Snap Cackle Pop: Bakersfield: Burning Nitro in America

This exciting collection of photography by award-winning photographer Ted Soqui documents the visual, white heat and sensed audible intensity of professional drag racing. The Famoso drag strip, Bakersfield, is one of the few major track venues that host the full ¼ mile and features the cars from the golden age (the fastest cars can turn speeds of over 250 mph and cover the ¼ mile in 51/2 seconds). The March Meet is considered to be one of the last great independent events in drag racing, often out drawing modern professional drag racing venues. The track also features a cacklefest held once a year at night, nostalgia cars are lined up on the track and fired-up revving their engines with fire shooting from the exhaust pipes. The sound can be deafening with over 100 nitro vehicles pushing their throttles. For drag racing purists, it’s a living history of nitro and drag racing. AUTHOR: Ted Soqui is a Los Angeles-based freelance photojournalist with over 30 years of shooting experience. His editorial clients include LA Weekly, NY Times, The Guardian, and Time. His art prints can also be found at the Robert Berman Gallery and the Autry Museum of the West as part of their permanent collection.
Cole Coonce (born 1961) is an author and literary journalist.
SELLING POINTS: . Popular worldwide sport with dedicated audience base . Exciting and engaging imagery . Ted Soqui was Time Cover Photographer of the Year . Cole Coonce is a well-known Californian writer 55 colour, 40 b/w