Page 39 of Full Throttle

“Lap one is in the books,” Cyrus said. Colby came in third.

The race appeared to be the same going into laps four and five, with Colby coming in third in all of them.

“Looks like I might have to rip up Asher’s contract,” Brian whispered to Liam, sounding somewhat disappointed.

Ben heard Brian and muted his headset before responding. “Asher has the better car, but Colby hasn’t made her move yet.”

Cyrus was pretty damned proud of Colby’s skills. He’d never seen her in full-on competition mode before. He muted his mic too. “If she’s learned anything from her old man, she’ll be doing that soon. My guess is she’ll make it in the next lap right around curve two.”

Cyrus unmuted his mic. “Lap six is in the books,” Cyrus said.

Asher was still in the lead.

Jordan sensed something was coming. He began to zigzag in a way to prevent Colby from pulling alongside his car. Just as they entered curve two, she outmaneuvered him and skillfully came up right next to his car, then sped around Jordan and overtook him. She was now in the number two position.

It was subtle, but Liam pumped his fist.

Brian saw it and smirked. “You’re pretty intense.”

Liam ignored Brian and continued to watch intently while pretending to be unimpressed.

All three drivers whizzed past the booth. An almost deafening whistle rushed past the spectators. They were moving so fast they looked like blurs. The race had the energy of a real qualifying event.

“Asher’s psi is dropping in the right tire,” Ben said. Cyrus wasted no time informing him.

“What does that mean?” Brian asked.

“His tire pressure dropping is going to affect his speed.” Ben shook his head. “He’ll have to adjust. If it gets too low, he’s going to have to bring her in.”

“Asher seems to have made the decision to go all out since there are only four laps left,” Cyrus said.

Ben leaned over toward Cyrus. “She hasn’t topped out yet.”

He grinned. “I know.” Cyrus turned to Liam and Brian to explain further. “I think she might be letting Asher wear himself out like a boxer might do in the first few rounds. He’s underestimating her acumen.”

Colby was indeed doing exactly what her father thought. She had to bring Asher’s car to her level to have a shot a winning.

“They’re about to round curve three,” Ben said. “Asher’s figured out she can take him around those curves. She’s better at them than he is.”

Sure enough, Asher tried to block her move during turn three, but Colby countered by downshifting to fourth gear, slowing her car and causing Asher to overshoot his block, then she shifted into fifth and overtook him. Not only did she take him, she finally accelerated to top speed.

“Holy shit!” Cyrus said.

Colby’s focus now was time. Asher led for six laps. She had to make it up in four—in a shit car.

Jordan was no longer in the conversation. He was at least two car lengths back. The competition had become a two-person race.

“Lap seven is in the books,” Cyrus announced.

“Colby James in the lead,” Ben said. “Hot damn. You don’t know how long I’ve waited to say that. Get used to it fellas.”

The entire Lockwood team watched in awe. Colby finished lap eight and maintained her lead.

“Shit. Winds changing,” Ben said nervously.

“Yep” was all Cyrus said. He had to project calm when he was anything but. That was his baby girl out there. He spoke to the drivers. “Winds changed. SW fifteen.”

“What does that mean?” Before Brian could get the words out, he watched Jordan start to struggle to maintain control of his car.