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“Okay. Thanks. I’ll see you back shortly,” she comments as I nod. The crew finishes the changes, and I watch as she exits pit road.
I monitor the screens as she gets the tires back up to speed, making suitable time through the first set of corners off the front stretch. The back straightaway yields some speed, her clocking in at around 200mph, before entering turns seven through nine.
“Haisley, adjust the left weight shifter as you enter turn ten right before the transition to the asphalt,” I command as she enters the turn.
“I’m still a little loose in the back, but it’s better,” she shares as she slows into turn twelve, marking the last two turns of the course.
“Come in unless you want to do another lap,” I tell her.
“I’m good for now,” she responds, and I watch as she pulls down pit road. The pits are on the right side of the straightaway, which is apparent in most of the races. Definitely different from stock car racing where the pits are on the left side.
Haisley kills the engine and starts to unsecure herself from the harness. I see her hand the helmet to Mac and get out of the car. I wait for her to join us on the pit box, something she started last race after practice.
“Bud. Saint,” she says as she sits in front of the computers. “Where can we shave a little off?”
Bud huffs. “Start by hitting at least 205 on the straightaways.”
Haisley shakes her head. “The car isn’t going that fast, Bud. I had the throttle wide open, and that’s what I got. SO maybe you need to figure out how to make the car go faster.” She stands and looks at me. “I’ll be in my RV if anyone needs me.”
I nod and turn my attention to Bud. “Seriously, when are you going to stop being such a chauvinist asshole? She’s your driver. It doesn’t matter if you agree or disagree that women shouldn’t be in racing. I’m hoping she proves your ass wrong.”
“She needs more guts behind the wheel,” he snaps back.
“Not going to happen if she feels she can’t trust her crew chief,” I snark as I descend the stairs of the pit box. The crew is moving the car back to the garage for storage and work.
“Anything we need?” Neil asks as we enter garage two.
“More speed on the straightaways,” I answer. Neil nods and leaves me by myself.
***
Later that day
“Haisley is set to qualify in the second group,” Mac announces as we all assemble in the garage area after lunch.
“Okay, so we have time to make those slight adjustments and get it over to inspection,” I remind him.
“On it,” he acknowledges and gets to work.
“Hey, have a moment, Saint?” I turn to see Haisley’s cousin standing behind me.
“Sure. Where’s Haisley?” I inquire.
“In the RV, taking a nap,” Elle answers. “Anyway, can we talk away from prying ears?”
I nod and exit the garage, heading towards the hauler. “We should be able to sit in the office area without interruption,” I offer. “What did you want to discuss?” I ask, shutting the office door.
“Haisley’s been off the last couple of weeks,” she begins. “I’m fairly sure her run-in with Drake at that last race is the catalyst behind all of it. Has she shown anything on the track? Said anything?”
I shake my head and sit back in my chair. “No. She basically shut me down after she realized I overheard the conversation. May I ask how they even know each other?”
Elle chuckles. “They met on the race circuit about five years ago. He was nice and accommodating to her. Travelled around to the races, pretended to be her biggest supporter.”
“He wasn’t?”
Elle shakes her head. “Not at all. Anyway, he played everything right, had her believing shit about happily ever after's, until she caught him cheating on her.”
“What an asshole!” I growl.
