If you’re anything like us, we couldn’t wait to attend our first 24-hour race. What started as free last minute tickets turned into an impromptu 6am Saturday drive nearly five hours up to Daytona International Speedway to catch the start of the Rolex 24 race. Not one of us had ever been before and we thought we could tackle the feat of staying up after that drive. Spoiler: we thought wrong. Despite our obvious silliness, the race was fantastic experience and 4/4 would recommend. Just don’t try to attend it in a whirlwind 24-hour stint; you’re not the one racing!

I for one was quite excited to finally get my hands back on the camera and shoot some fast cars. It had been too long and the itch needed to be scratched. I hastily rented a super telephoto lens to be my weapon of choice, overnighted to arrive before I left work Friday afternoon.

Thanks to a few kind strangers with ladders (note to self for next year), I was able to peek above the fence line most of the time and snag some gems. After not shooting for months, I fell right back into the groove and took far too many pictures. Several hours into the night and two sore arms later, I glumly called it quits for the time being. That’s not to say I didn’t try to sneak in a few shots here and there as we continued to wander around the track. The four of us exchanged looks that confirmed our tapping out around 1 am Sunday morning, where we then decided to head home after waking up (adulting calls) and making a very necessary stop at Buc-cee’s. Regardless of the early departure, it’s an adventure we soon won’t forget and I can’t wait to go again – just not in a 24-hour span.

Many hours of review and editing narrowed it down to these hundred or so. And I can’t say I’m terribly disappointed. It’s also important to note that I had not photographed a night race since the Twelve Hours of Sebring in 2019 (which I quickly gave up on due to a time crunch and maybe 1 too many drinks… oops), but I think those shots turned out just swell.

I hope you enjoy the shots, dear reader, and thanks for stopping by!