The recent NASCAR Cup Series race in Atlanta saw one of the best finishes in the history of the competition and that moment was captured in one of the greatest racing photographs ever taken. There is no doubt that the picture is a special memento for the stock car racing organization and will be used by them for years to come. But the person for whom the click is even more momentous is photographer Alex Slitz. The photojournalist was visibly ecstatic after he had laid eyes on what he produced.

Sports photography is one of the toughest jobs and even more so when it comes to motorsports. Getting that perfect shot as cars are moving at over 300 kmph can be quite a challenge. However, when that perfect shot is taken and the moment is immortalized, there’s just nothing like it. It becomes a piece of a racing legacy that is preserved for generations.

The Atlanta race was one of the insider’s greatest-ever assignments

From his Instagram account, it might seem like Alex Slitz is a freelancer, but for the Atlanta race, he was working with Getty Images. According to a report in Peta Pixel, he stood next to the flag man when the checkered flag fell and took a handheld shot. The fact that he didn’t even have to look to see what he was shooting is what is mindblowing about the image.

“This image has to be one of the most exciting of my career. I shot this handheld standing next to the flagman. Photographers with Getty Images are the only ones in the stand, so it’s a truly unique shot,” he said, according to Peta Pixel.

Slitz revealed that he used to take pictures for newspapers with an emphasis on sports earlier, but came into the world of NASCAR in 2022 during the Bank of America Roval 400. Since then, he has fallen in love with the sport and has even joined Getty Images to cover them meticulously. And that is what made way for him to get beside the flagman as the Atlanta race came to an exciting end.

“For most of my career, I was a staff photographer at various newspapers with an emphasis on sports. My first race was the Bank of America Roval 400 in 2022, which was a road course when I was a staff photographer at the Charlotte Observer in North Carolina. By the end of the day, I was hooked as a photographer and as a fan of the sport,” Slitz added.

The Getty Images photographer has spent his life covering various sports but after the Atlanta race, he said that there was nothing like covering a motorsports events, especially NASCAR.

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Getty Images stalwart explains how NASCAR photography is different

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Speaking about the difference in photography between sports like basketball or football and NASCAR, Slitz said that one does not get much time at all. Things are just a lot faster in stock car racing than other sports and a camera person only has a few seconds to capture the moment. Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever. That’s what makes it challenging, and that’s what makes it fun as well.

“One of the things I’ve found at NASCAR compared to, say, football or basketball is how fast things can happen. I spent years covering University of Kentucky basketball which will always hold my favorite spot. With basketball, if a player puts up 30 points on any given night, I can spend my time shooting them. In instances like Sunday’s race, Daniel Suárez took the lead at the very end, and I had a matter of seconds to make my images,” Slitz added.

NASCAR and Getty both must have been over the moon with Slitz’s photo of the Atlanta finish. It truly was a photo finish in every sense of the term. There is no doubt that the man behind the shot will be present at a lot of other races in the series this year and it will be fun to see what amazing pictures he comes forward with.

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