Overdrive by Chris Fabry Read Free Book Online

not just the South. So clean up your twang. Let everybody—not just your family—understand what you’re saying.”
    Chad raised a hand, and Charlyn nodded to him. “I agree we ought to cut out the ain’t s and all that, but I’ve always heard we have to be ourselves. I don’t want a college degree. I just want to win.”
    Charlyn walked past him like she was on the prowl. “Good point. And I do want you to be yourself. The thing that will draw a team to you is the same thing that will draw fans. Something genuine deep down inside. Something they identify with. Something thatreminds them that they’ve been at the back of the pack, believing they can overcome the odds just like you.” She stopped right in front of him. “But you need to be the best you you can be. If your South Carolina drawl is real, don’t get rid of it—use it to your advantage. Words are another tool of the racer, so when you open that mouth, have something to say and don’t hem and haw and um and uh.”
    Jamie knew exactly what Charlyn was talking about. But it was different, of course, when she sat in the interview room facing the camera and the lights. She could see her own face reflected in the camera lens, and she wondered if someday this video would be played during a big race, poking fun at how far Jamie had come. Or would her racing dreams crash right here?
    “All right, sit up straight, and let me see that smile of yours. No matter what I throw at you, I want your personality to come through,” Charlyn said. “You got it?”
    “Got it.”
    “Ready?”
    Jamie scooted back in her seat and took a deep breath. “Ready.”
    “Why would a nice, pretty girl like you want to ruin an entire sport?”
    Jamie’s mouth dropped open. “Uh . . . well, I mean, I’m not trying to ruin anything. . . . Uh . . . I’m just trying to—”
    “A girl may look good in a fire suit, but to think you could hang with the guys is silly,” Charlyn interrupted. “They’re stronger, they can last longer in a hot cockpit, and they’re not trying to prove anything about their gender. Plus, they don’t need to check their makeup after each turn.”
    Jamie’s stomach churned. She liked to think she was quick on her feet and could fire off a snappy comeback with the best of them. She had a lot of practice with Kellen at home. But the attack dog questions from Charlyn felt like an ambush.
    She took another breath. “Just because I’m a female doesn’t disqualify me from racing. I’ve learned a lot from watching my dad race, and I’ve learned a lot behind the wheel in the different levels I’ve gone through. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that the length of your hair and fingernails doesn’t disqualify you from this sport.”
    “But when you push your way—”
    “I’m not finished,” Jamie interrupted, and she could detect a smile on Charlyn’s lips. “When I climb into a cockpit, the car doesn’t know whether I’m male or female, and it doesn’t care. Why should you or anybody else?”
    “Because people’s lives are at stake,” Charlyn said.
    “I can drive as safely as any guy on the track,probably safer. But I don’t see why people should discriminate against me just because I was born a female.”
    There was a long pause. “Anything else you want to say?” Charlyn said.
    “Yeah. I’m not in this to make a statement. I’ll climb into a race car and chase down any guy or girl or grandma. Doesn’t matter to me. I want to win the cup.”

Chapter 13
Scotty’s Perspective
    TIM WENT TO THE Maxwell Motorsports garage and did what he was asked, but his heart wasn’t in it. He couldn’t get the DVD or the questions it raised out of his head. Who had sent that DVD? Surely Devalon knew about his part in the accident. Tim could see why Dale hadn’t said anything about it, because the whole thing happened so fast and there was no way he could have seen behind him, but what about the spotters?
    Tim usually got