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.