Justin Marks busy in Nashville, presenting pole award; racing TA2 with Daniel Suarez

By Aug 7, 2021, 2:00 PM EDT
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NASHVILLE – Justin Marks’ extremely busy summer continued Saturday at the Music City Grand Prix, where the NASCAR Trackhouse Racing owner raced in the TA2 Series race with Daniel Suarez and presented the NTT IndyCar Series pole award.

Marks, who purchased Chip Ganassi Racing’s NASCAR team June 30 and made more news this week in hiring Ross Chastain to drive its No. 1 Chevrolet next year, also is part of the ownership group for the Music City GP. He was joined in the Trans-Am TA2 race by  Suarez, who was tuning up on the 11-turn, 2.17-mile street course before driving his No. 99 Chevrolet for Trackhouse in Sunday’s Cup race at Watkins Glen International.

The presentation of the Bryan Clauson Pole Trophy was special for Marks, who scored his first (and only) NASCAR Xfinity Series victory five days after Clauson was killed in a USAC Midget race. Marks was driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, which also fielded Xfinity cars for Clauson.

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“Bryan was a friend of mine, and when the Grand Prix made the commitment to honor his memory with the pole trophy for the NTT INDYCAR Series race, I saw it as an opportunity to further the legacy that he’s had in racing and run a tribute car for him,” Marks said in a release. “It’s been a number of years since Bryan’s been gone, but his legacy remains alive and well. But, personally, it’s a big moment for me. He’s a big part of my story, and I have just so much respect for him and his family, and his father Tim, and everything they’ve done and continue to do in dirt racing. So it’s just a special, personal thing.”

“Bryan’s one of those guys who never really met a stranger. And from a racing standpoint, I have a tremendous amount of respect for multi-disciplinary drivers – guys who can jump in anything and can race and be fast in anything, and they just want to race and compete no matter what it is, and Bryan was that to a tee.

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“He raced in the Indy 500 and, when the race was over, he jumped in his car and ran a 410 Winged Sprint car that night. They don’t make drivers quite like that anymore, so he was a throwback, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for his talent and his ability, and he was a great human being. He always had time for everybody, really appreciated the opportunity that he had in his life, and that was reflected in his support of the organ donor program and trying to give back and realizing that he had a platform to make a positive difference, and he did so.”

In the Trans-Am TA2, Marks raced the No. 99 BC Forever/M1 Racecars/Fields Racing Chevrolet Camaro for Team SLR, which is owned by the father-son duo of Scott Lagasse and Scott Lagasse Jr.

Marks finished an impressive fourth after qualifying third. Suarez finished 26 laps down in 26th after an incident.

It marked the first Trans-Am street race since the 2019 Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle Park, and it’s addition to the Nashville race weekend made it a no-brainer to enter for Marks.

“I’ve been a big believer of this event in totality since the first day I heard about it,” Marks said. “It’s going to be the first year of an event that I think is going to be very special and successful for a long time. It was easy for me to make the commitment to get involved from an ownership standpoint. And personally, driving in the event – I’ve raced basically full time for 20 years but, when I retired, it didn’t necessarily mean that I was going to stop driving. I still love driving from time to time when I have the opportunity to do so, and I love the Trans Am Series. Early on, when there were discussions about Trans Am being a support event to the Grand Prix, I had it circled on my calendar as it was one that I really wanted to participate in because I only live 20 miles away, and it was a great way to totally immerse myself in an investment.”

He also gets an opportunity to race for Suarez, who is in a multiyear deal with Trackhouse.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun on that new track,” Suarez said about Nashville in a release. “I am excited for it. Racing is cool and racing something new is really cool,” said Suárez, who qualified 13th. “I have wanted to run Trans Am with Justin for a long time and we finally get to do it this weekend in Nashville. Justin is really good as are a lot of the drivers in this race.”

Said Marks, who has discussed moving Trackhouse to Nashville: “Every advantage we can give Daniel in this era of no (Cup) practice, no qualifying is worth it. By getting him a ride in the Music City GP, he’ll be able to take the flag at Watkins Glen coming right out of two days of competitive road racing in a similar vehicle. And it’ll be fun for us to race together finally.”

Marks, who also has won the 2010 ARCA race at Palm Beach International Raceway, has road-course experience in Trans-Am but was making his TA2 debut.

“I just think it’s a great format for racing,” he said. “I like hung-body road-race cars, lots of horsepower, and the race formats are great. It’s a sprint race, but it’s just long enough to have an endurance element to it. I think it’s a great series, great racecars and a great format.”

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

By Mar 31, 2023, 3:56 PM EDT
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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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