See Sunday's newspaper for 3-D section

When we explain an eye-catching photo in the newsroom, we often say that it "pops off the page."

We take that sensation to the new level Sunday, when The Observer presents its first 3-D section to mark the beginning of race week at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

We call the section "Comin' at you," and we think you'll enjoy this novel view of life at the track.

Our sports and photo staffs sifted through hundreds of great racing moments from our archives for this 20-page section. It includes legendary drivers, faithful fans, grinding competition on the track and furious action in the pits.

Some photos work better in 3-D than others. Director of photography Bert Fox had that in mind as he finalized his picks for the section. He looked specifically for depth, action and simplicity.

"As 3D images, foreground objects come at you and background objects fall off," Fox says. "In the photos, race cars stretch far into the background, a pit crew looks like they’ll jump into your lap, drivers jump in the arms of race fans and helicopters fly off the page.“

With each Sunday paper comes a pair of 3-D glasses. Until you put those on, all of these photos will be as blurry as a 3-D movie to the unaided eye.

The same glasses will work very well with a slideshow of these racing photographs that goes up Sunday on CharlotteObserver.com and That’sRacin.com.

And since you’ll have these funky glasses, anyway, we’ve decided to include a 3-D photo in each day’s newspaper next week. These photos will feature scenes across Charlotte and the surrounding region.

So, find those glasses in Sunday’s newspaper, enjoy the section and hang onto them for at least the next week.