Jet cars (previous pages)

‘Smoke fills the air as a pair of NHRA jet dragster drivers launch off the starting line to close out professional qualifying for the Arizona Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. Many of my pictures are up close on the cars, but distance can create a dramatic effect, too.’

Funny car ad (above)

‘Sometimes things aren’t necessarily as they first appear. This spectacular and evocative image is from a commercial shoot I did of Matt Hagan and the Rocky Boot-sponsored Funny Car in a makeshift studio we constructed at Don Schumacher Racing. I love this photo and there’s no Photoshop involved!’

F/A-18 Hornet (right)

‘A Hornet prepares to launch from one of the four steampowered catapults on the flight deck aboard USS John C Stennis. When I used to be a Navy photographer I was obsessed with shooting on the flight deck when they were flying jets. Damn, I miss the flight deck!’

Drag boat explosion (far right)

‘In this photo from 2015, Top Fuel Hydro driver Todd Plate explodes the engine of his boat “Problem Child” in a spectacular fireball during the Lucas Oil Drag Boat Racing Series World Finals. In addition to being one of the bigger drag boat explosions you’ll see, I just loved the way the fire reflected off the water.’

Larry Dixon crash (top left)

‘Gainesville, Florida, 2015, when Larry Dixon rode out a spectacular crash after the chassis of his Top Fuel dragster suffered a structural failure at 320mph and split in half. He walked away from the incident.’

Dragster pan (left)

‘Sometimes during night qualifying sessions I try some real low shutter speeds – this one was shot at 1/40th of a second. The unwritten rule of pan blur shooting is something has to be in focus, just…’

Funny Car in the snow (top)

‘After a long day shooting in the studio followed by some adult beverages, I got the bright idea of asking Jack Beckman’s team if we could push his Funny Car into the snowy darkness. Apparently they’d been drinking too, as they agreed.’

Top Fuel explosion (above)

‘Houston in 2016, and NHRA Top Fuel driver Terry Mcmillen suffers a massive engine explosion before blowing a tyre and turning into the wall right where I was shooting. Later Terry said he saw me standing there and hoped I had got out of the way in time…’