Regular readers of GotBaddog may recall that since 2010 I have been attending and photographing the Mooneyes Christmas Party, Car Show & Drag Races at Irwindale Speedway. This past December the weather did the unthinkable by raining out the event; if you can imagine rain in December. As a result, Mooneyes rescheduled the event for Saturday, May 10 and renamed it the Mooneyes Mother’s Day Show & Drags. Even though I had other plans, I decided to stop by Irwindale to check out the morning action.
The first thing I noticed was that there was a much smaller crowd that I have ever seen at the Christmas Show; so much smaller that the parking situation which usually causes the most complaints was not an issue at all. As I made my way through the car show to the drag strip it suddenly dawned on me that I had forgotten to bring my ear protection. As I usually like to get situated a little ways down from the staging lights I decided my ears would survive without them. After I signed my waiver and prepared to get situated I was informed that things were different this year and photographers had to stay in one small area right by the staging lanes. To those unfamiliar, this is where the cars typically do their burnouts to make the tires sticky; it is also about the loudest place one can stand. After one of the first cars hit a wall it caused a fairly significant delay while debris was removed from the track; the next set of cars that staged were far too loud for my unprotected ears and I decided that I was not going to be able to get the shots I wanted so I called it a day.
The Mooneyes Christmas Party, Show and Drags take place on the second Saturday of December; barring inclement weather I will give it another shot next time. I will remember to bring ear protection too.
