VIDEO: V9 - Final laps - A view from the Podium at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

This is video number 9, the final video in the series from the ALMS 2012 race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

After spending about 30 minutes up on the podium, with permission, I was asked to leave due to the racers having to come up and for other reasons. I asked one of the workers on the podium, I believe it was the gentleman in charge of some sort of lighting, if I could set my camera on the table pointing at the Start/Finish line for the remainder of the race. He said it was okay and just asked what he needed to do. I asked him to just turn it off when the race was over. After it was all done, I went back up and retrieved my camera. Here is some of the footage. I wanted to just keep it down to the last few minutes so I didn't bore anyone. Thank you for watching.

VIDEO: V8 - ALMS 2012 - Race action view from the Podium

During the last 20-30 minutes of the race, I was invited up to the podium with one of the volunteers at the track. I had asked him earlier in the day if I could go up there to get some video footage and some photos. So here is some of the video footage I was able to get. I have one more video in the series of the last couple minutes of the race that will be posted on the blog as well. I have the previous 7 videos from the series on the blog as well, so please check them out when you have the time to do so. THANK YOU!

Video: ALMS 2012 - THE CORKSCREW

One of my favorite place to watch while at the track for any event. I'm sure many of whom that have been to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca would agree with me on that. Of course I had to record some action while there. Check it out! THANK YOU!

Video: ALMS Action at Turn 10 Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Got home today from watching, wait, more like waiting for the tile guy to finish grouting the floor at my brother-in-laws house this morning.Was there all day yesterday, bored off and on when I wasn't watching a movie, or on his computer. Anyhow, when I got home I got some things adjusted and decided to work on this video. It is the sixth in the series. I have more coming. THANK you for visiting my blog, and for watching the video.

VIDEO: Turn 9-10 ALMS Action at MRLS

While running around the track during the race, one of my many stops was on the side of the hill between Turns 9 and 10. Always a great spot to watch from. Check out the video.

VIDEO: Shots from the bridge. ALMS 2012

Finally some action video from the 2012 ALMS event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Some are probably wondering why I'm loading videos from last years race. Well, I am just finally getting some time to get all of my archived video footage from the past 2 plus years edited. I have a lot go through. More from this event, as well as some cool cars from various car shows I've attended. With the amount I have, I could upload 500 more videos. Maybe more! Please check back for more videos. Thank you for visiting my blog, and for watching my videos.

VIDEO: Team Corvette Racing in the garage at ALMS 2012

Here's a great view of what happens in the garage when the team is prepping for the race. Same as the BMW video. Not a whole lot of action, but being there was just awesome. This is my third video from the event and I have a few more coming. Still trying to break up so much footage into manageable videos that aren't too long. Thanks for checking out my blog, and my videos.

VIDEO: BMW Team RLL in the garage at 2012 ALMS

Here's a great view of what happens in the garage when the team is prepping for the race. Not a whole lot of action in this video, but being there was just awesome. This is my second video from the event and I have a few more coming. Needed to break it up so the videos aren't too long. Thanks for checking out my blog, and my videos.

VIDEO: Black McLaren MP4 12-C

Last year while attending the 2012 ALMS event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, I came across this beauty. As it turns out, Bruce Canepa had driven to the event. He parked it outside the offices for a little while, then he moved it out of the way to the side of the offices. Such a sweet site to see this. Enjoy the video and tell me what you think. You can do so here on the blog, or on YouTube. THANK YOU!

VIDEO: ALMS 2012 - Raceday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Video footage of part of my day last year at the 2012 ALMS race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Had a great time. Didn't make it this year as I had other things planned that were not able to be changed. I hope to make it next year in 2014 for the new United SportsCar Racing event as it will be the new series to attend. Enjoy the video and check out more of my videos of the day coming soon to the blog. THANK YOU!

VIDEO: New Trailer Video for my YouTube channel

I updated my settings to the new format on YouTube format last week, and I saw that I could add a trailer video for anyone that comes to my channel that is a Non-Subscriber. So I put a little bit of some various footage together. I tried my best to keep it as short as I could, but just enough to show what my channel is all about. I think I did a fairly decent job on putting it together. Check it out and tell me what you think.

Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion 2011

I woke early Saturday morning rather tired from having a long Friday and only 2 hours of sleep before that day started. One of the things about being a volunteer at this facility dies have it downside as far as that goes. But, who cares! It was RACE DAY! I got up at 5:00am and got showered and dressed the only thing I had to wear. Since I had come down on Friday with my friend in his Ferrari, I wasn't able to bring everything down with me. I had hoped that my wife and our 2 friends would have come down a lot earlier than they had, but that's not what I got. I ended up wearing the same clothes I had worn on Friday, all day at Concorso Italiano. But then, I really didn't get dirty, or smelly for that matter. So I put on my clothes and walked back to camp and grabbed my coffee, my radio and headset, and was all ready to go.

At first I had been told by another Assistant Director that I would be stationed with him at Center Gate for the day. But, as usual, that was changed. So I ended up stuck, well not really stuck, I ended up working the exit of turn 10 at the main fire lane where the cars come off the track. I figured, NO PROBLEM! It wasn't a problem at all, it was just a very very busy place to be all day. That's really a good thing I guess. I thought it would be a pretty simple task. My head Director, who happens to be the person that got me started here in the first place back in 2008. He stopped by and asked if all was good. Of course it was! He then told me that I'd better take it and own it, then he left. I didn't quite get it at first, but then it all began. What did he mean by "own it"? Well as I originally thought, I would only really be dealing with the cars exiting the track. Boy what a very quick wake up call that turned out to be for me. Then I knew what he meant by "own it".

It ended up being that I was dealing not only with the car exiting the track to go back to their assigned area, but I can pretty much say I can qualify to be a traffic officer in New York City. I not only took ownership of the task, I ran with it. Now to explain. Not only was I dealing with the cars exiting the track, I had to deal with the ones that were coming out of their rows to head down the main fire lane to head to Center Gate where they entered the pit lane to go onto the track. Then there was the chore of dealing with trying to keep the fans, I.E. spectators from walking in from of the cars. I did learn something pretty fast, no matter how much you blow a whistle they still just don't listen. Oh wait! I think the mentality of a lot of the spectators is this - I'm at a car show! Yeah! well it is in a way, but, HELLO! This is a racing event more than anything people! I really appreciate those that did actually listen to those of us there to keep you safe, but then there was the few that really didn't care, or really weren't paying attention as to what we were doing there. But, no one did get injured. Thanks to all 6 of us keeping ours eyes open at all times. They did get it after we did get them stopped, and moved back out of the way. OOOOOH! A RACE CAR! The other obstacle was trying to get the regular cars, and the golf carts stopped. But then no sooner do you do so that someone behind them doesn't realize we have car exiting at that time that they think it's okay to try to go around the ones that are stopped. Once again, it was a keen aware of the 6 of us yelling at these ones to realize what was going on here. It was so busy the entire day that it went by pretty fast.

Now besides dealing with that fun task, I really did have a fun time doing it. Then there was the occasional cool spectator to talk to. Besides being around these awesome cars all weekend, one of the reasons I do this is to meet fans and spectators from around the world. Other than the regular, you do come across some pretty famous drivers and entertainers. First one that came along on Saturday was some race car driver. I say it that way simply because I did recognize him, but could not remember his name. Then I started to talk with him. He was here to drive a very fine example of a Ferrari. I told him "I always see him here", and he said "Yeah, I'm out here all the time". Then I proceeded to say "I thought so, but I can't remember your name". He then replies "Brian Redman"! Boy did I feel a little stupid. But I can't remember them all right. Then as the busiest day I ever worked went on I saw this really cool guy walking across from me. It was none other than Michael Anthony. He was walking with a group of guys from BonspeedCarolla, and Brian Johnson of AC/DC.

Then Sunday came! It wasn't anywhere close to as busy as Sunday was. The day went fairly easy to. I started doing the same routine as the day before with less hassle. Then I see Brian Johnson needing to get by. He did have to stop briefly to wait for the cars to finish exiting the track, then he went by. As the morning went on, those of us Assistant Directors that were working this area did manage to get some downtime to run around. Mine just happened to be during the lunch break, so I really didn't get the extra spare time that the others did. But no big deal. I ate my lunch, then grabbed my camera and ran to find Brian Johnson. And, fortunately I got there just in time. He was about to leave. I got a quick pic with him, grabbed my video camera and started to record. Then not only did my card fill up, the battery died. Away it went and out came my camera. I started shooting as he was leaving on the door of a Mercedes 300SL convertible. Not in the greatest shape, but hey, it was a 300SL Convertible. He saw me and gave me the finger. No, not the middle finger. He pointed at me as my finger was clicking away when they were pulling out of the tent. Wow! what a cool experience this ended up being.  He was definitely a cool guy. Then I headed over to the pit garages to find someone else. I was looking for a friend that had his Ferrari F1 car there for the event. Then I found it. I walked up to Bud and said hello and then began to drool at the site of his ride. The ride in particular was a 1980 Ferrari 312 T5 that was driven by Gilles Villeneuve. This car was awesome. And as when Bud was here for Ferrari Racing Days back in May, I had to ask that one question again, "Can I sit it it?" And he gratefully replied, "Absolutely!" As I prepared to get in, I had another friend, Keith, on hand to capture a photo as he had when I sat in the F2003-GA that Bud had brought out in May. Then one of the Prep Mechanics said to that I'd better take off my shoes. I gladly did just so. Why take the shoes off though? So I could actually get my feet into the cockpit. As I took the directions of Bud to place my hands and get in, I slid my butt into the car and then I didn't quite fit. Man what a tight fit. But I didn't care one bit if my butt fit or not. I was sitting in another Ferrari F1 car. Twice in 1 year! I couldn't believe it.

Once I got myself out of the Ferrari, it was time to get back to Turn 10 and get ready for the afternoon races. I went through the afternoon and since I had my camera on hand, I was to get a few shots of a few cool  cars at the end of the day. But before that came, the second to the last race ended and I stepped away for about 10 minutes. I asked one of the other volunteers to come with me to take yet another photo. I went over to see Adam Carolla and get a pic with him after he had gotten out of the Datsun 2000 that he had just finished racing. This car was beautiful too. So I got my picture and headed back. Then I came across Rick Knoop. I had met Rick and spoke to him last year when I was helping out to get all the trucks and trailers into the designated spaces. I Talked with him briefly and got a friendly photo and back to Turn 10. After a short bit, the day was done and I was relieved. I took off and headed over to the Souvenir Store so I could grab the Event Poster and Program. I always make sure to get them before I miss out on them. Once I was done there, it was back to the trailer to get ready to head out. I grabbed a few more photos of some cars that were still out before they got loaded into their haulers. After a few more hours, I finally headed home. Another awesome event was over. Now to wait for the next one. The American Le Mans race in September. I love this event as well. Since the race is 6 hours, I get to run around and put the camera to use. Until then, hopefully other things come for me to write about.

Sitting in the Ferrari 312 T5

Me with Brian Johnson of AC/DC

TO SEE MORE PHOTOS - http://razzi.me/albums/2675-moterey-motorsports-reunion-2011

Orientation / Class Final / Car Show and Swap Meet

Well on Saturday morning I had to get up earlier than usual. I woke up around 4:00 am and got on my way around 4:30 or so. In order to be able to do so, my wife and I had to stay over Friday night at a friends place. We needed to do this so that my wife would be able to do the things she needed to do on Saturday, and I would be able to go and do what I needed to. I had to head down to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Saturday for my SCRAMP volunteer orientation for this year. It was a long drive, but I've done it enough times to have it not seem to take so long. The orientation is more of a moral boost for the organization to get together and to introduce the new volunteers to what they are to be doing, how things run, as well as a tiny bit of a history lesson. Afterwards we get to hang out for a Bar-B-Q and chat until we decided to head out.

After eating I headed over to the souvenir store to get me a pair of Piloti Shoes. I found a great pair. After that I left with a few others and went over to Al 1's place for a little chat time. I'd never been, so I decided it would be cool to hang a bit longer. Well a bit longer ended up being a few hours. I kind of had to to get my Camera batteries charged up. I was hoping to hit a few places on my way home to get some Car shots for my Basic Photography class final project. But, as luck would have it, I ended up leaving to late. The places I wanted to drop into were closed before I was out of Salinas. Oh well! Tough breaks are the usual life for me anyways, so I just headed home. But i need to go back to my early mornig before I continue on with the rest of what I have to say.

Part of the reason I decided to leave so early in the morning was to get there and get some pictures for my Basic Photography class final. My final is based on a Self Portrait aspect. Not realy any pics of me per say, but of what I am passionate about. Well since cars a passionate part of my life, I thought it would be a somewhat easy task. Boy was I wrong. I was hoping to locate some certain cars to hopefully pull into why I ended up so passionate about cars. I posted some information in hopes of getting some help. I didn't get but 1 reply to that. Now back to the track - I took advantage of having to be at the track on Saturday to get some pics of the track and the facility with my Film camera in Black & White. Of course I also used my Canon 40D to get some shots as well. It was rather peaceful at 7:00 am to get a few shots of the track, the paddock, and some random stuff. I think some turned out pretty well. The best ones are without the cars. If you want to see what I managed to get, here is the link - http://www.razzi.me/albums/471-mazda-raceway-laguna-seca

Now to help get the word out for this years events.

The SCRAMP crew has 7 events to work this year and I am looking forward to having a chance to work at all of them. Specifically, for me as an avid Ferraristi, I can't wait until "Ferrari Racing Days" kicks off this years menu. From May 20-22 Ferrari of North America will be bringing the Ferrari F430 Challenge cars for their time to play. But, to top that off, they will also have the FXX Program, 599 XX Program, and the F1 Clienti to the West Coast. For July 8-9 there will be possibly one of the longest named events I've yet to see. The "Continental Tire Sports Car Festival Powered By Mazdag Featuring Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series". WHEW! I almost didn't think I had enough room to write that title. This is possibly one event I may end up missing. It all depends on if I can re-arrange my schedule or not. Also, July 22-24 there will be the "Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix" and AMA Superbike Championship races. A spectacualr weekend. For August, to kick off "Monterey Week" on the 12th, the "Pre-Reunion" will once again be a public event as it was for the first time last year. Then of course the Follwing Friday, the 19th-21st will be the "Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion". This is hands down my favorite event of the year. Seeing so many classic racers all at one time is an overload. Jaguar is the Marquee this year. Of course as usual I will miss Friday of the event in order to attend Concorso Italiano. It's not an event at the track, but I refuse to miss that. Then for September 16-18 there is "American Le Mans Series Monterey Presented by Patron". An event I have grown into a having a large liking to. Then to finish off the year is the Rare Treat of "Porsche Rennsports Reunion IV. I didn't know much about this event, but it only happens every few years and that it will be our treat to host it at MRLS. I'm not a big fan of Porsche road cars, but being able to see the Historics Racing Porsches and drivers in 1 event will be quite cool to see.

ON TO SUNDAY!!!!!

Not too much to say, but I did get up early once again and took a run over to the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds for the Stockton Car Show and Swap Meet to help finish off taking the film shots for the class final. Of course I did a little shopping at the swap meet first to find some cool items. Picked up a few collectibles and some books to ad to my collection. I then walked around to get some shots of a few nice classic rides.It was funny having spectators look at me wondering why the heck I was laying on the ground taking pictures. I did however manage to get 3 photo shoots out of the day. I asked one gentleman about getting together to shoot his 1948 Chevrolet Panel Truck. We tarded info and I moved on. Then not even 10 minutes after that I was approached by a young gentleman about shooting pics of his super lifted truck. Of course I gave him my number. I want to build this hobby up! Then a little later after shooting pics of a beautiful 1968 Chevrolet C10 Short Bed, the owner asked me a few questions. I let him know what was up and he asked about getting some of the pics I had taken. I gave him my information and then asked if I could set up a shoot to get some more shots. He accepted the request. Now to actually set up a time. He then said he could hook me up with some other friends to shoot their trucks. SWEET! I might start going somewhere with this hobby. I then looked around a little longer and finally got out of the show around 1:30 pm or so. It wasa good fun weekend! Here's the link of the Stockton Car Show and Swap Meet - http://www.razzi.me/albums/492-stockton-car-show-and-swap-meet-04-10-2011