All posts in nascar

07May

let’s go racin’ boys

In nascar by b murf / May 7, 2008 / No Comments

Here is the final batch of my photos taken of the Dan Lowry 400 NASCAR race from this past weekend. After these, we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming.

I’ve done a few laps on the Richmond International Raceway, but I’m fairly certain that all the cars are supposed to face the same direction. Maybe someone should give Juan Pablo Montoya a head’s up.

Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne battle for position on the track, and the love of fans off of it. Oddly, my friend Kurt Krol owns this shirt. None of us have the heart to take it away from him.

Red Bull car driver A.J Allmeninger shoots fire at his pit crew, in hopes of teaching them to work faster during pitstops.

NAPA Toyota driver Michael Wiltrip and Kellogg’s driver Casey Mears can be apart no longer.

Army driver Mark Martin pulls into the pits one final time during the Dan Lowry 400. Martin finished the race in third place.

(photos by Brian Murphy)


07May

rubbin’ is racing

In nascar by b murf / May 7, 2008 / No Comments

Here is a small sample of some of my photos taken from this past weekend’s Dan Lowry 400 NASCAR race.

Denny Hamlin, of Joe Gibbs Racing, started in first place and led for nearly the entire Dan Lowry 400. Unfortunately, he ran into some tire trouble with less than 20 laps to go and had to settle for a 24th place finish.

Fellow Joe Gibbs driver Tony Stewart fared a little better than Hamlin, starting in 15th place and earning a fourth-place finish.

Two of the most popular drivers in NASCAR, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon, fight for positioning during the race. Earnhardt Jr. came within for laps of winning the Dan Lowry 400 and breaking his 72-race winless streak.

I don’t know a ton about NASCAR, but I’m fairly sure sparks are a bad thing. That would probably explain why Johnny Sauter is pulling the Haas Automation Chevrolet in for an unscheduled pitstop.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a diehard Redskins fan, and for that, we love him. Plus, he’s driving the Army National Guard car, so he’s patriotic and a ‘Skins fan. Seriously, how could anyone root against this guy?

(photos by Brian Murphy)


05May

shake and bake

In murf, nascar by b murf / May 5, 2008 / 4 Comments
(photos by my wife)


“America is all about speed. Hot, nasty, bad-ass speed.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

Let me start off by saying that this is a D.C.-themed sports blog. The focus is, and will always be, on anything and everything pertaining to the District’s sports franchises. Having said that, from time to time we might wander off the beaten path just a little bit.

This past weekend, I hit the road down to the Richmond International Raceway to shoot photos of The Dan Lowry 400 race Saturday night. The way I look at it, Redskins Hall of Fame head coach Joe Gibbs has a NASCAR team, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a diehard ‘Skins fan, so we’re justified in taking a “Ricky Bobby” moment or two on a slow news day. Which transitions nicely to this –
Hey Jeff Gordon, “if you ain’t first, you’re last.”

I don’t personally have anything against Gordon, and I’m not enough of a NASCAR fan to put him in the same category as the hated Dallas Cowboys or the Pittsburgh Penguins, but I was able to do something he wasn’t this weekend — be the lead car on the Richmond International Raceway.


That’s right, when no one was looking, I snuck out onto the track and did two laps around the raceway. The best part, we had already been stopped by a security guard (who we’ll refer to from here on out as Roscoe P. Coltrane). As soon as we came through the tunnel to actually enter the infield area, Roscoe immediately appeared out of nowhere, honking his horn to flag us down. One of the individuals in the vehicle, whom (in keeping with the Dukes of Hazzard theme) we’ll refer to as Cooter, got out of the car and gave the Obi-Wan Kenobi “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for” speech and “Richmond’s finest” let us go with the understanding we’d take a quick look at the track and get out of there.

Well, “we’re just the good ol’ boys, and we’re never meaning no harm,” so we slowly cruised near pit road holding the camera out the window looking all innocent and tourist-y. We figured if he stayed there watching us, we’d snap a couple shots and get out of there, but thankfully, Roscoe didn’t let us down. He inexplicably vanished during the five or so minutes we were playing possum and that’s when we got the brilliant idea — let’s go racing!

So I took one final peak behind us to see if “Richmond’s finest” was anywhere nearby and after verifying that the coast was clear, steered the vehicle out onto the track at turn one as I hit the accelerator. We did two glorious laps (hovering around 65 miles per hour) and pulled into the pits. A quick Chinese fire drill later, and my wife was now driving. She did one lap around the track (never going more than 45 mph because she was bouncing between terrified and euphoric) and as we came around turn three I spotted a familiar foe.

Seeing us on the track after his specific orders against doing so did not sit well with Roscoe, who at this point was hauling ass to cut us off at the end of pit road. As luck would have it, we were able to make a sharp turn back into the pits and quickly head back into the infield while he was still tearing down towards turn one. Two quick left turns and we were speeding through the tunnel and off the premises before our good buddy was able to radio for help. Had we not been fortunate enough to see him as soon as we did, there’s no doubt that this story ends differently — most likely with the phrase, “and that’s how I spent the weekend in jail, your honor.”

A special thanks goes out to my wife, Cooter and Cletus (who was kind/dumb enough to let us use his vehicle for our joy-riding adventure, so that when Richmond security watches the surveillance video they’ll have his plates, not mine). Now I understand why people love NASCAR.

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