Fiancee battle: Graham Rahal vs. Courtney Force in a Sonoma skills challenge (VIDEO) - MotorSportsTalk

They’re racing’s burgeoning power couple, but rare is the opportunity when both Graham Rahal and Courtney Force actually are competing against each other.

Luckily, with a pair of Sonoma races on tap for both, the track organized a fun series of challenges to see who’d emerge victorious.

INDYCAR produced a video of the contest above, and the press release from Race Sonoma is below. Rahal was at the NHRA event in Bandimere this weekend, supporting Force.

.@GrahamRahal is out at @Bandimere for the weekend to support @courtneyforce & @JFR_Racing! #NHRADenver #IndyCar pic.twitter.com/uf2Axx7E1I

— INDYCAR on NBCSN (@IndyCaronNBCSN) July 26, 2015

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source: Getty Images — Photo: Getty Images

Motorsports power couple Courtney Force and Graham Rahal are due to wed this fall, but before they say “I do,” Sonoma Raceway put them through their paces with a one-of-a-kind couples’ skills challenge on Wednesday, July 22.

Force, NHRA’s winningest female driver, and Rahal, currently second in Verizon IndyCar Series points, squared off on the drag strip and road course, and in an old-fashioned grape stomp.

First, the couple took to the drag strip to race Traxxas remote controlled cars. Force dominated the best-of-three matchup on the 1/8-mile strip, besting Rahal in all three races.

“This is definitely my comfort zone, so I’m really glad I could beat him out here,” said Force, who pilots the Traxxas Chevy Camaro Funny Car. “It was fun to be out here on the drag strip racing against each other.”

The couple then headed to the Simraceway Performance Driving Center, located near Turn 1 of the road course, where they utilized simulators to pilot Indy cars around the 12-turn Sonoma Raceway road course. Rahal outpaced Force by almost a full lap to take the checkers in the five-lap race.

“I couldn’t let her win this one,” said Rahal, driver of the No. 15 Mi-Jack entry for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. “This was a great way for Courtney to understand what it’s like to race on this road course. It’s really challenging, and almost impossible to describe. And, I think we might need to get one of these simulators at home.”

The final challenge came down to an old-fashioned grape stomp in the Wine Country Winner’s Circle, where the drivers slipped off their shoes, rolled up their pants and stomped grapes for three minutes in authentic wooden barrels. Force took the win by collecting the most juice from the grapes in her barrel.

In addition to bragging rights “for as long as they both shall live,” Force also received a magnum of Korbel champagne from the raceway.

“This was really fun,” said Force. “We’re both really competitive, but we’ve never gotten to do something head-to-head like this. It’s neat to do this together and try out each others’ disciplines. And, of course, I’m very glad I won.”

Force and Rahal will both compete at Sonoma Raceway in their respective series later this summer. Force, who beat her father in the final Funny Car round in Sonoma in 2014, will take to the drag strip at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals, July 31-Aug. 2.

Rahal, who boasts a best finish of fifth in Sonoma in the Verizon IndyCar Series, returns to wine country, Aug. 28-30, for the series’ season finale at the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma.

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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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