LETTER from the EDITOR
PICTURE PERFECT
While I truly believe that we here at Drag Illustrated are the best storytellers in drag racing , I cannot stress enough the importance of world-class photography to what we ’ ve been trying to do here for the last decade-plus . It ’ s no secret that I am an avid reader and a big proponent of long form journalism – thus the reason we ’ ve printed several 5,000-plus word interviews and profiles over the years – but I truly believe that we ’ ve consistently been able to deliver that delivering the best available photography from a wide variety of events and venues has been critical to whatever level of success and notoriety we ’ ve achieved .
In our early days , in an effort to maintain the highest possible quality and exclusivity , we worked with a very select group of photographers , rarely assigning freelancers to cover events for fear of them not delivering photos that were up to our standards and knowing that we wouldn ’ t have a second chance . As our audience grew along with our desire to cover an ever-increasing number of people , cars , races and tracks , we had no choice but to start working with more freelancers and seeking out new talent . I ’ m proud to say that while we still work with a relatively small number of only the best photographers – it ’ s a number that has multiplied many times over . We ’ ve worked with some of the biggest names in drag racing photography and , at least in my opinion , birthed a few new big names along the way .
Every year we challenge our photographers to find new angles , to get off the guardwall and shoot from different vantage points , and year-after-year they have delivered – always finding new and exciting ways to capture the sport of drag racing . Amongst our biggest challenges , however , at least for me as I ’ ve steered the editorial direction of this magazine , has been to convince some ace photographers that some of the best and most photoworthy moments happen away from the eighth- and quarter-mile , and that the stars of drag racing are not the cars . I ’ ve long since said that fast cars and close competition may be what ultimately brought us all together , but the people are what keep us coming back . And when we rolled onto the scene in 2005 with Drag Illustrated , it was almost unbelievable how few pictures existed of the drivers and crew chiefs that I ’ d been following for so many years , especially those in the outlaw ranks .
For instance , I remember having an innumerable number of photographs of Jason Scruggs ’ infamous red , small block Chevy-powered ’ 63 Corvette for a cover story we were working on back in the fall of 2006 and not being able to find a single photo of Jason himself . Longtime friend and the original DI team photographer Jason Sharp ( a . k . a . Bubba Smoothe ) and I ended up making a pilgrimage down to Kennedale , Texas , for the ADRL World Finals to do a photo shoot with Scruggs so we could put a face to the name scrawled in vinyl on the Lexan window of his ‘ Vette . I remember the trip well because I drove my 1996 Chevy Lumina all the way down there ( 720 miles or so ) and , honestly , had no idea whether or not I was going to make it . Those 3100 V6s are troopers , though , and she never let me down .
Still to this day getting pictures of the men and women that ( I believe ) make the drag racing community so special is an ongoing challenge because we ’ ve all been trained to believe that everything worth photographing happens on the drag strip , but I ’ m so thankful for all the incredible photographers that we have worked with along the way that have completely and totally bought in to our notion that the people involved are what make stories worth telling and pictures worth taking . At this point , not a single one of our epic team of photographers are surprised or shocked to hear me say that I want them to camp out in the staging lanes or spend entire days perusing the pits . Matter of fact , they ’ re often surprising me with photo shoots of racers that we hadn ’ t planned and human interest photos that I didn ’ t expect , and I want each and every one of them to know that this magazine is better for it . Their willingness to play along and risk missing the next big explosion of wheel stand while capturing a father-and-son packing the parachutes or a late night pit thrash is – at least in my opinion – one of the things that has kept Drag Illustratedgrowing over the course of the last 11-years . We cover the sport of drag racing differently than anyone else does , or ever has .
So , again , thank you to all the photographers that have contributed not only to this once-a-year photo extravaganza known as the Photo Annual , but to all 116 issues we have shipped off to the printer since 2006 . We truly couldn ’ t do it without you . I sincerely hope you enjoy the best , most interesting and unique photos our team captured in 2016 . You ’ ll recognize a lot of familiar names and locations , but we tried hard to make sure you ’ ll notice a few new names and places .
Wesley R . Buck Editor-in-Chief wes @ dragillustrated . com
Scott Dorman Publisher 615.478.5275 scott @ dragillustrated . com
Will Mandell Senior Sales Executive 615.426.0465 will @ dragillustrated . com
JT Hudson Sales Representative 660.341.0063 jt @ dragillustrated . com
Mike Carpenter Design & Production Director 704.737.2299 mike @ dragillustrated . com
Ian Tocher Senior Editor 404.375.4895 ian @ dragillustrated . com
Van Abernethy Senior Staff Writer & Field Subscription Sales 828.302.0356 van @ dragillustrated . com
Nate Van Wagnen Web Editor & Staff Writer 440.986.1480 nate @ dragillustrated . com
Bret Kepner Historian / Statistician bret @ dragillustrated . com
Andrea Wilson Controller 660.349.0847 andrea @ dragillustrated . com
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS : Ainsley Jacobs , Bobby Bennett , Tommy D ’ Aprile , Lisa Collier , Brandon W . Mudd
PHOTO DEPARTMENT : John Fore III ( Senior Staff Photographer ), Paul Grant ( Senior Photographer ), Roger Richards , Ian Tocher , Van Abernethy , Mark J . Rebilas , Joe McHugh , Chris Graves , James Sisk , Jason Dunn , Ron Lewis , Gary Nastase , Rick Belden , Jason Sharp
ADVERTISING SALES : 615.478.5275
SUBSCRIPTIONS & CUSTOMER SERVICE : 660.988.2313 customerservice @ dragillustrated . com
DRAG ILLUSTRATED MEDIA , LLC 902 Kings Road , Kirksville , MO 63501 P : 660.988.2313 F : 660.665.1636 www . dragillustrated . com
Copyright © 2016 by Drag Illustrated Media , LLC . All rights reserved . Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited . Drag Illustrated is a registered trademark of Drag Illustrated Media , LLC . Printed and mailed by Publication Printers in Denver , CO .
Wesley R . Buck Editor-in-Chief
I invite you to email me at wes @ dragillustrated . com and follow me at facebook . com / wbuck and wesbuckinc on Instagram .
All statements , including product claims , are those of the person or organization making the statement or claim . The publisher does not adopt any such statement or claims as its own , and any such statement or claim does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the publisher .
8 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 116