Regression - Second Chance At Life
Chapter 317: Born To Do It
As the Stratosurge flies past the finishing line, everyone inside the pit room stares at the lap timer with a stunned gaze.
They can’t believe what they are looking at.
The timer says 6:59:57.
That’s faster than the fastest lap time on this circuit, meaning Adam now holds the record for doing the fastest lap time on the Eylendra Circuit in a road-legal car.
Beating the legendary Carlos Diega, who had done his fastest lap with 7:02:09.
Adam overtook Carlos Diega’s record by almost three seconds. In motorsport, three seconds is a big gap. These cars cover large distances in seconds, so for Adam to have an almost three-second gap between him and Carlos, that would put Carlos in the Stratosurge’s dust.
One with a three-second lead can easily hold onto his position if he doesn’t make a severe mistake and rarely gets passed.
But the three-second advantage that Adam has over Carlos is even more significant because it’s one where Carlos also gave his best performance. To have a three-second lead over one of the best drivers in the world, who at that time gave one of his best performances, speaks volumes about just how good Adam really is.
Dante is still stunned. He can’t look away from the numbers displayed on the lap timer.
The time Carlos put on was already considered the very limit of what a road-legal car can do on this track, but today came Adam and proved everyone wrong.
He destroyed the previous record by having as perfect a run as one could have.
As Dante’s thoughts started to settle down, a new rush hit him as he had just discovered the next big thing in motorsport.
If Adam races professionally in his team, they will be able to conquer every major driving competition on the planet. The honor, glory, and money that are going to follow them would make them rich for generations.
The brand that’s hiring them will spend even more billions on them if Adam delivers the same type of performance he just showed.
Dante immediately leaves his station and rushes out of the pit to watch as Adam slowly pulls in.
Alongside Dante is Danny, who is equally excited to speak to Adam.
He came here thinking Adam would get him one of the top ten records, and he did it. His fourth run ended with an amazing lap time and as a 4th place holder. Danny was extremely happy to see that.
He gets to be a person who owns the car that was driven to earn that 4th place, but then Adam did something even beyond his expectations. Adam blew the whole thing out of the park, getting the all-time fastest record itself, and that to an almost three-second lead.
And Danny is now the proud owner of the fastest road-legal car to lap the Eylendra circuit.
Danny can’t wait to talk about it and brag to everyone in his circle who follow motorsport and savor the envy in their eyes.
Rich people have almost everything in their possession, but they are only proud of things that are unique to them and them alone. Like a very last painting painted by a famous painter, a unique luxury watch, a vintage one-of-one car, a perfect graded 10 trading card, and so many more.
Since they can have almost anything, these unique items hold even more value in their eyes.
What Adam did today is create just that, a lap time that can never be toppled because Adam pushed the very limit of physics with his performance. Unless they make a road-legal car that can hover in the air, no one ever is going to be able to touch Adam’s record, and this makes Danny’s particular Stratosurge the only one of its kind.
As word of this car gets out, the value of Danny’s car will skyrocket as billionaire car enthusiasts will be willing to throw a lot of money at Danny to get this car in their collection, but given who Danny is, Adam doubts Danny would ever sell this car.
Adam brings the Stratosurge to a stop and gets out.
Removing his helmet, he looks at the crowd that has formed before him and notices that they are all looking at him as if he were some unicorn.
’Maybe I went a little too far,’ Adam thought.
He remembered the state he entered when he was behind the wheel, a state of absolute clarity and a higher state that he kissed the very limits of physics itself. If he had pushed it even a little more, he would have totalled the Stratosurge in ways that it would be worth nothing but its raw material price in weight.
So the shocked look on their faces is understandable.
"Holy fucking shit! You actually did it! You broke the fucking record!!!" Danny says as he lunges at Adam and grabs his hands, shaking them up and down vigorously.
Seeing the overwhelming look of excitement in Danny’s face, Adam felt great knowing that he managed to do what he intended from the very beginning, to put himself in a higher position in Danny’s mind.
He then looks at the lap timer. It’s his first time looking at it as well. He sees the timer 6:59:57. Almost three seconds faster than the previous record. The one the legendary driver Carlos had was already amazing, an almost perfect run, but Adam’s was the perfect run.
Adam smiles. He is happy with the result as he got a taste of what his body is actually capable of.
Even with all the activities he has done before, Adam could never push himself to his physical limit, but this allowed him to get a taste of what could actually be possible.
"Congratulations, Mr. Grant. With this, your name will be the talk of motorsport itself. I am sure every major brand will fight tooth and nail to acquire you." The manager of the Circuit steps up to congratulate Adam, and beside him stands Kelly, whose face is still a little flushed.
Adam looks at the Manager and then at Kelly, whose eyes flicker with desire. She never expected Adam to be so talented. Not only can he fuck so good that he made her see stars, but he can also drive like a top-level pro, beating one of the very best drivers in history.
Being a motorsport fan herself, her desire for Adam grew even more, but this also made her realize that she and Adam can never be a thing because they live in completely different worlds, and Adam is way out of her league.
She just got lucky enough to share a few minutes of intimacy with him.
Adam can guess what Kelly’s thinking, but he is not concerned with her right now.
"About that, can you please keep my name anonymous. I don’t want all that attention," Adam says.
His words stun the manager because why would anyone do that? What Adam did is beyond exceptional. The fame and fortune that would follow him after his name gets out there is enormous; for him to disregard it all just because he doesn’t like a little attention is absurd.
"What the heck are you talking about, boy? Have you gone mad?" Dante shouts, stepping before Adam with disbelief in his eyes.
"I don’t think so," Adam says, sounding clueless.
"You can’t hide what you just did out there. The world needs to know. Do you even have any idea what you just did? You have made history. This sport needs you. The world needs you to witness your greatness," Dante says, slamming his hands down hard on Adam’s shoulder and shaking him vigorously.
Adam is stunned. He didn’t expect such intense passion from this old man.
"I am sorry, Dante, but I have no interest in being a professional driver. I only did it to help me, friend here," Adam says, pointing at Danny, who looks like a child right now, as he is not able to follow what’s going on.
"Bullshit! I don’t care if you are interested in being a professional driver or not. You were born for this sport. Do you know how many kids dream of doing what you did? They start training as kids, but even then, many fail to get to the highest level of this sport. You defeated one of the best without any training. Do you know how absurd that is? It’s so absurd that I still can’t wrap my head around it. But that doesn’t matter. You are racing," Dante says.
Adam has to give Dante credit for knowing how to hype someone up, but Adam can’t do what Dante is asking of him right now because he has a different career in mind.
"I am sorry, Dante, but I already know what I want to do. Maybe we can return to this conversation in a few years," Adam says.
In a few years, Adam is sure to be at the very top of the MMA world, maybe then he can see himself wanting to do something else.
Dante looks at Adam as if he’s stupid.
"No, I won’t allow that. I am going to make sure everyone knows your name. Let’s see how you are going to avoid everyone," Dante says, like an obsessed maniac.
Adam feels a headache coming. He didn’t expect that going all out would create a fiend out of Dante.
Adam looks at Uncle Ben, who has been silent all this time.
"Mr. Ben, I am sure you made all of them sign an NDA before bringing them here, right?" Adam asks.
"Yes, Mr. Grant," Ben says in his professional tone.
"Then I would like to make sure that my name doesn’t get out there. Can you do that for me?" Adam asks.
"As you wish," Ben says.
Adam didn’t want to do this, but he is certain that Dante would have created unnecessary trouble for him, so he has to bind Dante’s mouth legally.