Juan Pablo Montoya looking forward to Indy 500 return - MotorSportsTalk

In 2000, Juan Pablo Montoya put on one of the more dominant performances in Indianapolis 500 history, leading 167 of 200 laps en route to victory in his first – and only – run in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

But ask the sometimes brusque Colombian to reminisce about that time, and he’ll only show you that moving forward is his top priority.

“I don’t even think about that I won it, I don’t even look at it like that,” he said Thursday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “Why? [Because] you gotta focus on what you’ve gotta do today.

“I’m looking at videos of the race, of how people passed, of how people didn’t pass – what worked, what didn’t – and that’s it.”

The past is clearly the past with Montoya, who moved on to Formula One and then the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series before returning to IndyCar racing over the most recent off-season with Team Penske.

Montoya has not only had to mentally re-train himself to drive an open-wheel machine, but also train harder physically. So far, his work has yielded mixed results this Verizon IndyCar Series season. He finished fourth at Long Beach in a fine drive, but has finished 15th or worse in the other three races.

You figure that with more acclimation, more consistent results will follow down the road. Along with that, he’ll be likely to have understood just how far he can push this particular IndyCar, the Dallara DW12, to do what he wants.

“To get to the limit in NASCAR is a lot easier and then it becomes how well the car drives,” he said. “Here [in IndyCar], the limit is a lot further and knowing where the limit is, that’s a lot harder.

“You can push, you can push, you can push, and then you put two tires on and you gotta push again, and you gotta find more, find more, find more. That’s where experience pays off…

“…It’s hard to know where the limit is. You really don’t want to find out. Most of the time, when you find out, it’s already too late.”

And if there’s one place where you don’t want to go over that limit, it’s Indianapolis.

Montoya isn’t sure what to expect in Sunday’s 98th Running, where he’ll start on the inside of Row 4. As the fastest second-day qualifier last weekend, it would appear he has the pace to contend.

But in his mind, so do a lot of others; he figures that, including his own No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, there were “probably 10 to 15 cars” that are legit contenders for the Borg-Warner Trophy.

It will take a perfect performance from all parties – driver, equipment, strategist, the pit crew – to win the day at Indy. And Montoya knows that as good as anyone.

“I think we’ve got to go out there and see how the car behaves,” he said. “You have to work on it through the day, and make sure you have a good balance, and make all the right calls, and minimize the mistakes.

“It always is [a process]. Like every race, it has its things you’ve gotta be careful with and things you can abuse and that’s it.”

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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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