NASCAR to a "T"

Chicken Soup for the Soul: NASCAR

BY: Tommy Dampier

When racing lost one of its pioneers October 7, 2008 with the passing of T. Taylor Warren, one of the few remaining original members of the world of NASCAR was gone. Taylor lost his battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), silencing the shutter of his Nikon camera for the last time.

"T," as his many friends in all echelons of the racing world called him, gained renown for his now infamous shot of the finish of the 1959 inaugural running of the Daytona 500 on the shiny new 2.5 mile tri-oval track that is, to this day, NASCAR's equivalent of the Super Bowl. The race found its new home at the monster track after being moved from its original sandy beach course.

Johnny Beauchamp and Lee Petty finished the day in a dead heat, and Beauchamp was declared the winner. It took officials three days of developing and combing through the black-and-white still photos that Warren had shot to reverse the decision and proclaim that Petty was the winner of the race.
To this day, there hasn't been another decision to change the position of the winning car at Daytona.
Taylor Warren started his racing career in 1947 at the Milwaukee Fairgrounds photographing Sprint and Midget races. He was given his first part-time NASCAR deal by Bill France, Sr., who hired him to photograph the Daytona Beach races in 1952.

In his 60-plus years chronicling auto races, he became known as the father of photography on the NASCAR circuit, photographing all 50 races held at the Daytona International Speedway. His last was in February 2008. He also captured photos of all the Darlington races, from September 1950 through May 2008, the final Darlington event preceding his death in October.

T was the only photographer to receive the International Motorsports Hall of Fame's prestigious Henry T. McLemore award. He was presented this coveted award in 2006. He was one of the most respected photographers in the history of the sport. He was best known for his smile and easygoing demeanor both on and off the track.

I sat at the table with T for the 2008 National Motorsports Press Association's inductee banquet, in January. He was in high spirits and I teased him about being dressed in a coat and tie instead of his trademark yellow suspender britches with the matching yellow Goody's fishing hat. You never saw him at a race track when he wasn't wearing these two specific items.

Our paths didn't cross again until Mother's Day weekend in May. He didn't look well at Darlington, but was as always a trouper, lugging his camera equipment all over the track's expansive grounds, trying to get that perfect frame.

He told me on Saturday evening after the Southern 500 race had taken the green flag that he wasn't feeling well. He had seemed not to be himself all weekend, tiring easily, something that wasn't in his demeanor. He was typically one of the first people at the track and one of the last to leave, long after the race had ended. He enjoyed staying around and reminiscing about events that had occurred during the weekend's festivities.

But this time it took only one look for me to tell him that he should just go home and rest, and I'd get him any photos that he might need. He said, "I think that's what I'll do." He left the track about halfway through the race, telling me he'd see me at the race in Charlotte at the end of the month.

He did make it to the Coca-Cola 600 weekend, but told me that he hadn't bounced back like he thought he would. We shot Victory Lane together and talked briefly after the race in the media center. I left, telling him I'd be off the circuit until the October race in Charlotte, and I'd see him then. As always, I told him to give me a call if he needed anything, and I'd do the same.

I never saw or spoke to T. Taylor Warren again.

Numerous racing colleagues attended his funeral in Darlington. Photographers, writers, public relations directors, track officials, racing personalities from television and radio, NASCAR officials that included Mike Helton, President of NASCAR and Jim Hunter, the Vice President of Corporate Communications for NASCAR and former president of Darlington Raceway.

T's final memorial was a Nikon camera and that yellow Goody's hat arranged alongside a large picture of a smiling Taylor, a very fitting memorial for someone who devoted his entire life to the task of snapping photos of the sport of auto racing.

I was indeed fortunate and blessed to have known T. He made me a better person just by being in his presence. He took me under his wing and helped me succeed in a tough business.

T never forgot a name or face in all the years I knew him. I was and always will be honored to have called him my friend. He was an inspiration to me as well as to legions of other photographers over the years. He made me aspire to be the best that I can be when photographing and providing print coverage of the various types of racing, from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series to the Saturday night dirt tracks.

To this day I'm continuously trying to live up to that standard, and hope that every now and then, I'll get that perfect shot that brings it all together through the camera's lens. Taylor captured the core essence of auto racing in his tens of thousands of photos. The racing community is a better place for having him in it. There are few that will ever be able to live up to the high standards he set during his illustrious career.

Always let your photograph tell a story and the printed words will follow. If you succeed in accomplishing this task, then you've done your job well, and that would have made T. Taylor Warren proud.

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