Daytona kicks off Red Bull GRC’s quartet of doubleheader weekends - MotorSportsTalk

As there are only eight race weekends, but 12 events, on the Red Bull Global Rallycross schedule, there are four weekends that are likely going to be key to this year’s Supercars championship.

Those four are the four doubleheader weekends, an increase of three from 2014, starting this weekend at Daytona Beach (Sunday, 2 p.m. ET, LIVE on NBC).

Whereas last year it was just Los Angeles that featured a Red Bull GRC weekend double, this year doubles occur in Daytona Beach this weekend, Detroit next month, Los Angeles in September and Barbados in October.

All told, that’s eight of the 12 races right there, and they’ll be crucial to not lose too many points at any one weekend.

Missing the setup isn’t so much a problem on doubleheader weekends as avoiding trouble, said SH Rallycross driver Nelson Piquet Jr.

“Setup is not the problem. It’s just don’t get involved in any accidents the first race,” Piquet told MotorSportsTalk at the Red Bull GRC media day in Long Beach. “That destroys your weekend.”

Piquet would know. Finishes of 12th and ninth in Los Angeles last year severely dented his championship hopes, after banking five top-five finishes in the first six races of the season.

“It’s one thing we learned the hard way last year in L.A.,” he said. “It was a tough race, and it ruined our whole weekend.”

Another driver who had a rough go in L.A. last year was extreme sports legend Bucky Lasek, one of Subaru’s drivers in the No. 81 Subaru WRX-STi. He was 11th and fifth.

“I had the mindset in L.A. to keep a clean car, and you can’t control the car,” Lasek told MotorSportsTalk in Long Beach. “It’s uncontrollable. Your fate is not in your own hands in GRC. It’s in the hands of 12-15 cars.

“You have to take the good with bad, bad with good. I had a lot of DNFs and I would have done better in the points. Sometimes it was due to car issues with other people. All of a sudden I’d be in back fighting for sixth.”

Steve Arpin of Chip Ganassi Racing noted another important factor – with no backup cars, there’s no room for error.

“That’s gonna be tough; we don’t have backup cars,” said Arpin, who finished second at the X Games to Scott Speed earlier this month.

“You go in and know you have a whole another show the next day.

“The biggest thing with those is just being smart. We know this is a heavy contact sport. It can turn your season around in a hurry. You can gain a lot, but also lose a lot. Just be smart and consistent throughout the weekend.”

Having been in Red Bull GRC for several years, Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross’ Tanner Foust noted the importance of track time, and how doubleheaders are good for that.

“One of the problems that I think existed with GRC in the past has been limited amount of driving time,” he told MotorSportsTalk at Long Beach. “You want to have fun. Sometimes you go to a weekend and go less than 30 minutes. It’s great for doubleheaders, but it’s tough on teams because there can be tough rebuilds overnight.

“These are the points I think it will increase emphasis on: getting cars set up for the track quickly. Because if you’re successful on track, its double points. If you’re not successful, setup-wise, you cost yourself double pints. You need the robustness in the car. And keep the car clean during a weekend so you don’t overwork your team. I love the doubleheaders and it adds another challenge.”

A year ago, Scott Speed and Rhys Millen split the Los Angeles wins, while Joni Wiman (second and third) and Ken Block (third and second) podiumed in both races.

Wiman and Block finished first and second in the championship.

That’s plenty proof positive that doubleheaders mean more, particularly with the increased number in 2015.

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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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