Clayton Wise spent the first five minutes of the interview spewing a torrent of NASCAR trivia. Across the desk, Lucius Banks listened to the stream of past Daytona 500 winners, series champions, rivalries, and records—punctuated frequently with the name Earnhardt. As he listened, he considered how this might sound to a passenger. Would it be annoying, or insightful? Lacking knowledge of the sport, he wasn’t sure.

After a time, Lucius put his hand up, and Clayton stopped speaking. “You certainly seem qualified to drive my NASCAR cab from a trivia aspect.”

Clayton beamed, seeming a bit out of breath.

“If your safety record is as strong as your knowledge of trivia …” Lucius turned his attention to the paper stapled to the back of the job application. His eyes scanned the scant lines on the page, then rose to meet Clayton’s. “You can start tonight.”

A few moments later, outside, Clayton could barely contain his enthusiasm to a whisper on his cell phone. “I can’t believe it,” he said. “He totally bought it.”