Before NASCAR became the world’s fastest-growing sport there was speedway racing, and Henry Horenstein was waiting in the pits, camera in hand, capturing these speeding motors first-hand. A historian by trade and former student of famed English historian-socialist E.P. Thompson, Horenstein’s eye for documenting found photography while at grad school in the early 70s, and in 1972, Horenstein discovered a subject he could not only explore, but explain: his brother-in-law Paul raced stock cars at Thompson, and mentioned they were looking for a photographer for their weekly programme. Next thing, Horenstein is trackside, capturing a community of passionate fans and families who turned up each week to watch these visceral junker races. Now, this series is curated as a newly-published photobook Speedway 72.

Shot exclusively in black and white and predominantly at night, the images survey the scene of Thompson Speedway in Connecticut as men hang out car windows in oil-splattered overalls, kids sit trackside clutching balloons, and checkered flags mean go! A conscious decision to focus less on the technicality of the vehicles and more on the people who defined the subculture sets the series apart, offering an insight into a world that highlighted a seminal moment in US history – when socio-politics were darkening after the 60s love-in, revving as hard as you can without an ounce of fear was the ultimate escape for many. “I’ve been back a couple of times over the years, and things are not that different,” Horenstein tells us below – still drawn to the track. “The way people look, the way people dress, the tattoos and the long hair? Yes. But it seems to me the feeling is not a whole lot different.”

Ella Joyce: Can you tell us about how the concept of Speedway 72 came to be?
Henry Horenstein: It’s a story a lot of photographers, as they get older, will probably recognise. I’ve done so much work over the years and forgotten a lot of it. But one day I was looking through some boxes in my studio and came across these pictures. They were made when I was in grad school and about 25 years old. I was photographing for the summer at Thompson Speedway, a track in Northern Connecticut in a small town and I made pictures for their weekly programme. But, I was also making pictures for myself. I put the pictures away and found them many years later and really liked them, I expect they got better with time [laughs]. Clothes, styles and hairdos all looked so different. When I saw the pictures I got excited and thought, as I always do, “It’s a book!” So I wouldn’t say I had a concept in mind, I was just doing my work.

EJ: What was the culture of speedway racing like back in the 70s and how has it transformed?
HH: The culture of racing was pretty much what you saw in small-town America fifty years ago. A lot of the crowd were related to the drivers and the crews that kept the cars going, it was pretty much white and working class. These days of course things are very different and many of these people have probably gone to college, for example but it wasn’t likely in those days. As for what’s going on now, I don’t really know. I’ve been back a couple of times over the years, and things are not that different. The way people look, the way people dress, the tattoos and the long hair? Yes. But it seems to me the feeling is not a whole lot different.

“I have a little mantra for myself, I say: “Good subject, good photo.” That’s not art speak I know, but it’s so often true.”

EJ: The images feel quintessentially American and perfectly capture that epoch, focusing more on the men racing and less on the cars really allows that cultural aspect to shine through.
HH: It was very much as you describe. I had just finished studying history and decided to be a photographer so my focus was very much on the people and the culture. I actually studied in England at the University of Warwick with a man named E.P. Thompson who some of your readers may know. He was a famous historian of the time, and really of all time, his lesson to future historians was to preserve people, places, cultures and communities that would eventually disappear. It was our job as historians to make sure that didn’t happen. In my very small way, that was exactly what I was thinking when I made these pictures and it’s actually what I think when I’m photographing today.

EJ: How do you feel that fascination with history informed your artistic practice?
HH: Almost all my projects, and I’ve made a lot of them, I base in my study of history. I came from a time when most serious photographers were really photojournalists in disguise. Even people like Robert Frank, Garry Winogrand, Lee Friedlander, Ed Van Der Elsken, all heroes of mine, were really working photojournalists who became known as documentary photographers because they did long-form projects that had a personal twist to them. That personal twist was later seen as artistic, and I think it was, but it did not start out that way. Those are the people, among others, that I looked to as I was learning my trade. And since I was trained as a historian and fell in love with photography, it was at the time a perfect fit for me.

EJ: Are there any other photographers who have been particularly influential to you? 
HH: The wonderful Brassaï, Weegee, August Sander, and of course Diane Arbus, who was also influenced by the photographers I just mentioned. I dedicated Speedway 1972 to Brassaï and Weegee, in part because I love their work so much and it was, after all, the history they were recording but also because they shot at night and on the fly quite often.

“I’ve been back a couple of times over the years, and things are not that different. The way people look, the way people dress, the tattoos and the long hair? Yes. But it seems to me the feeling is not a whole lot different.”

EJ: What is it that draws you in when capturing someone’s portrait? 
HH: At this point it’s pretty instinctive and I rarely think about it. But I suppose if I had to break it down, it would first of all be what the subject looked like and what they were wearing. Then I would think about where the subject was sitting or standing or could be moved to, the light at the time would be a factor as well. As for the conceptual side of things, which so many people think about now, I think about it later to see how it fits in with the rest of what I’m doing. But the subject is absolutely number one in most good photos. I have a little mantra for myself, I say: “Good subject, good photo.” That’s not art speak I know, but it’s so often true.

EJ: With a career spanning five decades, how do you feel your subject matter has continued to change and what continues to inspire you?
HH: Has it been five decades? Of course it has. My subject matter really hasn’t changed too much, or my approach. I’m now working on a book called Miles and Miles of Texas, it looks a little like Speedway 1972 but of course the subject’s very different as times do change. But I don’t change too much, I think. I took time out briefly twenty years ago and photographed animals and the human form, kind of a midlife crisis. [laughs] I love the work and still show it but then I went back to working in a documentary style, because I missed it. I miss the subjects, the histories, and honestly the adventures.

Speedway 72 is published by Stanley/Barker and available to purchase here.