Chad Leising – Rockstar Energy, Hart & Huntington

Shortly after this shot Chad did three interviews about the race series from the Rockstar Energy pool they set up. It was hilarious.

I’ve spent many weekends this summer shooting the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series each time they’ve come through the various tracks here on the west coast. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many of the drivers, teams, and team managers/owners. I’ve also met some really incredible photographers, too.
Well I decided that at the last LOORRS event I was at that I would start an ongoing photo essay. I would do very simple track-side portraits of the various drivers I knew and was meeting. I wanted to use harsh light, higher contrast, and just try and give a feel for what the series was like in the high temperature desert.
Between running from pit to pit, finding the drivers between their races, and shooting the races myself… I wasn’t able to complete nearly as many portraits as I hoped. But, there is always the opportunity at future races.

Enjoy the series. And please leave me some feedback or shoot me and email with your thoughts.

Josh Merrell – Liquid Graphics, Hart & Huntington

Josh was a really nice guy – and his wife was watching and laughing as I posed him for this shot. Although his bodyguard didn’t seem to like that I was touching him as I adjusted his shoulders… whoops… my bad.

Andrew Comrie-Picard – NOS Energy, K&N Engineering

Andrew came out to race off road trucks – he’s a rally racer… and you can sure as hell bet that not only did he take podium (3rd) but he also kicked some ass doing it by coming all the way up from the back of the pack.

Ricky James – S2, K&N Engineering

Ricky was incredible to watch race. After an injury from racing motocross left him disabled he now races off road truck. His precision driving is extremely apparent from my spot right there on the track. And taking 1st place finishes in this first races out that weekend he proved that he’s someone who will be around a while.

Rodrigo Ampudia – Papas & Beer

Rodrigo was one of the funniest guys on the track to talk with – probably because he’s a young guy out there on the track too. His team is great, and I have some awesome shots of Rodrigo pushing his truck to the limits on the track.

Corry Weller – Weller Racing

I met Corry shooting ATV/Quadcross… and then found out she races UTV and Superlite trucks at LOORRS. I’m fairly sure that I couldn’t do half the stuff she does on her ATV though out of fear I’d break my neck.

Bradley Morris – BME Motorsports, K&N Engineering

Bradley and his entire family and team are truly amazing people. I almost always hang out with these guys at the races and they always make sure I’m surviving in the heat/weather. Bradley races trophy kart right now – which has got to be the coolest thing to brag about at school, I swear.

Robby Melton – BME Motorsports

Robby is on the same team at Bradley, and a pretty good racer himself. I watched Robby snap a wheel completely off his kart and keep racing until the kart couldn’t handle the turns on three wheels and he had no choice but to stop. In my next life, sign me up to be a little badass like Robby, too.

Jimmy Stephensen

Jimmy and his team were great people, too. I didn’t get to spend much time chatting with them unfortunately.

Leroy Loerwald

I had actually met Leroy at the race prior to this particular weekend. Leroy had actually flipped his truck, multiple times, toward the beginning of the weekend. He broke his arm in the process. But, he was back and healed by this time out.

Malcolm Pointon

Malcolm actually races buggy, not the trucks that most of the other drivers I met race. I also had taken some really great shots of him a month before meeting him at a different race. If you skim through my portfolio you’ll find one of Malcolm hitting a jump in his buggy.

Todd Cuffaro – Rockstar Energy, Metal Mulisha

I had the hardest time tracking down Todd and Brian Deegan. However, right at sunset I was able to get a few minutes of Todd’s time for a quick shot. Brian, however, didn’t have time before his race unfortunately.

Carey Hart – Rockstar Energy, Hart & Huntington

The question I always get asked is if Carey is a nice guy – yes, he’s an incredibly cool guy. Carey was able to make time for me, as he said he would, in between a million other pre-race things he was running around trying to do. This shot makes him look pretty gruff, too; he’s really not this rugged looking in person… but I guess it adds to the effect.

So, that’s pretty much it. I’m hoping to continue to add to the series as time goes on. We’ll see how it all goes. I may do some more tweaking to the colors a bit before uploading to my portfolio. But for now, this is how the whole set will look.

And again, feedback is always welcome.