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Nitro Funny Cars have long been my favorite category in drag racing. I grew up on a dairy farm a few miles East of Mission and as a teenager who caught the drag racing bug before I was old enough to drive, I used to pedal my ten speed the 10 miles up Lougheed highway in order to catch the latest drag racing action. Nothing ever got me more excited than when the AA Funny Cars came to town. There was just something spellbinding for me about these cars and the excitement has never left me to this day. As I grew a little older and could actually drive a car, my travel radius increased dramatically and of course, like anyone remotely interested in drag racing, I was able to venture all the way down to SIR in my Dad's truck and camper (usually with a bunch of friends in tow - yes, even the legendary Dean Murdoch) to attend the incredible 64 Funny Car meet in the summer. Unforgettable memories (who could forget those crazy radio ad's by Bill Donner - "Yes, they'll all be there"!).

Today, through Speedzone Magazine, I get the special opportunity to photograph these 8,000 horsepower monsters from right up close and I can't tell you how lucky and fortunate I feel to be allowed this rare privilege. In 2008 I was able to attend three National events, the IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals, and both the NHRA Seattle and Sonoma events. Here are a few shots recording those events.

2008 saw legendary Kenny Bernstein step down from driving the Monster Energy funny car. Tommy Johnson Jr. was on a single pass so I thought I would try a rear pan shot of him in-between several other photographers. Sometimes it gets a little crowded down there. Dusk at PIR and Tommy Johnson Jr. lights all 8 candles on the final qualifying pass of the day One of my favorite funny car shots of 2008, this photo really highlites the beautiful paint of former world champ Gary Scelzi Chief starter Rick Stewart shields himself from the yellow juice while others protect their hearing during a hard launch from Scelzi. Check out the flying rubber behind the car 2008 NHRA Funny Car Champion Cruz "The Cruzzer" Pedregon has been waving the Advance Auto Parts banner for several years. Shown here doing a burnout at PIR with NHRA Division 6 photographer Rich Carlson and Auto-imagery photographer Dave Kommel in the back ground Cruz on a hard pass at PIR. This is a very pretty car to shoot anywhere on the race track Of course I have several shots of John Force. 2008 was not his year but he is still the champ to most race fans Two nice shots of John in the green car at Seattle. He seems to have more Mustang bodies than I have socks Ashley Force on a hard pass at Seattle. Ashley won her first National event in 2008 (against her father no less) and will forever hold a place in the record books as a result Ashley and Cruz on a qualifying pass in the heat of the day at Sonoma. Notice the heavy concentration of clutch dust from Ashleys car. It does get a little dirty shooting this close to the action Bob Tasca runs the very colorful Quick Lane Tire and Auto Mustang Funny Car, placing 12th in the standings in 2008 Green means go and and Tim Wilkerson was able to get the job done more often than not on his way to a strong second place finish in the points 2 different shots of John Force son-in-law Robert Hight in the Southern California Auto Club Mustang funny car. Robert has been the most competitive team Force car over the past couple of years, and like Capps, is due a Championship very soon. "Fast" Jack Beckman was fast in 2008 and was in the hunt for the Championship till the very end. He finished 3rd overall, only 103 points behind the Cruzzer. Melanie Troxel in the middle of a strong tire smoking burn-out. I love taking these pan shots as the car passes by only a couple of feet away. Shot with a Sigma 18-200mm Zoom lens at 1/500th of a second shutter speed. Tony Bartone at Infineon, fresh off a surprise and long awaited win in Seattle the weekend before. 07 World Champion Tony Pedregon secured major associate sponsorship from Prestone in '08. Seen here on a strong qualifying pass at Sonoma Two shots of the Napa Auto Parts entry driven by the ever popular Ron Capps. Ron is having a banner year in 2009, and I really hope that he finally gets his long overdue funny car championship. John heating the hides in the near lane at Sonoma John Force doing a long, smokey burnout at Infineon. They aren't like the old days anymore but this was as good as it gets in todays world of funny cars. Jerry Toliver hammers the throttle at Sonoma. Jerry is one of the few remaining "pre-corporate world" funny car drivers who has somehow managed to keep his dream alive The Rockstar Energy Drink, Jerry Toliver driven Mopar funny car is owned and managed by mega team owner Don Schumacher. Shot from 210 feet down and across track with a Nikon D300/70-200mm 2.8 VR lens at 1/500th of a second. Edmonton local Jason Duchene suffers significant engine problems during a pass at the Rocky Mountain Nationals Terry Haddock shown here with both parachutes deployed during the IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals I liked the perspective of this shot of crew members unloading the future champs hot rod at beautiful Infinion Raceway in the Sonoma Valley A strong contingent of 8,000 horsepower funny cars wait patiently for the signal to fire once again. Legendary Ed "the Ace" McCulloch is the crew chief for the Ron Capps Napa Auto Parts entry One of my favorite funny car shots of '08. Both Torco sponsored funny cars are captured dropping the laundry at the Edmonton finish line. Dale Creasy Jr. was later seriously injured when a mechanical failure broke his leg and sent him to hospital for a lengthy period of time. Thankfully he will fully recover. Two very cool shots by my wife Dianne from behind the fence at Infinion. Cruz Pedregon pulled the holeshot here against Ron Capps during qualifying. I really love this shot of Wilkerson against Capps. It totally captures the pure adrenaline pumping, heart stopping power that these cars create. In particular you can actually tell that the front end of Ron Capps is in the air because the front wheel is stationary. At the same time the motor is twisted hard to the right due to the incredible torque produced by these insane 8,000 horsepower nitro funny car engines. Way to go Dianne.