Scenes From The Racetrack

I went to watch my cousin Chris race his vintage Fiat Spyder 124 yesterday.

He's been coming here to race in June for a few years now but this was the first time I've been able to go.  I've watched many Nascar races on TV but had never seen an actual car race live before, it was quite exciting.

Chris and several of his friends who drive similar (Fiat) cars park together in what they call the paddock.  They share tools and parts and advice, and lend each other a hand when repairs are needed. We were introduced to his group before the race and got a chance to check out the cars up close.

Here's Chris getting ready to head out to the race track, with my mom, my cousin and my aunt to wish him luck.

I learned it's not always easy to photograph racing cars.  Sometimes you get a good shot of a bunch of them:

Sometimes a clear shot of the one you want, like this pretty turquoise car that was my personal favourite:

But sometimes you get this:

or this!

The race was at least 3/4 over when the pace car drove by.

and the yellow caution flag came out, indicating there was trouble on the track.

We knew something had happened but we didn't know what, since we could only see part of the track from our vantage point.  The guys from Chris' group of friends who weren't racing quickly realized that one of their team members hadn't driven by with the rest of the racers who were still circling the track at a much slower pace, which meant his car was probably involved in whatever accident had brought out the caution flag.  The race ended and we headed back to the paddock, arriving just as the damaged car was being brought back on the tow truck.

Luckily, the driver was okay but of course, he was quite frustrated and disappointed by what had happened to his car.

Not everyone had a bad day, this little fellow seemed to be enjoying himself!

All in all, it was a lot of fun. Many thanks to Chris for inviting me along.  It was fun to spend some quality time with the family at the racetrack!