I set out to photograph the day’s events with many concepts and themes in mind to help give shape to the magazine’s coverage of the event.

Classic Cars in Classic Places

Road Atlanta is a well-known circuit to racers and fans, and several parts of the track are instantly recognizable.  The esses, and Turn 5 are some of the most photographed places on the track.  There’s also a great likelihood the first Spec Renaults at the Runoffs (held at Road Atlanta during the early years of Spec Renault and SRF) were photographed coming through the same curves.

Capture the Classic Shape of the Car

As much as the track is recognizable to fans, the shape of the Spec Racer Ford (originally Spec Renault) is instantly recognizable to SCCA racing aficionados.

Big Fields and Close Racing

Two of the trademarks of Spec Racer Ford racing has been close races and large fields.  The large fields were created with the promise of close, affordable (relatively speaking) racing.  The close racing was the promise created by fielding absolutely equal cars for all competitors.

A Few Legends of the Sport and the Club

Elliot Forbes-Robinson (below) along with SCCA President Emeritus Nick Craw joined the field of competitors.

Remember the Reason Competitors are Here

And the Table of Contents page…

And of course the event report…

The scheduling for the ARRC helps create some improved photographic opportunities versus most races during the season. With the sun coming up later, and going down earlier, combined with nearly a full day of racing means the cars are on track during the best light of the day, the early morning and late afternoon.

The two photographs show the front straight and turn one in the early morning light, followed by the late afternoon light.

With the coverage I provide Sportscar Magazine from the event, I’m always looking for a different shot that can lead the article. I think some of my previous years I’ve had stronger concepts – but one was probably the best of the not-straight-racing photos in the set.

Interaction between the fans, track, and the cars (with a nice Porsche 914 included) as well as helping set the time and place.

The July cover is the “Get Involved” feature, and my photograph of the #74 ITA Acura Integra of Willie Phee (Alpharetta, Georgia) is dead center on the cover as part of the composite image.

Over this time, the race groups have generally grown with some exceptions. However, it looks like the gas prices have definitely had their impact on the distance racers are willing to drive. With gasoline last weekend right at the $4 mark in Georgia (and Diesel much higher) the price of competition has gone up. (Race fuel has hit more than $8 a gallon for certain grades.)

However, competition stayed strong on race day despite the smaller groups. A smaller Spec Racer Ford group ran with the production cars and still had a great show.

Formula Enterprises also had it’s own show within the faster formula car race.

If there is such a thing in the Southeast as Sports Car Racing royalty, it’s Jim Downing. Among Downing’s racing credits are wins at all of the major endurance races and a role in creation of the HANS device, and still seen regularly at Road Atlanta races.

There are concepts that I work every time, for every event at Road Atlanta. I shoot the Esses-Turn 5 area in many different ways – sometimes portrait, sometimes landscape, at different angles and varying shutter and aperture (depending on the angle). It’s a gorgeous part of the track.

I’ll also try to mix in something new. This photograph was from the start finish straight, just after the car passed under the (now) Yokohama bridge. With the elevation of the pit wall here, and the fast speeds the cars pull passing under the bridge, it makes for a really dramatically fast sweep of the lens to catch the action.

My photos from this event, the American Road Race of Champions, will appear in the January edition of Sportscar Magazine (the official magazine of the Sports Car Club of America). They usually do a feature piece on the event – which means an opening two page double truck image is needed. I try and come up with something different than just a picture of two cars racing. Ideally, I like to show some interaction between the cars and the spectators. This photo was taken from near turn five at Road Atlanta.

I’m also aiming to incorporate some time of year and time of day information to the photographs. Here, you can see the turning leaves and shadows from the trees across the track.

Another take of a car with leaves. This was taken from the opposite side of turn five from the photo above. I think this also illustrates the amount of elevation change at Road Atlanta.

Another view of turn five – this time the exit from turn five uphill towards turn six. It’s amazing all of the views possible in this one area of track.