Power leads, Sato, Mann crash in IndyCar Fontana first practice - MotorSportsTalk

Will Power topped 220 mph (220.889) for his fastest lap at the 2.0-mile Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. to lead the opening practice for the MAVTV 500, the final round of the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series season.

Power, who has only one career oval win (Texas, 2011) enters a season finale without a shot at the title for the first time since 2009, a year he only competed part-time for Team Penske.

Tony Kanaan, who is on the move to Chip Ganassi Racing for 2014, clocked in second in his KV Racing Technology-SH Chevrolet (219.797) and James Hinchcliffe, whose 2014 team is yet to be revealed, was third in his Andretti Autosport Chevrolet (219.479). There will be a sponsor announcement for the No. 27 Andretti Autosport entry on Saturday afternoon, before the race.

AJ Allmendinger was fourth with Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves fifth. Castroneves’ title rival Scott Dixon was sixth ahead of Andretti, who announced his 2014 return with his father’s team earlier Friday.

Of the several old faces returning to new places this weekend, Allmendinger led the group while Alex Tagliani was next in 12th in his first session for Target Chip Ganassi Racing. Pippa Mann (Dale Coyne Racing), JR Hildebrand (Barracuda Racing) and Carlos Munoz (Andretti Autosport) were 22nd through 24th, respectively. Munoz, a last-minute substitute for E.J. Viso, was in his first IndyCar session on an oval since he finished second at the Indianapolis 500.

Tagliani and Munoz start their first races since Toronto Race 2; Allmendinger since Detroit, Mann since Pocono, and Hildebrand since Sonoma.

The 90-minute session though, was interrupted for a pair of accidents. Mann’s session ended early when she lost control of her Dale Coyne Racing Honda through Turns 3 and 4. The front of her car was planted well – almost “too well” in her opinion – and she hit the seam and spun. The team was repairing damage to its primary car.

“I didn’t need to make that mistake early on,” she admitted. “The seams here are pretty treacherous. Just want to apologize to the boys, they’ve got a lot of work now to put my car back together, so I’m really upset for them.”

A bigger accident happened later in the session when Takuma Sato washed out, also in Turn 4, for yet another crash of his A.J. Foyt Enterprises Honda. This was a big one as both the left and right sides of his car were impacted.

Both drivers were checked, released and cleared to drive.

Qualifying for the MAVTV 500 follows at 2:15 p.m. PT and local time (5:15 p.m. ET). The qualifying show airs on NBCSN at 7 p.m. ET this evening.

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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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