Best Burnout Ever NHRA Motorsports Racing Photographer
This awesome drag racing photograph was captured at the legendary drag strip known as Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ. I had the privilege of being credentialed to photograph this event for a magazine publishing firm which produces a number of different magazines in the motor sports world. I have affectionately titled this image "Best Burnout Ever" because it truly was one of the best burnouts I’ve ever seen laid down by any Pro Stock driver…ever. The Mountain View Tire and Auto Service sponsored Chevrolet Camaro is being piloted by Vincent Nobile of Melville, NY. Vincent considers Raceway Park to be his "home track" and he obliged his loyal fans with this crowd-pleasing smoke show on the first day of qualifying for the famous event known as the NHRA Summernationals. Vincent is a member of the Elite Motorsports team alongside teammates Erica Enders and Jeg Coughlin, Jr. A little enlightenment about the burnout from Wikipedia: "The origins of burnouts can be traced to drag racing where they have a practical purpose: drag racing tires perform better at higher temperatures, and a burnout is the quickest way to raise tire temperature immediately prior to a race. They also clean the tire of any debris and lay down a layer of rubber by the starting line for better traction. Drag race tracks sometimes use a specially-reserved wet-surface area known as the "water box," namely this because water is poured onto a certain area to reduce the friction to initiate the "burnout," [1] for this purpose. Burnouts eventually became a serious form of competition and entertainment in their own right. Considerable prize money or goods are sometimes involved, and cars may even be sponsored or purpose-built specifically as "burnout cars". Burnout contests are judged on crowd response, with style and attitude therefore being important factors. Such contests are particularly popular in Australia but often occur in North America as well." All technical descriptions aside suffice it to say that the burnout is one of the favorite subjects of any motorsports and racing photographer. The smoke billowing out of the rear wheel wells of an NHRA Pro Stock dragster is one of the coolest things, in all of sports, to capture. When a particularly intense burnout is performed by any driver the picture will usually find it’s way into print in one of the motorsports magazines or internet based sports sites that I am commissioned by. This is one of those memorable images. I love bringing stuff like this back from the track to the editor or art director I’m working with on assignment