Well, another season of drag racing has come and gone and as usual another record breaking exciting season it was. I got to attend
most of the events at all three Ontario tracks including, Grand Bend Motorplex, Toronto Motorsports Park and St Thomas Dragway as
well as both IHRA National Events held at Toronto Motorsports Park and Grand Bend Motorplex respectively. In doing so I was fortunate
enough to meet a great bunch of dedicated and talented guys that spend most of their free weekend time photographing one of the most
exciting series in motorsports. I met a lot of interesting people this year and was also again fortunate enough to shoot with the
Pro Modified Racing Association (PMRA) in Grand Bend, ON and thank Bruce Mehlenbacher, Director of Operations for the PMRA, for the
opportunity. I have frequented Ontario's drag strips since the late 70's. My first trip down the track was on a Honda 550-Four motorcycle
and I later made a few passes with my ‘70 Camaro and have been hooked on this sport ever since. I started photography in the early
90's with film and then turned to digital in 2004 and today my Canon 30D with a 70-200 F4 IS zoom lens is my workhorse for stopping
the action. So, I thought it would be interesting for all to know a little bit of info on some of the photographers that you see patiently
standing in the heat, smoke, nitro fumes (gotta love it) and such, to bring you such great photos all summer long whether in print
or on the net. So sit back, relax and read on.
Well, I think just about everyone knows Rob Potter. I got to shoot with Rob quite a few times this summer at TorontoMotorsportsPark and
thank him for his hospitality when he invited me to the starting line. Rob has been in this sport a long time and is quite the drag
racing historian for southern Ontario. There's not too much that has passed down the quarter mile that Rob does not know of. Rob first
got the bug (that’s shutterbug) at the early age of 10 years young back in the fall of 1968, when borrowing his sister's Instamatic
he headed downtown Dundas, ON to the popular hotspots and started photographing some of the local hot rods. At 14 Rob received his
first 35mm, a Practica with an assortment of lenses thanks to his parents. The years from 1974 to 1985 he shot over the fence at the
drag strips until one year later when he took over the duties of track photographer at Dragway Park Cayuga (TMP). He still holds that
position today. Through the 90's Rob also did double duty as one of the track photogs at St. Thomas Dragway. In chatting with him
this summer I asked him roughly how many photos he has snapped over the years. His response was, ”Well I have approximately 50,000
images of my own and hundred's more that I acquired as Cayuga's (TMP) track historian”. He went on to say, when I asked him what other
tracks he has enjoyed shooting at besides TorontoMotorsportsPark, “I would say NorwalkOH, LancasterNY, SanairPQ and St ThomasON are
some of my favorite's. Nowadays Rob shoots with a Nikon D2H paired with an 80-200mm 2.8 lens and if you’re taking in any of the local
cruises and shows its more then likely you will see Rob with his camera in hand capturing all the action. In his spare time Rob also
operates one of the more popular drag racing discussion forums on the internet, CanadianDragRacing@yahoogroups.com. Drop in and say
hi, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the many photos from the past and present that he shares.
Rob Potter
Mike Goodwin
I met up with Mike at Toronto Motorsports Park for the IHRA Canadian Nationals this summer and just like most of us, Mike has been
around drag racing all of his life. His first visit to the track was at Kohler Dragway, now TorontoMotorsportsPark, in 1964 at the
tender age of 8 months old thanks to Mom and Dad. When Mike started into photography he was shooting "over the fence" for many years
but was given the opportunity to shoot trackside in 2003 with Bruce Biegler of DragRaceCanada.com at the Mopar Parts Canadian Nationals
in Grand Bend ON. Back then he was shooting film with a Nikon F65 SLR and thanks Bruce for helping point him in the right direction
with his camera settings. Mike’s main profession now is graphic design for the performance automotive industry and he says this is
what drew him into motorsports photography. He is the owner of MG Digital Media, a company that specializes in graphic design, photography
and web design. Nowadays when out at the drag strip Mike shoots with a pair of Canon 20D's and an assortment of lenses to capture
his work. When asked what his favorite track was Mike responded, "Of all the tracks I have shot at my favorite has been National Trail
Raceway in Columbus, Ohio. The light is great, and the ownership, NHRA, treats the photographers like the professionals they are.
This is the first track I have been to where I was actually thanked for coming out to cover an event."
To see more of Mike's
work you can visit his web site, www.mgdigital.ca.
Bill Mehlenbacher
The Mehlenbacher family name is well known in drag racing circles. Bill's family owned Kohler Dragway which is now known as TorontoMotorsportsPark.
As a youngster Bill grew up near the track and to this day still remembers hearing the roar of the race cars speeding to the win light.
Years later he said he recalls his dad taking him up to the top of the tower to watch John Pietre in the High Lander do wheelies down
the track in what now would be called AA/SA. During his early working years at the track Bill said he probably did every job there
from selling pop, to clean up on and off the track to race announcing and promotion. Bill turned his sights to photography about 30
years ago (he turned 50 years young recently) and got his first camera a Pentax Spotmatic FS. Fast forward to 2005 when Bill acquired
a Nikon D70s Digital mated with a 70-200mm zoom lens that he uses today. Not only does Bill contribute his photos to the Pro Modified
Racing Association, he also enjoys and regularly takes photographs for the Caledonia Minor Hockey Association, a high school football
team and his daughters figure skating club. Bill has also volunteered his time to do photos for this years’ Terry Fox Run in CaledoniaON,
busy man! His other motorsports enjoyments include capturing the circle track action at Cayuga and Oshweken Speedway’s. At the end
of the day Bill says he credits fellow photographers Mike Goodwin, the great Rob Potter, Ian Rae, Dave Franks and Dwayne Young for
their help along the way. You can visit Bill’s website at www.nxphoto.com to see more great photos.
Mark Ackert
The year was 1996 when Mark bought his first film camera and off he went to LondonMotorsportsPark like the rest of us to catch
John Force doing his patented burnout down the strip. Ironically this is where Mark got his start along the guardrail back in 1999
with his first SLR camera, a Pentax 35mm. For the next few years he took in races at Grand Bend Motorplex and then made his way
to TorontoMotorsportsPark which is Marks favorite track due to the Street Legal Shootouts. 2003 was the year he started shooting
with DragRaceCanada.com and he still is today.One year later Mark got his first digital camera and was capturing the action with an
Canon PowerShot. I’ve chatted with Mark many times between rounds and asked him what other tracks he has enjoyed over the years.
He said, “NorwalkRacewayPark, been there 3 times and I love the atmosphere there”. Today Mark is capturing the action with his Canon
20D and various lenses. A few clicks away at www.dragracecanada.com and you can enjoy Mark’s photos too.
Dwayne Young
If you’ve ever visited St. Thomas Dragway in Sparta, ON that's where you’ve probably seen Dwayne walking up and down the starting
line taking care of business. He started out using the Minolta 7000 film 35mm and was the first track photographer to go digital with
the first Kodak digital camera, Now he shoots with 2 Nikon D70’s with 18-55mm and 70-200mm lens. In the past years he has accumulated
over 5000 images with film and even more with his digital cameras.Dwayne is the track photographer for the Dragway and has been there
for 12 years, covering all their events. He also travels to Grand Bend Motorplex and Toronto Motorsports Park almost every weekend.
When
he’s not at the drag strips you can bet you will find him behind the lens at other event circuits, Motocross, Stock Car, and
Micro Sprints Dwayne is the owner of Racing Information Network which covers all aspects of motorsports marketing, advertising and
website design. Dwayne has being covering events since 1994.
From Bakersfeild CA. to NorwalkOhio and back again to Cayuga, ON, that's where you will find Ian Rae. He is one of my favorite photojournalist’s
to read. Pick up a copy of RPM Magazine and I'm sure you will enjoy. Ian is Webmaster, Editor and Photographer of HeadsUpRacer.com,
an internet magazine dedicated to all fast, doorslammer drag racing. Ian also writes and shoots for RPM Magazine, a print magazine
also dedicated to all fast, doorslammer drag racing. He is also known as the Media Director for the West Coast Hot Rod Association
based in California and Arizona.Ian has really been a pioneer and driving force behind the Fast Doorslammer, Street Legal and
Outlaw drag racing coverage brought to the world, especially to Canadians in the early days of it. In fact Ian has even shot and covered
events for RPM and HeadsUp Racer in England in 2005. Ian was involved in this area of drag racing industry since it's humble
beginnings, before it was "the next big thing" it is now, and has seen and covered it all since. His dedication to this
one niche area of the sport has never wavered, through thick and thin (and that, as we all know, is hard to do).Ian wears many
hats in this industry. as he also crew's on Niagara Falls based, PMRA event winner, Joe Boniferro's Smokin Joes Racing 1999
Dodge Avenger. I got to shoot with Ian at the 2nd Annual PMRA Thunder by the Beach at Grand Bend Motorplex on the September Labour
Day weekend. As Ian being a professional and fellow Canon user I couldn’t help but ask to have a peak at his equipment (that’s camera
equipment) . So after I reluctantly handed him back his Canon 1D Mark II camera we headed up to the starting line to do some
business. And as soon after another qualifying session was over off Ian went to do his crew duties and chat with the racers for the
next upcoming story. Looking forward to 2008.
Well there you have it, fully exposed so to speak! Just a little insight into what drive's us to do what we love. Hope you enjoyed
your read. I would also like to thank Dwayne and Mike for all the website programming questions I hit them with and the quick answers
that always follow.