The view from a photo hole at Mid-Ohio during the INDY NXT race on July 4th. Credit: Cassandra D'Angelo | Sports Photo Editor.
Having a car drive past me so fast that it caused my hat to blow off has happened very few times in my life.?
Coincidentally, it was all due to INDYCARs.?
Being a fan of motorsports has led me to stand along the fence at many tracks around the country. However, covering a major racing event trackside has been a dream of mine for years.?
Covering the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio for The Lantern this past weekend, gave me that opportunity.?
Once I arrived at the event, before putting on a photo vest, I walked the track twice. Once infield and once along the outside.?
Everywhere I looked people were decorating their campsites, golf carts and cars. Some boasted red, white and blue in honor of the Fourth of July, as the three-day event, which had a series of races from the USF Pro Championship series qualifying sessions Friday to the INDYCAR race Sunday, took place July 3-5. Others included flags of their favorite drivers, many of which were Graham Rahal, an Ohio native.?
Despite the race taking place in Lexington, Ohio, about an hour away from Columbus, in every direction I looked I saw Ohio State memorabilia.
Camping chairs with Ohio State logos on them were scattered around the campground, block O hats were worn and Buckeye stickers were seen on numerous golf carts.?
Even “O-H” chants broke out as Rahal drove by on the track.?
Covering the race trackside meant I spent my days walking the track to different corners during sessions, averaging over 20,000 steps each day. It also meant that I spent the weekend meeting people who traveled from all over the Midwest to attend the INDYCAR race over the Fourth of July weekend.
The fans at Mid-Ohio weathered 90 degree heat and rain delays as they camped in both tents and RVs, with TVs set up in their campground.??
Despite the weather, fans rarely complained and I saw the energy around the track grow each day.?
I got the opportunity to cover this event with The Lantern Campus photo editor, Michael Goulet, who covered Friday and Sunday from fan accessible areas. It gave us the chance to compare being a fan photographer and a trackside photographer.??
Shooting trackside meant that only the photo holes for photographers in the fence and a few meters of grass separated the cars racing around the track from the lens of my camera.?
From Goulet’s perspective, shooting from a fan accessible area is further removed from the track and would sometimes have two fences between the fans and the track.?
Throughout Sunday’s race, I had the opportunity to photograph from various spots along the fence, causing me to spend only a few laps in each location before moving onto the next fence hole to take pictures of the race.?
Before the race ended, I made my way to Victory Circle to cover the podium ceremony.?
Through some planning and some luck, I ended up center stage, to see Arrow McLaren driver Pato O’Ward hoist the trophy at Mid-Ohio for the second time in his career.?
Between the spray of confetti, smell of champagne and sound of laughter, it was by far the most rewarding part of the weekend.?
Mid-Ohio is where I saw my first INDYCAR race.?
I think it’s only fitting that it was the location that I shot my first major race at.
