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)
muserevival2015-10-03 11:49 pm
shelbycobra) wrote in muserevival2015-10-03 11:49 pm
Entry tags:
103.6.2 - picture
Room service
Maybe this sounds weird to say, but I'm not a room service kind of girl. Unless I've missed breakfast, I'll go downstairs and grab a waffle in the hotel lobby like everybody else. I'm not really into any of the perks that come with my job. I don't see myself as anyone particularly special. As Damien Power once said of his brother Will, I'm one of the world's best at driving really, really fast in a circle.
The number of things I either don't care about or don't know would probably surprise you. I've spent the last month and a half learning what it's like to be quasi-famous. For one, IndyCar doesn't have the popularity of NASCAR. Helio won Dancing with the Stars and Scott was in a Target commercial. Those are probably our PR highlights.
For two, I prefer to keep my head down and let the work speak for itself. I will gladly fulfill the fan and press and sponsorship obligations that are part of my job, but I'm not looking for extra attention. When I won the championship, I celebrated by taking my family out to Olive Garden and then going to hang out with some of my fellow drivers for a late drink. I was really living it up.
That added spotlight has probably been the weirdest and most uncomfortable part of this year. I had my own IndyCar Chronicles episode, so there was a camera crew following me for a week at Texas. The morning after Sonoma, the media tour immediately started. I did SportsCenter and Sports Illustrated and I lost track of how many other appearances and interviews were scheduled for me. It's so not me to have a makeup artist and a hairstylist primping me for national television. I don't even wear makeup. But I won on a Sunday, went to the Championship Celebration on Monday, and spent all of Tuesday being in the public eye.
Apparently now I'm the winningest female driver in the history of IndyCar and I also have the most podium, non-win finishes. Somebody calculated that a few weeks ago; it was probably Derrick. I didn't know that either. I never want anyone to tell me statistics, and the same goes for championship points unless it's necessary information. If I drive well, then the numbers will work themselves out. I don't ever want to be racing for points instead of the best possible finish. No one said anything to me about the championship at Sonoma until Graham spun out, and even then I wish they'd have shut up.
I've very rarely indulged in anything, and that's even before I signed with Team Penske. The bonus check I earned for winning the Astor Cup went three places. Part of it paid for my new house. Part of it went into my savings account. The only expenditure that was really a perk was paying for the week off in Tahiti that I took afterward, which was less about having fun and more to recoup after being physically and mentally exhausted. I slept a lot and I drank a lot of Gatorade.
I guess I could buy a lot of things with the money I've earned, or be more aware of my career accomplishments, or order room service once in a while. The world wouldn't end if I did any of those things. But I'm wired a very particular way, and that's keeping my feet on the ground and my focus on the racing, and the rest to me is all just extra noise.
--
Shelby Manning Martin
Need For Speed OC
600 words
Maybe this sounds weird to say, but I'm not a room service kind of girl. Unless I've missed breakfast, I'll go downstairs and grab a waffle in the hotel lobby like everybody else. I'm not really into any of the perks that come with my job. I don't see myself as anyone particularly special. As Damien Power once said of his brother Will, I'm one of the world's best at driving really, really fast in a circle.
The number of things I either don't care about or don't know would probably surprise you. I've spent the last month and a half learning what it's like to be quasi-famous. For one, IndyCar doesn't have the popularity of NASCAR. Helio won Dancing with the Stars and Scott was in a Target commercial. Those are probably our PR highlights.
For two, I prefer to keep my head down and let the work speak for itself. I will gladly fulfill the fan and press and sponsorship obligations that are part of my job, but I'm not looking for extra attention. When I won the championship, I celebrated by taking my family out to Olive Garden and then going to hang out with some of my fellow drivers for a late drink. I was really living it up.
That added spotlight has probably been the weirdest and most uncomfortable part of this year. I had my own IndyCar Chronicles episode, so there was a camera crew following me for a week at Texas. The morning after Sonoma, the media tour immediately started. I did SportsCenter and Sports Illustrated and I lost track of how many other appearances and interviews were scheduled for me. It's so not me to have a makeup artist and a hairstylist primping me for national television. I don't even wear makeup. But I won on a Sunday, went to the Championship Celebration on Monday, and spent all of Tuesday being in the public eye.
Apparently now I'm the winningest female driver in the history of IndyCar and I also have the most podium, non-win finishes. Somebody calculated that a few weeks ago; it was probably Derrick. I didn't know that either. I never want anyone to tell me statistics, and the same goes for championship points unless it's necessary information. If I drive well, then the numbers will work themselves out. I don't ever want to be racing for points instead of the best possible finish. No one said anything to me about the championship at Sonoma until Graham spun out, and even then I wish they'd have shut up.
I've very rarely indulged in anything, and that's even before I signed with Team Penske. The bonus check I earned for winning the Astor Cup went three places. Part of it paid for my new house. Part of it went into my savings account. The only expenditure that was really a perk was paying for the week off in Tahiti that I took afterward, which was less about having fun and more to recoup after being physically and mentally exhausted. I slept a lot and I drank a lot of Gatorade.
I guess I could buy a lot of things with the money I've earned, or be more aware of my career accomplishments, or order room service once in a while. The world wouldn't end if I did any of those things. But I'm wired a very particular way, and that's keeping my feet on the ground and my focus on the racing, and the rest to me is all just extra noise.
--
Shelby Manning Martin
Need For Speed OC
600 words