Offseason's biggest winner, now Ryan Briscoe embarks on Ganassi stint 2 - MotorSportsTalk

Few drivers had as many things go right as Ryan Briscoe did during the offseason from the last 2013 IndyCar race until the 2014 season opener.

Wife Nicole gave birth to the couple’s first daughter. Then Ryan was appointed as Chip Ganassi Racing’s fourth driver, a position opened up in the No. 8 NTT Data Chevrolet when Dario Franchitti was forced to retire and Tony Kanaan shifted over to the No. 10 Target-backed entry. Additionally, Ryan was confirmed as Corvette Racing’s third driver for selected TUDOR United SportsCar Championship endurance races.

Not a bad haul, at all.

“It’s like everything I wanted after I didn’t get a full-time ride last year has sort of come true now,” Briscoe said at IndyCar media day in Orlando. “It’s really the perfect scenario. Last year we sort of got to a point around this time where I was like, ‘Full-time ride is not looking good, but that’s all right, we’ll focus on doing something for the Indy 500, I’ll keep my racing up by doing the sports cars.’”

But as it turned out Briscoe’s brief career detour in 2013, after Team Penske couldn’t find the necessary sponsorship to field their third car, wound up being a blessing in disguise.

He raced a majority of American Le Mans Series races with Level 5 Motorsports, also dovetailing that with his debut in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the team’s LMP2 class HPD ARX-03b.

He made cameo appearances in Australian V8 Supercars.

And then there was the races he did wind up doing in IndyCar, seven in all split between Ganassi’s fourth car at Indianapolis and six for Panther Racing. He wanted to keep his foot in the door, and despite the last-minute nature of many of his Panther appearances, he was determined to make a full-time comeback.

“I didn’t think I would do as many IndyCar races as I ended up doing. The end goal was I want to get back to IndyCar and have a full-time ride in 2014,” Briscoe explained. “I thought my best way of doing that was to do the sports cars last year, then work hard from that point on on being here now.

“It’s crazy. It was a bit of a rollercoaster ride to get here. I had a great run with Chip at the 500 last year. John Barnes gave me the opportunity with his team at the races that I could do, which was tough because I was racing the IndyCar one weekend, then I couldn’t do the next race because I was racing the sports car, then I could do the next race which was an oval. It was just all over the place. It was really hard to get that focus.”

Because of the bouncing between cars and series, Briscoe’s results weren’t able to match what he had achieved with Penske in years past.

“In the series that’s so competitive, you need that consistency to be competitive,” he said. “But in saying that, things have worked out. I was there on the race weekends, keeping my face in front of the teams, everybody that needed to see me.”

And definitively, Ganassi saw enough to where when other options were available this winter, Briscoe was the choice.

He’ll be a solid, dependable performer as he re-acclimates back to a full-time seat. He’s reunited with engineer Eric Cowdin, who he worked with at Penske for a few years. And he’ll have the resources and data from teammates Kanaan, Scott Dixon and Charlie Kimball to work with.

“I think (Dixon’s) just solid, man, like a rock. Even-keeled. He just gets the job done,” Briscoe said of the three-time and defending series champion. “Definitely having the continuity he’s had through highs and lows, he’s just been there the whole time.

“Tony? He’s driven for big teams, too. I’m just getting to know Tony really,” he said of Kanaan. “I think Chip knows Tony pretty well before just hiring him, so he’s pretty comfortable with him. They almost signed a few years ago, as well. I guess time will tell. He’s definitely a fun character to have around.”

Testing’s gone well for the quartet, as Ganassi shifts from Honda to Chevrolet power. Both Briscoe and Kanaan enter CGR from previous Chevrolet teams.

As for Briscoe, he’s undoubtedly a changed and improved driver from his last full-time Ganassi stint, as a then-unpolished 23-year-old rookie in 2005. Now 32 in 2014, he’ll have another chance to show what he’s learned and produce some big results.

“I’m really excited to have this opportunity,” he admitted. “It’s a huge chance to run with Chip this year. We’re working really hard on being strong. I’m working hard on being on top of my game and hopefully competitive.”

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.

Women in SuperMotocross: Jordan Jarvis knows how tough it is

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.

Women in SuperMotocross Ashley Fiolek is building community

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.”

Offseason’s biggest winner, now Ryan Briscoe embarks on Ganassi stint 2

Vicki Golden and 805 Beer tell a unique story from an Inverted Perspective

Read more about SuperMotocross