Jeff Gordon back atop Sprint Cup standings after trouble for Kenseth - MotorSportsTalk

A Top-10 finish for Jeff Gordon, combined with a mid-pack result for Matt Kenseth, has put the Hendrick Motorsports driver back to the lead in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings.

Gordon finished eighth today in the Pocono 400 despite often losing out on restarts and in the track position battle.

“When guys got out of sequence there, it just really got our track position off,” he said. “Once we lost that track position, it was so hard to regain it.

“…Ultimately, the restarts – even when I got a good one, something would happen somebody would about wreck in front of me or dive in there four-wide and just cause a mess. We just couldn’t come out on the good end of that side of it. That is what you have got to do to be good.”

Gordon wasn’t a factor at the end, but he was still better off than previous points leader Matt Kenseth.

Around Lap 40 in today’s Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway, Kenseth made contact with Jamie McMurray on the front-stretch. The run-in left Kenseth with a major hole that covered almost the entire nose of his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

JGR repaired as much of the damage as they could, and Kenseth rose back into the Top 5 while the various fuel strategies played out. But he ultimately finished in 25th position.

What was a slim, two-point lead for the winless Kenseth is now a 16-point lead for Gordon (one win at Kansas) as the series shifts to Michigan International Speedway next weekend.

Kenseth and Kyle Larson (who finished fifth today) remain the only two drivers in the Top 10 of the Sprint Cup standings without a win so far this season.

As for today’s winner, Dale Earnhardt Jr., he now moves up to third in the championship at 22 points behind HMS amigo Gordon. Jimmie Johnson’s sixth-place finish at Pocono allows him to keep fourth in the standings (-23 points), and Brad Keselowski vaults from eighth to fifth (-50 points) after his runner-up.

—

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES – CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS, TOP 16
After Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway
1. Jeff Gordon (one win), 498 points
2. Matt Kenseth, 482
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (two wins), 476
4. Jimmie Johnson (two wins), 475
5. Brad Keselowski (one win), 448
6. Kyle Busch (one win), 443
7. Carl Edwards (one win), 441
8. Denny Hamlin (one win), 420
9. Joey Logano (two wins), 418
10. Kyle Larson, 417
11. Ryan Newman, 411
12. Kevin Harvick (two wins), 403
13. Brian Vickers, 392
14. Greg Biffle, 385
15. Austin Dillon, 385
16. Clint Bowyer, 383

Follow @estradawriting

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.”

Read more about SuperMotocross