Holley knows how to put on a party. LS Fest is in it’s fifth year, and this is my first year even paying attention to it, let alone actively covering one. It’s not overwhelming like SEMA can be, it’s very do-able, but it’s not like a evening at the dragstrip, either. Brian was in the tower all day every day, and Chad was only in the state long enough to host the engine swap challenge. My first priority was photography, and as usual, anything else that was needed…the perks of being the young guy on the totem pole. And in this job, it’s nothing to bitch about, because some of those jobs can be really cool. “Go cover the 3S Challenge for a while!” Okay, boss!

Friday was not a good work day. I’m getting used to having seasonal allergies that I’ve never had before. Days before, I hadn’t slept much, and Friday, I hadn’t slept at all. And I know it showed in my writing, because I read some of the comments (yes, I know you guys think I’m full of shit on the Satellite story, and while I’m aware of the differences between a waste gate and a blow-off valve, it was early in the freaking morning and I was a zombie getting ready for a long day…mistakes were made.) Somehow I managed to pull myself together and wandered all over Beech Bend, shooting enough pictures to kill off the camera’s battery while taking rest breaks with Brian in the tower to keep cool. Except my unfortunate turn on the dyno and the moment the drift-prepared RX7 slammed ass-backwards into the concrete, I was on full autopilot. I went home early, dropped some melatonin and crashed. If I was going to do LS Fest any justice, I needed sleep. 

The next morning, fresh from a coma, I got back to work hard. The temperatures, which had been as hot as St. Louis had been for the PSCA race, had come down enough to be bearable and I had a second battery charging up. It was the day to attend if you only picked one day. The racing was awesome and constantly running, cars were screaming their lungs out on the dyno, Brian was screaming his soul out over the sound system as the cars were making runs, and I was bouncing across the property, from the dragstrip to the autocross course to the show and shine, with a quick jaunt into the engine swap challenge just to see Chad working the crowd like the master he is. As the sun set the cones were picked up and the drifting began. While I liked my position for autocross, I really wanted to be in the center of the track area for the drifting. Media had been receiving a neon-yellow fluorescent vest to wear, but they had ran out (and I, hating the vest, had handed mine off to a guy who could use it more along the dragstrip.) So I ran out once a couple of people with cameras were out there and started shooting when the action started. We were doing fine up until they paused the action and sent one poor dude out to the center of the area with a handful of neon-yellow LS Fest staff shirt, ordering us to have them on so the drivers could see us. I kept mine.

One of the other photogs took his staff shirt, turned it into a turban, looked at us, grinned and said “#turban_media”. From that moment forward shooting the drift event went from cool to awesome. I was tracking cars and getting some great shots, stuff I didn’t expect to get. The turban kid had his camera on a 3 foot pole and was chasing after cars like it was a calisthenitcs exercise. Another guy had a four-rotor camera copter hovering over the track…I can only imagine the shots he got, and the whole time the drivers were balls-out and the crowds were insane, cheering and yelling. It was exactly what I want a car event to be. After the sun went down I went back up to the tower to watch Brian finish off announcing the drags when I heard the drift cars fire off again. I looked outside and the RX7 that had mashed itself into a crumpled can was back on the track, drifting like nothing was wrong. That level of commitment was awesome to see.

Sunday morning, by comparison, was cooler, moodier and more low-key after Saturday night’s party scene. As I parked the Imperial behind Holley’s trailer I was greeted by the sounds of a service being performed under the tents where the engine swap challenge had been the day prior. I climbed up to the announcer’s booth and tried to get a few stories in before the racing started. While I got pictures, I spent Sunday studying how Brian works…not just in the tower, but in general. Chad can be a little manic at work (that’s a good thing), but Brian is the pure professional: always knows when to hit the mic, has knowledge I’ll never know ready to go, is nearly telepathic about what’s going on at the track and makes concentrated efforts to keep the crowds engaged, the sponsors announced and the promoters happy at the same time. It’s a gift and I hope some of it rubs off, because after seeing all aspects of him in action I felt a little…I don’t know, less. 

The racing season is starting it’s wind-down into Fall, and things will be slowing down a little between now and the next big event on my list, SEMA. Luckily, I’ve got practice there, so I’m not worried. Meanwhile, I get to hold down the fort while Brian and Chad work Drag Week this week. The difference between the apprentice and the professionals? I’ll upload stories like normal. Brian will upload stories while on the road following hundreds of cars on Drag Week.