Chapter 1
1
Spring
Robbie
The comforting aromas of rubber, lubricants, and good old nostril tingling scent of racing fuel soothe my nerves. I didn’t think I’d have anything to be nervous about when I took over as crew chief this year.
Except Charlotte Dane has been kicking our ass over the first few races at the start of this season.
She’s risen from relative obscurity and been dominating the spring national racing circuit. Well, she isn’t a complete unknown. Charly, as she’s known to her growing fan base, has raced just about everything. From karts as a kid in California to her new role as a factory test driver for one of the big four manufacturers.
They’ve historically had poor race results, especially in the dirt track series. Charly’s job is to come in and see what they can do to improve. I don’t know if until now they’ve had bad luck with their drivers, but in the few months of off season prep they’ve gone from the bottom of the pile to challenging for the championship lead. It’s a remarkable turnaround that no one predicted prior to Charly’s arrival.
So far Eddie, my driver, is keeping up with her, but with every checkered flag Charly takes, she edges farther ahead. At this point in the season we have to catch up, and keep up, otherwise the fall is going to be miserable.
Tonight we’re at Lawrenceburg Speedway. Our teams’ haulers are parked near each other. Just one other team separates us. Beside the stark white trailer next to us are flashes of neon pink and contrasting black. Everything Charly touches turns pink, and the little girls eat it up.
She’s like a dirt track Barbie, everything she wears is pink and she keeps her hair in a long blonde ponytail. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but she leans into the stereotype. Before the race, hoards of fans crowd around her pit and she stands outside signing autographs. She takes pictures with everyone and always has a genuine smile.
Eddie poked his head out of the trailer earlier, saw the crowd, and disappeared back inside. Notoriously reclusive, people often think he’s an asshole, but he’s just incredibly shy. Thankfully, our sponsors love him and he has a proven track record of wins to keep them coming back.
“Hey Robbie, can I get a hand with this?” One of my crew members calls over. I move to help him bust a stuck lug nut loose. We’ve got a half hour before hot laps start, so we need to be ready as soon as possible.
Nerves ratchet through me. Lawrenceburg has always been one of my favorite tracks. It’s fast, a clay oval, just shy of a quarter mile, and one of the tracks I grew up attending. Saturday nights under the lights, watching my dad wheel his car around, listening to the roar of the crowd. It all feeds into the pressure I constantly feel now that I’m in charge.
My dad, Sebastian Faraday, is a former USAC champion and one time Indy car driver. A week after my mom brought me home from the hospital after being born, Dad plunked me in his old midget car so I could ‘get used to the feeling’.
When my driving career fizzled in my teens, he begrudgingly admitted that I didn’t have the heart for it.
What I loved was the science. Even when I was little, I’d watch the engines being taken apart and put back together, fascinated by how everything fit. As I got older, I got more and more into the mechanics of cranking out as much horsepower as possible.
The more experience I got in the garage, the more I appreciated the technical details that had to change between each track. There are innumerable variables that go into preparing a race car and I love puzzling them out.
With five minutes to go before we need to push off, Eddie pops out of the trailer, race suit on, and helmet tucked under his arm. I climb on the four wheeler and the rest of the guys pile on behind me. Eddie clamors into the car and with a thumbs up, I crank the four wheeler’s engine and push us toward the track.
We’re in an earlier hot lap group, which is both good and bad. We won’t be able to see what other cars are doing and the track isn’t as worked in as it’ll be by the time we get to the race but, there’s more time to work out any kinks afterward.
When the steward waves us forward, we push Eddie down into the infield where a push truck is idling. They get him moving and the spring car’s engine comes to life with a roar. Late spring sunlight gleams off the top wing as Eddie puts it through its paces, testing different braking points and seeing what he thinks might be the best running line later.
As he shoots by the starter stand, we all clap and wave. While he takes his cool down lap, we run back to the four wheeler so we’ll be able to push him straight back to the hauler and start prep for his qualifying run.
Just as we’re leaving, Charly’s team rolls past and I motion for someone else to take over driving the four wheeler. I hop off, making my way back to the fence to watch how Charly does.
Even though it’s early, still two hours from race time, the stands are filling up and when they see Charly; they cheer and clap.
I study her line as her pink and black car flies around the track, using many of the same strategies Eddie did in his hot lap session.
There’s no denying she’s fast, and an extremely talented driver.
I just wonder how long she’ll be here before the factory pulls her and puts her in another series.
After a two-week break, we’re pulling into Eldora with some new ideas and a fresh outlook on where the rest of our season could go. Instead of packing our calendar with some of the local tracks, Eddie stayed close, and the team worked to make improvements to the car. Hopefully, it’ll give us the competitive edge we need right now.
My optimistic mood sinks when I see where we’re parked. Right next to Charlotte Dane’s rig. I wince and glance at Eddie, who’s already hiding toward the back of our trailer. Charly crowd is already swelling, so we probably won’t see Eddie until race time.
When we unload, I’m surprised to see Charly out helping her guys get set up and tinkering with the motor.
Everything on her social media would make you think she’s never gotten her hands dirty in her life, but there she is helping with the engine in her car.
I must have been staring longer than I realize because she glances up, offering her megawatt smile and a quick wave. Flustered, I whirl around and dive back into the hauler with Eddie.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” He says, tipping the computer screen towards me. He’s got old footage of our previous Eldora races pulled up, studying each lap to squeeze out any advantage he can get.
“Have you ever seen Charly working on her car before?” I ask, half watching the video.
Eddie glances at me. “Yeah. All the time. You haven’t?”
I try not to watch her in person because she’s incredibly distracting. “Just doesn’t seem like that type of person.” Her social media is another story. It’s embarrassing to admit how many times I check her feed.
Eddie harrumphs next to me. “Used to do all the work on her karts with her dad. You’ve seriously never seen her working?”
I shake my head.
“Didn’t have a ton of money coming up, so she said she learned to work on stuff to help.” He shrugs. “Kinda reminds me of me. Except, you know, the painfully awkward part.”
“To each their own, Eddie.” I clap him on the back and get ready to go back to work. Until I turn around and see Charly outside, talking to two of my crew guys. One of them points inside and she smiles at him, striding up the ramp and toward me.
Oh shit.
I get a hint of what Eddie feels like as I try to find a place to hide. Before I can duck into the bathroom, she’s there, smiling and holding out her hand for me to shake.
“Hi. I’m Charly. I don’t think we’ve met before.”
You smell good.
My brain latches onto that fact. A particular combination of fruity sweetness and grease that makes my knees buckle.
Shit, I hope I didn’t say any of that out loud.
I reach out and take her hand. “Roddie.”
A prolonged silence stretches between us and she blinks once, then twice, and I’m certain my face has gone bright red from embarrassment. Finally, I retract my hand and subtly wipe the sweat off against my pants leg.
“Pleasure to meet you.” I spit out, my head bobbing up and down to make sure she knows I’m not lying.
Shaking off her obvious confusion at my inability to act like a normal human, Charly smiles. “I’ve learned so much watching your videos and going back through your dad’s articles and tapes.”
“You’ve been putting it to good use.” Racing is a safe topic and I fall into shop talk more easily than other subjects.
“I’ve just gotten lucky.” She blushes and I’m fascinated by the rosy glow it adds to her tanned skin. “My guys are all going to tease me for coming over here, but I just had to meet you.”
“You came over to meet me? Specifically?” I’m taken aback, but not in a bad way. Few people seek me out. They’re always looking for Eddie or my dad when he comes to a race.
“Yeah. You’re so talented. One of the best mechanics on the circuit in a long time.”
It’s my turn to blink in confusion. “Well - I - guess — Thank you.” I splutter.
She smiles again, but just as quickly as she appeared, she’s getting called over to her hauler.
I watch her walk down the ramp, confused, a little bit turned on, and strangely flattered.
It feels like a tornado just whipped through and rearranged everything inside my brain.
“Well, that wasn’t what I expected.” Eddie steps up next to me.
“Me either.”