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DC Fan
7th of May 2009 (Thu), 18:51
A sunny day with a bit of wind to challenge the drivers and crews, and a busy day of practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This was a day of hard work in preparing for the opening of time trials.

http://www.kevinlillard.com/racing/20090507a1471.jpg

http://www.kevinlillard.com/racing/20090507a0348.jpg

http://www.kevinlillard.com/racing/20090507a0898.jpg

http://www.kevinlillard.com/racing/20090507a0314.jpg

http://www.kevinlillard.com/racing/20090507a1436.jpg

http://www.kevinlillard.com/racing/20090507a0334.jpg

http://www.kevinlillard.com/racing/20090507a1405.jpg
scfan
8th of May 2009 (Fri), 20:30
Nice shots. Who's in the National Guard car?
DC Fan
8th of May 2009 (Fri), 22:52
Dan Wheldon is back in the #4 for Panther Racing.
Chet
8th of May 2009 (Fri), 22:54
These are great. What kind of access did you have?
DC Fan
9th of May 2009 (Sat), 05:08
These are great. What kind of access did you have?

I bought a ticket and wandered around. No credential. :)

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has evolved so that nearly every place you go, there's a fence between you and the cars. However, with a long lens, you can get around that limitation.

There are some stands above the pits on the inside of the track that allow a view above the fence. Right behind the pits at track level, if you're lucky, you can get a decent view of drivers if you aim through the fence, although it requires sighting through narrow gaps between fans and crew members. There's a big area on the inside of the oval's first turn, opened up for the rebuilt road course, where you can get a clean view of the track if you have a very long lens - at least 300mm - and can work through a fence. A few grandstand locations also have brief views above fences, but those are most useful on practice and qualifying days when anyone can sit there, and less useful on race days when the stands are reserved seating.

Regardless of the location, you need to get used to the speeds. At the slowest point of the track, the slowest cars are running 215 miles per hour. You'll need to be smooth with panning motions and use higher shutter speeds than at other tracks.