"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. )

--
Shelby Manning
Need For Speed OC
653 words

"On your knees you look up
Decide you've had enough
You get mad, you get strong
Wipe your hands, shake it off
Then you stand, then you stand."

I've realized something over the past two weeks: I no longer fear failure. Oh, I still don't like it, of course and I will continue to do everything I can to avoid it, but I don't fear it. I'm not sitting here across the room from my Astor Cups thinking "I have to defend this. I can't let someone take it away from me." I know that I am one of twenty-two very accomplished drivers and that any one of us could be holding the trophy in 2017, and I'm okay with that.

( Because what I've learned is it really is true, no one can take it away from you. )

--
Shelby Manning
Need For Speed OC
576 words

"So, I've broken every bone
And fought through what felt never ending
I thought my head was made of sadness
But my heart is mending."

Shelby doesn't know what to feel when she first sees Peter Fowler in her race shop for the first time in three years. He's still the same man she saw in Victory Lane just a month ago: the tall, slightly lanky Irishman who never seems to age and still has that sparkle in his green eyes. Yet it feels like she hasn't seen him in forever. The last time they worked on the same side was when he was a second-year strategist still cutting his teeth and she was still an immature, impulsive young woman. Not a five-year veteran and a two-time IndyCar champion.

( It's not that she doesn't want him there. He's like a brother to her, and like a son to her father, and she will always remember that he came first. )

--
Shelby Manning
Need For Speed OC
832 words

"Tears shed for another person are not a sign of weakness. They are a sign of a pure heart."

It was a series of conversations that led to the most difficult moment Shelby had ever faced in her life.

The announcement had happened on Wednesday. Her former teammate was going to join Team Penske and become her current teammate. She was happy for Josef; she'd spent her first two years racing with him and knew that he was talented, as well as a good colleague and a great representative for the IndyCar Series. But his decision wasn't so simple as just being reunited with a friend.

( There was a very firm dividing line between who Shelby had once been and the woman she was today. )

--
Shelby Manning
Need For Speed OC
1066 words

Ten national days of recognition relevant to your life

1. National Nude Day
2. National Sex Day
3. National Tattoo Day
4. National I Love Horses Day
5. National Weed Day
6. International Whores Day
7. National Beer and Pizza Day
8. International Day of People With a Disability
9. Bisexual Awareness Week
10. Dyslexia Empowerment Week

+ KIP PRYOR (oc)

(ooc) because clearly i'm a sheep and want up in this fun shit :P

"But I will hold on hope,
And I won't let you choke
On the noose around your neck.
And I'll find strength in pain,
And I will change my ways.
I'll know my name as it's called again."
- "The Cave," Mumford & Sons

"What is this all about this time?" Elis asked, sitting down on the park bench alongside his brother. There was a teasingly exasperated lilt to his voice, but Isak knew it was to mask the underlying concern his brother felt. Isak did not often call Elis to meet at their favorite park with the explicit request of wanting to talk. In fact, this was the first time he'd ever asked. They met up at the park often, both when growing up and whenever Isak was home, but it was usually to play a football match or go for hikes. Talking happened during those activities, but it was never the focal point. Isak could see the concern in Elis' face, even behind the sunglasses.

"It is nothing bad," Isak responded in an attempt to soothe his brother's worry.

( 'Oh, well, in that case,' Elis said, making a feigned motion to stand. Isak rolled his eyes and gave his brother a light slap on the arm. )

Word Count | 1391

Morning

It's just another morning in Indianapolis, and that's the problem. Shelby gets up, showers and throws on another old T-shirt, makes herself breakfast and sits at her kitchen island finishing her coffee watching the news. Other people would consider this relaxing but not her. She doesn't know what to do with herself.

Everything she has any clue about is done. She's run all of her races. Made all of her gym sessions. Finished all her interviews. Taken her one week in Hawaii to recover. There's a dress hanging in the closet for Tuesday's Championship Celebration but that's the last date circled on her calendar. Right now, she's not Shelby Manning, Verizon IndyCar Series champion and driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet.

She's just Shelby, and she's never really figured out how to do that.

--
Shelby Manning
Need For Speed OC
136 words

"Death by crying doesn't exist, though
The headaches feel a bit like it
You might explode
But you reach the end of the road
And you, little tree
I'm certain you will grow."
• Death By Chocolate, Sia

A maternity unit nursery was the last place Keiran expected himself to be at all. A long time ago, he had decided that maybe he didn't want children. He enjoyed teaching, but his life had changed so much since that strange time in his life way back when where trying to conceive a child had completely sucked the life out of him to the point he began to hate the idea of it. His relationship festered because of it, and ever since then, he had been a free spirit and never quite felt the urge to settle down and have children again. If it was all going to be that much trouble, he definitely didn't want it.

Now he was in Ireland, sitting by a clear newborn crib in a the maternity unit. He had no partner. He was a single and alone, and the only company he had in that small family room with lavender walls and diagrams of how to breastfeed was a tiny newborn baby girl looking back at him.

( Just because he hadn't wanted children of his own didn't mean he hadn't been willing to help someone else who did... )

Keiran O'Leary // Original Character

- "I have learned that there is more power in a good strong hug than in a thousand meaningful words."
- Ann Hood

vara där inom kort.

Isak glanced at the text from his brother, replied with a quick okej, then slipped his phone back into his pocket. He was sitting on the couch in his sister's living room, waiting for his brother to meet them so that they would be able to head over to the hospital to see their father together. None of the Cederström children dared go on his or her own; even if their father was quite possibly on his death bed, they were stronger as a cohesive unit rather than as individuals. They had all learned that at a very young age.

( Elina was elsewhere in the house, doing what Isak was unsure. His anxiety was starting to rise, evident in the rapid rhythmic bouncing of his leg and the inability to sit still for long periods of time. He stood from the couch and began pacing the length of the living room, weaving his way around the coffee table. )

Word Count | 1448

"I have learned that there is more power in a good strong hug than in a thousand meaningful words."

They're sitting on the patio of the restaurant at the hotel, having lunch and mimosas that it's probably too early for, and somehow the talk has turned to what got her to where she is today. To be honest she knows the 'somehow' is probably her. All of Shelby's life revolves around racing and therefore most of her conversations do as well. She doesn't exactly have a lot to talk about not to mention that her brain has replayed the last few laps at Sonoma over and over again since they happened.

( I think the biggest thing I learned is that I have to give up control. )

--
Shelby Manning
Need For Speed OC
667 words

"True love doesn't happen right away; it's an ever-growing process. It develops after you've gone through many ups and downs, when you've suffered together, cried together, laughed together."

Thirty-six hours after winning her second Verizon IndyCar Series championship, Shelby Manning is sitting on a beach in Hawaii. She's traded in her fire suit and helmet for a two-piece bikini and a copy of some issue of Car & Driver she forgot to read when it came out two months ago. The only thing that's the same is the hand slipped into hers, and she looks over at Chris Alvarez who just smiles back at her and asks if she's having fun yet.

( Shelby still hasn't figured out how she feels about him yet. )

--
Shelby Manning
Need For Speed OC
597 words

Ten plans you have for the future.

1. Win at Sonoma.

2. Win the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Yes, I know I've already done it, but I'll believe it when someone actually hands me the Astor Cup with my name on it.

3. Get Roger Penske to go crowdsurfing.

4. Go to Hawaii and spend an entire week on vacation, doing nothing that has anything to do with racing.

5. While in Hawaii, find someplace that serves funnel cake. Eat the funnel cake. Maybe more than one.

6. Spend more time with Chris that doesn't involve us trying to punch each other in the face. I hear Red Lobster is doing Endless Shrimp.

7. Count the number of third place trophies in my den. All billion of them.

8. Call Tobey at least once a week from now on.

9. Have another dinner party at the house. Because that's what I bought this house for. And because I'd like to overcome the embarrassment of the fact that I scorched the turkey last time. You know, there's a lot of food on this list.

10. Just appreciate how much success I've been having and remember as much of it as I can for the next time I think I'm not any good at this.

--
Shelby Manning
Need For Speed OC

"Find a place inside where there's joy, and the joy will burn out the pain."

Inside her head Shelby is positively screaming. She's going painfully slow; slow at least by IndyCar standards, which is still well over a hundred miles an hour. But she's being coached to take her foot off the gas as she nurses her car through the final ten laps at Watkins Glen, and it is in point of fact driving her insane. Her entire job is to go fast and especially on this day, in front of friends who haven't seen her in two years, she doesn't want to be coasting home.

( But that's exactly what she's doing. )

--
Shelby Manning
Need For Speed OC
960 words

"You with the sad eyes,
Don't be discouraged.
Oh, I realize
Its hard to take courage
In a world full of people;
You can lose sight of it all,
And the darkness inside you
Can make you feel so small."
- "True Colors," Cyndi Lauper

Though Isak had taken this trip many, many times before, this particular journey felt like it carried the importance of the first time. After the sudden call from his mother, he scrambled to find himself a last-minute flight to return to Stockholm, despite having just returned from his summer holiday. Luckily there were always flights (as long as you were willing to pay). Once he secured one, he contacted his department chair and explained the situation as best he could, offering endless apologies about the inconvenience of his absence at the start of the new semester and school year, but promising to return in no more than two weeks' time. ( He had no way of knowing how long it would all take, of course, but after two weeks, he figured one of three things would happen: )

Word Count | 1331

Shelby makes it a point to drive for pleasure as much as she does for racing. She never wants to just confine her passion to her career. So with a break after the two races in six days that were Pocono and Texas, she pulls her Mercedes CLK Black out of her garage in Indianapolis and she goes for a drive.

( The final two races of the season are on the horizon. )

--
Shelby Manning
Need For Speed OC
506 words

"Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength."
- Arnold Schwarzenegger

The call had come in the middle of the night, as they always seem to do. In a haze, Isak reached for the screaming device on his nightstand, squinting at the name that came up on the screen. It was his mother. Given that their communication was at a bare minimum while they were in the same city, it was even rarer for her to call at such a random hour while he was an ocean away. He could feel the pounding of his heart in his chest, could feel it echoing in his head.

After what felt like an eternity, he slid the bar across the screen to answer the call. Tentatively, he brought it to his ear.

( Hallå? )

Word Count | 886

As Shelby's watching them clean up in Victory Lane, she sees a face she didn't expect in the crowd. Chris Alvarez looks a lot different than she remembers him; he's cleaned up in a suit and tie and he's holding a bottle of champagne. And she's laughing because he looks better than she does after spending two hours driving a car in the heat and because under no circumstances should he actually be walking toward her.

"What are you doing here?" she asks, wondering why he decided to get a ticket and if he knows how overdressed he is in that suit.

"I heard you only drink champagne when you win," he replies, tipping the bottle toward her. "And you won, so, champagne?"

"I will actually." Shelby chuckles because he's right. She only opens a bottle when she's earned it and tonight would qualify. But it's normally someone on her team handing it to her, or at the least her father, not the fighter whom Peter recruited as her new sparring partner. She hardly knows Chris and yet he's making a point of coming here and making her a peace offering, which is why she adds, "You came all the way here for me why?"

"To take you out to dinner," he comments. "You should get changed. I made reservations for eight and I'll pick you up in the hotel lobby."

And then he hands her the bottle and he's walking away, she knows so that it's impossible for her to argue the point. Shelby can't believe the audaciousness of it and yet she can't help but laugh. She just calls after him:

"Wait, you almost punched me in the face yesterday and now you're asking me out?"

Chris doesn't even turn around. "Got your attention, didn't it?" he replies, and Shelby just turns and walks the other way toward the media center for her press conference, making a mental note to ask her trainer where he found this guy.

Shelby Manning
Need For Speed OC
350 words

"Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength."

Sunday

Shelby will always remember where she was. Maybe five feet from the garage, gear bag slung over one shoulder as she had just started to make the walk back to her car. She had just raced 300 laps at Iowa and she was tired, not to mention ready to get away from corn. But then Terry had walked over to her with a bewildered look on his face, and Terry shouldn't have had that look on his face after a fourth-place finish.

"Have you seen Shane?" he asked her. "He just disappeared. And he's not answering my text messages."

"What?" she replied, staring at him. Shane didn't just walk off the job. Even if he had to go take a meeting, he always told Terry where he was going. And he also always stayed to make sure the load-in went well. Shelby reached into the pocket of her jeans, fumbled for her phone, and tried calling him.

( The first time any of them saw him was when he showed up at the airport to catch the team flight back to Charlotte. He had no idea that they'd been debating whether or not to call the boss and report him missing. )

Shelby Manning
Need For Speed OC
952 words

"Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart."
- Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami

The images came in waves, as they are prone to do. The shattering of a glass, the raising of a voice, the shouting of words meant to devastate: each brought its own bit of information, the pieces coming together like a crudely cut puzzle.

Isak sat at a table on the sidewalk outside of a cafe, his heart suddenly racing and his forehead collecting sweat. His hands began to shake, fingers trembling, unable to maintain a steady grasp on anything they touched. His head vibrated, swirled, went too fast and too slow simultaneously. ( He recognized the early stages of a panic attack and, in a brief moment of lucidity, cursed himself for having it happen here - in public, with all these people around. )

Word Count | 588

"I am trying my hardest not to act how I feel."

They're officially into the second half of the IndyCar season now, and Shelby and Shane find themselves looking back on it wondering how it's so different from the one before. They hadn't changed anything from last year, when everything seemed to be firing on all cylinders; so why does this year feel like it's worlds away? There's more professional success, but there's also a new dynamic amongst the team, like they graduated to some other level where everything just isn't the same. That wasn't how this was supposed to work. Everything was supposed to be just like before. Not so new.

They glance at each other as they're standing out on the balcony of his hotel room in Texas after a long afternoon of qualifying and practices. She'll start sixth tomorrow, which is her lowest spot of the season but still nothing to be upset about considering the speed of the cars in front of her. As they always say it's the race that matters. That's not what bothers them. It's looking at one another in a way they never have before.

( A year ago they might have killed each other. )

--
Shelby Manning
Need for Speed OC
987 words

Ten things you can't live without

1. Being the meat in the sandwich
2. 3 peen for the price of 1
3. Chocolate Krispy Kreme
4. Romance and shit
5. King sized bed
6. Batman Snuggie
7. Red Bull
8. Glow in the dark condoms, that shit is hilarious in the dark
9. Hearing "I love you" from 2 hotties
10. Spooning

lee mckenna ( original character )

"So give me hope in the darkness that I will see the light
'Cause oh that gave me such a fright
But I will hold as long as you like
Just promise me we'll be alright."

Where to start with today?

I thought I had it within my reach. I could taste that repeat victory. Driving up front for most of the first third of the race, slugging it out back and forth with Hinch - that was some of the most fun racing I've ever done and it felt good. Strong. Like I had the car to beat for the second year in a row.

( And then it all went horribly wrong. )

--
Shelby Manning
Need for Speed OC
614 words

"Everyone has challenges and lessons to learn - we wouldn't be who we are without them."

"Nine. Fucking nine. Are you kidding me?"

Shelby is angry as she stalks through the garage after the first day of Indianapolis 500 qualifying. She had made it into the Fast Nine that would compete for the pole position on Sunday, but as the last car in. There were eight drivers ahead of her on the scoring pylon and as the defending race winner riding a three-race win streak, she feels that was simply unacceptable. She wants to throw something, but there isn't anything to throw except her Oakley sunglasses and she needs those.

"Come on, Shelby." Shane is following behind her, both to try and calm her down and because he wanted to get to her before any TV cameras did and splashed her temper tantrum over the air. "Get a grip."

She laughs caustically at that, turning on her heel to face him complete with an accusatory finger. "We're better than ninth and you know it."

( I do know that. But I know this morning you fainted. )

--
Shelby Manning
Need for Speed OC
915 words

"Never, ever underestimate the importance of having fun."

With everything that goes into being a Verizon IndyCar Series team, it's sometimes easy to forget why you compete in the first place: because you love it. Such is the case on Saturday night for the No. 2 Team Penske squad at Phoenix International Raceway. They've spent so much time, dating back to the preseason test day in February and who knows how many simulator runs before that, to get this evening right. It's been circled on their calendar since the 2016 schedule was announced, with a silent reminder: This is the race where we see what we're made of this year.

( If that is in the fact the case, they have nothing to worry about. )

--
Shelby Manning
Need for Speed OC
886 words

"A friend is what the heart needs all the time."

"Shane! Goddamnit!"

Shelby's laughing as she yells at him. She would never have expected to be laughing before. Even a year ago Shane Worthington was the biggest pain in her ass. He was difficult to work with and it was hard to stand him off the track. The two of them always seemed to have trouble speaking to each other without fighting, to the point where both of them got put in the corner. But now when she's yelling at him, she's doing it with a smile on her face.

( He's trying to keep a straight face of his own as he walks off with the bowl of Easter candy that he just swiped off the table in front of her. )

--
Shelby Manning
Need for Speed OC
645 words

"Tough times don't last, tough people do, remember?"

It all starts here. Six months where almost every weekend is a challenge of the human body and the human spirit. Pushing the limits of speed and of what you can physically take. Putting yourself up against the best that the world has to offer. Making choices that in a fraction of a second can mean the difference between winning, losing, and finishing in the wall. And that's just in the car.

( The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is the first event on the Verizon IndyCar Series schedule. )

--
Shelby Manning
Need for Speed OC
1,220 words

"Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher." - Oprah Winfrey

A terrible thing happened the other day. I was doing a pre-test interview with a reporter who, over the course of the conversation, began to insinuate that the only reason I had an IndyCar seat was because of my father and then point-blank said that wasn't it true I wouldn't have gotten to where I am now if I wasn't a woman. Hearing both of the insults I've worked so hard to shoot down, I took two steps forward and would've hit him if Shane hadn't thrown an arm around my waist and held me back.

( But then a wonderful thing happened the other day. )

--
Shelby Manning
Need for Speed OC
500 words

"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." - Albert Einstein

I would've done a little dance when I got out of the car if I had any moves.

To be fourth, to be among the top five fastest competitors in our first full test at Phoenix when I wasn't even sure I'd be any good on this track since I'd never driven it before, just blew my mind yesterday. All I wanted was to put up a solid number and I put up a great one. I climbed out and high-fived my strategist and hugged my engineer and generally acted like a geek for a good five minutes just feeling accomplished.

Little did I know the best was yet to come. Today I posted the single fastest time out of the entire field in our afternoon session, and the person behind me on the leaderboard? My old teammate. I spent so many months studying and being worried that I wouldn't know how to drive Phoenix and I just kicked ass. I'm so proud of everything that my entire team has been able to do to make this car as good as it's been this weekend.

And it's a confidence booster. Looking at these numbers I know I can feel good about myself when we come back here to race for real in a few months. I won't be worried about having that slow start and screwing up our season. That's going to mean a lot to me. You can have a great car and you've still got to have a great driver, and now I know I'm going to be okay. It's going to be a fun season.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got an evening test to run. Let's see if I can be number one twice today.

--
Shelby Manning
Need for Speed OC
290 words

Ten questions you're asking yourself

1. Why me?
2. Why does New York smell funny?
3. Why is clothes shopping so painful?
4. Am I really just dumb?
5. Can I figure out a way to fit?
6. Will I ever not hate being in a city?
7. Can you really die if you live on nothing but McDonalds?
8. Why do the fruit and veggies here taste like plastic?
9. Is this scared feeling ever going to stop?
10. Why is the legal system so fucked up?

# Finlay Bennett | Original Character

"You cast a spell on me, spell on me
You hit me like the sky fell on me, fell on me
And I decided you look well on me, well on me
So let's go somewhere no one else can see, you and me."

This friggin' song. This was the song that was playing over the PA before driver introductions at the Indianapolis 500, for whatever reason. And so every time I hear it, for a couple of seconds I find myself back in that moment.

There's no bigger race for me than the Indianapolis 500. I grew up watching it, not on television but at the track every year as my dad worked the rail. Obviously the first few years I was too young to remember but when I was five, still rolling around the house in my big blue Power Wheels, I turned to Dad and with a straight face told him I wanted to win the Indianapolis 500. I pretended that Ford Mustang was an IndyCar for years.

So much history is involved. Even if you push aside all the motor racing history, even in my own individual life this race is huge. I watched Sarah Fisher drive the Indy 500 not knowing that someday she would ask me to come drive for her. I cheered for Scott when he won in 2008 even though I was doing it from London, and for Ryan from a couch in New York in 2014. One of my teammates, Helio Castroneves, is a three-time Indianapolis 500 winner.

( And then there's me. )

--
Shelby Manning
Need for Speed OC
819 words

"Can I be happy now
Can I break free somehow
I just wanna live again
Love again
Pick my pride up off of the ground."

Today was not the day I wanted it to be. I really thought we had a chance at repeating as overall winners, especially with how relaxed everyone was - myself included - going into race weekend. I thought that at worst we'd make the top ten. I didn't come to Daytona a second time to finish thirteenth overall and seventh in the Prototype class. I wanted a better start to my season than this.

( It keeps replaying back in my head. )

--
Shelby Manning
Need for Speed OC
738 words

I miss you

There are very few things I dislike about my job. But if you asked me to name one, it would be the fact that I'm always leaving people.

I've been doing it since high school. I broke up with my boyfriend to go to college. In college I left behind someone I might have dated because I knew I was going to Europe. Then I had to leave my teammates at Aston Martin to come back to Indy Lights. Leave my Indy Lights team to move up to IndyCar. I got released by my first IndyCar team and came back to work for another.

( And every season I'm constantly leaving. )

--
Shelby Manning Martin
Need for Speed OC
528 words

Ten things you worry about.
( And here we go )
Fabian Malstrom | Original Character

"Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time."

There was a time where I would never have considered leaving my former race team. Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing was supposed to be the place I'd spend my career. They had given me my break into the league. I was working for Sarah Fisher, who was the perfect boss for a young female driver looking to make her name. Every day I got to work side by side with my father and with Peter Fowler, who was as good as my brother. The only thing I wanted to do more than drive the No. 64 car was win.

( And that's what it came down to. )

--
Shelby Manning Martin
Need for Speed OC
875 words

"Bad is never good until worse happens."

Fin hated flying, so despite not wanting to be travelling at all, he was glad as ever-loving fuck to be disembarking the plane. He had begged his mom to let him get a bus rather than fly, but then his grandma had to go and suggest that it gave him more opportunity to run off on the trip over and not make it safely to his father. 'We just want you safe, dear, or you'll end up in prison for breaking your conditions,' had been her explanation. Fin had just sat there scowling at everyone because it was feeling like the whole world was against him right now.

( It had all been bad enough that he woke up in the hospital after the party not knowing what the hell had happened... )

# finlay bennett | original character

"One often learns more from ten days of agony than from ten years of contentment."

I remember so little from college. Actually, that's not true. I remember bits and pieces, maybe a free day here or there in the massive blur that was balancing full-time studenthood with a full on start to my professional racing career.

To be fair, the situation was the one I'd chosen for myself. Others around me had gone directly into racing in IRL and Champ Car, while it had always been my plan to continue my education. I wanted that Engineering background to be a more informed racer and I also wanted that college degree that neither of my parents had. And I still had to keep moving my career forward at the same time. I knew that going to school would put me in a hellacious crunch, and I did it anyway.

( So my college experience was four years of constant pressure. )

--
Shelby Manning Martin
Need for Speed OC
803 words

"And all the roads we have to walk are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I would
Like to say to you
But I don't know how
Because maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me
And after all
You're my wonderwall."

It's a close to perfect day for Shelby. Her alarm goes off at four in the morning, and she rolls over in her own bed feeling rested and ready to face the day even though daylight hasn't even broken yet. She takes a nice long shower, then still has to chuckle as she pulls on another bright red Chip Ganassi Racing polo and the matching black jacket out of her closet. She's the first one up in the whole house, so she puts the coffee on before making herself a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and sitting at the kitchen table with breakfast and the early morning reruns of last night's sports news. Even well aware of what's ahead, she finds herself completely relaxed.

At five-fifteen she's got keys and Oakley sunglasses in one hand, the duffel bag containing all of her race gear in the other as she walks out the door. The keys go to the Corvette she earned for winning the Indianapolis 500, which spends the other eleven months out of the year in the garage. Not today, as she puts the gear bag in the back, slips credentials around her neck and the sunglasses into her pocket, then fires up the engine. No one else can hear her, so she turns up the Nicki Minaj album as she drives her way toward her office. At least twelve hours of work are in front of her, and she really wouldn't want it any other way.

( This isn't just what she does, but it's who she is. )

--
Shelby Manning Martin
Need for Speed OC
1201 words

Making changes

Today's the big day. The official first day of my 2016 racing season. I'm home in Daytona, where I'm reporting for duty with Ford Chip Ganassi Racing, sitting in meetings and putting finishing touches on our car in advance of Friday's Roar Before the Rolex 24. Which is in itself just a big warm-up to defend our Rolex 24 title at the end of the month. But it's part of the job, so we're all here, drinking coffee and asking idly how the offseason was.

Everything feels so different than it did last year. I wasn't here for the Roar last year, so I'm able to spend more time with the team and help shake down the car, rather than showing up a few days before race day and going in cold. I can't stop being amused at walking around in a Chip Ganassi Racing polo when I know my closet back in Indianapolis is full of Team Penske shirts. And this time, I'm able to actually enjoy spending time with my teammates instead of thinking that they're all worried about me.

( How much one good season changes. )

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Shelby Manning Martin
Need for Speed OC
840 words

"Pressure is something you feel when you don't know what the hell you're doing."

Not to pick a fight with Peyton Manning, but I have to disagree here. Pressure is everywhere on the weekend. There are 23 other teams in the paddock that you know are working just as hard as you are, just feet away from you. If it's a home race, there are sponsors in the stands. TV heads and pit reporters all talking about you, dissecting everything you've done and trying to predict what you might do. There isn't a weekend when we don't know what's at stake.

( I used to want to know those things. I used to want to know everything. Thinking that the more information I had, the better prepared I'd be. What I realized this year is that less is more. )

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Shelby Manning Martin
Need for Speed OC
627 words

1. What did you do in 2015 that you’d never done before?
Drove the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Won the Indianapolis 500. Won the Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Got engaged.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn't have one.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No, though there's been an awful lot of baby talk around here.

4. Tell us a valuable lesson you learned in 2015?
That the worst mistake I can make is not believing in myself.

5. What was your favorite new TV program?
I don't really watch TV. Unless it's motorsports.

6. What would you like to have in 2016 that you lacked in 2015?
More than one win.

( 7-20 )

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Shelby Manning Martin
Need for Speed OC
404 words

"There's something going on that wasn't here before
Keep your eyes glued to the floor
There's something strange going on tonight
There's something going on that's not quite right."

When the man that you love is involved in serving the country, maybe it's only a matter of time before something comes down on your head. At least that was the thought Shelby had as she walked right into her boyfriend by the poolside. This wasn't supposed to be anything big; some party thrown by a billionaire who, being a racing fan, had requested the presence of the country's first female motorsports champion. And she had said yes, thinking that going to something on a private island would be good for a weekend away. Not that she would be mixed up in something much worse.

( In the month that they'd been together, he had always been clear about one thing: he didn't want her in his work. )

--
Shelby Manning Martin
Need for Speed OC
604 words
Prompt takes place in an alternate canon.

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I ended up where I intended to be."

I've had the opportunity over the last few months to spend time with a number of other champions. I was a guest at NASCAR Champion's Week in Las Vegas and had a really long conversation with Kyle Busch about our respective comebacks. I've done a lot of work with Brad Keselowski. I've gotten to meet Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. And last week I had a UFC champion giving me career advice.

I've also been blessed to have a very specific type of people in my life. I guess I just am drawn to them or something, but many of the people closest to me are either current or former soldiers. They've spent their lives working for some of the most elite units in the world, and they've also taught me many things. Most notably that no matter how high I climb I'm still not getting up every day doing anything that's going to change the world.

( It all amounts to a perspective I've never had before. )

--
Shelby Manning Martin
Need for Speed OC
784 words

Take chances

Things change when you're at the top. I've been the Verizon IndyCar Series champion for two and a half months and I've seen it. People say being at the top means that everyone else is gunning for you. I don't think that's true; no one is specifically aiming for me. We're all just focused on winning. But as the person with the trophy in your hands, you do start looking at things in a way that you didn't before.

( Take right now, for example. )

--
Shelby Manning Martin
Need for Speed OC
565 words

"The vision of a champion is bent over, drenched in sweat, at the point of exhaustion, when nobody else is looking."

The car pulls to a stop in its pit box. Her gloves come off, then aching hands slowly lift the helmet from her head. Her eyes are already burning with the threat of tears that she won't allow herself to cry until much later and somewhere else. She pushes herself up to climb out, but when she tries to make the move upward, she slips and it's only the quick arm of one of her crew members that keeps her from falling off and onto the asphalt. She is totally and completely exhausted, and she is the champion.

( In those few fleeting beats, before she's swarmed by photographers wanting that first picture and league personnel ushering her to Victory Lane and well-wishers congratulating her on a job well done, Shelby is remembering every moment that led up to this. )

--
Shelby Manning Martin
Need for Speed OC
806 words

Ten things that make your life worth living

1 - The joy of driving my IndyCar, and knowing that it's mine and that I've earned the honor of driving it, and that feeling that this is what I was made for.

2 - The love of a good man, who I'm still not sure I deserve.

3 - My relationship with my father, whether it's family dinner at the house in Daytona or just knowing I can walk down pit lane at the end of a race and find him waiting for me.

4 - The community of my fellow racers, just how much of a pleasure it is to see them at work every weekend, and how many of them I can call friends and some of them even heroes.

5 - Anything that has to do with cars. If it's got four wheels and a seat and I can play with it, I'm a happy girl.

6 - The sense of pride that has come with winning the Astor Cup, and the subsequent motivation to do even better.

7 - NBC Sports Network and the countless hours I've spent watching it. I think it's the only TV channel on in my house some days. Or weeks.

8 - Brownies. Also funnel cake.

9 - Every kind word that's been said by a fan, reporter, colleague or foe.

10 - The idea of having a family, and continuing on the Manning family legacy, and having beautiful children that I can share my love and success and experience with so that they can have one of these lists, too.

--
Shelby Manning Martin
Need for Speed OC
251 words

"A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them."

I got a lot of things right this season, but I made one big mistake in April, at the first (and now only) Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana. Running in the top ten and knowing the race might still be called by rain, I was itching to push further ahead while I still could. I tried to take the corner alongside Ryan, believing that he could see the nose of my car coming up beside him. He didn't. Instead, he bumped me off track and I spun back around into the side of his car, which in turn sent him up and nearly on top of Seabass. The result was my only non-top ten finish of the year and the race getting called shortly thereafter.

( I figured I would wreck at some point in the season; I didn't think I'd be the one to cause it. )

--
Shelby Manning Martin
Need for Speed OC
684 words

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."

I've talked about a lot of people in my life, but I haven't told you yet about Peter Fowler. My first strategist, the first man I fell in love with, and someone I'll now always consider like a big brother.

Peter was already at Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing when I got there, by way of Ireland. Unlike me, he'd come up through the Road to Indy program, so he'd already worked on F2000 and Pro Mazda teams before he got handed the 25-year-old upstart who just happened to be the daughter of his spotter. (This gives me a moment to clear up a misconception: my dad had nothing with me getting the seat at SFHR or being assigned to his race team. I can thank Sarah Fisher for the former and the latter was already in place before they knew it was me they'd be ordering around.)

( Anyway, Peter was a little bit nervous about the job. He was concerned about either failing his first major series drive or having my father punch him in the face. )

--
Shelby Manning Martin
Need For Speed OC
729 words

"I wanna tell you something,
Give you something
Show you in so many ways
'Cause it would all mean nothing
If I don't say something
Before it all goes away."

I fell in love with Michael the night that I met him. It seems like such a sappy thing to say, but it's true. Standing at a bar in London, just having a drink and enjoying the nightlife in my old hometown for the first time in a few years. Then he and his best friend walked in and when his eyes met mine I just knew that he was someone special. He struck up a conversation with me and we ended up closing the place down, and I wasn't sure I'd ever see him again.

( Since then, he's been everything that I had always hoped for but never thought actually existed in a relationship. )

--
Shelby Manning Martin
Need For Speed OC
800 words
Prompt takes place in an alternate canon.

Ten things important to you in a relationship

1 - Loyalty. Someone who I know will always be there for me, whether we're in the same room or if we're in completely different countries.

2 - Trust. I want to be able to trust my partner completely and for them to know that they can do the same with me. There are no secrets in my relationship.

3 - An appreciation for cars. They don't have to be an IndyCar fan or a racing fan (though that helps), but someone who shares my passion and can understand how big a part of my life it is.

4 - A willingness to commit. My family is important to me, and I want to start one of my own someday. So naturally I never dated people who just wanted to keep things casual. In fact my husband got in trouble for proposing to me too early.

5 - A little bit of danger. I have to admit it, the guys that attract me are the ones that live on the edge just like I do. I met Frank in the middle of a street race.

6 - But someone who also likes a night in. My idea of a good day off is relaxing at home, reading a book or working on my car. If his idea is using me to try to get us into a club or spending all night out until 2am, we're probably not going to last.

7 - Patience. I admit that being in a relationship with me isn't easy. I'm traveling for half the year and there are constantly multiple demands on my time. That means I usually have to sacrifice my personal life. So if someone's dating me, they've got to be okay with that.

8 - Someone who gives a good hug. Because after a bad race or some of the other things I've seen, I honestly need that.

9 - Paying attention to details. The most romantic things that someone can do for me are to call me at the end of a day and say they love me. Or remember my birthday. Or just know something that I like. Seeing that someone cares enough to notice those things means a lot.

10 - A wisecracking tendency. When I'm not working, I'm usually a smartass, and it's nowhere near as fun if the guy isn't bantering back with me.

--
Shelby Manning Martin
Need For Speed OC
388 words

"Friends can help each other. A true friend is someone who lets you have total freedom to be yourself - and especially to feel. Or, not feel. Whatever you happen to be feeling at the moment is fine with them. That's what real love amounts to - letting a person be what he really is."

"Are we ever going to have a conversation about this?" Shelby asks Shane, the words filling in a calm silence as the two stand behind the pit wall at Road America, nursing morning coffee out of paper cups and waiting for the rest of the day to catch up with them.

( A conversation about what? )

--
Shelby Manning Martin
Need For Speed OC
579 words