From Ella Joyce’s article for HERO:
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.