(Words and Photos by Charles Wickam) -Looking back on the year, 2012 was a time of highs and lows for me in photography. The year started off pretty well with the purchase of a newer faster camera to try to step up my game for the coming year. My first event was a race in Pasadena, Texas at the Flat Track Nationals, instantly throwing my camera in harms way as you can see by the first photo. I was standing directly behind a winged mini sprint car and got pelted with dirt and mud. Not to bright on my part but I never claimed to be a sane individual. This was followed by a number of local car shows and cruise nights:

The end of march brought the ADRL tour to town. I ditched out on work for Friday to take in the event, which brought out a light crowd in both driver entries and fan participation. This was shocking to me since the ADRL showcases some of the best door slammer racing you will see in the country. At this event I was able to obtain a new lense to shoot further down the track than I normally do and some of the photos really jumped out at me but this one just was over the top, probably my best of the weekend. It takes a whole other kind of man to unicycle at well over 100mph :

April came along with the chance to photograph a National NHRA event. For guys into automotive photography this is the pinnacle of picture taking. I was given the chance to go out on the wall and stand side by side with the best of the best, people like Roger Richards, Richard Shute, and Mark Rebilas and for 3 solid days. I wore myself out going back and forth  all over Royal Purple Raceway trying my best to capture everything I could since what could be my first and only shot to do this sort of thing. I met some incredible people, found out there are things I can’t take pictures of, and there’s a certain protocol that goes with shooting a major event like this. I was able to chat with Hector Arana Sr and Jr for a few minutes Sunday morning before eliminations. We talked about the PSM class, Harley Davidson and a couple other things. Just as I was leaving he asked if I wouldn’t mind taking a photo of him and his son. Woah! Really? I got asked by one of the biggest class acts of the sports to take his photo and send it to him? WOW!

But to summarize 3 days of being in a Nitro Induced coma it is something I will never forget, its something that’s impossible for me to put into words, being able to go into teams pits and take pics, talk to crew and drivers, walk the staging lanes and to stand on the wall and shoot the most powerful racing machines on the planet. It was the balls.

June came and a note from our fearless leader Mr Lohnes fell out of the sky telling me that he was going to be announcing during the Power Tour stop in Arlington, TX and asked if I was going to make it, well originally I wasn’t, BUT it is Powertour so I decided to make the 4 ½ hour trek north to hang out with some friends and make some new ones. I was able to meet Bret Voelkel for the first time, one the ultimate car guys you will ever meet, and after being invited into his rv for breakfast and meeting former wrestling star and now TV host Bill Goldberg (im a big fan of him, btw) since he was in the RV, too, the day was off to a good start! Seeing Bret behind the wheel of his ’33 Factory Five hot rod, I saw a look that I saw just a couple months before that day, the same look I saw in Antron Browns eyes, a different kind of focus and determination behind the wheel and being out on a somewhat unproven car, third time out I believe, and he put on a incredible showing –

The following months work took over my life with working 60-68 hours a week my picture taking became almost non-existent but then November rolled around and word on the street that a couple guys who raced Hot Rods Drag Week were going to be at a event in Houston. I was able to get that weekend off. Saturday morning I was in a daze seeing such cars as Jeff Lutz’s ’57 Chevy and Larry Larson’s  ’66 chevy II and others. The day’s magic moment came at tail end of racing as Jeff Lutz wanted to make a exhibition pass and then proceeded to click off a 6.90-second lap at 215mph. This was the quickest and fastest pass by a street legal car in North America and only one photographer was there trackside to capture it… ME…maybe it’s kind of big headed to say but it gives me bragging rights. All the DW competitors decided to go to dinner afterwards and seeing a handful of some of the fastest street legal at the gas station by the track I captured what is probably my favorite photo of the year. Then, to top it off I was able to get Jeff and Larry to take a few minutes out of their busy schedule to allow me to take a few pics of them with their cars.

What will 2013 bring? Hopefully some new events for me to attend and some I haven’t been to in a while, we’ll just have to wait and see. But I want to thank Brian and Chad for getting me past those velvet ropes and some of these events to be able to do what I do and bring to you all photos from those events!