Page 83 of Full Throttle

Down on pit row, Ben sauntered over to Cyrus. The frown lines from age and irritation were written all over him.

Cyrus wouldn’t make eye contact.

It didn’t matter. Ben switched his headset channel so that only Cyrus could hear him. “You are playing this thing too safe.Let. Her. Drive!If you can’t take off your daddy hat, I’m going to call this one. This is the reason I had to leak that video. If I hadn’t, we wouldn’t be here today.”

Cyrus looked at Ben, turning his mic over to Ben’s frequency. “You leaked the video?”

“I love Colby almost as much as you. But you gave me no choice. I knew it was being filmed by one of the engineers, so I asked for a copy and leaked it. This is Colby’s dream. She’s this close, and the man she loves the most is standing in her way. You wouldn’t do this if she were Rodney.”

Ben’s words almost broke Cyrus. “Our protective measures are only going to last for one or two passes. Colby’s going to be out there on her own,” Cyrus said worriedly.

“We’ve always known that. More importantly,sheknows that. You’ve got to call it like you would with any other driver, Cyrus. Let. Her. Drive,” Ben reiterated.

Cyrus knew Ben was right. He took a long deep breath and sighed. Finally, he nodded in agreement. One thing Cyrus was good at was strategy, and that was because no matter how fast the course moved, it all moved in slow motion for him. He could see the track better than almost anyone, except for maybe, Rodney. It was time to put his particular skill set to use. He flipped his headset channel over. “Team Lockwood, new plan. We have some ground to make up. Our immediate target is now Team Wear. Chris, you’ve got J.J. Take him at the 112 marker to create some space for Colby and Jordan to get through. Garrett is too far ahead protecting Joey, so he won’t see you coming.”

“On it,” Chris said.

“I guess that means we’re done playing around?” Jordan asked.

“Sounds like it.” Colby smiled.

Team Lockwood executed Cyrus’ instructions flawlessly, moving them into the twenty-first, twenty-fourth, and twenty-seventh position with Colby in the lead.

“Houff is coming on fast. He’s on your ass, Colby!” Cyrus exclaimed.

“I can’t catch him,” Chris replied.

“I got him.” Jordan maneuvered his car over into Houff’s lane, pushing Houff away from Colby. It made his car spin out of control. Houff’s and Jordan’s cars crashed into each other and spun off into the grassy center of the track, effectively ending Jordan’s ability to drive for the day.

“Jordan’s out.”

It was now up to Chris. He had one job—protect Colby at all costs since Asher was doing his own thing. “I always knew I’d have to take you to the dance.”

“My hero,” Colby said sarcastically.

“Got a pileup ahead. A big one,” Cyrus said.

Seconds later, Colby and Chris maneuvered around it.

The pace car came out onto the track, and drivers slowed.

“When the race resumes, Team Lockwood will be in the eleventh position,” Cyrus said, trying to contain his excitement.

“Where’s Asher and Lorene?” Colby would be excited after she’d handled her business.

“Stay focused, Ms. James. Your goal is to finish top ten,” Cyrus responded.

“I’ve been nothing but focused. What position?” Colby asked again.

“Asher’s out from the crash. Lorene is in fourth,” Ben answered.

Time to go on the attack. “The track has opened up for me, but what do you see, Mr. James?”

Cyrus quickly analyzed his data. “Matt DiBenedetto is your number ten. Car’s been topping out at 220.”

Finally, the track was cleared of accidents. The pace car turned off its lights, and the drivers began to line up in twos. The pace car exited, and the green flag dropped, signaling the resumption of the race. Colby had one goal—finish stage two in the top ten.

In this placement, she was racing against the best of the best—Bubba Wallace, Kurt Busch, and more, but at the moment, the only car that mattered was Lorene Greene. Before she could get to him, she had to make Matt a nonfactor and do it in the next two laps.

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