The Indianapolis 500—one of the most storied car races in the world—had been her dream for twenty years until she ruthlessly made herself excise it.
Except she hadn’t. Not entirely.
During the day, Mack was consumed by her to-do list—making pediatrician appointments, fixing the ancient washing machine, painting the track grandstand—running ragged, too busy to remember any part of herself that still had racing ambitions. She even felt content at times, proud of the stability she’d built for her small family. But at night, her traitorous brain reminded her of what she’d once spent every moment working toward: being the first woman to win the most famous car race in the world.
Try as she might, she could not work that dream out of her mind.
Behind them, a small voice called out. “Mama, can we go now?”
Mack straightened and held up a finger once more. “Be right there!” she called back, her voice shrill and overloud. She stayed facing the distant figure of Shaw, trying to focus. She was so tired that she’d imagined that Janet Joyner had asked her to drive in the Indy 500.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I kinda spaced out there for a minute. It’s been a long night. What was it that you said you wanted?”
“I’m entering a second car into the race this year. I want you to drive that car.” Janet’s face was still unreadable in the darkness. “Call me crazy, but I don’t think your racing days are over.”
“You are fucking crazy.”
“Probably,” Janet conceded, a cluster of small wrinkles formed around her wry mouth. “I know your history, and I know what I saw out there tonight. You went from last to fourth in a B-feature heat. One more lap and you’d have had first.” She paused and lifted her hands in a lackadaisical gesture. “But if you’re not interested, I can find a hundred other people who are.”
Ten years had passed since Mack raced at an elite level. Janet was right: There were dozens of young drivers, all of them more prepared than she currently was, hustling to find a ride with an IndyCar team. She could fill the grandstands full of talented drivers who didn’t have the baggage of a kid, a father who needed full-time care, and a struggling family business. Those were the people who got IndyCar rides, not washed-up single moms who drove carpool and watched the Indy 500 from the sofa.
“I’m not giving you anything for free,” Janet said. “I’m offering you the seat, but you’ll have to find sponsorship like any other driver. Offer is open for twenty-four hours. Qualifying starts in less than a month and there’s a shit ton to do.”
Janet held out a paper rectangle. A dormant surge of hope flooded Mack’s nervous system and her breath quickened with the possibility that the offer was real. She pictured herself standing on the dais at Indianapolis, waving to three hundred thousand fans before rocketing down the track at two hundred miles per hour. She hated how she wanted to believe Janet, hated the pinprick of optimism puncturing her usual pragmatism. Wanting something you couldn’t have was a weakness, and Mack didn’t indulge in worthless wishes. She held her hands in tight fists at her sides.
Frowning, Janet grabbed Mack’s hand, slammed the card into her palm, and strode off toward the back of the parking lot.
Mack closed her eyes and tried to calm her breathing.
“Wait!” The word escaped her mouth without her brain approving the message. Janet stopped and turned back, but Mack panicked, scared of her own longings. “Why me? I haven’t really raced in ... a while.”
In the darkness, Janet’s expression was opaque, and she stood without speaking for so long that Mack thought she wasn’t going to answer. “I’m finally able to fund a second car. I want a woman in that car.”
“But whyme?”
Janet muttered something that sounded like “Fucking millennials, always needing a gold star” as she walked back toward Mack. “I remember you from when you were younger. At first I watched you because you were Wes’s girl, but then I watched because I couldn’t look away. You had that fire. Anyone who watched you knew you were something special. And I saw you out there tonight. You had no business gunning for the front but you drove like you still had something to prove.” She glanced down at her feet, seeming to search for words. Finally she said, “Janet Joyner Racing isn’t the biggest team at Indy and I don’t have the time or cash to fuck around. I want someone who will fight for the front even when they’re ten laps down, and that’s what I see in you. I saw it then and I still see it now.”
Mack’s skin was clammy even though her insides were on fire. She squeezed her eyes shut and shivered in the cool spring air. Was she really still that person? That part of her felt, if not dead, buried under the crush of her daily responsibilities. For nearly a decade, she’d transformed herself fromMack Williams, fastest woman on four wheelsintoMack Williams, quietest woman in the carpool lane. How could a stranger see fire in her when all Mack saw was ash?
When she opened her eyes, Janet was gone.
Indianapolis Courier-Journal
April 26
The Ultimate Guide to the Indianapolis 500
It’s almost May, which means it’s almost time to go racing! Most of our readers have attended the Indianapolis 500 at least once, and many attend the race annually, but in case you’re new to the city or new to the Indy 500, here’s a primer for our city’s biggest event.
The History
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was built in 1909 as a testing facility for local automobile manufacturers. Over the years the Indy 500 grew into The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, known for fast speeds and as the largest single-day spectator sport.
Month of May
The Indy 500 is run on the last Sunday in May.
