Andy Clark / Reuters

Dressed as a princess, Jennifer Knoepfel stands in the pits waiting for the next race during the Saturday night stock car races at Agassiz Speedway in Agassiz, British Columbia on July 7. Jennifer wore the long gown and tiara as part of her duties presenting the trophies to the winners of the night's competition.

Andy Clark / Reuters

Late model sportsman stock cars compete in the premier race of the night at Agassiz Speedway in Agassiz, B.C. on Aug. 11. From spring until autumn every two or three weeks competitors and spectators gather on Saturday nights to watch or take part in the races for prize money, points and local honours at the 42 year old race track.

Andy Clark / Reuters

Fast food and tools come together in the pit area of Agassiz Speedway during Saturday night racing on July 7. Local racing teams set up their equipment around the grassy edges of the infield pits to work on their cars between races.

Built in 1970, the Agassiz Speedway is a quarter mile oval track nestled in the side of the Agassiz Mountain about 90 minutes east of Vancouver, B.C. Owned and operated by the non-profit Kent Raceway Society, the track hosts about 12 races a season beginning in April and running through October.

Vancouver-based photographer Andy Clark spent his Saturday nights photographing life around the speedway.

Clark wrote on the Reuters blog: I have always enjoyed car racing. I spent, though a few said mis-spent, some of my formative teenage youth on darkened summer highways north of Toronto in the late 1960s, riding in muscle cars and drag racing until either the wee hours of the morning or the cops chased us away. Read more

The images in this blog post were shot this summer and made available to NBC News today.

Andy Clark / Reuters

Rookie race driver Chelsey O'Reilly,14, sports her good luck pink fingernails while waiting to take part in qualifying in the Streets stock car category at Agassiz Speedway on July 7.

Andy Clark / Reuters

A stock car that has spun out is rammed by two other competitors during the Saturday night races at Agassiz Speedway on July 7.

Andy Clark / Reuters

Kelly Moto sits in his street stock car as he is towed into the pits during the Saturday night races at Agassiz Speedway on July 21. Moto's race night was over early after his car suffered a major mechanical breakdown during qualifying.

Andy Clark / Reuters

A member of a stock car pit crew takes a break while the car was on the track qualifying during the Agassiz Speedway Saturday night stock races on July 21.

Andy Clark / Reuters

Driver Troy Globe stands with the trophy girl after winning a sprint race during the Saturday night stock car races at Agassiz Speedway on July 21.

Andy Clark / Reuters

Margaret O'Reilly talks with Cameron Jones, as her daughter Chelsey uses her mobile phone, at Agassiz Speedway during the Saturday night stock car races on Aug. 11. Both Chelsey and Cameron compete in the races and hang out together when not on the track.

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The Pacific Newspaper Group reports on its website:

Last year, Pacific Newspaper Group (The Province and The Vancouver Sun) successfully fought a court order to surrender to the Vancouver Police Department all images and video produced by our respective newsrooms on the night of the Stanley Cup riot.

The VPD modified its original application to the court and a new order to surrender images and video was delivered late last year to both newsrooms.

Based on legal opinion, Pacific Newspaper Group will comply with the order and deliver the materials to the VPD by the Jan. 21 deadline.

As a result of this decision, The Vancouver Sun and The Province have decided to make all the images we intend to surrender to police available first to our readers. The following images and videos represent the entirety of materials we will deliver, through our lawyer, to the VPD.

vancouversun.com

Screensnap of the Vancouver Sun website

I remember a day, too long ago, when I was a young photographer at a small daily Wyoming newspaper. I was driving down the road when the police scanner in my jeep went off with a call for backup at a convenience store that was right around the corner. I quickly changed lanes and pulled into the store’s parking lot. I threw the vehicle in park, grabbed my camera and started making pictures. I was young and inexperienced. Nervous excitement got the best of me. My camera settings were all wrong as I made a few bad pictures of two police officers taking down a suspect.

The newspaper ended up not using the pictures, but the next day a police detective showed up in the newsroom asking for copies of the pictures. To my surprise, the managing editor ran the detective off and then sat me down to dispense a little newsroom learnin’. He explained that journalists are not an information gathering arm of law enforcement. He told me that the newspaper would have a very difficult time reporting on drug abuse, police corruption or anything else that might involve the police if we started handing over our unpublished photographs and interview notes to the police.

At the time I felt like I was in a difficult position. I understood the ideals my editor was talking about, but as a photojournalist I needed to have a working relationship with the police. I ran into them every day at crime scenes, traffic accidents, fires and even high school ball games. I also believe that there is a natural desire in law-abiding citizens to help the police.

However, I’ve come to understand much more deeply what my editor was getting at that day, and that knowledge makes what’s happening to the Vancouver Sun and Province newspapers so painful.

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