Monday, May 24, 2010

Lights...Camera...Action! GoPro Camera Shoot a Success. Baglieri and Calnon also a hit in BG Oil Chevelle.

Last blog we told you a little bit about one of the coolest cameras on the market today if you're into active lifestyle sports and activities. Used for things like skydiving, mountain biking, dirt bike riding, SCUBA diving, or off road racing, these little HD cameras are amazing. Bart Rogowski of TST Industries distributes the GoPro Camera system and he, along with Kimberly Nocita, decided it was time to introduce them to drag racers. So the obvious first step was to mount some cameras in a couple of drag cars and hold on. The 1080p HD GoPro's were mounted inside, outside, on top and underneath the cars for some incredible footage. The demo dvd should be done in the near future and we'll have some footage for everyone to check out.

In addition to the day of filming it was also time to get Phil Baglieri some seat time in the BG Oil Chevelle that he'll be driving at selected races for team Dalcorp. His first big outing will be at the Barona Drag Strip in North County San Diego where the 4th Annual BG Oil Manufacturer's Cup will be held on June 25-27th. Phil's been down the track a handful of times in the Chevelle and is already starting to put down some great numbers. There isn't any doubt that he'll be ready for competition by the end of June. For more info on The BG Oil MFC event go to: http://www.dragcorner.com/. It will be THE event of the summer.

Also slipping behind the wheel of the SS was Tom Calnon, long time friend of the family and who also did some drag racing back in the day. After making an easy check out run he put down a nice number on his second run and also provided some great GoPro footage for the demo reel. It was great having Tom out with the team and we really appreciated all of his help in the pits. He's no "arrive and drive" kinda' guy. Thanks Tom.


Bart Setting up one of the camera mounting
brackets for the GoPro.

Check out this suction mount that comes with
the camera. Once it's locked down it's on for good!

A view of the camera from the driver's side.

Buster, Phil's dad, changing out a header gasket
on the Chevelle in record time. Thanks, Buster.

Some of the mounting points for the GoPro were
a little difficult to get to. Great job, Bart...and good
thing you've got long arms!

Steve Warner was helping out in the pits all day and
made sure things were ready to rock before each
run.

Kimberly getting one of the GoPro's ready to
mount.

Phil strapping in for his first hit of the day.



Tom Calnon taking it all in.

Erica getting some final instructions from Bart
as to what he wanted on the first run. Bottom
line...a MONSTER burnout! Can do....



The roof mounted GoPro using the suction
mount.

Check out the camera on the roof. You know
the mount works...0 to 120mph in 5 seconds in
the 1/8 mile.

Tom Calnon going over the controls in the BG
Oil Chevelle.



"Let's do this!"

Bart firing up the GoPro for Tom's run.



A new camera angle for Tom's second run.

This shot produced some awesome footage. We
set up this angle on the Chevelle and the Nova.

Great job, Tom!

Lauren and AJ were able to come out and help
with things in the pits. Thanks, guys.

Tom's a quick study; helping out with the packing
of Erica's parachute.

There was a little bit of hurry up and wait for Erica
as Bart and Kimberly were changing camera
angles, but it was all good!

This angle produced some great parachute opening
shots as well as showing how fast the cars accelerate
as they leave the starting line.

This angle was insane! Mounted to the wheelie
bars, this shot produced some of the best footage
of the day...and some great sound.

After the run; check out the side mounted camera
and the camera on the wheelie bars. Cool.

This was also a great shot. On this run a hood
pin came loose and the hood shook pretty hard,
but the suction mount held fast.



Phil and dad...final run of the day.



At the end of the day Bart was pretty happy
with all of the footage. And not one camera was lost
or damaged! Thanks Bart and Kimberly. We
can't wait to see the demo!