Shelby laughs at that. "I bet," she says knowingly. "I had a sort of similar thing when I first started out. There were some keyboard warriors who either just wanted to talk about how hot I was, or said I only had a job because I was a woman. It took until we won the pole for the Indy 500 to shut people up and make them realize I could actually drive. I was lucky, though, because that stuff was mostly limited to the fans. The actual people who know, the guys in the other cars and the teams, everyone's always been gracious and supportive."
Peter nods knowingly. He'd been there with her from the beginning, and it hadn't helped that he had also been new at his job, so they were both under a microscope at the time. A few years later, they were both working for the top team in the league and both had resumes they could be proud of. "To answer your question, Danny, a backmarker is one of the cars that always drives around in the back. Drivers who don't have as much experience, or their car may not be as competitive. We don't have a lot of those this year."
It was the Catch-22 of their profession. They wanted to see one another do well and to provide great competition, but they also wanted to win. If Shelby were to lose the title to her teammate, she would be thrilled for him and Peter and know that they deserved it. At the same time, she would be disappointed in herself. There was no real way to get around any of that.
"We should have had you around the track a few weeks ago," she quipped. "We were racing in Nashville and there were so many wrecks it was just debris everywhere. The cleanup was insane. It was like six figures of damages."
no subject
Peter nods knowingly. He'd been there with her from the beginning, and it hadn't helped that he had also been new at his job, so they were both under a microscope at the time. A few years later, they were both working for the top team in the league and both had resumes they could be proud of. "To answer your question, Danny, a backmarker is one of the cars that always drives around in the back. Drivers who don't have as much experience, or their car may not be as competitive. We don't have a lot of those this year."
It was the Catch-22 of their profession. They wanted to see one another do well and to provide great competition, but they also wanted to win. If Shelby were to lose the title to her teammate, she would be thrilled for him and Peter and know that they deserved it. At the same time, she would be disappointed in herself. There was no real way to get around any of that.
"We should have had you around the track a few weeks ago," she quipped. "We were racing in Nashville and there were so many wrecks it was just debris everywhere. The cleanup was insane. It was like six figures of damages."