As some of you probably know, I've been matching up fast cars and bikes and video taping the action for years. The first stuff I put out predates YouTube by a long spell. The initial hype and fascination with this kind 'street'-like roll racing is still there. Before the video sharing sites were up and going, this kind of stuff was a challenge to spread around. Now, there is a lot of it.
However, really good content with great filming techniques is still hard to come by. There is something integrally difficult in filming side by side racing that goes more than a quarter mile - especially when you are flirting with the 200mph barrier.
So this is the latest project I've been working on. It is a show called Now Back it Up! The concept is simple. I aim to find the fastest vehicle in the country through a series of fun and entertaining eliminations culminating in a set of semi-finals and then the actual final event.
Tons of people think they are the fastest - few actually prove it. On the internet, accountability is sorely lacking. Now Back It Up! will methodically work through a set of 54 competitors, cars, bikes, trikes, anything as long as it is street legal and plated.
We were granted permission to film side by side racing at the Texas Mile land speed event during the lunch breaks, which was a privilege. During our short access to the course, we filmed 60 mile per hour roll contests from the quarter mile marker to the 3/4 mile marker for a clean half mile roll.
Though we had 14 committed people coming into the weekend, a full 10 of them backed out, broke, no-showed, etc., which left me scrambling to put a full slate of contestants out there. Luckily, being at the Texas Mile was hugely helpful. Found a total of 12 cars and 4 bikes that were eager and willing to run.
Did a single elimination format for both the cars and the bikes. We were not allowed to run the cars and bikes side by side. It was enough of a concession that they let me run a camera bike behind to capture the action. In the future, we'll have the cars and bikes running together, I hope.
In any case, here is a little teaser from our Now Back It Up! Texas Mile Special.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgwZWcraqd4 
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01-20-2010, 11:29 PM
