#daniel dye

The season was coming to a close. You could almost taste the amount of free time you would finally have again.

Then again, Connor couldn’t sit still for the life of him, so you had all of these plans for the break already booked.

It all starts with Phoenix. Disgusting place in the summer, but actually tolerable by November. It was a gap week for you, and you didn’t need to be in Brazil until the Wednesday after his Championship weekend. Plus, you and Connor were already planning on flying out Monday morning, regardless of whether he won the championship or not, so you could see the things in São Paulo.

Now at Phoenix Raceway, it's loud. You don’t think you’ve ever heard a Formula 1 race nearly as loud. Not even the cars. It's the people. You always thought the Monaco or Silverstone paddocks were packed to the brim, but the infield of Phoenix was a whole different thing. This wasn’t just rich blokes who didn’t actually care about the racing. They were fans.

You were sitting in a golf cart that you borrowed from the JRM team, waiting for Connor, Jesse, and Daniel to come out of the driver meeting because their Thursdays weren’t packed with interviews. You all planned to go golfing and film a couple of videos' worth of content for their Shake ‘N Bake channel since Connor would be following you around until the end of your season.

You were simply scrolling through TikTok. Honestly, you weren’t even sure what you were watching anymore. They were just stupid videos, but they filled your time enough to make it feel like it was going by quicker. You were almost having fun doomscrolling until your team texted you with some data they wanted you to start reviewing before São Paulo. You groaned and rolled your eyes before opening the attachment, but you didn’t get far before you realized your brain was just not reading anything.

“Oh my gosh, you’re Y/n L/n,” someone gasped from beside you, so you clicked your phone off and placed it in the pocket of your - Connor’s - jacket. It was a girl with a mini mic and another girl behind her, pointing a camera towards her while both of them had their mouths open in shock. You made eye contact with them, none of you actually breaking the silence for a beat before you cleared your throat.

“Hi,” was all you said with a tight-lipped smile. Naturally awkward was your middle name at this point, and no amount of PR training or exposure was going to change that. “How can I help you guys?”

“Are you here for Connor?” The one behind the camera piped up, seeming to snap out of the shock first.

“Zilisch, specifically, but yes,” you joked tensely as you subtly looked at your watch to see how long it would be until they got out of their meeting.

“Can we ask you a couple of questions?” The girl with the microphone asked, putting the little fuzzy block down. “We run a TikTok featuring the wives, girlfriends, husbands, and boyfriends of the grids in motorsports. It’s not every day we get to see someone who is a WAG/HAB and a driver.”

“Sure, I’ve got about 10 minutes,” You smiled, turning entirely to face them.

“Hey guys, welcome to Phoenix! It’s Soap here with Macky, and we have a very special guest today, as you can see,” Soap, you learned her name or online alias was, said before she gestured to you. “Y/n L/n, Formula 1 driver for VCARB, but for the purposes of our interview, Y/n is Connor Zilisch’s WAG/HAB! Thank you for joining us. How's it going?”

“Could be better,” You chuckled as Soap put the mic towards you, “I’ve already been left behind as Connor, and the only other people I know here are in the driver’s meeting. They left me out here with the cart, but took the keys, so I can’t even go for a joyride!”

“They’re such losers,” Soap scoffed. “Let’s just get into the meat and potatoes then, why don’t we. You and Connor have known each other for years…”

“Yeah, we met in 2020 at the FIA Karting Academy competition,” You smiled fondly before letting out a single laugh when you remembered the exact situation. You also realized you never said it, so you gave them the insights. “I finished second to him in that, and I walked up to him after and made a joke that he won with 69 points. Clearly, one of us has a sense of humour.”

“How many points did you have?”

“41, dude effing demolished me,” you complained, but you still smiled throughout it. “I’m not bitter, I swear, but who really won here? I get to go to a NASCAR race during my off weeks and watch my incredibly hot boyfriend do what he does best, and he gets to do the same for me when his season’s done. I do think it sucks that his season is way longer than mine, but maybe I’ll eventually make the switch. I don’t know.”

“You in NASCAR would be unstoppable,” Macky said from behind the camera.

“You are in a unique situation as a driver in Formula 1 and a WAG/HAB in NASCAR,” Soap steered, “What's your opinion on WAGs/HABs being called ‘Instagram influencers’ or ‘fame seekers’?”

“They exist, that’s for sure,” You answered honestly. “I’m not naming names, but I’ll say the WAGs/HABs in NASCAR are 1000% more genuine than the ones in F1. I wish I were joking about that, too. I’ve heard some of them literally talking about using the driver for fame, money, and some of them are even PR relationships. Couldn’t be me. I’m happy as can be in my relationship.”

“That’s insane,” Soap gasped, looking slightly horrified. “Let’s talk more about Connor.”

“Ooo, my favorite topic,” You joked.

“What is one misconception people make about your relationship?”

“People think we live on FaceTime, but we actually just do iRacing all the time,” You chuckled. “I don’t think we actually spend more than a couple of hours on a call, FaceTime or not, a week. I usually stay up super late because I have no regular sleep schedule without him, and we make a lobby and just race against each other. Sometimes we open it to anyone, and sometimes our friends join us, but most of the time, it’s just us and bots.”

“Honestly, I think that’s so cute,” Soap gushed, “Do you think it’s gotten harder to do since you joined Formula 1 and he’s gotten bigger in Xfinity?”

“No, I still suck at sleeping, regardless of what series I’m in,” You shrugged. “He’s gotten a little more busy, but not busy enough to forget about me.”

“I love that,” Soap laughed, “We’re gonna wrap it up with this: What’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you at a race?”

“You slipped in a puddle at Watkins Glen one year,” Daniel said from behind you as he sat on the back of the golf cart. “I still have the video if you need proof.”

“Shut up, you’re gonna make me look bad,” You jokingly seethed as you hit Daniel on the shoulder.

“Or that time you didn’t realize chai tea had cinnamon and had to go to the med center for an EpiPen,” Jesse added while taking the seat next to Daniel.

“I’m going to run you over, Jess," You groaned, “Is it bully Y/n o'clock? What is this?”

“This one isn’t exactly funny, but that day we found out you are afraid of mascots was a day,” Connor teased, sliding in behind you. “To be honest, that wolf thing for the Kansas City Chiefs is unsettling, even for me.”

“Well, would you look at that! Perfect timing!” Macky cheered as Soap laughed while you jabbed Connor in the ribs with your elbow.

“I guess we’ll end it there. Thank you for joining us, Y/n, and thank you, Connor Zilisch, Jesse Love, and Daniel Dye, for the surprise appearance!” Soap responded as she closed out the video. You took a quick picture with her and Macky before they went off to the next person to interview, before you held your hand out for the keys.

“You drive?” Connor questioned, "Since when?"

"I don't know if I feel safe with you behind the wheel," Jesse joked.

“You are literally driving all weekend,” You groaned as you snatched the keys from Connor, “Let me have this. Just be passenger princesses and look pretty. At least, one of you can do that, no problem.”

"Aw, thank you," Daniel joked, tossing imaginary hair over his shoulder as he propped a leg up. You immediately jerked the cart to make him fall forward a bit - you gotta keep him humble somehow - before heading out to the car park to head to the course.

A few hours later, you were at the golf course. There was a problem with one of the cameras, so Rip and Fern were trying to fix that. Jesse and Daniel decided to go off and try fishing for a bit. You decided to chill out with Connor as he sat behind you with his arms wrapped around you as you leaned back against him. He rested his head on your shoulder as you both talked about random stuff.

“You’re going to do a HAB interview when we get to São Paulo, right?” You teased, looking back at him with a smile. “You need to fulfil your duties.”

“If someone shows up, I won’t say no,” He sighed, burying his face in your neck. “I don’t even know what I would say. I feel weird talking about anything other than racing.”

“Hey! You love talking about me,” You pouted, pulling back to look at him. “You love being the supportive HAB.”

“You make it easy,” He added slyly as he pressed your lips together when a notification sounded through on your phone. You both groaned as you pulled away to see what it was.

Burnout Banter tagged you in a video!

~~~~~