The Duquoin Mile has always been a fascinating race to watch.  In 1984 I did not have a professional racing license, so, like every other year at that track, I was only a spectator.  But I was a spectator with a camera and a passion !

Tammy Kirk #57, Chuck Springsteen, and Fran Brown #50 headed into turn 1.  Note that the bottom of the chain is slack, illustrating that Tammy is “on the gas” going into the turn.

I was sitting in the turn one bleachers with an Olympus OM-10  and a cheap zoom lens.  (I can not remember the focal length or the brand.)   Using ISO 400 film I tried every lap to get this shot.

Unfortunately, in those days, the Duquoin Mile was known for the number of drunks.  Every time the leaders entered turn one, half a dozen drunks would stand up and wave there beers in front of me.   That 36 shot roll of film has 35 images of beer cans held high.

Believing that I had achieved the image above, it was time to load another roll of ISO 400.  A dirt track race does not provide a dust free environment to open your camera.  But in the top row of the bleachers, I was farthest away from the dirt in the air and the drunks in the stands.  I was more concerned with some semi-concious drunk spilling beer into my camera that dust in the wind.

Not unusual sight at the Duquoin Mile back in the ’80s

I had two 8×10 prints made of that image of Tammy, Fran, and Chuck going into turn one.  I gave one to Tammy Kirk.  The other has hung on my wall since 1984 and is now faded.  Fortunately I carefully saved the negative, and last fall I took it to Dale Laboratories in Hollywood, Florida.  The lab scanned in the negative for me.  Then I just did a small amount of color resotration in Adobe Lightroom.

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