Besides Dixon’s, cautions, penalties pepper Sonoma race - MotorSportsTalk

As the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma unfolded Sunday, I felt for head of IndyCar PR Amy Konrath, who was seemingly announcing penalties in the media center as frequently as a lottery host reveals the night’s winning POWER Ball numbers.

Five drivers were issued drive-through penalties for avoidable contact – E.J. Viso, Sebastien Bourdais, Tony Kanaan, Sebastian Saavedra and Ryan Briscoe – and Viso and of course, Scott Dixon, were issued drive-throughs for pit safety infractions.

Coupled with seven caution flags, which ties the season high in IndyCar (seven at Brazil), it made for a busy day in Race Control. The race itself lasted more than 2 hours and 20 minutes, a full 40-plus minutes longer than the most recent race at Mid-Ohio three weeks ago, which ran its 90 caution-free laps in just an hour and 40 minutes.

Reactions were strong and largely against IndyCar race director Beaux Barfield’s call to penalize Dixon when he hit the right rear tire, and subsequently Will Power’s pit crewmembers on his last scheduled stop.

I’m not going to take sides here, but I will offer this bit of insight having sat in on a Barfield-directed race control environment before (the American Le Mans Series race in September 2011, at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca). It is far easier to make a rash judgment on social media than it is to make a call based on available video evidence, from multiple angles, in a split-second decision. And Barfield is not alone within IndyCar Race Control; the room has several stewards and IndyCar President of Competition and Operations, Derrick Walker, is also there.

Where the violation occurred in this instance was in accordance with Rule 7.10.1.6 (Contact with personnel; under the pit procedures heading) and from that standpoint, Dixon did violate the rule as it is written in the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series Rulebook.

Dixon and Target Chip Ganassi Racing managing director Mike Hull were understandably frustrated in the aftermath, but the two are classy enough individuals to where you wouldn’t think either one would accuse another crew of intentionally getting in the way to try to force a penalty.

It seems a daft idea that a crewmember would willingly throw him or herself in the way and risk their own injury. You need to have acute situational awareness when you are over the pit wall in pit lane. If such a situation could be proven, then a penalty should follow, in this writer’s opinion.

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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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