Fast Facts: Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama - MotorSportsTalk

The third race weekend in a row for the Verizon IndyCar Series occurs this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park. Here’s the weekend details, courtesy of the INDYCAR PR staff:

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Track: Barber Motorsports Park, a 2.3-mile, 17-turn road course (clockwise)
Race distance: 90 laps / 207 miles
Entry List: Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama (PDF)
Push-to-pass parameters: 10 activations for 20 seconds each
Firestone tire allotment: Five sets primary, three sets alternate
Twitter: @BarberMotorPark @IndyCar, #HIGPA, #IndyCar
Event website: www.barbermotorsports.com
INDYCAR website: www.IndyCar.com
2014 race winner: Ryan Hunter-Reay
2014 Verizon P1 Award winner: Will Power, 1:08.3120, 121.209 mph
Qualifying lap record: Scott Dixon, 1:06.7750, 123.999 mph, April 2013

NBCSN race broadcast: Sunday, April 26 (3 p.m. ET)
NBCSN qualifying broadcast: Sunday, April 26, (2 a.m. ET, tape delay)

Leigh Diffey will be the play-by-play announcer for NBCSN’s broadcast of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama alongside analysts Townsend Bell and Steve Matchett. Marty Snider, Kelli Stavast, Kevin Lee and Robin Miller are the pit reporters.

Radio broadcasts: Paul Page is the chief announcer alongside analyst Davey Hamilton. Qualifying and all Verizon IndyCar Series races are broadcast live on the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network, Sirius 213, XM 209, IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com and on the INDYCAR 15 app. Verizon IndyCar Series practice sessions are available on IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com and the INDYCAR 15 app.

Video Streaming: All practice sessions for the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season and this weekend’s qualifying session will be available on the INDYCAR YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/indycar) and RaceControl.IndyCar.com.

INDYCAR 15 App: The Verizon INDYCAR 15 app has been enhanced with new features to keep fans in the know of the latest race-day action. Exclusive features of the INDYCAR 15 app for Verizon Wireless customers will stream live through the app and include Interactive 3D Live View with real-time leaderboard and car telemetry to see where a fan’s favorite driver is positioned, leaderboard with enhanced 2D marching ants and car telemetry for 2015, in-car camera video streams from cameras that move 360 degrees and driver-pit crew chatter as drivers talk strategy with their pit crews during the race.

At-track schedule (all times local):
Saturday, April 25
9-10 a.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series practice
12:40-1:25 p.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series practice
3:55 p.m. – Three rounds of Verizon IndyCar Series knockout qualifications (live-streamed on racecontrol.indycar.com; taped coverage, 2 a.m. (ET) Sunday, April 26, NBCSN)

Sunday, April 26
10-10:30 a.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series warm-up
2 p.m. – NBCSN on air
2:37 p.m. – Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama green flag (NBCSN, Live).

Race notes:

* The Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama will be the sixth Indy car event conducted at Barber Motorsports Park.

* Helio Castroneves, Will Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay are the only drivers to have won at Barber Motorsports Park. Castroneves won the inaugural race in 2010, Power won the race in 2011 and 2012 and Hunter-Reay won in 2013 and 2014.

* Castroneves, Hunter-Reay and Power are the only drivers to have won the pole position at Barber Motorsports Park. Power claimed the pole position in 2010, 2011 and 2014; Castroneves won the pole in 2012 and Hunter-Reay in 2013.

* Two drivers have won the race from the pole – Power in 2010 and Hunter-Reay in 2013.

* Scott Dixon has finished on the podium in each of his five previous starts at Barber Motorsports Park – including four runner-up finishes – but he has yet to finish on the top step of the podium at the picturesque road circuit. Dixon won at Long Beach for the first time last week and took sole possession of fifth on the all-time Indy car victory list with 36.

* Nine drivers have competed in every Indy car race at Barber – Marco Andretti, Castroneves, Dixon, Hunter-Reay, Tony Kanaan, Power, Graham Rahal, Takuma Sato and Justin Wilson. All but Wilson are entered this year.

* At least six drivers will compete in their first Verizon IndyCar Series race at Barber Motorsports Park: Gabby Chaves, Stefano Coletti, Francesco Dracone, Luca Filippi, Rodolfo Gonzalez and Sage Karam.

* Team Penske has three wins at Barber Motorsports Park. Andretti Autosport is the only other team to win at the track, winning in 2013 and 2014 with Ryan Hunter-Reay.

* Kanaan seeks to start his 237th consecutive race, which would extend his Indy car-record streak that began in 2001 at Portland. His teammate Dixon has made 178 consecutive starts.

* The 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season marked the competition debut of aerodynamic bodywork kits designed, manufactured and supplied by Chevrolet and Honda. Cars are differentiated by their shape on the street course as the manufacturers have designed separate aero kit specifications for road and street course/short ovals and speedways for the Dallara IR-12 chassis. References to the cars will incorporate the name of the corresponding manufacturer.

* The No. 10 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet crew of Tony Kanaan won the Firestone Pit Stop Performance Award during the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach with a total pit lane time of 76.803 seconds. The NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing crew will receive its $10,000 award during pre-race festivities at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.

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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