The Paddocks: The 2018 Spring Classic With Turtle Wax

The overwhelming smell of race gas. Technicians tinkering with last minute adjustments before heading out on the track. Hot rubber, exhaust pipes kicking up dust, and thunderous engine notes reverberating within your ribcage. These are just a few of my favorite things about shooting in the paddocks on race day. If you've followed my work over the last couple of years, you've likely seen that I frequent Laguna Seca Raceway for a handful of vintage racing events each year. 

For this photo essay, I teamed up with Turtle Wax for a social media takeover to share what Saturday looked like during this year's Spring Classic Showcasing Nitro Revival. The social media aspect of this project was fun (check out my post on Turtle Wax's IG channel here), and below, you'll find a large gallery featuring the day through my lens. Paddock life during race weekend is exciting in the way of being able to watch human-machine interaction on a very personal level. I do my best to document drivers, technicians, and everyone in between, because they are the ones who make it possible for us to enjoy these amazing cars. This year's race was a bit different than usual, as there was a huge hot rod presence, as well as a variety of nitro fueled dragsters. I hope you enjoy this essay. Did you attend the race this year? If so, did you have a favorite car (or two)? Leave me a comment or send me a message with your thoughts!

An Afternoon Drive

I have been trying to make it a point to drive without an exact reason. I'm always running around and going to this place or that place, all with purpose and things to do. Sometimes though, I think it's necessary to just get out there without having a destination. It's stress relieving, fun, and good for your mind. 

That said, I met up with one of my dear friends Bengt and his E9 to go for an afternoon cruise. It was tons of fun and it felt almost strange to just be out there in the mountains without a real plan. It was nice to have a casual day of hanging out and just enjoying photographing our cars along the way. Bengt is an avid photography enthusiast and is constantly driving around the Bay Area, collecting places to revisit and take photos at during his next drive. 

I decided to give the Touring a good wash and wax before I headed out for the day. I later ended up miscalculating the depth of a mud patch off the side of the road, and my washing efforts ended up being slightly wasted. But admittedly, it was pretty fun.  

Below is a collection of photos from our day out - I hope you can imagine how the sun and wind felt. 

First, we came together at Alice's Restaurant. We stopped a ways down the winding road to take a few quick snaps of the cars on a turn out.

Anyone who's driven out to the coast past Alice's knows this big barn. I love this picturesque scene - it's like something out of a storybook. The two cars looked pretty small comparatively.

This Express Shine Carnauba Spray Wax from Turtle Wax is the wax that I used after washing the Touring before our drive. I not only love the smell of it, but it leaves behind a clean and residue-free feel, which is a big plus in my book.

This is a spot that I love to stop off at whenever I'm in the area. It's gorgeous no matter what time of the day it is, and it's relatively safe compared to the other busier stretches of the mountain roads. It's peaceful and quiet here, with only the occasional car rolling by.

California is pretty damn cool, right? Our next stop was along Highway 1 at this surreal lookout point along the coast. The beach has always been a place that resonates with me. It's my happy place, if you will. Our point of view lent us an expansive view, making the couple of people below us seem almost nonexistent. 

On the way back inland, this was our final stop. A cute conglomerate of little shops create this old fashioned, green storefront along the side of the road. It's charming and also a well known stop for regular drivers out here. There's a deli right off to the side, a fire station, a post office, and a handful of other small businesses. 

It was getting closer to the evening by this point, so we decided to call it a day and went our own ways. The really wonderful thing about cruising around with Bengt and his E9 is that he's genuinely there for the drive. He likes to take in the sights and make frequent stops to poke around the environment, just to see if he can find something new. This is definitely my driving style - take your time, explore, and don't be afraid to really experience your car. We run enough of a race in our daily lives, so my relaxing cruises need to be anything but fast.

When I got home, I busted out the soap and water again and washed down those mud cakes that had accumulated at the rear of the car. Drive, clean, maintain, repeat. 

This is a sponsored post. I am a Turtle Wax Shine Squad Influencer, although all opinions expressed are my own. Since I was on my own this day, I didn't have the time available to photograph my entire process of washing and waxing before my drive. I hope to bring more material like that to light in the future - but what I really wanted to focus on in this blog is the real experience of driving and enjoying your car. Thanks for reading and I hope you're able to enjoy days like this one.

Aesthetic + Mechanical Maintenance with Turtle Wax

The weather is cooling down and the hot afternoons of summer are becoming increasingly fleeting. This has always been my favorite transition of the year, as it's perfect for driving and simply hanging around outdoors. It's comfortable to be outside shooting photos, working on your car, or attending get togethers with friends. The rainy season hasn't set in yet and the chill of Autumn is rolling in. 

Dustin has been slowly working on tackling maintenance on his CB750 cafe project. The bike is coming together piece by piece as he addresses issues left behind by the previous owner. Chasing and rerouting wiring, replacing the regulator, installing new trumpets + filters, the list goes on. As he tinkers with the bike, he makes sure to keep things clean. He chose Turtle Wax's Quick & Easy Inside & Out Protectant  to wipe down painted parts and areas where dirt had layered over time and taking the bike apart. 

I'm looking forward to diving deeper into motorcycles as I learn to ride, and as Dustin gets his hands into more bike building. We love our cars, and bikes are just one more thing to add to the fun.