Detroit 2025 Retrospect

I think being on the inside looking out is actually harder than being on the outside looking in.

When you’re looking in from the outside, there’s usually the optimism that you’ll one day be inside. Once you’re in, where do you go from there? Maybe the inside wasn’t what you were expecting and you’re okay with just leaving. But what if the inside is exactly where you wanted to be… yet you still feel lost? Like something’s missing? Then what? Are you able to face the outside world knowing you might not ever get back in?

After the way my 2024 season ended, these were the thoughts racing through my head during the first half of the 2025 season. I was just barely clinging onto the little grasp I had on IMSA, feeling it slip further away with each passing race, and relying on my standing in the SRO as a life preserver.

To bridge a gap I had on my calendar, keep my mind busy, and keep my fingers on a camera, I decided to go to the Detroit GP last year. Aside from holding an IMSA Media hardcard, I really had very little right being there in any other capacity other than as a glorified fan, but I justified it as needing to network and have my presence [or persistence] seen. That still didn’t mute the voice in the back of my head asking “why are you here?!?”. This perhaps shows in how I handled the photos I brought home.

I’ve always said “I prefer the dark”; I love shooting in fading or no light, typically hide out in the background to get my shots, and have a propensity to process my photos on the darker side exploiting contrast. But after I was done with my photos from Detroit, even I said to myself “these are too dark to use”, and they have since sat in my “post these” folder untouched - nearly deleted several times over the last year.

Watching this year’s Detroit GP from home was essentially a reward - I wasn’t in Detroit because I was relaxing between SRO and IMSA weekends with RVR. Things can turn around real quick in the racing world, and that’s probably the legacy that Detroit will have for me. It’s a reminder to never give up. To keep yourself on the inside, no matter how hard it may be. Light always comes out of the dark…