(By Greg Rourke) – Back in the mid 1960’s our babysitter’s boyfriend would bring me his old copies of Hot Rod magazine. Drag racing coverage would often show what equipment the photographer used as well as the camera settings. They used Hasselblads back then, I had no idea what they were or how expensive they were when I asked for (but did not receive) one for Christmas. That planted the seed that being a drag racing photographer must be the best job in the world.
Fast forward to 1975. Dad had taken me to Oswego Drag Raceway a few times. The State of Illinois had unwisely just given me a drivers license, and I was being allowed my first unsupervised trip to the track. I still didn’t have a Hasselblad for some reason, but Dad let me take his prized Bell and Howell Electric Eye 127 camera and one roll of Kodak Ektachrome slide film, 12 exposures. Two rules: The family 1969 Chevrolet Townsman station wagon better not come home with any shoe polish on the windows, and Don’t Break Dad’s Camera.
On this particular Sunday The Big O had many of the usual racers, but also a Pinto funny car. It was called Rough Rider, this car later was owned by Midwest racer Rocky Ausec as the first Solid Rock funny car. There was a guy who always brought two mid 50’s Studebakers, one called Sweet Misery, the other Maybe Next Time. If I recall one was big block Chevy powered, the other big block Ford. A 57 Chevy called Deceiver was later spotted by me in a local junkyard, minus driveline. The Incredible Hulk 1966 Comet was there. This car is still around in largely as raced condition, rumored to have been a race car since new.
One can see Oswego’s fairly steep uphill burnout box. A couple guys would hold the sides of the car while heating the tires to keep it in the water. Try pulling off that stunt at an NHRA event.
On this day I learned a few things. Don’t shoot directly into the sun was one. A fixed lens box camera with no settings was no good for shooting the action more than 10 feet away. Lastly, something that sticks with me to this day…don’t let a camera strap near the car door when closing it. Yep, I dropped Dad’s camera and broke it. It also ruined four of the images when the film was exposed to sunlight, so I ended up with eight shots to show for my days work.
Mom and Dad are both gone now, I ended up with all Dad’s slides, including these which I’d forgotten about. 127 film produced square images, these were scanned from slides. I found another camera like Dad’s on eBay a few years ago so I bought it. 127 film is no longer produced so it’s just a knick knack. And the day Brian emailed me to say he had credentials for an event and asked if I could shoot it showed me photographing drag racing is a great job.
Awesome memories..I hung out at Detroit Dragway back when I was in my early teens, a borrowed pentax 35mm camera hanging from my neck. I have been trying to relocate some of the pictures taken back then. Your shots reminded me of my old pics..
That Studie is tits.
For me it was the NASCAR sanctioned strip in Milton,Vermont. It was the mid-60’s when I saw Shirley in her B/D, Big raced there once I believe and I saw Don Gay’s GTO also. I was there the day that the Little Yellow Wagon wheelstander (Ford) rolled along the knife edge of the guard rail. I wonder where those pictures are now………