The Race

Summary

A soot-grimed parable of American velocity: Jimmy Grayson, a velvet-robed prodigal, is hurled from Gatsby marble into the grease-slick undercarriage of the Machine Age; there, beside a chauffeuse whose eyes reflect chrome horizons, he forges a piston-hearted miracle that sings louder than jazz. Together the ex-heir and the mechanic’s daughter weld dreams into steel, but the ticking meter of debt—ten-thousand cold dollars—forces them onto a continent-length ribbon of gravel, dust, and obsession. Across prairie thunderstorms, alkali flats, and switchback mountain scars they duel, engines howling like electric wolves, until Jimmy, hearing that the girl’s own father is shackled to the same creditor, lifts his foot from the throttle at the penultimate breath and lets the woman he loves roar past in a comet-flare of victory—a surrender that wins everything. Patent papers and a kingly royalty check arrive on the wind just as sheriffs snap handcuffs over ambition itself, turning the finish line into an altar of absolution.

Synopsis

Fed up with his son's wild lifestyle, James Grayson, Sr. disinherits Jimmy and throws him out of the house. Through Grace Van Dyke, a chauffeur, Jimmy gets a job in a garage, and he and Grace's father Andrew invent a revolutionary automobile engine. It will take months to get the patent, however, and Jimmy must pay back a $10,000 debt almost immediately. To get the money, he enters a transcontinental car race which has a large cash prize, and which Grace also has entered. Just as Jimmy is about to win, however, he learns that Andrew is also deeply in debt. As a result, he lets Grace pass him and finish first, so she can get the money for her father. At the finish line, Jimmy is arrested for not paying his debts, but then, far ahead of schedule, the patent rights arrive for the engine, as well as a royalty check that more than covers what Jimmy owes.