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The Mechanized Carnival

Michael Webster

14 May 2023 • 6 min read

A friend and I were driving back from Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois when we spotted a little mechanized carnival in the small town of Stone Fort. I first heard the term mechanized carnival when I asked why the local 4-H fair no longer had typical rides such as ferris wheels and the like, featuring instead mostly blow up stuff like jumping castles. The answer was that mechanized carnivals wanted too steep a guarantee to come to the backwaters of southern Indiana. I guess the even more rural backwaters of southern Illinois were somehow more lucrative.

Anyway, I took the two photos above that day and found them both fascinating. The top one I thought captured something Lynchian about small town life in the midwest. The other captures something of the contradictions about how small town and rural people are likely to perceive racial issues. Both illustrated something of the rot that is just beneath the surface, if it is beneath the surface at all, in small town and rural communities in the U.S.

So I started the project I titled The Mechanized Carnival, but I never got anywhere with it. I’m uncomfortable photographing alone in places where there’s a lot of kids, and with good reason. I always ask a parent if I want to take a picture of a kid, but that’s impossible for wider shots. I got questioned by the cops at one carnival. They said someone had complained. I scrolled through the photos I’d take for them so they could see I wasn’t focusing on kids or young girl’s asses or anything the least bit questionable, so there weren’t any further issues, but it was unpleasant.

People in rural areas and small towns have for the most part become abject cowards. Parents constantly worry their kids will be kidnapped by pedophiles and big strong men are terrified to go to the grocery store without carrying a gun, fearing that someone will mug them. Of course those things never happen, at least not in the places those people fear. The most dangerous places for pedophiles are youth sports and other organized youth activities such as the Boy Scouts or churches. And nearly all the gun violence is between people who know each other, and most likely over drugs. No one gets mugged going to the IGA at noon in small town America, and no kids get kidnapped at carnivals or other public events.

Anyhow, I’d pretty much given up on the project when someone gave me free tickets to a Sprint Car race last summer. I got a pit pass, spoke with some of the drivers and their families, and took some photos. I took my black and white camera, figuring it would be better for capturing something of the dark underbelly of the sport, and this was about the best I cold do.

Yes, it’s true that there are may gun loving people who are also into auto racing, and in this photo you see a gun shop is sponsoring one of the cars. But what you also see is that this is primarily a family activity, for many of the spectators, and for pretty much all of the racers. Most of the driver camps have at least three generations: kids, parents, and grandparents.

And if there is a dark underbelly, I have yet to find a clue to what or where that might be. It’s probably the most wholesome activity I’ve ever been around.

At some point I realized that Sprint Car racing could also be considered a mechanical carnival and decided to incorporate that into the original project. And I’ve given a lot of thought into how to better approach it without drawing suspicion or attention from the authorities. I’ve created a website dedicated to wholesome local activities including, hunting, fishing, and a large dose of motor sports and some pictures from mechanized carnivals, though not weird ones like I showed above. And I know a couple county sheriffs who I’m going to ask how to best go about photographing at carnivals. I figure I’ll get a Domke vest to standout as a photographer, have press credentials handy, and talk to the local cops before I go. Maybe I’ll rent some kids to take along as well.

In this pic, you can see a couple photographers standing in the infield in the middle right of the photo. That’s going to be me before too long. Not that I care much about getting close up photos of the racing, but it will be a good way to get some attention and authority. And I’m making it a point to take nice photos of people and send it to them so they can post on their Instagrams and Facebooks. I’ll help out the speedway with some publicity, too.

For example, this is Rachael Probst. There are quite a few female drivers, but most come from racing families. Rachael, however, did not. She just got into it and purchased her own car. This is her second season, and she is getting better, trying to move up in the standings.

This is Zane McCrary, it’s his second year racing as well. He too is getting better, trying to move up in the standings. The woman in the purple t-shirt is his sister. She races, too.

Rachael and Zane are driving what are called Lightning Sprint cars, which are the entry level in sprint car racing. A local company builds the chassis. I’m going to check them out one day soon. The engine is a 1000cc motorcycle engine. Had I known about this when I was fourteen, it would have been my life’s goal to get me one and be a dirt track sprint car racer. If you know what it’s like to ride a 1000cc or thereabouts motorcycle, perhaps you can get some sense of what it must be like to tool around a dirt track in one of those contraptions. They hit 100 miles an hour on the short straightaway and barrel into the banked turns sliding sideways all the way through the turn. The thing I learned last night is that they have no place to practice. The only time they can drive on the banked dirt track is during an actual race. Imagine that. Unsurprisingly, you see some pretty bad driving and silly wrecks in the entry level races.

This is Carson Garrett, aka The Colorado Kid, and that’s a real sprint car. He won the big race last night, which was 25 laps with 22 cars. The purse was $3000. This is his third year and he is an up-and-coming driver who you may see on the Nascar circuit before too long. He will be in over 60 races this season. Notice all the sponsorships on his car.

Of course $3000 is nothing compared to the cost of racing. Everyone has an expensive trailer full of tools, as well as a couple cars. The big guys, like Carson, who travel have giant rock star like motor homes pulling equally long trailers. Those outfits must cost north of $200k, not counting whatever the cars and necessary tools cost. I’m more interested in the Rachaels and Zanes, the local people who hold down jobs and pour all their money into their cars. But either way, it’s a labor of love, and I find that interesting. How it’s going to integrate with the regular carnival stories is another matter.

I’m excited to be working on a project again. It’s been awhile. Notice I’ve been using flash in all these photos after Stone Fort. I used to be pretty good with a strobe, but it’s one of those skills that you use it or lose it. So having to relearn those skills and come up with a lighting strategy is exciting as well. We’ll see how it goes.