While James and I were talking to our respective crew chiefs about the day’s conditions and initial car setup, Tiffany and Maddie came over to say hello.

“If it’s alright with you, I wanna ride with Maddie all day,” Tiffany announced.

“If she’s cool with it, so am I,” I said.

“I like having Tiffany ride with me,” Maddie said. “It’s fun to have a friend to, like, share it with, you know?”

“I absolutely understand that,” I said. “That’s what I have James for, right?”

Imogen, Angela and Emmy walked up about then to tell James and I they were going into Tucson to do some shopping and they’d be back later in the afternoon.

I asked Imogen how she was doing, and she said she was fine.

“I talked to James this morning, and he said you guys stayed up pretty late talking,” I said.

“Yes, we did,” Imogen agreed.

“And everything’s good?”

“I have no reason to think otherwise,” she said, touching my arm. “Last night,” she said, dropping her voice. “You knew those men were armed. You saw the knife, after all, and you had an idea the other one had a pistol, didn’t you?”

“It was pretty clear,” I agreed.

“And yet you confronted them anyway. James explained your motivations, and I think I can understand them somewhat, but you could have been killed.”

“Not from those guys, not last night,” I said. “They weren’t dangerous.”

She looked me in the eyes for a moment, then dropped her gaze. “It seems your risk threshold is much higher than mine, Leah.”

“I get that a lot,” I said, smiling to lighten the mood a bit.

“I’ve never seen anybody move like you did last night,” Imogen said. “I don’t think those men had any idea what was happening to them until it was all over.”

“No, probably not,” I agreed. “Like I said, they were just a bunch of drunk idiots, hoping to scare us into giving them an easy payday. They weren’t killers, or even really fighters.”

“And you are?”

“I am a fighter,” I said. “It’s something I do.”

“I’m glad that you and James met that day,” she said with a smile. “You three are, by far, our most interesting friends.”

The morning started out a bit cooler than the day before, but the track was well salted from our efforts the previous day. I don’t know how many tires James went through, but I’d burned off two sets, so all that rubber on the track made for great grip from the start.

Of course, Joachim had all of the data from the day before, too, so the car was set up perfectly for the track right off the bat.

It only took me a few laps to get back into the groove and remember what I was doing. The big BMW and I were really getting along well and the speed came easily. So easily, in fact, that my low fuel light was the first indication I had that I’d been out for quite a while.

Climbing out of the car back at the pit, I told Joachim the BMW was running like a champ.

“I guess it must be,” he said. “You were out there for a full hour. Take fifteen or so for us to fill it up. I’ll check the data to see if we need to make any changes today.”

I set my helmet on the fan and grabbed a Mexican Coke from the cooler to relax while the guys did their thing. In the otherwise fairly quiet morning I could hear the GT-R, and sometimes the EVO as it passed by.

I’d been impressed by Maddie’s pace out there that morning. She was going pretty well for what was essentially a stock car with few mods on street tires. Her lines were clean, and the few times I’d had the opportunity to watch her in the slow corners I could see she was trying to do what I’d shown her at Chuckwalla, letting the car rotate on the brakes on entry to get better drive out again.

Back out again, I drained another tank but I felt as if I’d plateaued. The laps were coming smoothly and easily, but I wasn’t improving. I felt I was getting stale, so when I came back into the pit I told Joachim I wanted to take the M6 out.

“I think I’ve found my current limit with the GT3,” I explained. “I think I’m going to need to be pushed to get any more speed out of it here, and that’s just not happening.”

“Are you done with the GT3 for the weekend?” He asked. “Because if you are, I’ll have the boys put it to bed.”

“Yeah, I think so,” I said. “I’ll stick with the M6 for the rest of the day.”

“Alright,” he said. “We got great data, and the car’s running great. It’s always good to end things on a high note.”

“Joachim,” I said, thinking about it. “When you have the time, back in Temecula, put some numbers together for what a race season budget might look like. Talk to the guys about what would be involved- the travel and all that- and see if this is something that maybe could happen.”

“Are you serious?”

“I don’t know,” I hedged. “I might be. Another thing- work up a calendar of race dates, too, so I can take a look at it and see if it’s even possible.”

“Leah,” Joachim said, setting down his laptop. “The word around the dealership is that your father-in-law wants to sell you the franchise. I know for a fact that almost everyone thinks it’s a done deal.”

“He’s hinted,” I admitted.

“Well, a race team is an advertising write-off, right? If you do it right, it could be that none of it would come out of your own pocket directly.”

“There is that,” I said with a shrug. “But still, run the numbers for me, and estimate high. Give me the worst-case estimate. Include the cost of a new car as an option, too.”

“I can do that, boss lady,” he said with a grin. “And you know what? I’m gonna write up a budget for a year’s worth of track days like this for you to compare.”

Laughing, I said, “I guess that makes sense. It’s a baseline, right?”

Out in the M6, I threw lap times out the window and just played around. I tried keeping it tight and clean, or loose and wild- whatever I felt like just for fun. I ran off the track on turn eleven twice, but that was fine. It was all about getting a feel for the car, and going past the limits is the way to find out where the limits actually are, right?

When the marshall waved the checkered flag for the lunch break I was ready to come in. The M6 was a lot of fun, and an interesting contrast to the race car. The street car actually had a few more horsepower, but narrower, less grippy tires and no downforce to speak of. As a result, it couldn’t put the power down nearly as well, and tended to oversteer compared to the GT3.

All of that was fine, and expected. It was, after all, a street car, right? Finding its limits (which were actually quite impressive) on the racetrack meant that I’d know where those limits lay on the street.

Maddie, Tiffany and Lainey were eating carne asada burritos that Manny had made when I found them under the canopy. After I got myself a burrito, too, I grabbed an empty camp chair and sat down with them.

“You girls having a good day?” I asked.

“Awesome!” Tiffany said, giving me a thumbs-up, too busy eating to say much more.

“My car is going so good!” Maddie said. “Reggie worked on it last night and it’s just amazing today!”

“What did he do?”

“I don’t even know,” she admitted. “He made some changes in the suspension, and I don’t even know what he did, but it feels like the car has more power now, too.”

“Reggie’s a good guy, alright. He knows a lot about setting cars up just right.”

“Maddie,” James said, sitting down with a plate in his lap. “I’ve been watching your driving, and I’ve been really impressed. You race IMSA, right?”

“No, not yet. I can’t race any IMSA events until I turn sixteen. All I can do now is club racing at Chuck, Willow or Buttonwillow,” she replied, her shoulders drooping.

“And how have you been doing?”

“Well, I haven’t actually won any races yet, but I did get on the podium twice last year at Streets, both times.”

“Looking at your car, it doesn’t look as if you have a title sponsor,” he said.

“No,” she agreed. “I mean, contingency money has helped, but mostly it’s been…”

“Me,” Lainey said with a laugh. “I’m the title sponsor.”

“How many races do you have on your calendar this coming season?” James asked.

“Six weekends at Buttonwillow, plus four at Willow Springs,” Lainey said. “We’re not racing at Chuckwalla this season.”

“Why not?”

“Well, money. And time, of course, but since time is money, I guess it’s money squared,” Lainey said with a self-deprecating laugh.

“Lainey,” James said, leaning forward. “What if money wasn’t the limiting factor?”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Let’s say I signed on as title sponsor,” he said. “And paid all your racing expenses, so all you had to do was take the time to get Maddie to the races and make sure everything went smoothly. How many would you two be able to do?”

“Seriously? You would do that?” Maddie asked, her eyes wide.

“Well, my company would,” James said.

“We could do the full season at all three tracks. They stagger their races so they don’t conflict with each other, you know,” Lainey said, thoughtful. “I think that’s fourteen race weekends, all told.”

“Would you- if I were to extend this offer, would you be interested?” James asked.

“What would you get out of it?” Lainey asked.

“Advertising, obviously,” James replied, taking a bite of his burrito. “And a sense of personal gratification, I suppose. I like Maddie, and the idea of her doing well, I guess that appeals to me. If I can help her racing career, why not?”

“Mom,” Maddie said, looking at Lainey with big eyes. “Say yes. Please.”

Lainey looked at me, and I shrugged. “I could maybe throw in some support, too. Why not?”

“If you two are serious, there’s no way I can say no,” Lainey said.

“Then it’s a deal,” James said. “Put together a calendar and I’ll run it by Reggie. He can take the car back to his shop, and they can do the livery and build it out, too.”

“This is a lot,” Lainey said, seeming to be in shock.

“This is totally awesome!” Maddie said. “Like, the awesomest!”

After lunch, I asked James what prompted him to make the offer.

“Like I said, I like the kid,” he explained. “Watching her out on the track, she seems to have a real feel for it, and I think that should be encouraged. And realistically, the money just isn’t going to be all that much. I mean, Imogen is probably going to spend more on today’s shopping trip,right?”

Laughing, I said, “I’d be happy to come in as a co-sponsor or something if you’d like,” I said. “Maybe we split it fifty fifty.”

“Sure, why not?” James mused. “I like the kid, and I’d like to give her an opportunity to succeed, you know? Her mother can only do so much, financially.”

“So what’re you thinking of having Reggie do to her car?”

“I’m going to give him an open ticket to do whatever he can right up to the limit set by the clubs she’s racing with. And of course, wrap it in a proper race livery,” James said.

“Count me in for my share of that, too,” I said.

I pulled in for the last time around four. The track was still hot for another hour, but I’d pretty much gotten out of it what I could, so I called it a day. James and Maddie stayed out until the checkered flag dropped to let them know the day was done.

While Lainey and I sat on the bleachers to watch, I told her what James and I’d discussed as far as supporting Maddie’s racing habit.

“You two really don’t have to do this,” Lainey protested. “It’s just so much.”

“We want to. Maddie is a good kid, and we both would like to see her make it, and this is how we can help. You’ll still be the main bearer of the burden, but seriously- this is something we can do.”

“Did I understand it correctly that James wants The Track Club guys to take her car back to Oakland with them to do some work on it?” Lainey asked. “How much will that cost? And how do we get the car back?”

“It’ll cost you all of zero dollars, and we’ll figure out how to get the car back when it’s done,” I said.

“This is so much money!” Lainey said, still not comfortable with the idea.

“Lainey, do you know how much James and I spent on this weekend? It was fifteen grand just to rent the track for two days. In effect, we just gave Maddie five thousand dollars’ worth of track time.”

“Um, seriously?”

“Seriously. But honestly, that’s far from the top line item in this weekend’s budget for either me or James. Between engine and drivetrain run time, tire costs and the overhead of having full crews here, every lap of this track in our GT3 cars costs about fifty dollars each. Every lap.”

Lainey tried to process that for a bit. “So my fifth grade math tells me that’s what, twelve to fifteen thousand dollars each day for each of you just to run those cars here?”

“Right. Never mind the fact my car cost four hundred grand and change just to buy.”

“So what you’re saying is that supporting Mad’s racing is what, a rounding error in you guys’ track budgets?”

“Yeah, more or less,” I agreed. “But I don’t want to minimize our commitment to Maddie, either. We’re going to do what we can for her from our end, but it’s up to you and Maddie to make the most of it.”

“Yeah, I get that,” Lainey said. “I know James lives up in the Bay Area, but you said you’re in Hollywood, right? How many of Mad’s races will you be able to attend?”

“I have no idea, but if you can get me the schedule as soon as possible I can try to fit them in to my calendar. Honestly, I’d love to watch her race.”

Lainey was quiet for a while, lost in thought and watching the two cars circle the track. Eventually she said, “We’d be- I’d be an idiot to turn this down. Christian- that’s Mad’s dad- he would have loved to see Maddie actually racing his car against other drivers on a real track. So, I guess that’s it. We will happily take you guys up on your offer, and do what we can with what has dropped into our lap. There’s no way I can really thank you and James enough, so just… Just understand that this means a lot to us. More than I can say.”

That evening while everybody was gathered for the big grill dinner that Manny had spent hours on, James stood up and offered a toast to everyone who’d made this weekend so successful and enjoyable. “Maddie, Leah and I got to enjoy the fruits of your labor. You kept the wheels turning so that we could do our best out there on the track. Thanks to you,” he said, pointing at the Track Club crew, “And you,” this time indicating the BMW of Temecula team, “And to you, Lainey. Thank you for doing what you did so we could get our speed on. We couldn’t have done it without your support.”

Everybody cheered and toasted, raising their glasses. We were all tired but happy after another weekend at the track in the bag with no problems, and that was all anybody could ask for.

After dinner, James and Imogen came knocking on the door of our casita, bearing a bottle of wine.

“Ladies,” James said as he poured us each a glass. “Imogen and I were discussing a problem we’re facing, and thought that maybe you could help us out.”

“What problem?” Emmy asked, frowning.

“We flew in to Willcox, and our plane is waiting to take us home again. Reggie and the boys brought down the GT-R and the Spyder for us. So far so good, but here’s where we run into our little dilemma. They can only transport two cars, and now there are three that need to go back to the Bay Area.”

“What James is hinting at,” Imogen said, elbowing her husband, “Is that we have too many cars to take back home. We were thinking that maybe you could drive the Porsche back for us.”

“Lainey’s trailer will be empty…” I suggested. “That gets it back to SoCal, at least.”

“If you three are amenable, that’s all as far as it needs to go,” James said with a smile.

“We have plenty of space in our garage,” Angela said. “We could keep it until you guys come down to visit.”

“We were thinking you could simply keep it,” Imogen said.

“Leah, you did say that you’d take it off my hands,” James said. “This might be that time.”

“Would you be O.K. with that?” I asked Emmy, turning to face her.

“Do you like the car? It is very pretty, and very fast-looking,” she replied.

“And very, very expensive,” I said.

“Leah,” Emmy said. “You bought me two magnificent new houses, simply because I asked you to, and you wanted to make me happy. If this car would bring you joy, then the cost does not matter to me.”

I looked to Angela, more to be fair to her than because she had any real involvement in our family finances.

“Leah, you work hard. Treat yourself,” she said.

“Alright, James, looks as if you just sold me a used car,” I said, lifting my glass in a toast.