Just minutes before the drop of the green flag in Kentucky Speedway’s inaugural Sprint Cup Series race I was milling around behind Mark Martin’s pit stall. What happened next was something I least expected, yet it was one of the cooler things about the entire weekend.
A man walked up to me and said, “Hey are you Adam?”
He caught me a little off guard. I didn’t know people knew who I was, but thanks to Twitter, I had become a mini-celebrity to some folks while I detailed every moment I could from Kentucky Speedway.
“Yeah, that’s me,” I responded.
“Hi, I’m Will. I follow you on Twitter,” he said.
I had no clue how to respond. “Well, thanks, glad to meet you,” I said, probably looking more calm than I sounded.
On Friday night at Kentucky Speedway, during the Feed the Children 300, I posted Mark Martin’s radio chatter to Twitter. I tweeted an almost instant play-by-play of everything Mark, his spotter Jeremy Brickhouse and crew chief Trent Owens discussed on the radio during the Nationwide Series race.
Mark’s Cup Series media rep, Kendra Jacobs, who wasn’t at the track, tweeted to her 6,900-plus followers that if they wanted play-by-play of Mark’s radio chatter, they should follow me. Not only were the tight knit group of Markaholics following me, but I picked up nearly 50 followers on Twitter during Friday night’s race.
One of them was Will Hearne, the man I just mentioned who met me on pit road prior to Saturday night’s Cup race. Throughout the race and after the weekend we communicated via Twitter and e-mail. Will had mentioned to me that he took a photo of FOX19 Sports Director Brian Giesenschlag and myself during the June 1st tire test that made it into the local Community Press.
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| FOX19 Sports Director Brian Giesenschlag works the camera while I interview some fans during the June 1st Goodyear tire test at Kentucky Speedway (Photo courtesy: Will Hearne) |
Will shared his stories about his photos with me. I decided, “Hey this is great stuff, let me blog about it.”
Folks, meet Will Hearne…
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| Will Hearne at Bristol during a snow storm in 2006 (Photo from Will Hearne) |
They saw a picture is worth a thousand words, and Will Hearne knows what that is like. In August of 2000 he was standing feet from Dale Earnhardt Sr. at Bristol during qualifying.
“I was never a big Earnhardt fan but knew plenty of people that were and that has probably been the best [photo],” Hearne said. “I had to respect him for his dedication to the sport and the fans and I believed that I caught that.”
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| (Photo courtesy: Will Hearne) |
He started taking photos when he was a student at Owen County High School, located just over 15 miles from the racetrack in Sparta. His main love though was sports.
“I liked the action,” Hearne stated.
Hearne studied photojournalism at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Ky., but couldn’t continue to pursue his education due to rising costs for his photographs.
“It was very expensive as a student, film, developing supplies plus tuition, etc,” he said. “The evolution of digital photography that has helped me get my foot in the door. It is easier and cheaper to get good pictures.”
When he took photographs on film cameras, Hearne noted that he had to wait and see if the photo was clean. With digital photography, he notes, you can take a picture and see it “on the spot.”
“The more pictures you take the better your chances of having a good photo as well as learning from your mistakes,” he said. “I am trying to get into it more and would love to find or have an opportunity to continue to follow this dream I have.”
This dream is a dream that any NASCAR fan has: to get paid to watch the sport.
When Will Hearne began following NASCAR, back in the mid 1980s, he began following an up and coming star from the ASA ranks named Mark Martin. He continued to follow the sport through the 1990s but didn’t get a chance to go to a race until 1998, when attended a race at Bristol in the spring.
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| Mark Martin waving to fans as he walks to driver introductions before the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway (Photo courtesy: Will Hearne) |
“They always said if you think this is fun, go to Bristol,” Hearne said. “So off I went, and [I’ve] been hooked since then.”
Hearne got up close and personal with the drivers and the cars.
“I went down early and just started taking pictures of testing, qualifying,” he said, “trying to get as close to the action as possible. I had a lot to learn, but kept going back. Fortunately I have never had an issue with any driver. I have tried to stay out of their personal space and give them space.”
Hearne has also visited Daytona, Martinsville, Nashville, Bowling Green and now Kentucky Speedway.
“While in Bowling Green we started to go to the local track where I met Darrell and Michael Waltrip, Jeremy Mayfield and the Green brothers,” he said. All of those NASCAR stars are from Owensboro, Ky., near Bowling Green and the Kentucky Motor Speedway in Whitesville, Ky.
But no matter how hard Hearne has tried, his freelance work just hasn’t made him much money.
“I have had some success at selling to the public, a few publications and area newspapers,” he said. “It is a passion that I have carried with me since I started taking pictures—to become a photographer—but it is difficult. Sticking with it has been hard; got bills to pay and a life to live.”
Yet, no matter how hard it is to continue to pursue a dream of selling great NASCAR photographs, Hearne had an awesome opportunity to get photographs at Kentucky’s inaugural; Cup weekend.
“Never been that close,” he said of the action in Sparta. “I had been close before but I got a lot of great pictures.”
He also got to hang out in the garage area and take plenty of photographs of his favorite driver.
“[I] don’t mean this in a bad way but, he (Mark Martin) reminds me of my dad, same work ethic and perseverance. They don’t make ‘em like that anymore,” said Hearne.
He even had an opportunity to get some autographs from Mark Martin with the access he had at Kentucky.
“Mark signed everything I put in front of him for three days,” Hearne said. “[Drivers] are people too. They don’t mind you taking their picture, and it is part of their job, but [I] always keep the respect for them as well as others wanting to get a picture for themselves.”
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| This was Hearne's favorite photo of the weekend, a shot he got of Mark Martin walking toward the pre-race driver's meeting (Photo courtesy: Will Hearne) |
It’s that reason that so many fans flock to NASCAR. Mark Martin has a lot of fans, and he made one fan’s weekend a great one at Kentucky Speedway. Those photographs that Will took will remain with him forever. They are mementos of a first-time event in the Bluegrass State.
Each snapshot means something to the person behind the lens. For Will Hearne, each photograph is another chance to chase a passion and a dream unlike any other.
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Like Will Hearne’s photography? Follow Will on Twitter (@ul1card) or contact him at whearne.pics@gmail.com for more information. And, if you ever run into me in public, feel free to come up to me and chat.
I always love meeting new people, especially NASCAR fans. I never knew a quick chat with Will on pit road at Kentucky would turn into a long blog post, but if you’ve got an awesome story, I’m willing to talk to you about it and post it here on the blog.
Have a good Monday afternoon. Stay cool, and thanks for checking in.
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