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A NASCAR BLOG BY Steve Waid
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“T. Taylor” has given all of us a great legacy
Oct
10
I am fully aware that most of you never knew Thomas Taylor Warren, who died at 83 years old just a couple of days ago, and certainly you never met him. To all of us in the media, he was known simply as “T. Taylor.”
He was the first photojournalist to cover NASCAR. Fact is, he was shooting races in the Midwest long before the sanctioning body was born.
When he came South, he was the most prolific photographer of NASCAR people, races and events it has ever known.
He was there when races were held on the beach-road course before Daytona International Speedway was built. For decades, he was always present at Daytona, Talladega, Martinsville, North Wilkesboro and other tracks too many to mention.
He was indeed a true professional. He did his tasks admirably – from the days of shoot-and-print through the modern digital era.
That’s already been said in the many tributes to him.
But there is something else.
“T. Taylor” always gave back – and he didn’t have to. When he took a photo, if it included a driver, a crewman or a member of the media, he would nearly always make sure that those whom he had captured in his lens got a print. He would hand it to them with a smile and ask nothing in return. Nothing.
He was the man who took the now famous and definitive photo of the finish of the first Daytona 500 in 1959 that ultimately proved that Lee Petty was the winner.
At the time, he didn’t think much about it.
All that aside, here’s what you, all of you, who did not know “T. Taylor” should understand:
When it comes to NASCAR’s history, when it comes to its heritage, the images captured by Thomas Taylor Warren, “T. Taylor,” will contribute so greatly to all of it. Of that there is no doubt.
That is his legacy.
Thankfully, we all will benefit from it.
He was the first photojournalist to cover NASCAR. Fact is, he was shooting races in the Midwest long before the sanctioning body was born.
When he came South, he was the most prolific photographer of NASCAR people, races and events it has ever known.
He was there when races were held on the beach-road course before Daytona International Speedway was built. For decades, he was always present at Daytona, Talladega, Martinsville, North Wilkesboro and other tracks too many to mention.
He was indeed a true professional. He did his tasks admirably – from the days of shoot-and-print through the modern digital era.
That’s already been said in the many tributes to him.
But there is something else.
“T. Taylor” always gave back – and he didn’t have to. When he took a photo, if it included a driver, a crewman or a member of the media, he would nearly always make sure that those whom he had captured in his lens got a print. He would hand it to them with a smile and ask nothing in return. Nothing.
He was the man who took the now famous and definitive photo of the finish of the first Daytona 500 in 1959 that ultimately proved that Lee Petty was the winner.
At the time, he didn’t think much about it.
All that aside, here’s what you, all of you, who did not know “T. Taylor” should understand:
When it comes to NASCAR’s history, when it comes to its heritage, the images captured by Thomas Taylor Warren, “T. Taylor,” will contribute so greatly to all of it. Of that there is no doubt.
That is his legacy.
Thankfully, we all will benefit from it.
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