Life at 3 miles per minute.

As my kids will confirm, I am not a fast driver; it’s probably one of the reasons I have not had a moving violation, but then again, I am probably just lucky. (There have been many times I should have had one.)

But there are some people who accel at high speed---and they have little fear of the repercussions. Whether it’s in the fast lane of any highway, on snowy streets, or just in general, going from point A to point B takes less time normally than I would travel it. One area where going fast is not only encouraged but expected is up at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI. During certain weekends, even the novice driver---those with your basic “normal” car---can go on the track and drive it as fast as they want. That happened this past weekend and I was there.

It’s funny to see an Indy car driving next to a Porsche---but even funnier when the car is an Impala. Yes, the same Impala I may have passed on the way up to the track---but this car is going to drive as fast as the driver can take it, and my car is going to be parked and I am going to take pictures. I know very little about cars; sure I have been driving for more than 35 years, but to me a car has 4 wheels, another in the trunk, and a steering wheel to make sure you stay on the road.

One thing I do know about race cars, not the Impala, is they travel at high rates of speed and if you are going to photograph them at 150+ MPH you have to get into a rhythm. Try and hold your camera in one spot and snap the picture and you will see the background and maybe the backside of the car. They go that fast. However, if you move the camera with the car, no not at 150 MPH, but at a quick rate, it’s actually pretty easy photo to take. I have never shot NASCAR or at the Indianapolis race track, but one day I am hoping to have photos of my day at Indy on “Snap.Shot.” or possibly another blog I am thinking about writing. (Yes, that’s a hint of what is in store in my future.)

The photo above was taken at Road America. I was standing on a wall to achieve the best vantage point. You could hear the cars before they made the turn, but it was not long until they had passed you. This car was travelling at approximately 140 MPH---it’s the area of the track right before a long straight away. (I only know this because I asked.) When I left the racetrack, I did look in my mirror to see if any of the Indy cars were in back of me---if they were, I would have tried to keep up with them, as long as they didn’t go 7 MPH over the speed limit!

Thanks for stopping by.