Talladega Superspeedway

Located in between Birmingham, AL and Atlanta, GA, the track is easy to travel to with I-20 as its’ main corridor to the speedway and an airport adjacent to the property for small to corporate sized aircraft.

With the track being so big, pit road is easy and exciting shooting. With the grandstands facing the south, pit road is lit well for front shooting opportunities. In the middle of pit road, there’s a tower that’s available to photographers and video that will allow you to get a birds eye view of the pit area. But with the frontstretch facing the north, afternoon light is harsh and hard to capture images when the cars are on the frontstretch. The best time to photograph the cars on the frontstretch is in early afternoon light. Late afternoon light casts shadows on the track and it makes for a difficult shot. If you’re looking for the huge pack shot that comes through the dog leg, shoot down pit road towards turn 1 to get a better angle. Lenses from 200 to 400mm are great to capture tight group shots as well as single car images.

The grandstands in Talladega are tall and are a great view of the whole track. From the frontstretch grandstands, you can watch the cars take the green flag and fly through the banks of the big track. Under the main grandstands, there are a few crows nests that are available for photographers that will allow you to capture the pack of cars coming off turn 4 through the frontstretch. But with the addition of the higher fences, it’s a difficult shot to capture without having long lenses of 400mm or more. On the very top of the grandstands, next to the spotters stands, photographers are allowed to photograph from that part of the venue as long as you’re not impeding the visibility of any fans. With this vantage point and a lens of 500mm, you can capture the cars off turn 4 as well as the beginning of the frontstretch without hindrance. This angle makes for great photos of the pits below as well. With this view and the long lenses in your arsenal, you can really capture great imagery that represents what Talladega has to offer.

The garage area may be big, but it’s pretty dark from a photographers stand point. With a walkway in the middle, the garages are hard to capture without fast lenses of 2.8 or more. Using higher ISO’s can compensate for the dark garages, so be aware of the noise you can get with these higher ISO’s.

The roof from the grandstands requires special access in the form of a roof sticker and it has to be requested prior to the event.

Victory Lane is located on the turn 1 side of the frontstretch and faces into the sun, making a great opportunity for beautiful imagery. The floor of victory lane is painted in checkers so it can offer unique reflections on sunglasses.

With the track being so big, it’s very difficult to get around. Talladega does not have a pedestrian tunnel and walking through the main tunnel on foot is not allowed so careful planning of your day is advised. If you plan on starting the race on the inside and want to shoot on the outside, mind you that it will take you some time to get to your position on the outside. With only 188 laps at a normal race, you can easily spend ½ the time just walking from vantage point to vantage point. A free shuttle from the inside of the track to the outside of the track is available, but it is slow and caters to the fans so you’ll have to wait in line for a ride at the trolley pickup points with the paying guests.

On the inside of turn 4 and turn 2, Talladega has installed photographer’s perches that are good vantage points. These “crows masts” can accommodate a limited number of photographers and they’re first come, first served. Walking along the inside of the race track is no longer allowed, so you’ll have to use these perches to photograph the action.

Parking at Talladega is limited as well, but usually accommodating. There’s a media overflow parking lot as well as paddock parking close to the media center. The media center has been updated a few times since the 90’s and there’s room for photographers, writers as well as Public Relations (PR) personnel. In order to accommodate the media, Talladega has a food tent next to the media center for the meals.

A photographers vest is needed to and you will be able to acquire one inside the media center. Victory Lane spots are marked and a VL sticker is needed as well.

Wright Brothers National Memorial

Wright Brothers National Memorial, located in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, commemorates the first successful, sustained, powered flights in a heavier-than-air machine. From 1900 to 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright came here from Dayton, Ohio, based on information from the U.S. Weather Bureau about the area's steady winds. They also valued the privacy provided by this location, which in the early twentieth century was remote from major population centers.

Auto Club Speedway

Auto Club Speedway (formerly California Speedway) is a two-mile (3 km), low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1997, and open wheel racing up until 2005. The racetrack is located near the former locations of Ontario Motor Speedway and Riverside International Raceway. The track is currently owned and operated byInternational Speedway Corporation and is the only track owned by ISC to have naming rights sold. The speedway is served by nearbyInterstate 10 and Interstate 15 freeways as well as a Metrolink station located behind the backstretch.

Kansas City Zoo

Kansas City Zoological Park (Kansas City Zoo) is a 202 acres (82 ha) zoo founded in 1909. It is located in Swope Park at 6800 Zoo Drive Kansas City, Missouri, in the United States. The zoo has a Friends Of The Zoo program. It is home to more than 1,300 animals and is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

By Terry Blount
ESPN.com
Archive

NASCAR team owner Jack Roush was in serious but stable condition after walking away from a plane crash at Whitman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wis. on Tuesday night.

"There are injuries. Possible surgery," Roush Fenway Racing president Geoff Smith said in a text message to The Associated Press. "But he walked out of the plane."

Roush was flying his private jet, a Beechcraft Premier 1A from Detroit. The jet made hard contact on landing and cracked the fuselage.

Brenda Strickland, a friend of Roush's, also was on board the plane. NASCAR journalist Bob Margolis, who is writing a book about Roush's life, was told that Roush and Strickland were not seriously hurt.

"Jack got out and had blood some blood on his face," Margolis said. "Apparently he bumped his head. They both were taken to a local hospital for observation, but I've been told they are OK."

Roush, an aviation buff, was attending the Experimental Aircraft Association's annual AirVenture in Oshkosh this week.

In a statement on the EAA website, officials said a Beechcraft Premier business jet registered to Roush Fenway Racing, LLC was involved in a landing accident at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh.

The accident occurred at approximately 6:15 p.m. CT, the statement said.

According to the EAA, the National Transportation Safety Board and Winnebago County Sheriff's Department confirmed that two occupants on board were Roush and Strickland of Plymouth, Mich.

"Each exited the aircraft following the accident," the statement said. "Both were transported to local hospitals, with Roush in serious but stable condition and Strickland with non-life threatening injuries. The NTSB is leading the investigation into the accident."

Roush, an experienced pilot, suffered serious injuries in a plane crash near Talladega, Ala., in 2002. He was flying his P-51 aircraft when it crashed into a lake. Roush was unconscious and would have drowned, but he was pulled from the water by Larry Hicks, a retired marine who lived nearby and saw the crash.

Roush owns several aircraft, including a World War II-vintage P-51 Mustang.

Terry Blount a senior writer for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Tony Stewart Fan Book

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In just six short years Carl Edwards has had a storied NASCAR career, moving his way from the Craftsman Truck Series to NASCAR’s elite Sprint Cup Series, winning a Nationwide Series Championship and chalking up numerous wins in between. He is considered one of NASCAR’s most voracious competitors.

In the first 10 years of his career, Carl Edwards accumulated two NASCAR-sanctioned track championships, three Rookie-of-the-Year honors, and over 75 feature wins while racing on both dirt and pavement tracks across the country. The drive and determination that Edwards showed in those 10 years launched him into a successful NASCAR career that continues into 2009 as he sets out to compete full-time in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series for the fifth consecutive year.

Racing is not new to Edwards. His father, Carl Edwards, Sr., has been racing modified stock cars and USAC midgets for four decades, accumulating over 200 feature wins at several Midwestern tracks. Carl Edwards, Jr. began his racing career in 1993 at the age of 13 driving four-cylinder cars.

In 1994, following his father’s winning ways, Edwards won four feature races running on the tracks around Missouri and Illinois in the four-cylinder series. Throughout the 1995 and 1996 seasons he collected 14 additional feature wins in the four-cylinder series.

In 1997 Edwards switched to the dirt circuit to compete in the NASCAR Dirt modified division. In 1998 he won Rookie-of-the-Year honors in the modified division at Capital Speedway in Holt Summit, Mo.

Edwards picked up the pace in 1999 as he competed in the Modified (two-barrel) division and the Dirt Late Model class at Capital Speedway. He gathered 13 feature wins in the Modified division on his way to the NASCAR Track Championship.

The NASCAR Weekly Racing Series was Edwards’ next challenge in 2000. In the Pro-Modified (four-barrel) division, Edwards won 13 feature races, was Rookie-of-the-Year, and claimed the Capital Speedway Track Championship. Looking for additional challenges in 2000, he also competed in three Sportsman division races at California, Mo., and Capital Speedway – winning all three races.

Edwards won nine out of the 11 Baby Grand division races he competed in at Indianapolis, Ind., Tucson, Ariz., Lebanon, Mo., and Moberly, Mo. in 2001. He also ran five of the seven USAC Silver Crown Series pavement races. He competed at Richmond, Va., Indianapolis, Ind., Phoenix, Ariz., and Irwindale, Calif. He continued gaining valuable experience as he achieved his best finish in 15th place at Richmond. In 2003, he earned a podium finish with a third place at IRP in his only USAC race of the year.

Edwards continued to compete in the USAC Series in 2002, making eight starts. He ran seven NASCAR Craftsman Truck races for MB Motorsports, where he earned a top-10 finish at Kansas. He also captured the 2002 Baby Grand National Championship.

In 2003, the Columbia, Mo., native joined Roush Fenway Racing to drive the No. 99 Superchips Ford F-150 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He had an amazing rookie season, capturing three wins, one pole, 13 top-five finishes, 15 top-10 finishes and the Raybestos Rookie-of-the-Year award. He finished the season eighth in the point standings. Edwards kicked off the 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck season with a bang by winning the season-opener at Daytona. He followed that up with a win at Kansas in July and captured a third win at Bristol. In August, Edwards got the nod from Jack Roush to move up to the NEXTEL Cup Series to finish the season in the No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Taurus, as well as the remaining races on the truck schedule. Edwards made his debut in the Cup car at Michigan bringing home a 10th-place finish. Edwards joined Matt Kenseth, Rusty Wallace, Terry Labonte and Kyle Petty as one of only five active NEXTEL Cup drivers to finish inside the top 10 in their first career Cup start. Edwards went on to finish fourth in the overall Craftsman Truck Series standings while recording five top-10 finishes in his 13 NEXTEL Cup starts, including a third-place effort at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

In 2005 Edwards conquered both the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series full-time. Edwards was once again named Raybestos Rookie-of-the-Year, this time in the Busch Series, while taking home five wins, four poles, 15 top-five and 21 top-10 finishes in 34 starts. Edwards also led 525 total laps in the No. 60 Charter Ford and finished third in the overall point standings.

Edwards made a big impression on fans, media and competitors alike when he took to the track in 2005 in the NEXTEL Cup Series. Edwards accrued four wins, 13 top-five and 18 top-10 finishes while finishing third in the overall point standings and giving champion Tony Stewart a run for his money. (Edwards technically tied for second with teammate Greg Biffle, just 35 points behind first, but with six race wins Biffle took second). Edwards set numerous records in the No. 99 Ford winning his first Cup and Busch races at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March, becoming the only driver in history to achieve that feat. Edwards went on to sweep both Cup races at Atlanta, a track first. For win number two in the Cup Series, Edwards amazed fans when he won at the first Pocono race, becoming only the second driver to win in his first visit to the tri-oval. Richard Petty was the first when he won the inaugural Cup race there. Then in November, Edwards once again made his mark in history by becoming the first driver to win at Texas Motor Speedway under the lights in the inaugural Dickie’s 500. Truly a Cinderella year for the rookie driver.

While running his second full schedule in both the NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series, the 2006 season proved to be one of Edwards’ biggest challenges. After a sluggish start in the Cup Series he rebounded and completed the season with a very strong finish. While in contention for 11th place in the points, Edwards finished in the top 10 in seven of his last 10 races, finishing the season with 10 top-five and 20 top-10 finishes. This was an outstanding rebound that enabled Edwards to finish 12th overall in the NEXTEL Cup point standings. On the Busch side, Edwards had a great run as he moved up one spot from 2005 and finished second in the overall Busch Series standings with four wins, three poles, 15 top-five and 25 top-10 finishes.

In 2007 Edwards’ dedication and fortitude kept him atop the leader board for 33-consecutive weeks in the Busch Series. Edwards, claimed four wins, 15 top-five and 21 top-10 finishes in the No. 60 Scotts Ford on his way to claiming his first career NASCAR title. Edwards won the Busch Series driver’s championship by 618 points and his title marked the second Busch Series championship for Roush Fenway Racing and the final championship under the Busch colors as the series became the Nationwide Series in 2008.

Edwards made the “Chase” in the NEXTEL Cup Series. Edwards showed consistency all year but a competitive field forced Edwards and the No. 99 Office Depot team to fight for every spot on the track. On his way to a ninth-place finish in the point standings, Edwards chalked up three wins, 11 top-five and 15 top-10 finishes.

Heading into the 2008 season Edwards was deemed a top contender in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series. For the third time in four years Edwards made the “Chase” in the Sprint Cup Series. Edwards showed consistency all through the season, but was spectacular in the “Chase” by winning three of the last four races, and extending the speculation on the championship until the last race of the year, narrowly losing to Jimmie Johnson by 69 points. Edwards claimed the second-place spot fighting for every point as he chalked up a personal high nine wins, 19 top-five and 27 top-10 finishes.

Edwards also claimed the second spot in the overall standings in the Nationwide Series. He finished just 21 points behind series leader Clint Bowyer. This was the fourth-closest finish in Nationwide Series history. The No. 60 team finished 2008 with four poles, seven wins, 19 top fives and 22 top 10s. Edwards plans to tackle both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series full-time again in 2009 for the fifth consecutive time.

Edwards topped off 2008 by winning the Tag Heuer Top Racecar Driver of the Year Award and the National Motorsports Press Association voted him as the Richard Petty Driver of the Year Award. Edwards was also the choice for 2008 NASCAR.COM Driver of the Year.

When he’s not on-track, Edwards enjoys spending time in Columbia, Mo., with his family and friends. Edwards enjoys riding motorcycles, working out and reading. He is also passionate about his philanthropic activities which include working with charities such as Speedway Children’s Charities, Dream Factory and Victory Junction Gang Camp.

--For more information about Carl, please visit www.CarlEdwards.com.
--To join Carl's Official Fan Club, please visit www.RoushFenwayFanSite.com.

Kurt Busch Hoping To Extend “Stronghold” At New Hampshire
June 22, 2010


LOUDON, N.H. (June 22, 2010) – Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch has found somewhat of a competitive stronghold on the flat 1.058-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway in recent years, recording a win and posting a 4.0 average finish during the last four races there. The 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion and three-time winner at NHMS is focused on keeping that successful streak going in this weekend’s LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at the “Magic Mile.”

“We have had some really good races at Loudon the last couple of years, but the statistics don’t really tell the whole story of what happened there for our Miller Lite Dodge Team,” said Busch, who has a 14.0 average start and 14.3 average finish in his 18 total starts at NHMS. “We used good pit strategy and won a rain-shortened race there in (June) 2008 and finished third in the rain-shortened race there last June.

“That race last June looked like it was going to come down to a battle between us and the 24 car (Jeff Gordon), but the rain came and the 20 car (Joey Logano) snookered them a win,” said Busch, now sixth in the Sprint Cup point standings after a late-race run-in with Gordon on Sunday at Infineon Raceway left him with a flat tire and relegated him to a 32nd-place finish. “We’ve had really strong Miller Lite Dodge Chargers there the last two years and we’re hoping to be as strong or even stronger this time around.”

Busch thoroughly enjoys racing on the one-mile oval and is quick to compare it to the other flat one-mile venue on the circuit.

“I think New Hampshire reminds me a little bit of Phoenix,” Busch said of Phoenix International Raceway, where he saw his first big-league race as a fan while growing up in Las Vegas. “I’ve always liked Phoenix and the racing there a lot and have had quite a few miles around that track. The way that you have to slide a car around on a flat track like that requires a loose setup and that’s the way I like to set my cars up.

“We know that we’ll really have our work cut out for us this weekend,” said Busch, who now trails points leader Kevin Harvick by 216 points, but has a 243-point “buffer” over 13th-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. when looking at the current “Race to the Chase” scenario. “There’s always so much slipping and sliding and getting the forward bite we need is always so critical. Track position is really key and being up front on the restarts is so important.

“The track has always been slick on restarts and with double-file restarts; you have to keep in the back of your mind that you seem to always need several laps to get going. It can be horrendous if you’re stuck back in the pack on the restarts. The demands are such that you need your car to be strong on the long runs, but with the late-race restarts, you might need to focus on short runs as well.

“It’s a pretty tight pit road and you can get yourself in trouble in a hurry like we saw there in last fall’s race,” said Busch of his fate during last September’s Sylvania 300 at NHMS. “With all the varying pit strategies – two tires, four tires, and no tires – we did a fuel-only stop in that race. We got our car messed up when another car got into us when we were driving out of our box. That put us in the catch-up mode. We had a solid top-five car, but had to settle for a sixth-place finish.”

Busch is very much aware of the fact that the return to NHMS for the September race officially kicks off the 10-race Chase that determines which of 12 drivers wins the Sprint Cup title.

“The summer stretch is here and we run all these tracks and none of them are in the Chase with the exception of New Hampshire,” said Busch, who did the “Loudon Sweep” in claiming both NHMS wins during his successful run to the 2004 championship, the initial year of the Chase format. “So yes, New Hampshire is really important in that respect in that we’ll be coming back there for the first race of the Chase. I don’t think that you really pinpoint any of those races as a time when you just completely start focusing in on the points. It just sort of all blends in to where you hope that you’ve built up a cushion when it comes down to two or three (races) to go where you’re comfortable heading into the Chase.”

Busch and his Steve Paddington-led “Blue Deuce” team will be racing their “PRS-701” Miller Lite “Vortex” Dodge this weekend at New Hampshire. The car has been raced only once – in last October’s battle at Fontana, Calif. Busch started 24th and finished eighth in that race. Busch, Addington and crew tested with the car at the Milwaukee Mile on June 9 in preparation for this weekend’s battle at NHMS.

This weekend’s New Hampshire Motor Speedway action gets under way on Friday with practice set from 11:30 a.m. till 1:00 p.m. (live on Speed-TV). Qualifying for all 43 starting positions is set for Friday at 3:10 p.m. (live on Speed-TV & PRN Radio). Saturday’s schedule calls for practice from 9:00 a.m. till 9:50 a.m. (live on Speed-TV) and from 11:45 a.m. till 12:45 p.m. (live on Speed-TV). Sunday’s LENOX Industrial Tools 301 (301 laps, 318.46 miles) is scheduled to get the green flag at approximate

Carl Edwards Fan Book

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Kurt Busch to race Super Gas at Gatornationals

Kurt Busch will return to his drag racing roots during the 41st running of the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals March 11-14 at historic Gainesville Raceway.

The 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion is set to get behind the wheel of his rebuilt 1970 Dodge Challenger next weekend to compete against a field of between 70 and 90 veteran “Super Gas” racers who no doubt will be champing at the bit to line up against one of the biggest names in motorsports.

Busch will make a minimum of three “time trial” passes on Thursday March 11 and the field will return Friday morning, pair off, and begin eliminations.

“Gainesville is one of the marquee events on the NHRA calendar and it’s a privilege to compete against the best Sportsman racers out there,” Busch said.

Super Gas is one of seven different Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series classes that will be contested at the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals. The LODRS is NHRA’s “sportsman” series that is home to a wide variety of racers from hobbyists to highly-competitive, highly-invested teams to young drivers with aspirations to move up to the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Busch bought the Dodge Challenger in 2008 and began the process of getting it into race shape in March of 2009. The car is powered by a stroked 6.1 liter Hemi, weighs 3000 pounds and puts out an incredible 1167 horsepower.

While Busch feels at home behind the wheel of No. 2 Penske Racing Dodge, he is aware that this will be a new and exciting environment for him.

“Sportsman racing is no different than any other type of racing, you need seat time. I spent over 30 hours at Roy Hill’s drag racing school, and have had two tests in my own Challenger, but that’s nowhere compared to the seat time many of these guys have in their own cars. We are going to go out there and do our best competing against these talented Sportsman racers,” Busch said.

Busch’s love affair with drag racing began back in the early 1990’s when he met a pair of Las Vegas based NHRA racers - George Marnell, a Pro Stock racer, and Dave Bush, a Super Comp competitor. And when Kurt began driving in the Sprint Cup Series for Penske Racing, he got to know NHRA Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon as they were both sponsored by Miller Lite.

He got the idea to compete in an NHRA event after taking part in the opening night of zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C. in September of 2008 and one of the rare off-weekends in the NASCAR schedule coincided with next weekend’s 41st running of the prestigious Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals.

Jamie McMurray Wins the 52nd Annual Daytona 500

Results from Daytona 500
1. 1. Jamie McMurray No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet
2. 2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. No. 88 Chevrolet
3. 3. Greg Biffle No. 16 Chevrolet
10. Juan Pablo Montoya No. 42 Target Chevrolet

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 14, 2010) - Jamie McMurray held off Dale Earnhardt Jr. during a second attempt at a green-white-checkered flag finish to win the 52nd running of the Daytona 500 for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates in the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet. The win came in McMurray’s first race back with owners Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates, making Ganassi the only team owner besides Roger Penske to win the Daytona 500, the Indianapolis 500 and the Rolex 24 At Daytona. In addition it becomes the fourth Daytona 500 win for the Dale Earnhardt organization which also captured victories with Michael Waltrip in 2001 and 2003 and with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in 2004.

Sunday’s race was long, lasting over six hours, with two red flag delays lasting two and a half hours to repair a pothole in the asphalt between turns one and two and two attempts at a green-white-checkered flag finish. McMurray spun his tires on the restart on Lap 207 but got a push down the front stretch and through the first turn from third-place finisher Greg Biffle. Securing the top spot from Kevin Harvick on the backstretch, McMurray led the final two laps.

The win delivered Chevrolet its 21st victory in the Daytona 500, a record among manufacturers.

Teammate Juan Pablo Montoya had a strong race car all night in the No. 42 Target Chevrolet. He led twice for a total of two laps and finished 10th.

This was McMurray’s fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. It was also his second for the team after winning in his just his second career start at Charlotte (Fall, 2002) - setting a modern era record - when he replaced Sterling Marlin in the No. 40 car.

NASCAR heads out west next week to compete at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA. The Auto Club 500 will take place Sunday, February 21st at 3:00 pm (ET). The race will air live on FOX and radio stations affiliated with MRN.

January Snowfall

A winter storm is an event in which the dominant varieties of precipitation are forms that only occur at cold temperatures, such as snow or sleet, or a rainstorm where ground temperatures are cold enough to allow ice to form (i.e. freezing rain). In temperate continental climates, these storms are not necessarily restricted to the winter season, but may occur in the late autumn and early spring as well. Very rarely, they may form in summer, though it would have to be an abnormally cold summer, such as the summer of 1816 in the Northeast United States of America. In many locations in the Northern Hemisphere, the most powerful winter storms usually occur in March^{[citation needed]} and, in regions where temperatures are cold enough, April.