Best of 2020 - Part 3 - INDYCAR — chris owens photography

As powerful as photographs are, pictures alone will never tell the complete story of 2020. The switch from that special May feeling to being grateful for a date change in August seems so farfetched in other years. It was reality for 2020. From no fans to fans, date changes and COVID screenings . The level of uncertainty was high. The hard-working staff at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway prevailed! With updated guidelines IMS and IndyCar were able to pull off 14 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races, the 104th Running of the Indianapolis 500, Brickyard 400 weekend and more!

It’s an honor for me to share what it’s like being here at The Racing Capital of the World and on the road with INDYCAR with you, our race fans. It excites me to give everyone some behind the scenes views and in-between moments that might have not existed otherwise. In a year like this with so many of us unable to attend events I find what our photo staff does here at IMS to be more important than ever. Knowing how much IMS means to its fans makes the work that much more rewarding and of value to me. Although this has been far from one of my favorite years I wanted to share some of the my personal favorite images from the good times we did have here at IMS this year!

Thanks for taking a look. Please leave a comment and tell me what you think! - Chris Owens

Takuma Sato cools off with victory milk after winning the 2020 Indianapolis 500.

April showers bring May flowers, I’ve been around for many sunrises and sunsets in my time working for IMS. I always have to stop for a picture, it gets me every time. What a truly wonderful place!

USAF Thunderbirds fly over the Borg Warner Trophy.

Takuma Sato’s hands prior to the Indianapolis 500. They remind me of those of a boxer or fighter!

Neighborhood children watch the Harvest GP through a break in the fence.

Indianapolis 500 Winning pit box of Takuma Sato. I love how still the image is knowing the amount of action that takes places in these pit boxes.

Fall at IMS. When most of us picture IMS we think of a sunny day in May. IMS displays all seasons during the year. I find this one recently shot in November especially colorful and simple.

2020 Chevy Corvette C8 Indianapolis 500 Pace Car is one bad ass machine! Dan Skiver Sr. Director, Event Operations here at IMS is the man putting in the hot laps for this shoot. It normally takes us a few days to complete the project. He’s lying if he say’s this isn’t one of the highlights of the job.

I’ve never photographed race cars at IMS in such beautiful light as we had for evening qualifying during this year’s Harvest GP.

Santino Ferrucci locks up his Firestone Firehawks into turn 1 on the road course at IMS.

Jeff Frederick sends driver Rinus Vekay out for more laps of practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Calm, cool and collected. Who else could laugh during the the most intense qualification session of the year, pole day? That’s right it’s Scott Dixon.

Left to right - Doug Mathews, James Black and Dana Garret. Three of the most hard working and loyal team mates one could have.. 35mm E6 Film, cross processed.

Probably the most sever cloud cover I’ve ever photographed at the track. This was shot the second week of May this year. We definitely would have been checkered flag for the day. It rained and rained.

Santino Ferrucci photographed with a kaleidoscope screw on filter.

Josef Newgarden races through the beautiful sunset at Iowa Speedway.

James Hinchcliffe in Happy Hour traffic at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Andretti Autotosport lost three cars before the green flag of race one at St. Louis’s Gateway Raceway this year. The team was working late into the evening trying to rebuild those cars!

BLACKOUT - Colton Herta. Mid-Ohio.

Colton Herta blurs through the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. I love the way the light hits his helmet in this photo.

Pato O'ward puts on his Balaclava before practice. This photo is very simple but I enjoy it. I really get a sense of focus from it!

Getting my ducks in a row… I really enjoy this photo. This was taken in St. Louis after qualifying. for some reason they didn’t open tech inspection until qualification was over. This required all cars to impound on pit lane. It really made for some nice photos!

Simon Pagenaud with attitude. Not only is he one of the best drivers in modern times, he’s one of the best guys to work with off track.

George Michael Steinbrenner watches the Andretti Autosport work during a wet spring training at COTA. The beads of rain and plastic make for a unique view for a photograph. One of my favorite portraits of the year!

Texas Motor Speedway - This is pretty early on in the pandemic, July I believe. I love this snapshot because it’s a real sign of the times. Sanitize those hands boys!

This year at Texas Motor Speedway was the hottest i’ve ever been at a race track. I believe it was 98 degrees but felt well over 100. I was having some real issues and could see this guy was going through the same thing.

Flowers fallen from the Borg-Warner Trophy. As i leaped off the ground from shooting Takuma’s kiss the bricks ceremony I noticed these flowers left and the way the light hit them. I couldn’t resist!

The new windshield on the IndyCar has brought a lot of challenges for photographers. Anytime you can get a good shot through the screen is a good day. I especially enjoy this one of Josef Newgarden.

For the love of god keep those hands clean.

I love lighted pylon at Iowa. I try to incorporate slow shutter lights whenever and where ever I can!

Fake deer in the run off tires at Mid-Ohio. I guess I don’t know what to say.

Josef Newgarden waits patiently during testing at IMS this fall.

I love this photo, It’s the way I picture the Astor Cup! My good friend and teammate James black helped me give a second confetti blast. It turned out better than I could have imagined

Will Power - one of the favorite parts of my job is creating and executing marketing concepts for the series. Joe Skibinski and myself were able to create what this look. Something i’m really proud of.