Ganassi's younger drivers gaining experience in setup preferences at IMS - MotorSportsTalk

The driver stable for Chip Ganassi’s IndyCar team for the Indianapolis 500 is a diverse group.

There’s Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan, who have a combined three IndyCar championships, 53 IndyCar/CART victories and two Indy 500 wins.

Then there’s the younger guys: Charlie Kimball and part-timers Sage Karam and Sebastian Saavedra. The trio has just one win among their 135 total races (The Indy 500 will be Karam’s fifth IndyCar event).

Kimball, the oldest of the younger trio at 30, was also the fastest on Tuesday in 13th at 225.467 mph. Kimball reached that mark on the 46th of his 56 laps of the day, which was marked by windy conditions. Kimball said the team for his No. 83 Levemir FlexTouch Chevrolet spent most of the day working on the overall balance of the car.

“We needed to close the loop on some things and find some grip but also find a little better balance,” Kimball said. “It was a tough day with the wind with it gusting pretty hard at times, but if we can run well in the wind, we should be able to run well in traffic.”

Kimball will be racing in his fifth Indy 500, where his best finish is eighth in 2012.

“We were really smart today with tires and were able to put ourselves in pretty good standing for the rest of the week with tire allocation,” Kimball said.

Karam and Saavedra, splitting time in the No. 8 Chevrolet outside of the ‘500,’ have the most catch-up work to do during the Month of May. But one area they’re on common ground with the rest of their teammates and the field is figuring out the new superspeedway aero kits that are debuting in the ‘500.’

That process continued Tuesday with the third practice session at the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“Today was pretty straightforward,” said Karam, who will drive the No. 8 Comfort Revolution/Big Machine Records Chevrolet. “We were close to mileaging out this Chevrolet engine and we used the remaining laps we had available to work on car setup.”

Karam finished the Tuesday session as the 17th fastest car at 224.838 mph after running 47 laps.

“We went a couple different directions today in terms of setup and found the wrong way to go,” said Karam, who will has the power of a new engine today.

Saavedra was the real odd man out for Ganassi, looking up at most of the field on the speed chart from the 31st position. Saavedra ran 31 laps and his fastest speed was 221.064 mph, about three mph off of Karam’s, on Lap 29.

“We’re using these first few practice sessions for both myself and the team to understand and really get comfortable with the new aero kits,” Saavedra said. “We just want to make sure we’re all on the same page with the car, especially since I haven’t run as many laps as some of the other guys out there. I’m looking forward to getting many more laps in this week and seeing what we need to do to improve the car.”

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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.”

Ganassi’s younger drivers gaining experience in setup preferences at IMS

Vicki Golden and 805 Beer tell a unique story from an Inverted Perspective

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