In rural parts of the country, driving is a necessity. On the NC/SC border, where Charlotte becomes Fort Mill, the population is sizable and yet public transportation is not pervasive at best, unreliable in the worst case. It is possible to exist in the area without a car, many people do, but the majority learn to drive in high school because independence as a teenager is dependent upon the ability to move freely.
Manuel Gonzalez has been driving since he was ten years old. He bought his first car from his father when he was eighteen, the 72 Buick Skylark that was the first car he ever loved. It was a muscle car and his mother cursed his father for encouraging him to drive flashy cars that only drew the attention of police. Manuel hardly ever got the chance to really feel the true power of the car and he longed for a stretch of country road that would allow him to push the car to its limits.
Manuel had the car for years and as he advanced in his career as a police officer with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department, he drove it less and he figured that he’d never get the chance push the gas pedal all the way down and feel his car’s maximum acceleration. And he was right. It seemed contrary to his job to drive so recklessly on any road and the desire quietly evaporated. He did have many great adventures with his Skylark, but never the pedal to the metal sensation that he longed for.
Before he took his job with the state police and relocated to northern North Carolina, Manuel often visited his local dealership to test drive the latest cars and he developed a friendship with a young salesman who told him about local motorsports parks where he could live out his racing dreams, and about car shows that he visited.
The salesman told him about the time trials by accident. He knew that Manuel was a police officer and he wasn’t sure if the contest would be considered illegal. But the salesman was watching a video on his phone when Manuel arrived at the dealership and the young man was obviously excited.
“This is crazy, I can’t believe people are doing it, ” the salesman said to Manuel.
“What is it?”
“Oh,” the salesman said nervously, “it’s nothing.”
“I haven’t seen you this excited about something in a while,” Manuel said and he grabbed at the phone.
The salesman was suddenly grave and Manuel stopped.
“What is it?” Manuel asked seriously.
“You can’t shut it down,” the salesman said and he handed over the phone.
Manuel watched a video of a man and woman inside of a car that never went faster than ten miles over the speed limit. The man who filmed was also holding a stopwatch that he was careful not start until the car passed the sign welcoming drivers to Monroe, NC on highway 74. The couple made their way, weaving through cars that were going the speed limit and then the video sped to the last minute. The stopwatch said 37 mins 52 seconds when the man stopped it as the car passed a welcome for Rock Hill, SC. The woman cursed when she saw the time.
“Well that was our one try,” the man said, turning the camera on himself. “I still can’t believe someone did it under 30,” the man said as the video ended.
Manuel looked to the salesman.
“It’s technically a race,” the salesman said nervously, “but you saw, it’s not dangerous.”
Manuel was perplexed. It was true that no one had broken a law, though there was video evidence of this couple speeding.
“There’s other videos on here?” Manuel asked.
“Yeah…”
“Show me,” Manuel said and forced the salesman to show him all of the videos that had been uploaded.
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