Motorsport Photography
From Indy Car, to SCCA racing events, I have been trackside at PIR with my shutter blasting as cars come screaming down the main straight. In my opinion, it doesn't get more exciting than motorsport photography. Something about race cars soaring by at incredible speeds while you desperately try and pan with your camera without shaking makes me jittery with excitement, feeling the power from the big engines and watching the cars round corners in ways that physics doesn't seem to agree with makes for a awesome photographic experience.
RACE
AGAINST
TIME
THE PADDOck SCRAMBLE
In the brief window of time where a car dives into the pit-lane for fuel and fresh tires, teams scramble around the vehicle swiping tires, broken body parts, and pumping fuel into the tank. Absolute chaos, for just a few seconds, then its wheel spin all the way back to the track.
BOX BOX
Between sessions or races, teams and their mechanics work hard to prepare each car for the job ahead, sometimes stripping off engine covers and aero bits to fix a problem with the cars balance or performance.
RACE AGAINST THE CLOCK
All this meshes together for one epic race, where the work of the mechanics, pit crew, drivers, and team management comes together in a effort to achieve a result that the team will be proud of.
MY EXPERIENCE
INDY CAR
Only bulls grand prix of portland
Shooting Indy Car was a experience unlike any other, not only was it difficult to get the cars in frame as they flew by, but to get the photos looking sharp was another task in itself, panning down the main straight seemed easy enough until they get close enough for you to remember they are traveling at a excess of 200 MPH, and by the time you remember that they are already gone.
USF 2000/pro
only Bulls POrtland international raceway
These mini F1 cars zip around the track with incredible agility. I stationed myself at turn 10 to watch in awe as USF cars come flying down the back straight, late into the braking zone, and then through the medium turns and onto the main straight, watching the whole time as drivers fought the oversteer and power slide as they laid on the gas on the exit of the apex. Thrilling...
ROSE CUP RACES
2026 Rose cup
The Bentley and Huracan GT3 cars stole the show, they absolutely dominated the rest of the pack setting blistering lap times all the while. Behind them was a group of Porsche Cup cars and other track cars, all fighting to get the best look of the back end of a lambo 10 seconds ahead of them. Hearing the CCBs squeal as these cars blazed into the braking zones and then the pops and bangs as they lifted off the accelerator only added to the experience.
PCA - Porsche car club of america
2026 rose cup races at portland international raceway
Whats better than one Porsche on track? How about a dozen! Porsche Car Club of America always throws together some bangers, and this year, their feature race at Rose Cup 2026 did not disappoint, those four liter flat six engines screamed in the higher RPMS and overtakes were frequent.
TASTE OF MOTORSPORTS TRACK DAY
PORTLAND INTERNTIONAL RACEWAY
At the Taste of Motorsports track day at Portland International Raceway, I spent most of the day photographing cars as they pushed through the corners and accelerated down the straights. One of the biggest highlights was seeing the Ferrari F80, which stood out among the other high-performance cars at the event. Most of my photos were taken from around the track, capturing cars at speed as they passed through different sections of the circuit.
U.S. BUGATTI GRAND PRIX
PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY BY THE AMERICAN BUGATTI CLUB
The 12th US Bugatti Grand Prix took place today at Portland International Raceway as part of SOVREN’s Columbia River Classic. The event brought historic Bugatti race cars together with a broader field of vintage racing machines, making for a pretty spectacular mix of old-school engineering and actual on-track racing. From a photography standpoint, the weekend was especially cool because these weren’t just cars sitting on display in a paddock, they were being pushed around PIR at race speed, giving me plenty of opportunities to capture them in action.
COLUMBIA RIVER CLASSIC
SOVREN - SOCIETY OF VINTAGE RACING ENTHUSIASTS - PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
The Columbia River Classic at Portland International Raceway was a full weekend of vintage racing, with beautifully restored classic race cars battling it out across multiple classes. The event featured two full days of racing organized by SOVREN, along with the All British Field Meet happening around the track and the US Bugatti Grand Prix on Sunday. From a photography standpoint, it was a great event to shoot because there was a constant mix of different cars on track, from classic sports cars to purpose-built vintage racers, with plenty of action happening throughout the weekend.
LUCAS OIL SERIES
WOODBURN DRAGSTRIP
Bone rattling, absolutely shocking. When I climbed into the media section, directly next to where the dragsters launched from, I had zero idea what I was in for. As the alcohol racers and funny cars lined up and floored it in the burnout zone to put some heat into the tires, my ears felt like they were ready to explode, what I was not ready for was the pure shock of the sound that those huge 700 cubic inch V8 engines could produce when they saw the lights illuminate. The force of the sound was enough to legitimately shake your insides and force your eyes to shut. It was simply staggering, and one heck of a experience.
SCCA - Sports car club of america
SCCA TRACK DAY Portland international raceway
The competitive drivers absolutely ripped it around PIR, from spec Miatas to vintage features, these sports cars owned the track. I noticed as I stood at the apex of turn one, that as the Miatas and sports cars zoomed by, they would lift a tire as they rammed through the curb and through the chicane, leaving them on three wheels, comically, as a pack of nearly 20 Miatas zoomed by, each and every one would nearly touch bumpers, searching for a way through, and then proceed to loose the rear end as the balance shifted into turn two, again causing them to occasionally lift a tire. Exciting stuff.
the beaches - drag racing
the beaches car show and cruise in at pir
This event, open to the public, shows of some of the best street racing builds and 1/8 mile heros Portland has to offer. Different classes of cars made their way through qualifying and elimination rounds, competing against other drivers at a chance to win some money, and take home the pride of winning a drag race.