This Isn’t Really What I Was Expecting…

What began as a bucket-list wish to photograph race cars has become a lesson in creative choice — in lenses, in access, and in the moments worth chasing.

When I set out with the goal of maybe, possibly, getting to attend races as a photographer, there were a few checkpoints that I figured I would get to cross off my bucket list: getting exciting perspectives from around the tracks, meeting famous race car drivers, gaining access others don’t, capturing epic victory lane images, to name a few.

Being the photographer for a regional sprint car series that gets to photograph championship night for 2 of their 3 vehicle classes certainly wasn't in the realm of possibility for 2026.

I spent Saturday of Labor Day weekend photographing the Great Lakes Lightning Sprints, a division of winged sprint car with 1000cc engines within the Great Lakes Sprints Series. That night, they were racing at Crystal Motor Speedway in Crystal, Michigan, for their final night of the 2026 season. It was also the night they crowned their 2026 season champion, Justin Ward. This was his 7th championship in this series.

Before I started packing my camera bag to photograph the day at the dirt track, I decided I needed a break from my trusty Sigma 24-70mm, 2.8f Art lens. The 24-70 is a workhorse that has helped me get some pretty great shots this season, but I wanted to flex some real creative “motorsport photographer” muscles during this event.

Photographing just for a racing series on race day is a shockingly different tempo than collecting moments for a track event. It boils down to a bunch of hurry-up-and-wait for on-track scenes throughout the race day, compared to capturing moments for all the classes from all around the track. This is also a great opportunity for me to get to know these drivers and families a bit better between cars on track as I saunter up, down, and around the pit lane searching for creative scenes. I am fortunate this wasn’t my first event with this series, which lets me join conversations, be part of tuning cars, and have people around me be less weirded out when I pull out a camera right in front of them.

For this race day, I brought my Sigma 35mm 1.8f Art lens. Being a single focal length, there is no zooming in and out other than using my human body, and it’s a bit quicker to use. Prime lenses are a great tool for thinking in a street photography mindset, where you need to conceive, compose, & capture an image very quickly and with varying levels of discretion. I also really enjoy the overall look of this lens’ images. I can get in close, and the way it handles contrast and texture is premier.

See the gallery below for images from Crystal Speedway with the Great Lakes Lighting Sprints through my 35mm Sigma prime lens:

I just wanted to take pictures of race cars from cool places. Maybe be good enough to call myself a motorsport photographer. Photographing championships, champions, first-time winners, winning streaks, & more while making intentional lens choices, meandering tracks…This isn’t really what I was expecting.