NASCAR’s Newest Photographer? Baseball Legend Randy Johnson

When he aims now, people just smile.

The 6-foot-10 photographer roaming the garages at Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday was none other than baseball legend Randy Johnson, who has been an avid photographer for decades.

His retirement has allowed more time to pursue his hobby, and though he’s taken pictures of all sorts of events (and recently photographed troops in Iraq, as well as at Lollapalooza), this is weekend is his rookie foray into motorsports.

Johnson’s tenure as a NASCAR media member will only last a couple days, of course, and his primary goal is to “Just not get hurt,” he quipped.

Though Johnson once infamously pushed a TV cameraman in New York, the future Hall of Famer said he’s “always appreciated what the media does.”

“They gotta report their stories, but there’s a certain way to go about it,” he said. “I understand that first-hand, to give distance.”

Johnson said he’s tried to keep his distance from drivers in the garage, but has ended up shaking many hands.

“It’s kind of hard to blend into the crowd being 6-10,” he said. “I think a lot of the NASCAR drivers realized, ‘You’re somebody, because you’re really tall.’”

So far, Johnson seemed to be impressed with racing. He said watching NASCAR on TV “doesn’t do it justice,” nor does seeing the cars parked in the garage.

“It’s kind of like me tossing a baseball up in the air – it’s completely different than you standing at the plate and me throwing baseballs at you,” he said. “You don’t realize it’s a whole different perspective.”

(For the record, I have no desire to have Johnson throw baseballs at me.)

Johnson said he noticed the lack of a No. 51 car on the track, which he kidded could be his opening for a second career.