8000th

The racing went into the night that day and instead of going to the starting line like everyone else I stayed in the crane and took advantage of some really cool side lighting that rim lit the edges of the cars.

Nikon D3, 600mm, 5000iso, f4, 1/320th

Nikon D3, 600mm, 5000iso, f4, 1/320th

That about wraps up the March Meet for me.

Nikon D3, 600mm, 500iso, f6.3, 1/5000th

My last drag race of the year ended up being the NHRA race in Las Vegas. I got a bunch of really cool shots in the weekend.

With my assistant Paul helping out we did some candid portraits using a softbox and 1600 watt Alien Bee strobe.

Angelle Sampey

Nikon D3, 80-200mm, 100iso, f6.3, 1/250th

Gary Scelzi

Nikon D3, 14-24mm, 100iso, f7.1, 1/250th

Tony Schumacher

Nikon D3, 14-24mm, 100iso, f8, 1/250th

This race was one of the rare weekends I shot on the starting line. While you get a lot more good photos shooting on the starting line it is just dime a dozen crap that the other 20 photographers are shooting. Plus all the wild and crazy stuff happens downtrack at speed. Luckily I didn’t miss anything while on starting line and got some cool shots.

Antron Brown takes on Cory McClenathan during qualifying.

Nikon D3, 14-24mm, 250iso, f5.6, 1/1000th

Since it was Halloween a few crew members got in on the fun by wearing their costumes on the starting line.

Nikon D3, 400mm, 400iso, f2.8, 1/800th

John Force does a burnout during qualifying.

Nikon D3, 14-24mm, 100iso, f6.3, 1/25th

The below shot of Robert Hight leaving the starting line has a really cool glow behind the car from a tow vehicle that had its headlights on.

Nikon D3, 400mm, 1250iso, f2.8, 1/500th

Tried out a few real slow shutter speed shots to see what it would produce. I was damn happy with the results.

Nikon D3, 14-24mm, 100iso, f4.5, 1/13th

Nikon D3, 14-24mm, 100iso, f4.5, 1/13th

On the last day of qualifying top fuel driver Tony Schumacher clinched the 2008 championship. While I got several of the standard boring shots of him holding the trophy I really liked this shot of him silhouetted behind the trophy.

Nikon D3, 14-24mm, 100iso, f5, 1/250th

I ended up back at the starting line due to a rain shower that I didn’t wanna be stuck in when it hit.

The ominous storm clouds above the track made for a great background to some shots.

John Force does a burnout.

Nikon D3, 14-24mm, 4000iso, f4, 1/500th

The car of Scott Ray in the staging lines prior to making his qualifying run.

Nikon D3, 14-24mm, 4000iso, f4, 1/400th

On the actual race day I got a few shots I liked.

A pair of top fuel dragsters do their burnout before their race.

Nikon D3, 600mm, 500iso, f5.6, 1/5000th

Tony Schumacher had a small fireball during the second round of eliminations. It was nothing big compared to what I’m used to shooting but it has nice light and it looks cool.

Nikon D3, 600mm, 400iso, f5.6, 1/2500th

For the final rounds I went to the very end of the track to shoot the winners climbing from their car.

Cruz Pedregon