Drag Illustrated Issue 150, November 2019 | Page 10
like I knew what
the “Iceman” had
in mind. It was at
that moment that I
started praying that
there’d be someone
else besides me tak-
ing photos of this
potentially historic
happening.
As we reached the
top of staging lanes
and the team went
through their final
preparations – Wayne
Davis closing up the
bellhousing, the late
Steve “Wormy” Hel-
kin checking the ni-
trous bottle pressure
– I noticed the team
manager and then Speedtech Nitrous market-
ing manager Jason Sharp grabbing a massive
Canon camera with a nearly two-foot-long lens
off the floor of the golf cart. “Don’t worry,” he said.
“We’ll get you some
pictures.”
Following him
out to the guardrail,
Sharp explained to
me that he’d worked
the last several years
as a professional
photographer, and
would be happy to
work with me as
we moved forward.
Teaching me about
the craft, but more
importantly work-
ing with us to pro-
vide photography
for stories. When
Shannon finally
pulled into the
water, I snagged a few pictures as he
smoked the tires across the line, but decided to
put my camera away for the run. It was a big
moment for me, something it felt like I’d waited
my whole life to see, and I didn’t want to watch
it through a viewfinder. Plus, I knew my photos
would likely suck, and Jason’s probably wouldn’t.
Shannon clicked off a 3.992-second pass at
185.66mph. The car moved around a lot through
the middle of the track, but it didn’t matter – his-
tory had been made, and I’d witnessed it firsthand.
Jason reviewed the shots he’d gotten – we were
golden. Plus, I’d learned a valuable lesson: Find
people that are good at what they do, and let
them do it.
And that’s been the strategy ever since. I’ve
played around taking a few photos over the years,
but I respect the craft too much to be so arrogant
as to think that I’m going to pick up a camera
here and there and produce the type of imagery
that I want for this magazine and that our read-
ers expect.
Following that weekend in Georgia, Sharp went
on to shoot nearly 50 consecutive magazine cov-
ers for us, and continued to play an integral role in
this magazine’s photography for nearly a decade.
Since then we’ve developed a small network of
the most talented photographers in drag racing
– bar none – and we’re thrilled to showcase their
best work from 2019 in this issue.
DI DI DI
DI DI DI DI
DI DI DI
Wesley R. Buck
Founder & Editorial Director
10 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
I invite you to email me at wes@dragillustrated.com
and follow me at facebook.com/wbuck
and wesbuckinc on Instagram.
Issue 150
FOUNDER’S LETTER