Battle of the Fenders 2025

This was my second year out at Battle of the Fenders, and it reminded me just how special this race is. A multi-class stock car endurance event at Colorado National Speedway, it’s 300 laps of stock cars circling the track on a cold winter day, the kind of conditions that make everything feel a little more raw. The race had to be rescheduled twice because of the weather, which only added to the anticipation, and when it finally happened it delivered exactly what we were hoping for—chaos, close racing, and cars slowly wearing the evidence of battle.

I had a couple of friends, Justin and Shawn, racing this year, so a lot of my time was spent bouncing between shooting, rooting them on, and hanging out with the team between stints. That’s one of the things I love about events like this—the line between spectator, photographer, and participant is thin. At one point I put the camera down and jumped in to help bend a fender away from a tire, pretending to be a crew guy for a few minutes just to keep the car going.

Experiences like this are a big part of why I want to shoot more motorsports in 2026. The drama, the stories, and the relentless pace of racing create moments you can’t script, and being close enough to feel them is what keeps me coming back.