LETTER from the EDITOR
When we shipped our first-ever Drag Illustrated Photo Annual to print in 2008 , I don ’ t think I could have been happier . Of course , I was happy because I knew our readers would love an exquisitely designed , sprawling collection of incredible photography , but what really had me excited was the massive problem we had solved when we sent that 31st issue off to the printer .
You see , throughout the course of the year we receive tens of thousands of photos and - not surprisingly - we can ’ t print them all . Matter of fact , we can ’ t even come close , and it ’ s always been a touch heartbreaking for me . Knowing how much it means to racers to see their efforts in the shop and at the drag strip validated by seeing their picture or a picture of their car in a magazine , as well as what it represents to photographers in terms of accomplishment , it was always hard to let a great photograph sit on a hard drive somewhere in obscurity because it wasn ’ t attached to a breaking news story , in-depth feature , cover story or race report . But it happened a lot . That first Photo Annual solved that problem . It gave us an opportunity to focus our decision to publish a photo entirely on the quality and composition of the photo , and not worry about whether it captured a historical or newsworthy happening . It was awesome and all of our racing readers have enjoyed it ; I think they ’ ve even come to expect it .
PRO TREE RACERS ASSOCIATION • NHRA CHAMP MILAN HEADS-UP COVERAGE
dragillustrated . com
2008
PHOTO
ANNUAL
All the Best Shots , As Only DI Can Bring You
Billy Glidden
the DI Interview
Fast-forward nearly a decade and we have a new problem - we have ten times the number of photos come across our desks , many of which are submitted by our world-class photographers specifically for inclusion in the Photo Annual . It borders on impossible to narrow the submissions down to a workable number ( less than 100 ), especially when you ’ re not looking for anything in particular - just a truly great photo . We needed a way to thin it out ; we needed something specific to look for , and that ’ s when it hit me - we need a theme .
For the last couple years , I ’ ve been using any platform I can find to preach that drag racing
OFFICIAL VEHICLE PROVIDER OF DRAG ILLUSTRATED needs to embrace the showmanship of yesteryear , that we need to accept that our sport is equal parts competition and entertainment . It ’ s my belief that any real or perceived downturn in mainstream popularity that drag racing has experienced can be correlated to our collective focus on competition - decidedly moving away from anything that doesn ’ t contribute to on-track performance , altogether abandoning once-trademark components of a “ drag racing show ” like whacking the throttle to seat the clutch in a Top Fueler during warmups , big burnouts , wheels-up launches , etc . In the name of going faster , we ’ ve moved away from a lot of those things - perhaps not entirely , but in large part . And I get it - believe me - but that doesn ’ t mean I have to love it .
So , when trying to develop a focus for our 2017 Photo Annual , we decided that we weren ’ t going to include any photo that wasn ’ t of a burnout , or at least taken immediately
Issue 31 January 2009 >> $ 3.95 before or after . We went so far as to inform our team of photographers not to even submit anything that didn ’ t scream “ Burnout !”, and they delivered . We decided we wanted to shine as bright of a light as possible on what we think might be the most funto-watch and fun-to-do parts of drag racing - in the words of my friend and famed drag racing announcer , Al Tucci – a beautiful , smoky burnout .
It ’ s my sincere hope that you enjoy this collection of photography celebrating the fine art of tire-frying , and I hope that you are inspired to let those slicks ( or radials , calm down ) smoke a little longer in 2018 . When you ’ re looking in your downward-facing sideview mirror to see the tires start to smoke or have your longtime crewman wave you out of the water , I ask that you hold onto that line-lock button just a little bit longer . I apologize in advance for the time you ( or your kids ) will spend scraping rubber off the inside of your wheel tubs and scrubbing your wheelie bars , but I promise you the people in the grandstands will appreciate it . Hey , you might even sell a few more t-shirts . I almost guarantee you ’ ll have more fun and , hey , isn ’ t that what this deal is all about ?
Smoke ‘ em if you got ‘ em !
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
Nate Van Wagnen Managing Editor 440.986.1480 nate @ dragillustrated . com
Van Abernethy Senior Staff Writer & Field Subscription Sales 828.302.0356 van @ dragillustrated . com
Andrea Wilson Controller 660.349.0847 andrea @ dragillustrated . com
Caroline Sterling Customer Service / Office Manager 660.988.2313 caroline @ dragillustrated . com
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS : Bobby Bennett , Lisa Collier , Tommy D ’ Aprile , Josh Hachat , Ainsley Jacobs , Brandon W . Mudd
PHOTO DEPARTMENT : John Fore III ( Senior Photographer ), Van Abernethy , Rick Belden , Tara Bowker , Jason Dunn , Paul Grant , Chris Graves , Ron Lewis , Joe McHugh , Gary Nastase , Mark J . Rebilas , Roger Richards , Cole Rokosky , Chris Sears , Jason Sharp , James Sisk , Ian Tocher
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 © 2017 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 .
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