Nitro Fire

MikeMcA² · October 13, 2008

I think I just captured my favorite shot from this season's events. Nitro-methane consumes a cylinder head on this Pro Fuel run at the weekend's race in Rockingham, NC.

BCSPhotoguy · October 13, 2008

One word.....WOW!!! If this isnt printed poster size and placed somewhere with pride - go do it now!!! What timing!!!!

bike21 · October 13, 2008

Fantastic shot! Did he crash after that? Looks a little sketchy there!

johng · October 13, 2008

Great shot!

MikeMcA² · October 13, 2008

bike21 wrote:

Fantastic shot! Did he crash after that? Looks a little sketchy there!

Thanks everyone!

Bike21, nope. He went back, put his spare motor in the bike and ran his 3rd qualifying run to get into Sunday's show. He loves the image (showed him an electronic copy I had on my Blackberry) and he will buy it very large.

He's a good customer.

bike21 · October 13, 2008

MikeMcA² wrote:

Thanks everyone!

Bike21, nope. He went back, put his spare motor in the bike and ran his 3rd qualifying run to get into Sunday's show. He loves the image (showed him an electronic copy I had on my Blackberry) and he will buy it very large. He's a good customer.

Right on, he looks about to come off the bike there with his leg hanging back like that. Good for him to keep on going!

MikeMcA² · October 13, 2008

bike21 wrote:

Right on, he looks about to come off the bike there with his leg hanging back like that. Good for him to keep on going!

Many of the "old school" fuel bike pilots drag their legs. It's a way for them to balance and shift their weight. Two schools of thought on this, but many of the top guys do it.

jopapeca · October 13, 2008

WOW just in time

. Fantastic shot.

Darren Troy C · October 13, 2008

Wow, talk about a crotch rocket! Great shot!

2whlrcr · October 13, 2008

That's a keeper. Plus it goes well with his paint scheme.

bike21 · October 13, 2008

MikeMcA² wrote:

Many of the "old school" fuel bike pilots drag their legs. It's a way for them to balance and shift their weight. Two schools of thought on this, but many of the top guys do it.

Gotcha, coming from my dirt background it looked a little off. That is cool how they do that

Dano · October 13, 2008

I think I just captured my favorite shot from this season's events

Well if that one isn't your favorite please post the one that is. Sweet capture.

PeterLyons · October 17, 2008

MikeMcA² wrote:

I think I just captured my favorite shot from this season's events. Nitro-methane consumes a cylinder head on this Pro Fuel run at the weekend's race in Rockingham, NC.

Definitely an amazing shot!
So... in case anyone doesn't quite get it... (like maybe me)... will you explain exactly what's happening there? Is that normal to have so much flame? What's that about consuming a cylinder head?

rich56k · October 17, 2008

MikeMcA² wrote:

I think I just captured my favorite shot from this season's events. Nitro-methane consumes a cylinder head on this Pro Fuel run at the weekend's race in Rockingham, NC.

Mike,

WOW is right!!

I've been shooting m/c drags for 5 years and thats dead-on sharp and right on the money - you nailed it!!

Right place / right time / right lens / eyes open -yeah, baby!! 10/10!!

Can't tell if back tire lifted from the force?

Consider sending to http://dragbike.com (attn: Brandy - tell her rich56k sent you) for 'photo of the week' (thats after you exhaust all $$ outlets- they don't pay but its world - wide viewers that will totally love it)

CONGRATS!!

rich56k

glennp · October 17, 2008

Great Shot! You nailed it.

MikeMcA² · October 17, 2008

PeterLyons wrote:

Definitely an amazing shot!
So... in case anyone doesn't quite get it... (like maybe me)... will you explain exactly what's happening there? Is that normal to have so much flame? What's that about consuming a cylinder head?

Peter,

Not at all normal to have that much flame, unless something is eating itself in the engine.

In this case, it's a nitro-methane burning engine, and that nitro is highly explosive and creates a huge amount of internal cylinder pressure. That pressure wants out by the path of least resistance. Normally, the most often sought "abnormal" path is between the cylinder and cylinder head, as in thins case. Great effort is made to seal that interface, with "fire rings" machined into the head and cylinders, and lots of bolts. In cases like this, the fuel and all the pressure it generates has found some flaw in that interface, and burning nitro-methane has begun leaking between the cylinder and head. That burning nitro consumes the aluminum of the cylinder head, and makes for these spectacular images.

Another such image from a race earlier this season in Gainesville:

Beautiful to photograph, expensive to repair lol.

And Rich, thanks for the link. I will try that.

Appreciate the comments, everyone!

MikeMcA² · October 17, 2008

rich56k wrote:

Consider sending to http://dragbike.com (attn: Brandy - tell her rich56k sent you) for 'photo of the week' (thats after you exhaust all $$ outlets- they don't pay but its world - wide viewers that will totally love it)

CONGRATS!!

rich56k

Thanks for the tip. I sent it to Brandi and 10 minutes later it was up as POTW lol :ivar http://www.dragbike.com/dbnews/anmviewer.asp?a=4433&z=7

rich56k · October 17, 2008

MikeMcA² wrote:

Thanks for the tip. I sent it to Brandi and 10 minutes later it was up as POTW lol :ivar http://www.dragbike.com/dbnews/anmviewer.asp?a=4433&z=7

Mike,

Glad it worked out!

A shot like that deserves both recognition and mass consumption!

Congrats again!

-Rich

PS: If you have statcounter you'll probobly see anywhere from 1000-3000 hits/day to your site directly from the 'POTW' link while it's up- and sorry I misspelled her name (it was late)...

(if not there's a tutorial here on dgrin and visit http://statcounter.com for the code - it's free and well worth it anyway...)

thdizzy · October 18, 2008

Unbelievable

cj99si · October 19, 2008

Thats one of the best photos I've seen in a while! Intense!

MikeMcA² · October 19, 2008

Todd and CJ, thank you!

hoghead · October 25, 2008

Hey Mike,

Great shot! Do you do all the AHDRA events? I was there with you on the starting line in Richmond at the Jim McClure Nationals taking pictures. Best seat in the house! Your shots make me want to buy that longer glass bad!

Take care

MikeMcA² · October 26, 2008

hoghead wrote:

Hey Mike,

Great shot! Do you do all the AHDRA events? I was there with you on the starting line in Richmond at the Jim McClure Nationals taking pictures. Best seat in the house! Your shots make me want to buy that longer glass bad!

Take care

Hey Skibo,

I remember you from VA, thanks for the comments! I try to shoot for them when I can. This year I shot Gainesville, Phoenix, Commerce, Norwalk, Cecil County, Richmond, Rockingham, and the Champions Banquet. Many of the "Speed" covers this year were my stuff and most of the T-Shirt graphics images.

I used to be a racer, then crashed hard in Commerce in 2006 and spent a little over a month in the hospital (which was many months shorter than the original prognosis). When I went back and raced some events in 2007 (had to "get back on the horse that threw me" lol), I brought along my camera and shot some images for Bob Malloy in TF, and while there shot some other stuff. Reaction was really cool, and my girlfriend is much happier since there's not much chance of me crashing again at over 125 MPH as a photographer, so I stuck to shooting in 2008.

Not sure what I'll do next year, but with the price of diesel fuel needed to haul a trailer around the country, I'll likely just keep on shooting.

Hope to see you in 2009.

Nitro Fire

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