Jade Avedisian wins Xtreme Outlaw Midget race

In the season finale of the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series at I-44 Riverside Speedway in Oklahoma City, Jade Avedisian led flag-to-flag to become the only repeat winner in 10 races.

The weekend began with seven winners in seven races and a distinct possibility the series could end their inaugural campaign with a perfect record of first timers. Points’ leader Zach Daum won his first race Thursday night at Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla. to become the eighth unique winner.

Cannon McIntosh kept the streak alive Friday night at I-44 for the opening night of the Charlene Meents Memorial.

But it was the 15-year-old female racer Avedisian from Clovis, Calif. who gave the series its first repeat winner. She is also the first-ever two-time female feature winner of a national midget tour.

“The first one was awesome, but I think this one’s just a little more special that I could do it twice,” Avedisian said.

☑️ First 2-time Feature winner
☑️ Down-to-the wire points battle
☑️ Last-minute car swaps

Saturday's #XtremeOutlaw Midget finale at @I44SpeedwayOKC had it all, where @jadeavedisian took the checkers and @DaumMotorsports the inaugural championship.

READ: https://t.co/HPflRujQ3U pic.twitter.com/fCyR6HGzcX

— Xtreme Outlaw Series (@Xtreme_Outlaw) October 16, 2022

Her first win this year came in Round 3 at Jacksonville (Ill.) Speedway in June.

Avedisian was fast all night. Starting from the pole after setting quick time, she jumped to an early lead, stretched it to two seconds on the tiny .2-mile dirt track and was contested only in the final five laps.

“I didn’t know exactly [how far back second-place was], but I knew [someone] was right there because I kind of felt my pace slow down in lapped traffic,” Avedisian said. “I wasn’t sure where to go, and this lapper changed lanes on the straightaway, and I was on the outside. I knew someone was close, but just wasn’t sure who.”

The ‘who’ was Bryant Wiedeman. He still had a shot at the 2022 championship if he was able to win the race and Daum finished 15th or worse.

Wiedeman was motivated. Even more so because Daum was forced to take a provisional starting spot and rolled off the grid in 23rd.

Daum suffered not one, but two engine failures during the weekend. The first was discovered after Friday night’s event, so he swapped power plants with his Bundy Built Motorsports teammate Ethan Mitchell. That engine gave way as he took the white flag while leading his heat race. He was forced to climb into one of Avedisian’s backups and start shotgun on the field, which was graciously donated by Chad Boat and CB Industries. There was not a lot of time to make all the changes necessary to be competitive.

“I just tried not to do anything dumb, put myself in a bad position to get crashed that late in the race,” Daum said. “Just had to play it smart, play it like a veteran should.

“There were other people offering cars, and I appreciate every last one of them. There were more people in the hot pit and in Chad’s pit tonight than I could even begin to think about. And I thank every one of them, because without them, we wouldn’t have made [the feature] in time.”

Daum climbed to ninth place at the checkers to pocket the $10,000 check for being the inaugural Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series champion.

“Hopefully, 30 years from now, this [series] has exploded and we’re [remembered as] the inaugural champion,” Daum said.

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.”

Jade Avedisian wins Xtreme Outlaw Midget finale, only multiple winner as Zach Daum wins championship

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

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