IndyCar: Penske looks for fifth straight Sonoma win this weekend - MotorSportsTalk

So at Mid-Ohio, we noted that Chip Ganassi Racing had a shot at a six-pack of consecutive victories at that track – and come Sunday afternoon, courtesy of a strategic and fuel-saving gem from last to first by Scott Dixon, they’d achieved it.

Heading into the next permanent road course on the Verizon IndyCar Series calendar, it’s Team Penske that has a win streak on the line.

Dating to 2010, Penske has won the last four races at Sonoma Raceway, with Will Power winning in 2010, 2011 and last year. Ryan Briscoe won in 2012 in a result that in hindsight, may have cost Power that year’s championship.

Alas, a Penske win in 2014 would all but certainly secure the IndyCar championship for either Power or Helio Castroneves. Power leads his teammate by 39 points after his Milwaukee domination, and he heads to Sonoma seeking to extend a streak of four consecutive top-two finishes.

For good measure, Power also won three straight poles in Sonoma from 2010 through 2012, and faded to “only” third last year on the grid.

Castroneves has a Sonoma win on his record in 2008, but has generally struggled of late this season

The third member of the team who could add to this streak is Juan Pablo Montoya, who took one of his two career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins at Sonoma in 2007. Montoya may have raced here for the last seven years, but in a completely different car and course configuration. Either way, you’d still figure him to be a factor this weekend.

Not only is the Penske streak intact, but either Penske or Ganassi has won every Sonoma race since 2007 – the last outside of those two was Marco Andretti in 2006, for his first career win.

And as we noted last year, it’s not just wins – it’s top fives and Firestone Fast Sixs that the Penske and Ganassi squads have nearly locked out these last several years.

Last year was a rare year of diversity, with five different teams finishing in the top five. Power won from Justin Wilson (Dale Coyne Racing) and Dario Franchitti (Ganassi), with Andretti and Simon Pagenaud (Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports) rounding out the top five. Hard as it is to believe, that podium was Wilson’s second most recent and Franchitti’s final career podium in an IndyCar.

The diversity of IndyCar in 2014 has been consistent; there have been 10 different race winners and 20 different podium finishers in the first 16 races. But adding to those numbers at Sonoma, based on history, will be hard to accomplish.

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.”

Read more about SuperMotocross