Gig 'em, Gordon: 4-time Cup champ running Texas A&M colors this weekend - MotorSportsTalk

With the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series visiting Texas Motor Speedway this weekend, Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has taken on a deep shade of maroon.

We can thank Texas A&M’s Dwight Look College of Engineering for that. In a deal similar to that of Jamie McMurray running (and winning) with the Auburn colors last fall at Talladega, Charles Shaver – the CEO of Gordon’s main sponsor, Axalta Coating Systems, and an A&M graduate – has paid for Gordon’s car to carry the Aggie maroon and white at TMS.

In addition to the special livery, 28 students from Texas A&M Engineering will be able to learn more about how their lessons apply to the world of motorsports as VIP guests for the weekend.

Prior to heading for TMS, Gordon made the rounds at the A&M campus in College Station, Texas, where he showed off his special ride and joined up with A&M football coach Kevin Sumlin to watch a practice.

The four-time Sprint Cup champion didn’t go to college, but is hopeful that his own children will be able to have that privilege when they grow up.

“Every day, I wish that I had more of an education and just that experience in life, I think, is huge,” Gordon said. “Just going to college – the responsibilities of attending classes, having fun at parties – you know, the balance between being more responsible as an adult and stepping into the next stage of your life.”

As for interacting with the A&M students, Gordon says they’ve been glad to have the chance to interact with the Hendrick Motorsports engineers in a real-world setting.

A solid engineering program has become essential in NASCAR as the sport has become more sophisticated in its technology. Nowadays, top squads like HMS have legions of engineers on their payroll, all dedicated to squeezing more speed, more handling – more everything – out of their race cars.

Gordon figures that for those outside of the day-to-day life of the sport, that aspect can be overlooked. Thus, he welcomes the opportunity to help show aspiring engineers a possible plan for their future.

“I think people that aren’t in the Carolinas or at the race track every weekend underestimate how much technology and engineering goes into what we do,” he explained. “If you just go to Hendrick Motorsports and see the growth in engineering and people that are engineers, you start to get a sense of why this tie is so crucial and important.

“We’ve tapped into an engineering schools and students more around the Carolinas and the Midwest, but I’m not so sure we’ve tapped into schools like Texas A&M, and I think a lot of it is because maybe they just don’t realize that could be a potential path for them…”

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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.”

Gig ’em, Gordon: 4-time Cup champ running Texas A&M colors this weekend

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

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