Blog Archives - Terry McGraw Photography

Rockford Speedway National Short Track Championship-Combined Final Day

9/30/2013

By the time we had gotten home from the Team Demolition Derby event and I cleaned the mud from my camera equipment, it was 2:30 a.m. Knowing that the actual racing didn't start at Rockford until 12:30 p.m., I (Terry) knew I could get some sleep, have a good breakfast and drive up to Rockford in time to catch some of the practice prior to the actual event starting. However, what I didn't know was, unlike Joliet, Rockford was hit with a persistent rain which postponed the Saturday night event! The plan was to schedule Saturday's events on Sunday morning followed by the actual Sunday's events. I discovered this when I checked my email on my phone and saw a double header scheduled for Sunday. I threw my gear in the car immediately and drove the 45 miles to the Speedway. I arrived at the conclusion of the first race of the day. The next race up was the Illini Midget cars. I wasn't disappointed when the No. 8 car lost control, hit the wall, pirouetted, rolled several times before coming to a stop upside down. The driver walked away relatively unharmed. The rest of the day was just as eventful with some great racing. The Big 8 Late Model Series final was won by Jon Reynolds Jr. It was one of the best races I had witnessed all year. "Fast Eddie" Hoffman won the Super Late Model final. Click here to see all the official results. Prior to the Super Late Model event, Rich Bickle was honored with his induction to Rockford Speedway's Walk of Fame. Rich was the defending champion of the race. It was good to see many of the Rockford "regulars" : Jimmy A., Doug Hornickel, Brett Moist, Mark and several others.

Click here to see the images from all of Sunday's racing.

Click here to see Terry and Janet's complete portfolio.

Janet and I are contemplating attending the Route 66 Swap Meet & Show 'n Shine next Sunday at the Route 66 Raceway. It looks like a fun event. Click here to see the particulars on the event. My next race on the schedule is the Rockford Speedway Bahama Bracket scheduled to run October 11-13. Click here for more information.

Team Demolition Derby Round 5- 9_28_13

9/30/2013

All day Saturday the weather reports were for rain starting between 6-7:00 pm in Joliet. With that being said, Janet and I packed the cameras and headed to the Route 66 Dirt Oval for Round 5 (Championship Round) of Team Demolition Derby. The theme for the night was "Banging for Boobs" in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It turned out to be a beautiful night and no rain until we were already half way home. It was a capacity crowd and everyone was excited tor the Championship to be determined. The racing was great with a couple of really scary moments when a car caught fire. The driver bailed out, but was engulfed in the flames. He did the infamous "drop and roll" and was quickly attended to by track rescue personnel. There were no serious injuries. Later, after a nasty crash, a driver was pinned in a car. After a highly, tense 20-25 minutes, he was successfully removed from the car by track rescue personnel. Again, fortunately, there were no serious injuries. Orange Crush won the event and the Tournament of Destruction Championship. Congratulations to the entire Orange Crush team and the Team Demolition Derby Tournament of Destruction for another successful season. Janet and I can't wait until next year's Tournament to begin!

Click here to see all the events of the evening.

Click here to view Janet and Terry's complete portfolio.

Rockford Speedway-National Short Track Championships-First Day (Friday)

9/28/2013

Yesterday was a great day of racing at the Rockford Speedway. It marked the start of the 48th Annual National Short Track Championships. I (Terry) got there about 2:30 pm and immediately starting shooting. A little later, while watching practice, the No. 20 got into the wall in turn 3, losing a tire, spinning around and hitting the wall again. The car almost got on its roof. The driver walked away unhurt. We raced late into the evening with Alex Papini winning the Weekly Warrior Late Model main event. Matt Lundberg winning the Sportsman main event, Nick Cina Jr. winning the Short Tracker main event, Terrance Robinson winning the Roadrunner main event, Nick Schmidt winner the Hornet vs. Bandit Challenge and finally, Josh Thiering winning the 15 lap Figure 8 feature event. There was enough thrills and spills to keep everyone on the edge of their seats. The racing will continue today (Saturday) and finish tomorrow (Sunday). To see more images from all the day's action, please click here. Janet and I will be the Route 66 Raceway Dirt Oval today (Saturday) for the finals of the Team Demolition Derby. Tomorrow, I will be back at Rockford Speedway for the completion of the National Short Track Championships. For complete details of the Rockford schedule click here. If you are in the Rockford area, I would highly recommend attending the races today which include the Big 8 Series, Illini Midgets, Super Late Models, Hobby Stox and others. If you are in the Joliet area and you have your tickets (they announced a sellout) then please look for Janet and I at the Dirt Oval. Have your photo taken and then come back to the website and look for it.

2012 NHRA Lucas Oil Series and Rockford Speedway

9/27/2013

As we are continuing to develop the website, I (Terry) am continuing to review images from past events and posting them. I just uploaded over 100 images from last year's (2012) NHRA Lucas Oil Series event held in early June at Route 66. Click here to view the pictures. If you have any questions or requests about an event that we may have photographed and don't see it posted, please email me. We will look for it and respond as to whether or not we have it

My cameras are all packed and early this afternoon, I'm off to the Rockford
Speedway. Due to my Chicagoland Speedway/Route 66 Raceway schedule, it's been a while since I've been to Rockford. I'm really looking forward to seeing Gregg McKarns, Jim Ambruoso and the entire Rockford Speedway staff. If you enjoy racing, I would highly recommend taking some time and come see a great show. Rockford's shows are extremely well run with little down time. They do a great job!

Rockford Speedway, National Short Track Championships

9/26/2013

Terry, on Friday and Sunday, will be at the Rockford Speedway in Loves Park, Il. for the 48th Annual National Short Track Championships. This a premier event for short-trackers from all over the Midwest. There will be three days of racing in all classes, Road Runners, Late Models, Super Late Models, etc. Its an event that Terry has had circled on the calendar all season. He would like to be there all three days, however, there is a scheduling conflict with the Route 66 Dirt Oval Round 5 (Championship Round) of the Team Demolition Derby. It will be a very busy weekend of motorsports photography. We have added over 200 images from last year's event. Click here to view the expanded coverage. To obtain complete information on the weekend's events and schedule click here. Terry hopes to see as many of you as possible for a great weekend of racing. Check back throughout the weekend and Monday for the latest images.

For Terry and Janet's complete portfolio click here.

Team Demolition Derby Final Round

9/22/2013

This upcoming Saturday will be the final round of the Team Demolition Derby season. It has been a memorable season with the introduction of the Real Steel team. They won two events this summer. There have been thrills, spills and crashes galore. We look forward to an exciting event. Janet will cover the pre-race party, the beauty pageant, fan interaction and Victory Lane. Look for Janet and her "funky" colored shoes (we have a major disagreement on how "cute" they are). Get your photo taken and then come back to the website to look for it. Terry will add a few of the other activities and the on-track races and crashes. If you haven't already purchased your tickets, don't wait too long as both the previous events sold out. We hope to see everyone there!

Click here for Round One pictures.

Click here for Round Two pictures.

Click here for Round Three pictures.

Click here for Round Four pictures.

Click here for Terry and Janet's complete portfolio.

Also this weekend is the Rockford Speedway National Short Track Championships. Hopefully I will be able to attend Friday and Sunday's events. Check back to see the action.

Click here to see some of last year's action.

The NASCAR Race for the Chase

9/21/2013

This is the first chance I've (Terry) had to get back to the blog since a week ago Wednesday. Since I last wrote, we were heading into our official setup day (Thursday). Little did we know of the NASCAR drama to unfold over the next few days. I won't go into the details (they can be found on any NASCAR racing website). But needless to say, it was unprecedented. On Thursday before I started work, I was able to wander around and take a few shots. Later in the day, I was temporarily reassigned to photography duty for 'NASCAR's Next' (a group of 13 young, up-and-coming drivers). They visited Joliet Fire Station 3, which is adjacent to the Speedway. This fire station received permission from Richard Childress Racing to use the stylized number 3 on their station along with displays of the Dale Earnhardt/Richard Childress race car. Richard also sent memorabilia to the station that will be displayed in a museum setting within the station. The drivers got to don fire apparel and use the fire hoses. While I was covering 'NASCAR's Next', Janet shot the TV show 'Sports Talk Live With Dave Kaplan'. Along with Track President Scott Paddock, the guests were Kenny Wallace, James Buescher and Ryan Newman.

Click here for Thursday's pictures.

Friday was an extremely busy day that did not allow for photography. Kyle Busch won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. Saturday, we were able to photograph some of the pre-race activities, primarily the skydivers delivering the United States Flag. Again, Kyle Busch dominated the Nationwide race by leading 195 out of 200 laps!

Click here for Saturday's pictures.

Sunday opened with threatening skies. The start was delayed due to a wet track. The race started but was halted after 109 laps. The red flag was displayed for 5 hours 10 minutes and 21 seconds, but who was counting. The day race became a night race. At the finish, it was Matt Kenseth winning with Kyle Busch finishing second. Very close to the trifecta! I was able to get out during one race segment to grab some shots. It was an excellent start to the Chase.

Click here for Sunday's pictures.

Click here for Terry and Janet's complete portfolio.

The Calm Before the Storm

9/11/2013

We arrived at the Speedway around 2:15 p.m. with the motorhome. After a quick setup, it was off to the Media Center to assess the work to be completed tomorrow. Terry completed some preliminary work and then decided to take a stroll around the infield to photograph some of the behind-the-scenes setup activities. The night before all the fans and teams arrive is incredibly peaceful. Its not often you can call a Super Speedway peaceful

Click here to see the images.

Click here to see the complete portfolio.

NASCAR Makes It an Even More Eventful Week

9/10/2013

As if hosting the first Race in the Chase wasn't eventful enough, add all the controversy surrounding Richmond! It no doubt will be a busy week at Chicagoland Speedway. All the "Chasers" will probably make their way into the Media Center, along with any other announcements. As race fans know, Clint has already spoken with the media (ESPN). But I'm sure all the media are eager to talk to him further. The Media Center will be abuzz with activity.

We have the motorhome almost ready to go. We'll even be at the track on Monday morning (5:30a.m.). Mike Bagley will be broadcasting SiriusXM's "The Morning Drive" show from the Media Center. I hope everyone can make it out to the races!!

Team Demolition Derby and Race for the Chase

9/8/2013

We have just updated the Team Demolition Derby collection. We added Rounds 2 and 4. We also updated Round 3. Further updates may have to wait, as we start final preparations for the upcoming NASCAR's Race for the Chase.

While watching the racing from Richmond, Janet was organizing all our track boxes, which contain all our supplies for the week. We leave Wednesday morning for Chicagoland. Before we leave I have to download all NASCAR's media information and organize it for our desk. If you have never worked or been in a media center during a major NASCAR event, its something like an air traffic control center, organized chaos! Janet and I will not get a break from the start Friday morning until the start of the Nationwide race on Saturday. The action will be non-stop!

There are so many activities for the fans. Since 2001, I don't believe I have ever seen so many fan events planned. We have the Brantley Gilbert concert, Geico 400 National Anthem singer Dannielle Bradbery, Dollar General 300 powered by Coca Cola National Anthem singer Jim Cornelison, skydivers, fly-over, The FanZone, Champions Park, KidsClub, Track Walk, the souvenir midway area, etc. I hope everyone comes early and stays late. For those camping on the Speedway grounds, there will be a reserved fan viewing area outside Gate 5 (north side of the track) for the NASCAR Hauler Parade as it arrives at the Speedway, which should happen around 6:00 pm on Thursday. Here's to a great weekend event. We will provide updates throughout the weekend and may even be able to post a few images.