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)
muserevival2016-10-28 12:01 am
shelbycobra) wrote in muserevival2016-10-28 12:01 am
Entry tags:
131.2.1 - quote
"Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them."
Anyone who really knows Shelby Manning knows where to find her. Tonight she's sitting at a desk in the Indianapolis Central Library, a few strands of rogue blond hair falling over her forehead as she leans over a worn spiral notebook. Her lips pressed into a thin line, headphones anchored to her ears and playing the new OneRepublic album, as a cup of coffee and an ordinary blue Bic pen lay set aside. She'd look like any college student, if the black polo shirt she's wearing didn't say Team Penske on the breast.
But Shelby has always seen herself as a student of the game. She graduated fourth in her class in high school and second in her class at Georgia Tech, and since then she's been constantly looking for the next person to learn from. Whether it was Sam Schmidt or Sarah Fisher or Roger Penske, or any of her fellow drivers, she listens more than she speaks. She understands that what she does is a never-ending process and that to continue to be the best, she must continue to raise the bar.
And contrary to popular belief that doesn't all happen in the garage or some fancy engineering lab back at the race shop. Much of it, for her anyway, happens staring at the pages of that notebook that are filled with her own handwritten observations, noted facts and figures, and the occasional random hypothesis that she'll run by someone when she gets the chance. She studies before and after every race, and twice as much in the offseason. Part of her morning routine is always to get up and read the latest reports so that she has the most up to date information. Part of her evening routine is just to sit here, or on her front porch or in her hotel room, and let it all sink in.
She has everything to be proud of at the moment. She won a third of the races this season on her way to a second consecutive championship; it's the kind of domination that's not supposed to happen. If she was ever deserving of a study break now would be that time. But Shelby has no interest in changing her ways. There are always mistakes, and she enjoys trying to repair them, or at least trying to understand why they happened. Those are problems that she can solve and maybe she'll think of something else along the way. After all, if nothing ever changed, then there would be no challenge that has kept her going for 26 years and counting.
Right now she's trying to figure out how she wants to attack the 2017 season. It will be her third with Penske and her fifth in IndyCar; she's only third out of the four drivers in terms of tenure but first when it comes to number of championships. And she wants to use that as an initiative to lead the team. To step forward and bring everyone with her. What can she do to make the team better? How can she work with Josef for their greater good? What will she lose without Juan Pablo Montoya to keep breathing down her neck in the very best way? These are all questions ahead of her and Shelby will spend many more nights like this until she feels like she knows the answers.
She barely hears the beep of her watch alarm telling her that it's eight o'clock. Time to go home, make dinner and hopefully catch her boyfriend while they have a scant few hours before another day's worth of work. Shelby closes the notebook, finishes her coffee, and tucks the pen back into her jeans. Victory is always what she's aiming for but to her it would mean nothing without the nights just like this. It's the process, the preparation, the persistence that is at the heart of every move she makes.
--
Shelby Manning
Need For Speed OC
653 words
Anyone who really knows Shelby Manning knows where to find her. Tonight she's sitting at a desk in the Indianapolis Central Library, a few strands of rogue blond hair falling over her forehead as she leans over a worn spiral notebook. Her lips pressed into a thin line, headphones anchored to her ears and playing the new OneRepublic album, as a cup of coffee and an ordinary blue Bic pen lay set aside. She'd look like any college student, if the black polo shirt she's wearing didn't say Team Penske on the breast.
But Shelby has always seen herself as a student of the game. She graduated fourth in her class in high school and second in her class at Georgia Tech, and since then she's been constantly looking for the next person to learn from. Whether it was Sam Schmidt or Sarah Fisher or Roger Penske, or any of her fellow drivers, she listens more than she speaks. She understands that what she does is a never-ending process and that to continue to be the best, she must continue to raise the bar.
And contrary to popular belief that doesn't all happen in the garage or some fancy engineering lab back at the race shop. Much of it, for her anyway, happens staring at the pages of that notebook that are filled with her own handwritten observations, noted facts and figures, and the occasional random hypothesis that she'll run by someone when she gets the chance. She studies before and after every race, and twice as much in the offseason. Part of her morning routine is always to get up and read the latest reports so that she has the most up to date information. Part of her evening routine is just to sit here, or on her front porch or in her hotel room, and let it all sink in.
She has everything to be proud of at the moment. She won a third of the races this season on her way to a second consecutive championship; it's the kind of domination that's not supposed to happen. If she was ever deserving of a study break now would be that time. But Shelby has no interest in changing her ways. There are always mistakes, and she enjoys trying to repair them, or at least trying to understand why they happened. Those are problems that she can solve and maybe she'll think of something else along the way. After all, if nothing ever changed, then there would be no challenge that has kept her going for 26 years and counting.
Right now she's trying to figure out how she wants to attack the 2017 season. It will be her third with Penske and her fifth in IndyCar; she's only third out of the four drivers in terms of tenure but first when it comes to number of championships. And she wants to use that as an initiative to lead the team. To step forward and bring everyone with her. What can she do to make the team better? How can she work with Josef for their greater good? What will she lose without Juan Pablo Montoya to keep breathing down her neck in the very best way? These are all questions ahead of her and Shelby will spend many more nights like this until she feels like she knows the answers.
She barely hears the beep of her watch alarm telling her that it's eight o'clock. Time to go home, make dinner and hopefully catch her boyfriend while they have a scant few hours before another day's worth of work. Shelby closes the notebook, finishes her coffee, and tucks the pen back into her jeans. Victory is always what she's aiming for but to her it would mean nothing without the nights just like this. It's the process, the preparation, the persistence that is at the heart of every move she makes.
--
Shelby Manning
Need For Speed OC
653 words