Page 16 of Full Throttle

For the first time, Liam glanced up and looked over at his brother. “Why don’t you know who the number one driver in NASCAR is?”

Brian shrugged. “Because it doesn’t matter. I just need to beat one person.”

Liam pressed his lips into a firm line. Moments like this, he wanted to choke his brother out. Liam took a deep breath. He would revisit that later. “So, that’s all you got from the information you gathered?”

“Yeah. What else is there?” Brian asked.

“Let me tell you what I see.” It was time to take his little bro to school. “Denise Daughtry is the majority stakeholder in Daughtry Racing, not the sole owner. Her stake is seventy percent. However, the next owner of this outfit, with the largest number of shares, is Cyrus James. He owns ten percent and has the full respect of this team. The rest is spread out amongst the employees in one and two percentage points. They will follow Cyrus James’ lead.What if the minority stakeholders don’t want to sell? Hell, what if they get a better offer and decide to sell their percentage to somebody like the Luccesses?”

The color drained from Brian’s face.

“They have to know you’re looking for a car and a team. As far as Asher McKay? He is a skillful driver, but he hates it here. It’s obvious he has his sights set on a higher-profile team. The man has already talked to a couple of teams based out of California. He only owes Daughtry one more race. What are your plans to convince him to stay? What motivates him?”

“I hadn’t thought about all of that,” Brian said.

Liam had Brian’s full attention. “Look, the dossier you put together is good, really good. But in life and in business, you can’t only focus on the obvious or the things that suit your purpose. You must run every possible scenario around in your head, the good and the bad. That way, you can prepare for anything that is thrown at you. Chess Brian, we’re playing Chess. Not checkers.”

Liam could see the wheels turning. Maybe Brian would learn something from this godforsaken situation, after all. Liam spoke to Markos. “We’ll walk over to the track but bring the car around in about an hour.” He turned to Brian. “Let’s go see if this team is worth your trust fund.”

Chapter 6

Colby placed both hands on the steering wheel and squeezed. She revved the engine. The vibration of the car and the smell of gas took over. Colby whispered more to herself than to anyone else, forgetting that she was mic’d. “She’s purring like a kitten.”

Ben could hear the smile in her voice. “Yeah. She soundsaah’ight. I ain’t seen nothin’ yet, though. So, you gonna show me what she can do or just talk? It’s a balmy 73 degrees with SW winds at five mph.”

Perfect,Colby thought. “What was Asher’s mph and time through lap three?”

“He got up to 195 mph in five seconds.”

“I’m going to hit 210 in three and 223 in four and a half.”

“Bullshit!” Ben exclaimed.

Zander was listening in on their conversation through his headphones as he stood on the platform of the track. He looked over at the booth toward Ben. “Can she do that?”

He lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “We’ll see.”

“Oh, ye of little faith, boys.” Colby revved up the engine one more time and waited for Zander to drop the practice flag.

Ben spoke into the mic again. “It’s been a while since you’ve been out there at these speeds, so watch out for the two hard banks on turn one and two.”

Colby remembered those turns from her runs with her dad as well as her unauthorized run just a few short hours ago. She decided not to share that bit of information. Instead, Colby glanced over at Gonzo, who was waiting in the pit. He gave her the thumbs up.

Colby refocused her attention on the practice flag.

As if in slow motion, Zander’s raised arm dropped, signaling the beginning of the practice lap. She pressed her foot on the accelerator, and the car began to move. Colby took one easy lap around the course just to warm up the tires.

After one full lap around, Colby made it back to the starting line and slowed the car to zero mph as she waited for Zander to drop the black flag, signaling the end of the practice lap.

The moment he lowered his arm, Colby shot out of the straightaway like a bullet. She took turn one and two easy.

Ben’s mouth dropped as he viewed his monitors. Colby hit 103 mph in 1.67 seconds. By the time Colby rounded curve four, she had already hit 196 mph in 3.2 seconds.

Cyrus managed to waltz into the booth without anyone noticing, during Colby’s run. Everyone’s eyes were glued to the car speeding around the track.

3.8 seconds in, and Colby registered 211 mph and 223 in 4.1. Ben whispered, “Holy shit.”

Cyrus was in shock too. “What the hell? That boy finally listened to me. He’s handling those curves.”

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