TUSC: Rolex 24 weekend recap, on-the-ground side - MotorSportsTalk

Some general weekend observations from the scene at Daytona International Speedway, site of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The buzz, of course, was a little different this year with this being the opening round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, new for 2014.

Elsewhere over the weekend, beyond the on-track action…

There were big crowds… Two really good signs that this felt like a bigger deal: a packed infield, and a packed line to get onto the grid for the grid walk. As I was trying to meander through in advance on Saturday, I hit a crowd wall. A good sign for the speedway, and the series.
But a quick trigger on a late yellow… There were a little more than 20 minutes to go, and a full-course caution flew when Alex Job Racing’s No. 22 Porsche 911 GT America went off course at the second hairpin, and resumed. But to me and a number of others, it seemed like that call came rather quickly. Here’s my tweet:

That was a quiiiiiick trigger on the button there, folks. #Rolex24

— Tony DiZinno (@tonydizinno) January 26, 2014

…And long delays post-race. Each of Thursday, Friday and Sunday saw a post-session issue come up and in each instance, the word took a while to get out from IMSA communications. Granted, I respect the process and appreciate the process… it just seemed as though the GTD pole flip-flop (Thursday), the GS race winner drop (Friday) and GTD race winner swap (Sunday) all took a long time to get officially sorted. Ideally, IMSA learns from this weekend and can expedite the process going forward.
…And a high volume of commercials. Ads are good. Ads help pay the bills. Too many ads, however, don’t help attract new viewers. The choppy nature of the ads – which were frequent – all too often interrupted the flow of the race, particularly as the four class battles reached their climax.
Some GRAND-AM media carryover. On the ground, it felt as though there was a unified front, with a clear message that this was IMSA and the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. But with regards to the TV and radio coverage, the GRAND-AM-esque style of coverage seemed overly prominent; the headlining P class, and the Daytona Prototypes in particular, got way too much air time. PC, GTLM and GTD are classes too, and many times, like they did Sunday, they’ll have great racing.
A challenging MRN radio broadcast. I’ll use the word “challenging” here rather than some of the more negative words I’ve seen and heard over the last 72 hours, because I know from experience that covering sports car racing presents a complex, distinct and serious challenge. That’s why so few organizations can do it well. The challenge for MRN in future races is to better adapt to the flow of sports car racing and tell the stories beyond the obvious, NASCAR-centric type of nuggets. It’s what we have for now, and there’s plenty of room for growth.

Follow @TonyDiZinno

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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