Hail and Farewell to our friend Jim Ober Legendary Hall of Fame Photographer

SCORE is genuinely grieved with the word that Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame off-road photographer has passed away suddenly at his home in Simi Valley, Calif. He was 76 at the time of his passing. “Jim Ober was a man among boys for nearly 50 years and while he had been retired since 2016, his irreplaceable work will live on, truly forever,” reflected Jim Ryan, SCORE Vice-President of Sales and Marketing. His work, from when he started Trackside Photo in 1978 until he drove off into the sunset after the 2015 season is a collection of masterpieces for the ages.” “SCORE was honored to consider him a friend whose every accolade was well-deserved and whose still images are irreplaceable. And no photographer has deserved more to be enshrined in the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame.” Ober pioneered the profession of off-road photo journalism and was voted into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame in the Pioneer category as part of the class of 2016. He was honored an untouchable record 17-times in his career as the SCORE Photographer of the Year. Ober started Trackside Photo was started in 1969, while he was a staff photographer at the old Los Angeles Herald Examiner newspaper. While still a staff photographer for the Herald (shooting murderers, fires, social events and celebrities, sometimes all in the same day) Ober started shooting road racing on weekends at Riverside Raceway and Laguna Seca, but quickly moved on to Off-Road racing when, in his own words “I got tired of shooting through the same hole in the fence that other 'photogs' had to use”. Trackside Photo was also the official photographers for the Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group for 14 years (Mickey Thompson Off-Road Championship Gran Prix of stadium off-road races) Ober left the newspaper business in 1978 to pursue Trackside Photo full time and over the years he hired some very talented shooters many of whom went on to become well known Photographers and journalists. Most notable would be Art Eugenio of GetSome Photo, the official photographer of SCORE for the last decade. Ober was an active member of the Press Photographer Association of the Greater Los Angeles area and served as the group’s president in 1984. He served in the U.S. Army and remained in the Army reserve for over 20 years. A plethora of his magnificent photographic off-road word can be found at www.TracksidePhoto.com. SCORE sends sincere condolences to his wife of 35 years, Jeanette, and the entire Ober family. A memorial service and a Celebration of Life for Ober are pending.