The Laughter in the Chat

The post had the slowed-down clip of his failed Shockwave at the top, with captions added like it was a sports blooper reel. Someone called him a “champion mechanics merchant.” Someone else said he didn’t even know how to read zone. Another post repeated the official pre-event prediction that his team had basically no chance of qualifying. By the time Chase left the venue, the clip was already being turned into a meme. Sponsors who had been “interested” in the morning quietly sent polite emails saying they were going in another direction. That night, back in the motel room, Chase sat on the edge of the bed and watched the mistake on his old monitor in a loop.