The day started at 6:30am. While approaching Mark’s house, I saw a dumped 350 (I’ve seen it lower though). That meant Prashant was already there. We loaded up Mark’s wagon and swooped Felix at San Jose. Picked up our tickets at will call, located at Embassy Suites hotel 8 miles away from the race track. I know, it doesn’t make sense… just like the questionable $8.00 will call fee. At another hotel, we grabbed the pimp, laminated parking pass, that got us a spot next to the paddocks! That means less dust on our shoes. Last year my black shoes were brown at the end of the day.

Right after entering the paddocks, we saw the AMA teams working on their bikes. What caught my eye was the giant elephant print on a tent. Must be Team Jordan. Then we killed some time at Alpinestars hospitality.

Later headed out to the Redbull VIP building which had one of the best views of the track. There was also quality food and drinks on the house. Found a spot on the roof which raised my standards in watching races. It’s almost like watching a baseball game in the luxury boxes! You could see more than half the track. All of us shoot Canon, it was dope to have lens options. The race was awesome and the prime seats and amenities made it even more fun. Big ups to Chris and Alpinestars!

It was a long day, but it went by pretty darn quick. There was a lot to see, tons of people and exciting racing! It would be sick to have media credentials. Imagine what kind of photo ops there would be!

Click the thumbnails to start the slide show

First time I brought a DSLR to a race, any pointers?