Dumping your loved ones ashes on the dragstrip: RESPECT

Mark J. Rebilas Photography is at Bristol Dragway.
January 24 at 3:54 PM · Bristol, TN
As someone who has covered many of the biggest sporting events on Earth I would have never expected that my most viral photo would be of an unnamed woman at a race in Bristol, Tennessee spreading the ashes of a loved one onto the track but that's exactly what happened following the completion of the Thunder Valley Nationals back in 2016. I was heading into the media center to edit photos of the winners when I saw her. Once I realized what she was doing I moved to the roof of the tower suites for a cleaner angle. Once I could see her emotion through my telephoto lens I was crying with her as I shot these. I never could find her after shooting this as I thought she would want a copy of this sad but beautiful tribute to an obvious drag racing fan. This photo would end up being shared hundreds of thousands of times and while many people thought we found who she was, we never actually did. #rebilasphotosofdecade #rebilastop10ofdecade
Canon 1Dx, 70-200mm, 500iso, f5.6, 1/2000th, Aperture Priority @ Bristol Dragway

I'm not stating any names in this story.
Some years ago a very good friend of mine passed away after a long and brave fight with kidney cancer. He loved all types of racing but especially drag racing.
At the time he passed, he owned a fairly famous historic dragster that he'd restored and ran. His favorite event was the California Hot Rod Reunion.
The year following his passing, his family, some good friends from out of state and my wife and myself took his car to exhibit in his honor at the CHRR. We towed his car down the fire-up road with one of his friends steering the dragster and dumping some of his ashes out through a hole in the floorboard.
When we knew he was terminal, I had bought a tree in his name in the grove at Famoso. The following evening we dug a hole at the tree and buried the rest of his ashes per his final wishes.
His dog passed the next year and her ashes joined his at the next CHRR.
His favorite drink was Diet Dr. Pepper so each year while attending the CHRR he gets a can poured under his tree.
You ought to see how that tree has grown over the years!

I was at Famoso when John Shoemaker made his final pass

I have seen this more than a few times, a very moving and emotional experience, would be honored to do it for anyone I know.

A few years ago at our local drag strip in Union Grove, WI a racer had passed and his friends packed his ashes in their chutes. Very fitting memorial

i guess if you want to be cremated and have your cremains (not my term, thats how the crematorium labels it) spread out, this is as good as anywhere else

it seems to me people are coming up with all sorts of...unconventional ways to (what ever the respectful term is) after they die
my mom has been talking about this forest where they bury people, no casket, no headstone, all they give you is the GPS coordinates
and ive even seem them where they put the cremains in a potting jar to start growing a tree in