Fast Friday brings 90 horsepower boost to Indy 500 practice

INDIANAPOLIS — After using poise and instincts to win the rainy, white-knuckle GMR Grand Prix, Colton Herta will be chasing a new goal with 90 extra horsepower in Fast Friday practice for the Indy 500.

All-out speed.

The 22-year-old Californian and 32 other drivers entered in this year’s Indianapolis 500 will get their long-awaited, three-day power boost, setting them up for qualifying Saturday and Sunday.

PRACTICE SPEEDS: Thursday session l Combined

INDY 500 INFO: Start times, schedules, TV, stats, historical details about the race

“It’s a lot more speed, it takes a lot of commitment to hold it flat going into turn one because it’s a huge difference pace-wise,” Herta said Thursday. “It’s always fun. It’s always good, and then when they turn it back down, it never quite feels the same.”

At practice Tuesday and Thursday, most teams were content to work in traffic on race set-ups and posted fast laps near 226 or 227 mph. Wednesday’s session was rained out.

When practice resumes Friday, series officials will add about 90 horsepower to each car – a number that could lead to four-lap qualifying averages in the 230s. The last two pole-winners – Marco Andretti in 2020 and Scott Dixon in 2021 – both topped 231.

After turning the most laps (153) in Thursday’s session, Jimmie Johnson said he “broke through to a new level of comfort in race trim” while prearing for his Indy 500 debut. But the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion conceded he had “no clue what it’s going to feel like to go 230 something around here when the boost goes up.”

A four-time winner of the Brickyard 400, Johnson noted that in his 18 Cup starts at Indy, he always lifted off the accelerator and used a little brake entering Turn 1 in a stock car.

He will be holding the acceleartor wide open Friday (or at least working his way up to it).

“To feel the boost and the straightaway speed and look down at that 90-degree turn and think that I’ll hold it flat, it’s going to be an interesting conversation with my right foot,” Johnson said.

And with so many variables because of the weather’s effect , there’s no assurance Friday’s intense practice will provide many clues about how to handle qualifying weekend.

“It’s big, it’s going to feel big tomorrow when you get the boost,” defending series champ Alex Palou said. “It surprised me the first year, it surprised me the second time, and it’s going to surprise me again tomorrow.”

NEW PLAN

IndyCar owner Dennis Reinbold has been a fixture at the Indianapolis 500 since 2000. This year, with only 33 cars entered, his team is taking a different strategy.

With longtime friends Sage Karam and Santino Ferrucci teaming up for the first time, the drivers with similar racing skills will be working more on qualifying set-up for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.

“We’ve started on the last row way too many times, and it’s just so much work to get up to the front,” Reinbold said. “So we really wanted to dedicate some time to our qualifying and being a little quicker than we’ve been before – a lot quicker than we’ve been before.”

There’s one other aspect that will help. Karam, who has qualified 31st each of the last three years with DRR, won’t have to sweat out Bump Day.

“It’s very cool to know you’re already in,” Karam said. “It’s going to be hard to nail it, but I know we’ve got a good team behind us and they’ll make sure we’re ready to go.”

ANTHEM SINGER CHOSEN

Actor and musician Jordan Fisher has been selected to sing the national anthem May 29 before the Indy 500, race organizers announced.

Fisher is the first Black actor to hold the lead role in the Broadway play “Dear Evan Hansen,” appeared in the Tony Award winning musical “Hamilton” and was ABC’s 25th season winner of “Dancing With The Stars.”

His other credits include appearances in “Rent Live,” a variety of television shows, and performing a duet with Lin-Manuel Miranda on Disney’s “Moana” soundtrack.

Actor and recording artist @jordanfisher will perform the National Anthem at the #Indy500!

Tune in May 29th at 11 AM ET on NBC. #IMS pic.twitter.com/GO6JZkstX2

— IndyCar on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 19, 2022

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.

Women in SuperMotocross: Jordan Jarvis knows how tough it is

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.

Women in SuperMotocross Ashley Fiolek is building community

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.”

Fast Friday’s 90 horsepower boost will require full commitment from Indy 500 drivers

NEW PLAN

ANTHEM SINGER CHOSEN

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

NEW PLAN

ANTHEM SINGER CHOSEN

Read more about SuperMotocross