Nico: What position is Rocco at?
Race Engineer: He’s at P2, but he’s on pace with Clarke. How’re the tires?
Nico: Good. Holding steady. Car feels strong. What was the pace on that last lap?
Race Engineer: Fastest yet. Two seconds faster than Anker and Mendelsohn up ahead.
Nico: What about the turn up ahead?
Race Engineer: No moves. Not now, Nico. Not with the two of them lined up like they are. You don’t have room.
Rocco: Damn, they’re right on my tail.
Race Engineer: Yeah, they’ve picked up the pace. Can you hold on? The checkered flag is just up ahead.
Rocco: Yeah. I can hold on.
I better fucking hold on.
Race Engineer: Nico, just hold steady. They’ve boxed you out.
Mendelsohn was in front of her, Anker ahead of him.
There was nowhere for her to go.
But while Anker was keeping close to the inside, Mendelsohn was riding the right rear tire of Anker’s car. Nico knew what he was thinking. Up ahead was a turn, and about midway through the turn, the road widened.
He’s positioning himself to pass Anker there.
I can’t pass them.But I can make them think I’m going to try.
The more she could draw Anker to the inside, the more Mendelsohn will see the widest part of that turn as his shot.
She veered ever so slightly left. As expected, both Anker and Mendelsohn did as well, blocking her way. Nico inched back to the right, and they followed suit. She did it again, and so did they. But on the third attempt, when they were coming to that widening of the road on the turn, after inching to the inside almost immediately after she jerked right, Anker did likewise and ran into Mendelsohn, who was attempting to pass on the outside. That not only gave Nico room to pass on the inside but given they were all so close and bottled up, the impact between the two Blue Jet Lightning cars startled Clarke. He lost momentum, allowing Rocco to shoot past him.
The checkered flag was just up ahead.
Rocco crossed the finish line first. Clarke regained control and came in second. And Nico …
She could hardly believe it.
Did that just happen? Did she really come in third?
She could hear the cheers in the paddock on the radio. She placed her hand over her heart where she kept the drawing of her grandfather.
I did it, Grandpa. I’m going to be up on that podium.
Rocco watched Nico mount the podium as the crowd cheered. Clarke followed. He was next.
He was happy. But it felt different than the times he’d mounted the podium in the past. Different than what he’d expected. It was as though the joy had an anchor attached to it.
They handed him a bottle of champagne. Soon he was drenched as Nico and Clarke sprayed him and the crowd. He joined in.
He looked over at her. She was smiling back at him, her dark eyes shining. And then he saw it—a flash of light, as though she’d opened a window—but just for him. And suddenly, that anchor had sprung wings.
After he and Clarke had given each other a bro-hug and she and Clarke had hugged, they stood, staring at each other.
This is ridiculous, Rocco thought.
