I get asked multiple times through conversations of people I encounter, “Why do you like watching racing so much? It’s just a bunch of guys that are driving around in circles making a left turn.”

This is true, but it’s the excitement of it, the lasting relationships, sense of family and community is what makes me want to be around it.

In the early 90s, I grew up going to West Texas Mini Speedway in Lubbock watching my dad race his odyssey around the track, participating in the bike and foot races at intermission and watching the fireworks the track put on display on Fourth of July weekend.

My dad, Kenneth Thurmond Jr., won a track championship in 1993 (I believe) and I can recall him travelling to San Angelo and Amarillo to race among other places that I can’t recall off the top of my head.

He spent endless nights at the shop of Kelly Sheen in Lamesa, Tx coming up with the right fix for his car or just having general conversation. Dad raced his odyssey with Kelly, Cary White and Jackie Holley among others from the Lamesa area.

After the track shut down in Lubbock, my dad became more involved in helping Kelly with his modified race car. He would travel with Kelly to Cardinal Speedway in Eunice to help him and I can recall travelling with him to Lubbock multiple times to watch Kelly race there.

I am not 100 percent sure if dad was around much when Kelly switched to stock cars, but I would imagine he was there to some degree.

So, with all this said, are you thinking so what yet?

Well let me dive deeper into it.

Even though I never raced or had the means to race growing up, the love for racing was always there. I typically was busy playing baseball, soccer or basketball growing up. I spend a lot of time playing in the dirt, but never racing.

Fast forward about 25 years and my love for dirt racing rekindled itself as I started attending the races in Abilene, Tx.

In 2019, (I believe) I went to almost every race in Abilene and watched multiple drivers win several races and some win several in a row (Billy Wade).

I can recall the “bounty race” between Billy and Tommy Fain.

The more I attended the races, the more I enjoyed being around the cars again and seeing all the “behind the scenes” action in the pits and meeting the drivers during the “picture and autograph” nights that Abilene would (and still does) host.

Now that I have grown to get to know a few of the drivers and have seen a lot of the behind-the-scenes things, I can safely say there’s one main reason I enjoy going to the track… FAMILY.

When at the track, there are multiple people that I wouldn’t typically see or spend time with any other time of the year except during race season.

I like to call these folks my “extended family” or what many would call “racing family.”

Even though I do not have a true family connection to Fred (Freddy) and Ashley Wojtek, they have become like a second family to me or my “race family.”

I have grown to know Freddy and Ashley over the years through a mutual acquaintance in Johnny Wade, owner of Resist-All Electric in Breckenridge, Tx. Johnny is a sponsor of Freddy’s car and that has been the connection that has led me to become friends with Freddy and Ashley.

But let’s not forget the awesome people that have become extended family to me and family. These folks include Dave Armstrong, Ricky Hughes, Buck Fade, Jeff James, Gerrit Haynes, Josh Handy, Scotty Cook, and Harvey Wojtek among many others.

My family and I have shared many laughs and memories at the racetrack with these fine folks and I have learned a lot about what goes into the setup of a racecar and just racing and life in general.

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Writing and Photography Background

Some people ask me what led me to want to be involved in racing photography and why do I travel two hours (plus) one way just to take pictures or video?

For those that don’t know, my passion has always been writing and photography.

I’ve always had a strong interest in writing and particularly news and sports writing. While in high school, I qualified for the regional UIL meet in news writing after winning third place at district. My senior year, I won the district meet in the same event and went to regionals as well.

I never did make it past the regional level my senior year, mostly due to added personal pressure to make it to state, but the experience itself helped me choose my major for college… Broadcast Journalism.

In 2006, I went on to college at South Plains College and took many broadcasting classes and was also on the student newspaper as well for four semesters.

I also became familiar with all aspects of broadcasting a sporting event.

During one of my broadcast classes, we produced and broadcasted the SPC basketball games in the spring. With this class, I became familiar with different equipment from the replay and graphics software to the cameras that captured all the action on the floor and their specific role in the broadcast. I also announced games for the broadcast, which aired on the campus TV channel.

I was a member of the editorial staff during the fall 2007 semester and was Sports Editor during the 2008 spring semester.

I also won a third-place page design award through the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association in 2008.

Fast forward to Aug. 2013, I started working at the Breckenridge newspaper as the Sports Editor and covered sports for Breckenridge ISD and the community of Breckenridge from the elementary level all the way to the varsity level.

I left the Breckenridge newspaper in October of 2016 for a job at the City of Breckenridge. This serves as my full-time job now and has since.

In 2018, I went back to writing “part time” after an online news publication known as the Breckenridge Texan, was created in 2017.

I have since covered high school football for the publication in addition to my full-time job.

My “big break” into the racing community came in 2024, when World of Outlaw and High Limits Sprint Car series driver Tanner Holmes chose me to oversee his video content and photography for his High Limits race at Texas Motor Speedway on NASCAR weekend. Tanner has made a name for himself documenting his racing on YouTube and other social media.

The experience in itself was one that I will never forget. Just having access to him as a professional and his crew the entire night was amazing. I used his gear and came away with some great photos and video for him. I did run into an issue during his feature race with his memory card on his camera being full roughly five laps into the race. I was able to quickly turn the Go-Pro on and record the remainder of his race.

I am proud to say that the experience with Tanner was what led me to do what I do today with race photography, video and articles.

Basing a lot of my ideas off what Tanner does with his content and fan interaction, I reached out to Freddy last April and pitched the idea of taking photos and video for him and his team while he raced with the Touring Outlaw Modified Series (TOMS). After a few races, I started tapping into my skill of writing and included articles highlighting how his night went on the track.

With this type of coverage, it gave his fan base from the racetrack at Abilene (Freddy’s “home track”) a chance to follow along with his success and stay up to date with his TOMS racing.

Fast forward to 2025, I have plans to continue covering Freddy and have added taking photos and writing articles for the TOMS series.

My first priority will always be Freddy and his team as I owe a lot to them for even entertaining the wild idea I had last year. But I have found ways to create a balance between Freddy and the rest of the drivers that race with the series.

I don’t do it for hype or praise, but rather for being the one to document a lot of what goes on at the track for the drivers, fans and for the sport in general.

It is my way of giving back to the sport by capturing memories that others may not be able to. Sure, there are folks that will video from the spectator stands or post a few photos of their driver on the track or in the pits, but with what I am doing and the access I have, it makes for a better vantage point.

I like to take pride in my work and try to produce the best quality of photos, articles and video in a professional way.

Racing has always had a special place in my heart, but it’s the memories made with my kids and family that will last a lifetime.

Hope to see you at the track!

Thanks for reading.