CAPTURING one of the wildest crashes in South Coast Raceway history has earned Warrnambool photographer Jesse Kelly a national award.
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Kelly won Australian National Drag Racing Association’s photo of the year accolade for his video still of a spectacular rollover at the Portland strip last January.
The 22-year-old had set up a video camera halfway down the strip to film round one of ANDRA’s sportsman series.
Unexpectedly, his gear proved to be in the perfect position to record Adelaide supercharged outlaws racer Mick Mahoney flipping violently in his Ford Capri.
Kelly entered a still of the video in the ANDRA competition, run on Facebook. The image went viral and attracted 904 “likes” to earn him the award.
His prize was a striking replica gas pump display case, courtesy of Snap-on Tools.
Kelly said the award, won ahead of 20 other entries, “came as a bit of a surprise”. He was pleased to win, especially since the crash took out his camera.
“The camera was remotely controlled. I was live shooting that day. It was on a tripod,” Kelly said.
“I was controlling it from the other end of the track from a laptop. It’s lucky I was.”
Kelly started volunteering with the Warrnambool and District Drag Racing Association when he was 12 and soon developed an interest in photography.
“I bought a little digital camera back then, started taking photos here and there and really enjoyed it,” he said.
“A lot of the great people out at the club used to give me lifts. I obviously wasn’t 18. I started taking photos and it went from there.”
He had ANDRA accreditation to photograph at Victorian meetings in recent years, but this season had his credentials upgraded to national level.
“I go everywhere — Melbourne, Adelaide, Portland, Ballarat, Sydney. This year I’m going to Willowbank at Ipswich,” he said.
Kelly last week bought a 1985 Holden Gemini and has plans to make it suitable for racing.
But finances mean his ambitions are on hold for the time being. Instead, he will continue to immerse himself in his passion for photography and videography.