For Power and Hunter-Reay, Indy win would give careers a greater boost - MotorSportsTalk

They’re the two drivers who battled down to the wire for last year’s IZOD IndyCar Series championship. One’s come out firing to start 2013, and the other has been struck by bad luck in three of four races.

Yet going into tomorrow’s 97th running of the Indianapolis 500, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Will Power (pictured) are almost entirely under-the-radar. Something about that is not quite right.

Hunter-Reay’s comeback to capture his first title a year ago didn’t generate near the buzz on the national level that it could have. Meanwhile Power, long regarded as IndyCar’s master of the road and street course domain, has had results this year that are hardly Penske material (only one top-15 finish in four races).

They start sixth and seventh – Power ahead of Hunter-Reay – and while neither is really a favorite, they are both due a good result at Indianapolis after struggling since both of their rookie years. They both know the magnitude of what a win tomorrow could do for either of their careers.

“You can’t put a price tag on it,” Hunter-Reay said during media day on Thursday. “You grow up watching and discover this is where heroes are made. The guy who wins might as well have a ‘Superman’ cape on.”

Power added about winning here, “I think it’ll always be big. I just think it becomes a tradition for people to come here. It’s more than about the race. People come here to have a good time.”

In Friday’s final practice, Hunter-Reay was third fastest and Power was 15th. Hunter-Reay has collaborated with the rest of the Andretti Autosport team to simulate race runs with all five of their cars. It sounds easy on paper, but actually pulling it off has been more challenging than expected.

“It sounds easy but getting five different programs together at once, at the same time, is so hard,” Hunter-Reay admitted. “Everyone always has different agendas, and people are all over the board. That has really helped us.”

Power feels confident in the grip levels on a cooler track for race day, as ambient temperatures are projected in the mid-to-high 60s. The last few years, the race has been in the 90s.

“You’re just adjusting to be as it was when it hot,” Power said. “You adjust to keep the consistent downforce level. The cooler it is, the thicker the air, the more it sucks to the ground and it gets more grip.”

Keys to success on Sunday include placing yourself in the right spot at the right time, and playing the tow effect to the maximum.

“There should be a massive tow, because these cars punch a huge hole in the air,” Hunter-Reay said. “Nobody can break away. I don’t foresee a guy taking off in the distance.”

Power, more succinctly, says at this stage of the month, you know what you have and have to take it from there.

“You know what you’ve got at this point for sure because you’ve been running all month,” he said. “I guess you base your confidence at this time on that.”

Vicki Golden has earned a career worthy of a thousand stories and 805 Beer tells at least one of them, as “Inverted Perspective” premiered March 30 on the company’s website and YouTube channel.

Golden did more to break the glass ceiling in SuperMotocross than she ever thought possible. She knows this because riders have never felt the need to explain any of her accomplishments with the disclaimer, “for a girl”.

At this point in Golden’s career, she’s been the first woman to finish top 10 in AMA Arenacross Lites, the first woman to qualify in the Fast 40 in Monster Energy AMA Supercross and the first woman to compete in freestyle Moto X competition, earning a bronze medal by doing so.

Her love for moto came from childhood while she watched her dad and brother ride. By seven she was on her bike and making waves throughout Southern California.

Golden, 30, is still madly in love with the sport and has no plans on moving away but her career is already one to talk about. 805 Beer’s film series wanted to do exactly that.

“I’m taken aback by it all,” Golden told NBC Sports about the documentary. “It’s just crazy to see your story, it’s one thing to live your life and battle everything that comes about but it’s another to just sit there and talk about it.”

805 approached Golden about the feature by asking, “Do you even realize that what you do, and your story is special?”

Golden took the question as a blank canvas to map out the highs and lows of her career and life.

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The title “Inverted Perspective” came from a brainstorming session with Dominick Russo and it highlights Golden’s outlook on the sport of SuperMotocross and her life in general.

“My whole life, my whole career was thinking differently and looking at things that shouldn’t be done and aren’t there, while being able to make a place for myself, where no one thought there should be a place,” Golden said. “It’s inspiring someone to think in different ways. It sums up my life.”

*Vicki Golden is not “fast for a girl”; she’s just fast. – 805 Beer*

While Golden is no stranger to the spotlight, this was the first time she’s been fully involved with the storytelling and creation of a feature about herself.

“It’s not like a full new experience,” Golden said. “Obviously, you get your standard questions about your upbringing and accomplishments, but I’ve never really put into perspective things that happened in my past with my dad and putting that to light. Also, certain other things that maybe got overlooked in previous interviews or films. I wanted to touch on these and Dom wanted to create a story. It’s just cool to see it come to light, it’s a nearly impossible thing to tell somebody’s life story in 40 minutes.”

Golden’s father was left paralyzed after an ATV accident, robbing him the opportunity to ride again. This happened a few months before the father-daughter duo was set to compete in the Loretta Lynn’s Amateur Nationals when Vicki was 12. While she might have been unable to grasp the severity at the time, it’s something she carries with her. Golden continues to ride in his honor.

Years later, an accident in 2018 nearly sidelined the then 25-year-old Vicki when a freestyle accident almost resulted in the amputation of her lower leg.

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Golden 805 Beer — *Vicki Golden has ridden a variety of disciplines in SuperMotocross, which gives her a unique perspective. – 805 Beer*

“Inverted Perspective” highlights her father’s diligence in helping Vicki continue with her career and the kindness and strength he carried while fighting his own battle.

“My dad was the entire reason that I started riding in the first place,” Golden said. “So, to honor his memory and to honor what we went through and how hard he pushed to keep our dream alive and keep everything going – in that sense then, it was really special to be able to honor him and talk about him.”

The 40-minute feature was filmed entirely in black and white, a stark contrast from the oversaturated world of motocross where the brighter the suit the easier it is for fans to find their rider and follow him in the race. By filming in monochrome Russo and Golden had the chance to focus on the race and track from a different perspective.

“It was cool to be able to film it differently,” Golden said. “It created a challenge in the sense of what was going to be more visually impactful for the film.

“I couldn’t be here without the companies that back me but at the same time, it’s not like the logos or colors disappeared, it’s just different lights shed on different spots. It’s just a cool way to do it and to take color away and still be impactful. When you think of black and white, you think of old school, the OG way of doing things.”

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