Memories in the Fast Lane

01/01/2025

As 2024 comes to a close in a couple of hours I want take a second to thank everyone for their support over the years. When I bought my first camera back in 2017 I never thought it would ever turn into a successful side job. I never ever would've thought it would take me places I had never been before. Every year since then I accomplished new goals and have traveled to more places. A couple of years ago I rebranded myself to focus more on the racing photography by attending more events. That year I think I attended on drift event and one rallyx on top of my typical 3 Missouri rallies. Since then I have joined my buddy Mike C***s on trips to California and Michigan to shoot Gridlife events and I shot the first drift event down at Ozark International Raceway along with the 3 rallies, occasional STL Drift and STL RallyX events. 2025 is already starting to look promising and once I get everyone's event schedule released I will be getting my schedule figured out. Here is some of my favorite photos from 2024. Thank you for all your support and here's to 2025! Cheers🥂

12/27/2024

Well now that racing season around Missouri is over I make the transition to photographing wildlife, mainly Bald Eagles. It's definitely one of my favorite pastimes during the winter months as Missouri becomes a safe haven for eagles from up in the northern states. Today I made the 3 hour journey with my family to Loess Bluffs Conservation Area which is known for their vast eagle populations in during the winter months. In their survey last week they counted about 600+ eagles in the area. Some of my best eagle shots from over the years have come from that area. I'm also hoping to get up early enough on Sunday to go check out some local spots for more photos.

12/20/2024

Thank you to all of my wonderful customers and friends that have shown their support this year. Stay tuned as I am planning on releasing my race schedule in the coming weeks for 2025. If anyone would like to book me for a photo session, wedding, or race for next year please reach out to me for my rates.

11/17/2024

Whew it's been a busy few weeks for me photowise. To any teams that have reached out for photo/video packages from Show Me Rally I want to say thank you for all of the support you have shown and I hope to see as many as possible back in Potosi/Salem in March for 100 Acre Wood.

After I left Potosi following the rally I headed north to Madison, IL at the Worldwide Technology Raceway at Gateway to shoot a Drift STL event. Those events are a lot of fun and they offer a lot of excitement for spectators. As the year winds down I only have one more race event scheduled and that is a STL RallyX later this month. After that I don't have a lot on the books so I may use some of that down time to spend with family and maybe some wildlife photography. Keep your eyes on the page over the next couple of months as I work on getting my 2025 race schedule figured out. You should expect more Gridlife, stage rally, Drift STL, Precision Drift, RallyX, and I'm hoping to also hit up some NWA(Northwest Arkansas) Toge Drift events.

11/09/2024

Well I'm finally starting to get caught up on everything from the Show Me Rally last weekend. The weather was perfect and there was only a couple of issues over the course of the day. The biggest one was the team of Alex Betlach and Travis Elbert getting a little wide on a turn on stage 2 that caused them to wind up in a tree and totaling their car. Both members were able to climb out of the car a little sore from the impact but upon further examination once returning home Alex found out he fractured his back and will be laid up for a little while. Luckily it doesn't appear to be too bad that he shouldn't require any surgery. We do wish him a speedy recovery as he heals for the next handful of weeks. I would also like to thank all of the competitors for showing their support for my photography it was great seeing some new drivers join the sport along with catching up with some of the drivers that have been around for years. I look forward to hopefully seeing everyone back in 2025.

If any of the teams that have not purchased a photo/video package from the rally yet would like one please feel free to reach out and shoot me a message for details.

Also mark your calendars for March 14th and 15th for Rally in the 100 Acre Wood.

11/01/2024

Looks like I'm going to have a really busy couple of days this weekend. Tomorrow I head down into the woods to prepare for the Show Me Rally on Saturday and then I wake up Sunday morning and head to St. Louis to shoot a drift day at Gateway International Raceway. I'm definitely looking forward to a great weekend of high performance action.

10/12/2024

The northern lights last night

10/11/2024

One thing I've always wanted to see is the Northern Lights but living in Missouri is not exactly optimal viewing conditions. I've always figured I would have to visit Alaska or Iceland to see them and someday I would still like to do that, but luckily I got a viewing tonight that will help tie me over until that trip happens. Missouri has had been pretty lucky this year with a couple of viewing chances but unfortunately I missed the first chance. I made sure I wasn't going to miss this once and boy did it not disappoint.

09/03/2024

More photos from the Precision Drift event down at Ozark International Raceway

09/02/2024

First batch of photos from yesterday's drift event down at Ozark International Raceway.

09/01/2024

So today I finally got the chance after 2.5ish years to go shoot an event at the newer Ozark International Raceway nicknamed the Nurburgring of the US. This place was amazing and I'm definitely looking forward to returning for more events. Today was a first for that track as it was the first time they held a Drift event there that was organized by the Kansas City area Precision Drift. For it being a first time event at a new track it was very well organized. Here is a little teaser for the night. I have a lot of work to go through over the next few days so keep your eyes peeled. Also if any drivers that participated in the event today is interested in a photo package please don't hesitate to contact me for pricing.

08/28/2024

Come on out and check out the sideways action this Saturday at Ozark International Raceway. I will be there shooting media all day so keep your eyes open for new content.

This week is OIR’s biggest spectator event ever. Precision Drift and Sonic Summer Nights combine for a drifting event plus car show. Action begins at 12PM. Only $10 at the gate for spectators and $10 at the gate for your classic car to take part in the car show.

07/10/2024

For a while now I've been thinking about changing up my logo to be a little more bold and eye popping. I've never had much experience with graphic design but I came across a website that allowed me to play around with some ideas. The first batch of photos with this logo featured will be from the last RallyX from a couple of weeks ago. As far as upcoming events I have been approved to shoot the Precision Drift event down at Ozark International Raceway on August 31st followed by the Overmountain Rally in Tennessee in September. I plan on trying to hit up some local track days or RallyX events in between. So keep your eyes on the page for some motorsports action in the coming months.

07/04/2024

Weather I'm driving to a night stage at a rally event or I'm heading out to shoot the stars in the middle of nowhere I only rely on Diode Dynamics LED lights to light my way at night. Their lights not only have a great light output but they come with an awesome hasslefree warranty. On top of that they are designed and assembled right here in the great state of Missouri and I am proud to be on their ambassador team. Right now they have their summer sale promotion going on until the 8th for 20% off select products and if you use my code: memoriesinthefastlane you will also earn free shipping.

06/18/2024

Juan Johnson is another driver hailing from the show me state. I've know Juan for a few years now hanging out with him at various rally/rally x events along with other Subaru events(his other car is a WRX wagon). For Gridlife he has been building up his Honda S2000 to compete in the ClubTR class. No matter how his events are going he always looks to have a smile on his face and a positive attitude. He's always down for chat and enjoys sharing his experiences.

06/18/2024

As many of you know I'm a pretty die hard Subaru enthusiast. My main job has been a parts advisor/assistant manager at my local Subaru dealer for the last 12 years. Now when most people think of racing a Subaru they typically refer to the more common Impreza/WRX/STI models. Probably the most unique car I saw racing at the Gridlife Midwest Festival was this very unique Subaru 360 running in the unlimited class. For those that are unaware of what a 360 is, it is the very first car Subaru brought to America back in the 1960s. It would be classified as a micro car due to its overall size and is small enough you could fit the whole car in the bed of a full size pickup truck. If you want to read more about it Grassroots Motorsports did a feature on it last year.

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/2000-subaru-lmp360/

06/13/2024

Mike C***s car # 310 Gridlife Street class.

So I've known Mike for a number of years now through not only my main job at the local Subaru dealership but also the various Subaru groups I'm a part of. He's probably one of the more experienced racers I know having competed in SCCA RallyX, SCCA AutoX, HPDE(High Performance Driver Education), and Gridlife Time Attack events. Over the last few years he has invited me to come shoot his car at various events but something always got in the way. Last year he asked me if I wanted to go with him to photograph him at Laguna Seca in California. I had to figure some things out with work and the kids but I did it and had an absolute blast. I wasn't sure I would be able to do many events with him this year based on my vacation time I had left but a change at my job allowed my PTO to reset and I was able to join Mike on his trip to Gridlife Midwest Festival at Gingerman Raceway.
The atmosphere while similar was vastly different between the two events. I had media passes for both events which gave me access to the track in various areas that spectators couldn't go. With Laguna I had pretty much free range where I was able to go although my favorite spot was the famous corkscrew. With Gingerman I was pretty limited to the main straight, and turns 1, 2, and 4. So I definitely preferred Laguna from the photography aspect. The Gridlife Festivals are known for having almost everything under the sun in their events from time attack, drifting, GLTC, racing sims, vendors, and concerts. I definitely felt more at home in Laguna when it came to the music as it was performed by T-Pain whereas Midwest had more of a rave party feel hosted by various DJ's that wasn't really my scene. Nonetheless both of the events were a blast to attend and definitely had plenty of things to do and I'm very much looking forward to attending another one. Mike has two more Gridlife events this year with Mid Ohio in a couple of weeks and Road America in Wisconsin next month both of which I don't think I will be able to make. But I think he is going to shoot for a track day down at the Ozark track in August possibly so hopefully I can make it to that. Thanks again Mike for inviting me along on this journey and hopefully I can make it to some more in the future.
As for his results the car was running strong in the test sessions on Thursday but was having issues with the suspension causing some hopping. After chatting with the guys at the Fortune Auto booth they gave him some tips to try with his adjustments and I believe he got right where he wanted it or at least close to it. Unfortunately on his third test session he came down the main stretch with oil blowing out of this hood vent and came to a stop in the grass. After checking some things over and chatting with his tuner he believes he may have blown a head gasket. He opted not to take any chances and chose to park it for the rest of the weekend. We dropped it off with his builder on the way back to town so hopefully they can get it back on the road in time for Mid Ohio. Unfortunately that is part of racing.
Build It
Race It
Break It
Repeat.