These pictures were taken 4/30/04 through 5/2/04 at the California Speedway in Fontana, CA. The race is the Auto Club 500. Click on any thumbnail and a new window will open with a larger version so you can see the details. Close the window to return to the thumbnails.

Michael took the pictures with an Olympus E-100RS High Speed Digital Camera. It can take 15 frames per second. Michael had it set to 7.5 frames per second to save compact flash space. Really cool stop action.

I've made a ScreenSaver with full size images that you can download for FREE from Eyetide.com using this LINK

(98K) 640 x 480	Terry Labonte during Friday's pre-qualifying practice session.	(100K) 640 x 480	Kyle Petty heads to the garage for a few adjustments.
(92K) 640 x 480	Jeremy Mayfield looking for more speed!	(91K) 640 x 480	Tony Stewart heads to the attention of the Home Depot crew.
(99K) 640 x 480	Rusty Wallace - beautiful special paint scheme.	(91K) 640 x 480	Dale Earnhardt Jr working hard on the setup.
(97K) 640 x 480	Matt Kenseth comes by with the window net down.	(94K) 640 x 480	Jeff Gordon takes his machine back to the Rainbow Warriors.
(95K) 640 x 480	Dale Jarrett sure has had lousy luck lately - hope thing pick up soon.	(90K) 640 x 480	Sterling Marlin stops to check tire temperatures right in front of where we were standing.
(93K) 640 x 480	Jimmy Spencer talks to his crew while the Goodyear guys check his tire temperatures.	(100K) 640 x 480	Kevin Harvick still carries a small #3 on his car.
(96K) 640 x 480	Michael Waltrip dropped his window net to get some air - it was HOT!	(105K) 640 x 480	Brendan Gaughan has been showing a lot of improvement - I got his autograph Saturday!
(102K) 640 x 480	Ryan Newman also had a special paint scheme.	(82K) 640 x 480	Robby Gordon checks out his tire temperature report.
(111K) 640 x 480	Bobby Labonte working to make his car better.	(103K) 640 x 480	Ken Schrader goes to the garage. I like the added blue on his car.
(108K) 640 x 480	Jamie McMurray has a different look this weekend.	(130K) 640 x 480	Terry's crew checks out the car and gets it ready for qualifying.
(69K) 640 x 480	Jack Roush signed a bunch of autographs on his way out to watch his cars qualify.	(72K) 640 x 480	Jamie McMurray was pretty cool about signing autographs.
(67K) 640 x 480	Ray Evernham also stopped to sign autographs on his way to pit road.	(125K) 640 x 480	Saturday morning "Happy Hour"
(110K) 640 x 480	Last chance to get the cars right for the race.	(123K) 640 x 480	Check the tire temperatures and wear, make adjustments to get the handle just right.
(114K) 640 x 480	Where is the rest of Tony's crew? This poor guy could use some help pushing the car to the garage!	(115K) 640 x 480	Practice is over, time to talk it over with the crew.
(105K) 640 x 480	Terry and Kyle finish up "Happy Hour" now they'll make the final adjustments for tomorrow.	(97K) 640 x 480	Jeff's crew pushes him to the garage. They'll go to work on their race day setup.
(117K) 640 x 480	Happy Hour" is over - stop for a last tire check.	(113K) 640 x 480	Some of the cars get pushed to the garage so they can do a plug check.
(100K) 640 x 480	This very unflattering picture is me on the way back from a snack run. It's a total of 136 stair steps to our seats. Man am I out of shape!	(81K) 640 x 480	Sunday we were treated to the Navy Seals Skydive Team. They were AMAZING!
(58K) 640 x 480	These two stayed hooked together almost to the ground.	(39K) 640 x 480	They did all kinds of spirals and flip.
(124K) 480 x 640	The scoring pylon shows the starting grid. Rookie Kasey Kahne won his third pole of the season!	(132K) 640 x 480	Lap 22 was a caution when Stanton Barrett hit the wall hard. Of course everyone pitted!
(123K) 640 x 480	Brendon's team is waiting to go to work as Jamie smokes the tires - I think he planned on cutting through Brendon's pit!	(101K) 640 x 480	Lap 58 Kurt Busch spins in Turn 4 and takes poor Rusty Wallace with him.
(81K) 640 x 480	Pretty much destroyed the whole front end of Rusty's beautiful car.	(127K) 640 x 480	Kurt got off fairly easy - a lot less damage than Rusty. Kurt only lost one lap.
(117K) 640 x 480	Lap 63 restart with Matt Kenseth in the lead.	(116K) 640 x 480	On the restart, Ward Burton spins through the grass but gets right back on track. No caution.
(122K) 640 x 480	Lap 91 caution for debris - Matt reaches his pit first while Jeff heads down pit road to his.	(113K) 640 x 480	Gregg Biffle was having problems getting down pit road - Jeff Burton's crew pushed him to get him out of the way.
(118K) 640 x 480	Terry's crew is all ready for his arrival as Bobby heads to his pits.	(128K) 640 x 480	Terry pulls into his pit as Jamie and Casey head towards their's
(126K) 640 x 480	Terry's crew goes to work and Tony head down pit road.	(120K) 640 x 480	Scott Wimmer has some sort of engine problem - crew checks under the hood.
(126K) 640 x 480	Lap 145 cars get the 1 to go signal then they'll go back racing.	(120K) 640 x 480	Terry and Bobby have both run good all day!
(70K) 640 x 480	Lap 149 caution - Jeff Green lost the engine and oiled the track pretty badly.	(117K) 640 x 480	Couldn't resist another shot of my favorite drivers!
(113K) 640 x 480	Cool the way the sun glints off Dale Earnhardt Jr's side window.	(119K) 640 x 480	Last round of green flag pit stops.
(110K) 640 x 480	Even with the damage Kurt manage to be only one lap down.	(107K) 640 x 480	Scott Riggs makes his final stop for the day.
(103K) 640 x 480	Clean windshield, four new tires, a full gas tank and Kevin will be good to go!	(105K) 640 x 480	Jeff Burton sure has had a tough season - maybe the new sponsor will help.
(110K) 640 x 480	Jeff Gordon takes the checkered flag for the second week in a row!	(99K) 640 x 480	A few victory donuts in the grass.
(48K) 384 x 256	Jeff's crew celebrates another win.	(137K) 640 x 480	Jeff ran out of gas on the way to Victory Circle and had to be pushed the rest of the way.
(107K) 640 x 480	Bobby wasn't so lucky. Running in 2nd place he ran out of gas on Lap 249 going into Turn 3. He ended up finishing 5th.	(123K) 480 x 640	Finish order
(48K) 384 x 256	Had to borrow a Victory Circle photo, stupid California Speedway moved Victory Circle from the Start/Finish line to the back end of the pit suites "Gatoraide Victory Circle".