Wendy Venturini to become first female to call Sprint Cup race on radio Sunday at New Hampshire - MotorSportsTalk

Veteran NASCAR broadcaster Wendy Venturini has been in dozens of racetrack press boxes across the country.

After a while, they all start to look similar.

But when Venturini walks into the press box at New Hampshire Motor Speedway prior to Sunday’s Sylvania 300 Sprint Cup race, it will be one of the biggest highlights of the Chicago native’s career.

Venturini will mark NASCAR history by becoming the first female to perform radio play-by-play of a Sprint Cup race in the national broadcast on the Performance Racing Network (PRN).

“I would like to think that it’s been all the hard work that’s gotten me to this particular point, and not my gender, for sure,” Venturini said on Saturday’s Press Pass show that I co-hosted with Brad Gillie on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

“But I know a lot of people will be tuning in just to hear a female call a race,” she added. “And I’m hoping that it’s people that watch television and have never listened to a radio broadcast.

“Wouldn’t it be cool that if they’re tuning in just because it’s something unique and something different, and if we get new listeners on the radio would be fantastic for PRN.”

It’s not the first radio PBP of a race that Venturini has done; she’s worked several NNS races for PRN over nearly the last two seasons.

But this one is special because it’s a Sprint Cup event – and the second race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, no less.

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow, not trying to get too worked up on the nerves, and just trying to call a solid race,” Venturini said. “I have a lot to learn, but I feel if I’m willing to put myself out there and make mistakes, it can only get better from there. And that’s what you have to do in order to become better in your field.”

Venturini has spent the last 11 seasons working telecasts for SPEED TV and its successor, FoxSports1.

“I’m actually looking forward to calling a Cup race because I’m more familiar with the storylines and the players involved vs. the Nationwide Series,” she said. “I have to study a lot of the backmarkers (in NNS), because there are so many that come through on a Nationwide weekend and one-off races. You have to know the storyline of even somebody just doing one race, you know have to know their story and how they got there.

“There’s a lot more learning of new people in the Nationwide Series, vs. here in Sprint Cup, I’ve been covering it for 11 years straight, so I feel like it’s my family, my home so to speak, so in that sense it’ll be a lot easier.”

While Venturini was on the air with us, she (and we) received a pleasant surprise when father Bill called in to wish her well.

The Venturini family has been involved in racing for nearly 50 years, and this has been a special weekend for the brood. Not only did Brennan Poole win Friday’s ARCA race at Kentucky Speedway, Venturini Motorsports had four drivers in the top-10 (including three top-five showings).

“Wendy, this is Dad, congratulations,” family patriarch Bill Venturini said. “It’s been a big weekend, with the win at Kentucky and you being the first female anchor … I’m very proud of you.”

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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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