MRTI: Kaiser introspective, focused to rebound after Mid-Ohio - MotorSportsTalk

LEXINGTON, Ohio – Kyle Kaiser and consistency have been best friends in 2017. But neither the driver nor his hallmark of his excellent 2017 season could topple the buzz saw known as the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires championship leader.

Whether it was Ed Jones last year, the combination of Jones and Jack Harvey the year before, Gabby Chaves with the old car in 2014, or Sage Karam in 2013, the leader in Indy Lights points has had a way of coming back to the field after what seems to be the most chaotic weekend of the season for the top rung of the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires.

Kaiser’s 2017 Mid-Ohio weekend was no different, and was especially frustrating coming after his important, determined sweep in Toronto. But all things considered, despite back-to-back 12th place finishes – his first two outside the top-10 in 14 races this season – things could have gone a lot worse.

After fighting an ill-handling car on Saturday and never looking a top-10 finisher, Kaiser then looked back to his usual, solid, steady self on Sunday – before things went awry when a potential passing opportunity arose.

Kaiser attempted to follow his Juncos Racing teammate Nicolas Dapero through Turns 4 and 5, and get past Juan Piedrahita’s Team Pelfrey Dallara IL-15 Mazda for sixth place.

But Kaiser misjudged the move through the uphill, banked left-hander and contacted Piedrahita. Both drivers spun and fell to the rear of the field.

Such is the maturation, growth and development of the Californian now living in Indianapolis that this was the first real notable mistake Kaiser has made behind the wheel all year, and he didn’t hide or run from it post-race.

“I thought I saw an opportunity more than was actually available,” Kaiser told NBC Sports. “I thought I’d follow my teammate on the inside of Turn 5, but I had too much understeer in middle of corner, and he ran the outside line. It was a bad move for that point of the race to be honest. But I’ll learn from it, and grow from it.”

While Kaiser’s 12th-place finishes indeed brought the No. 18 car back to the pack, it wasn’t by much. He entered the weekend with a 52-point lead but left it with a 42-point lead, as each of his title rivals had their own problems.

Carlin’s Matheus Leist, his closest rival entering the weekend, never looked a contender with nondescript 11th and 10th place finishes. Colton Herta made up ground Saturday with a hard-earned second for Andretti/Steinbrenner Racing but then threw away a potential win on Sunday with a spin at Turn 9. He recovered from 13th to sixth but it was a lost opportunity.

Santiago Urrutia (Belardi Auto Racing with SPM) and Nico Jamin (Andretti Autosport) promptly split the two wins but since both have had their own erratic, inconsistent campaigns, they may be too far back to make much headway – especially with only two races to go.

“Everyone’s had a bad weekend this year and this is our bad weekend,” Kaiser reflected. “But if you were to tell me though we’d have this bad a weekend and still come out leading by 42 points, I’d be pretty happy with that.

“Obviously I’m disappointed. I had a bad lapse of judgment making a move we shouldn’t have. I made a mistake, I’m living on it, but I’m ready to move forward. Let’s go back to our consistent finishes, and we can win this thing.”

Kaiser feels things should be better at Gateway Motorsports Park. It’s a track he thinks will be similar to Phoenix International Raceway, as a repaved short oval, and where he scored his first series win and pole last year.

The title battle for Indy Lights indeed presented an opening this weekend but despite Kaiser’s struggles, he’s still in an excellent position for the final two races of the year.

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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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