There is a hotel right there at the track but I think you have to reserve several nights and cost about the same as renting a Prevost. If I were to go into town and get a room I stand a good chance of losing my parking spot inside the track which is essential for having a base to keep my camera equipment and a cooler for drinks and stuff. I like parking just off the main street so I'm centered between the paddock and many of the turns on the track plus its close to the bathrooms. I'll walk over to the paddock and take some pics then walk to my car and get a drink, grab a telephoto and monopod and then walk over to the track. Drop it back at the car and walk back to the paddock several times a day from sunrise to sunset. I really appreciate the offer and I'm not offended. I'm not really mad or ranting, just sharing the experience for a chuckle. The heat is really what made the difference and as Steve pointed out it can also be pretty cold. I was fine the last few years but this time there was just an extra amount of stupid stuff to deal with.
Another thing that had me shaking my head this year was the fact that they scheduled the Conti race or grid walk or something at the same time the TUDOR drivers autograph session was going on in the paddock. The autograph session packs in the fans as the driver sit right outside the haulers and the entire paddock area is filled with people. This year they had the cars trying to drive through the crowd followed by their support carts in the middle of the autograph session and it was just crazy. I'm surprised nobody got hurt. Wasn't like that the last few years and in my opinion a very poor choice of scheduling. Because of less entries this year they had tried to fill the paddock by mixing in all the different series together so that may have put the Conti cars to close to the TUDOR paddock and the only way out for them was to drive through the autograph crowd. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Before they start the 12 Hours they have the grid walk which is great but they now have it on pit road which is half the width of the race track where the used to have it. That means everyone has to squeeze in to walk past the cars and there really isn't any room to walk. That made it a different experience and not for the better. I don't know why they moved it to pit road but they did have the hall of fame cars and some ride alongs going on the track at the same time. I think they used to do the Hall of Fame cars before the grid walk which is nice because then I could take pictures of both. I hate to think they moved the grid walk to pit road and crammed a few thousand fans in there just so ten or so could take a few laps in their Corvette. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I was over by turns 3, 4 and 5 for the start of the 12 Hours and across the track a few guys lit some green smoke bombs when the cannons went off to signal the start of the race. While it might have seemed like a good idea, with the way the wind was blowing the smoke went right over the track and the drivers had to go through it the first time through those turns. Hard enough to make it through all bunched up at the start without having to go through a cloud of green smoke. It also created a haze that kinda ruined it for all the photographers at that location wanting to get a shot of the start coming through those turns. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I went over to photograph the bikini contest which was pretty good except for some blatant cheating. They had 13 girls and before the judges picked the winner the emcee held his hand over each girl and the crowd cheered for their favorite with the girl that gets the loudest cheers getting a quick $100 cash as " Most Popular ". BTW the winner of the bikini contest got $1,000. So they narrow miss popular down to three but one was clearly the winner. The emcee hands the $100 to Miss Sebring who is a local girl and tells her to give it to the winner. She walks right past the clear winner and handed the $100 to another local girl that shouldn't have even been in the running. The whole crowd was shocked that it went down like that. The girl that easily should have won the $100 was very cool about it and still managed to smile even though she just got burned. As it turned out she was picked by the judges as the winner and got the $1,000 but she deserved the $100 too. This is the winner of the bikini contest. Image Unavailable, Please Login
As I type all this I'm half laughing half shaking my head in disbelief and just wanted to share what you might experience at the 12 Hours of Sebring. Its always been know for the party atmosphere and the antics of the old days is legendary. It is a great event for taking pictures that allows you to get right in the middle of the action. I put in a long day because you just never know what might happen next or who might come walking around the corner. That persistence often rewards me with a pic that everyone else missed and I never wanted to be shooting the same thing everyone else is. I'm sure I'll be back next year and who knows it could be in the 40s and I'll be wishing for that day when I was feeling the heat of a Turner Girls sandwich. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
One last set.... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Let me guess....I am never getting the number of who could help me make beautiful babies and you scored a great shot of a Porsche DP935? Laugh with me more and less at me!
You most certainly did and I was wrong for saying you didn't and I apologize. I went back and looked at the rest of the pics I took and there you are getting the sash for 2nd runner up ( 3rd place ) and I want you to get the credit you deserve so I'm posting a few more pictures of you. With the exception of the " Most Popular " part, it was a great contest and all the girls did really well. I especially liked the part where each girl told something we might not know about her. It was very entertaining. Again, very sorry for not giving you credit. If it's any consolation, I did pick the shot of you in the black dress to post here because I knew it would be a favorite. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
