Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono for NKP
This past weekend I had the pleasure of shooting the Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway for Nigel Kinrade Photography. The rain-stricken, fog-shortened race was quite interesting; but so is the facility itself. The track, known as the “Tricky Triangle”, has several idiosyncrasies in addition to a missing turn four. First off, it’s the world’s largest solar powered sports venue boasting nearly 40,000 photovoltaic modules across 25 acres. And the field is maintained by a herd of sheep. Second, the land upon which the track is built was originally a cabbage farm, which helps explain the perpetual rains. The track also claims to have the largest bathroom facility in the world, the “Long John, with 1,000 stalls. Lastly, and perhaps not least, the front stretch grandstand of the track features two steeples reminiscent of Churchill Downs. The founder of the independent facility built them for his wife, who had always wanted to see the Kentucky Derby. Sadly, Pocono gained another distinction this past weekend- the only track to have both race dates delayed by weather. The race in June was run on Monday, and the Pennsylvania 400 was run on Monday as well. Rookie phenom William Byron continued his domination of the Camping World Truck Series with his record setting fifth win on Friday, and rookie Chris Buescher scored his first win in the premier series capitalizing on race strategy as the race was called due to abundant fog and impending storms.