brian cassidy bookselle

The money coming into the sport due to its national television exposure
brought about significant changes. As corporate sponsorship
of cars and individual races increased, so did purse money. In 1979,
Winston Cup champion Richard Petty won approximately $415,000; by
1988 that number had nearly doubled for Bill Elliott, who took in
approximately $812,000. More recently, 2013 Cup champion Jimmie
Johnson garnered almost $9 million in purse money alone (and another
estimated $6.5 million in endorsement revenue). Phillips documented
not only the races, but also, extensively, the primarily Southern
sponsorship common in the early, pre-television era. As revealed in
an included program from the 1981 Firecracker 400, more than half of
the field (24 of the 42 cars) carried either local or regional sponsorship
from companies like Jim Peacock Dodge, Rogers Auto Leasing, and
The Daytona Inn, or even no sponsorship at all — a marked difference
from the cars fielded today.
More than 40 of the albums are of Daytona and its two biggest annual
events: The Daytona 500 and the July 4th, Firecracker 400. Phillips
photographed prolifically from his location in the grandstands, with
several albums of individual races holding over 200 prints each. And
while NASCAR events have been extensively photographed, there is a
kind of archetypal racing image. Commercial photographers almost
universally choose ground level, just inside the track, between the
turns, or on the infield for their vantage points, typically capturing
an action shot of a particular car, mid-turn, at high speed. The
photographic capability to execute the view is one that generally
eludes the average fan. Most fans, therefore, choose to purchase
racing photographs rather than take their own, making a vernacular
collection like this one particularly unusual. And Phillips’ photography
certainly transcends the archetype. While the majority of these
images are of the racing action, the vantage point — among his fellow
spectators — continually influences the frame, offering the view of
the common NASCAR fan. Phillips’ lens often drifts from the action
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