Jeff Gordon delivers 1 millionth meal for Drive To End Hunger to 89-year-old race fan - MotorSportsTalk

As a four-time Sprint Cup champion and one of the most recognized and popular drivers in NASCAR, Jeff Gordon admits he “gets to do a lot of really cool things.”

On Thursday, Gordon was able to do another “really cool thing,” but it was also extremely meaningful in the process, delivering the one millionth meal served by one of Gordon’s key sponsors, the Drive To End Hunger.

On his way to Martinsville Speedway, Gordon stopped by the house of 89-year-old Freida Evans, who lives not far from the speedway in Stoneville, North Carolina.

It’s a toss-up who was more happy about the visit: Gordon or Evans.

“It’s opened my eyes so much to this cause and how many millions of people are dealing with hunger issues in America,” Gordon said during Friday’s weekly media availability at Martinsville. “Yesterday was definitely one of the highlights.

“A woman named Freida (Evans) … relies on Meals on Wheels to deliver her meals every day. She’s the classic story of individuals who need those meals desperately because she worked so hard to feed her family throughout her whole life and gave everything for them.

“And now, she relies on those meals. And it was pretty cool to be able to deliver that one-millionth meal for Meals on Wheels to her in the state of North Carolina.”

Gordon didn’t just drop off the meal. He spent a significant amount of time talking and visiting with Evans, who confided she watched him race on TV this past Sunday at Talladega.

“(It) was very special,” Gordon said. “I spent some time with her in her home with her family and she is such a sweet lady.

“When you live this close to Martinsville, they said that at times they can actually hear the cars going around the track. Her husband, who had passed away, was a big NASCAR fan and a lot of her family members are big NASCAR fans.

“She is a big Richard Petty fan; even brought up Lee Petty’s name. So that was very special to be able to do that and to help somebody like that.”

Click here to see a video of Gordon’s visit with Evans.

Gordon explained that Drive To End Hunger isn’t just a sponsor, it’s a cause he supports and believes in.

“It’s not just fund-raising, it’s getting the word out there for more people to understand how serious this issue is,” he said. “And we need more volunteers. We need more people to be aware of it to really get involved and make an impact.

“It starts in local communities and it spreads throughout the country and every little bit helps. I think, obviously Freida and her story and how important that meal was to her is the greatest way to spread that word.”

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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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