Shelby Manning (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shelbycobra) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
muserevival2015-08-25 08:15 pm
shelbycobra) wrote in muserevival2015-08-25 08:15 pm
Entry tags:
098.2.3 - quotes
"Truth is everybody is going to hurt you: you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for."
Let me tell you something about Shane Worthington.
Shane Worthington is an ass. He spent years in Formula 1, calling the shots for McLaren when he wasn't somehow involved with trying to launch an American F1 effort, and I still don't quite know how he knows Mr. Penske but somehow he was recruited to come to IndyCar as our team's fourth strategist. So he shows up in Indianapolis last year acting like he's somehow superior because he's worked in Europe with Hamilton and Button and Montoya, and I'm coming back to a seat after a year in the cold.
Needless to say, we did not get along. We argued a few times on the pit stand and then there was the dressing down he gave me after my crash in Louisiana. We kept these disagreements as private as possible, knowing negative headlines were bad for business, but if you looked closely or just asked either of us you knew we had a challenging relationship. We knew it wasn't going to change because The Captain had paired us together and he wasn't going to let us quit on each other.
So we got on with it.
And over time, and experience, and more man-hours than you want to know about, I learned about Shane Worthington. I learned that he calls a shrewder and more courageous race than my former strategist, making decisions that I'd never have even considered. He would put me in a position to succeed even if I thought there's no way it was possible. I learned that when an IndyCar Chronicles crew asked him about me, he'd call me the best driver he's ever met. I learned that when I got up to use the restroom in a bar and some drunk guy made a comment about things he'd like to do to me, Shane would hit him and not say anything about it.
The turning point in our relationship came at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. When we got that first podium finish, when we knew that we had a special car underneath us and that we could get that first victory and what the next race was, we knew everything was about to change if we could trust each other completely.
I'll never forget those final laps of the 500. Going wheel to wheel with Will, every time around seemingly bringing another lead change. I didn't notice that Shane had ordered everyone else off the radio. What I heard was his voice in my ear, and he wasn't throwing information at me or trying to ask about the car. All he did was encourage me. He told me I could do this. And when I got around Will for the final time, then he did a remarkable thing: he shut up and let me drive. He put his complete trust in me.
Don't get me wrong, he's still an ass. He's too confident for my taste and he can be short with everyone and he would tell you that he considers myself my strategist and not my friend. But he is a brilliant strategist, and the one I needed to work with in order to take my career to the next level.
And beyond that, after being through 15 races and history-making highs and some truly difficult lows, after hearing the things he's said about me but would never say to my face and the small kindnesses he's done me that he would never let me tell anyone about, after finding out who he really is, there's no one else I'd want on my pit stand but Shane Worthington. Hopefully, next year we'll get to do this all again.
--
Shelby Manning Martin
Need For Speed OC
614 words
Let me tell you something about Shane Worthington.
Shane Worthington is an ass. He spent years in Formula 1, calling the shots for McLaren when he wasn't somehow involved with trying to launch an American F1 effort, and I still don't quite know how he knows Mr. Penske but somehow he was recruited to come to IndyCar as our team's fourth strategist. So he shows up in Indianapolis last year acting like he's somehow superior because he's worked in Europe with Hamilton and Button and Montoya, and I'm coming back to a seat after a year in the cold.
Needless to say, we did not get along. We argued a few times on the pit stand and then there was the dressing down he gave me after my crash in Louisiana. We kept these disagreements as private as possible, knowing negative headlines were bad for business, but if you looked closely or just asked either of us you knew we had a challenging relationship. We knew it wasn't going to change because The Captain had paired us together and he wasn't going to let us quit on each other.
So we got on with it.
And over time, and experience, and more man-hours than you want to know about, I learned about Shane Worthington. I learned that he calls a shrewder and more courageous race than my former strategist, making decisions that I'd never have even considered. He would put me in a position to succeed even if I thought there's no way it was possible. I learned that when an IndyCar Chronicles crew asked him about me, he'd call me the best driver he's ever met. I learned that when I got up to use the restroom in a bar and some drunk guy made a comment about things he'd like to do to me, Shane would hit him and not say anything about it.
The turning point in our relationship came at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. When we got that first podium finish, when we knew that we had a special car underneath us and that we could get that first victory and what the next race was, we knew everything was about to change if we could trust each other completely.
I'll never forget those final laps of the 500. Going wheel to wheel with Will, every time around seemingly bringing another lead change. I didn't notice that Shane had ordered everyone else off the radio. What I heard was his voice in my ear, and he wasn't throwing information at me or trying to ask about the car. All he did was encourage me. He told me I could do this. And when I got around Will for the final time, then he did a remarkable thing: he shut up and let me drive. He put his complete trust in me.
Don't get me wrong, he's still an ass. He's too confident for my taste and he can be short with everyone and he would tell you that he considers myself my strategist and not my friend. But he is a brilliant strategist, and the one I needed to work with in order to take my career to the next level.
And beyond that, after being through 15 races and history-making highs and some truly difficult lows, after hearing the things he's said about me but would never say to my face and the small kindnesses he's done me that he would never let me tell anyone about, after finding out who he really is, there's no one else I'd want on my pit stand but Shane Worthington. Hopefully, next year we'll get to do this all again.
--
Shelby Manning Martin
Need For Speed OC
614 words