[kdobson]

I know nothing about the policies of the tracks you mention, but I'll offer you some advice from a promoter in Illinois on how I would go about it if I were you.

The access a track offers you as a photographer is kind of a trade-off for publicity. There's nothing in it for the track to let you in free or otherwise to take pictures as a hobby that nobody is going to see. If carrying a camera was an automatic free ticket into a race track or ticket into the infield we would have as many cameras in the house as fans. I guess we actually do now that every phone is a pretty good camera.

But good photographers who can capture the essence of an event are a good thing for tracks as long as it's used in a way that doesn't degrade the track or event.

My advice would be to go ahead and buy a pit pass the first time or two and simply ask for access to the infield. Get to know and build a relationship with the other photographers around you. Take your photos and practice your craft. Make them available for the track to use for promotional purposes, share them with the world and help draw favorable publicity to the track.

At that point the track promoter is going to view you as "on the bus" and what you are doing as an asset. I would suspect that most tracks are going to be fine offering you a credential as a photographer if you have checked the boxes above.

Oh... and don't go roaming the pits trying to sell your photos. Many tracks have exclusive relationships with certain photographers for that. Taking a picture is different than selling a picture on the premises.