This is a nice character study of a young Joe, and a particularly telling one about Lucy.  I did wonder what happened to Lucy -- she planned to quit racing and join the family business but what happens later?  Is Galactor the family business?  It makes me want to see your interpretation of the Lucy episode.

In terms of this story, I loved the descriptions, particularly  the sense of place.  The visual of umbrellas popping up in the stands, the dry dust promising a hot day, and the sunlight glinting off the water really came through.  I had a harder time connecting to some of the racing scenes, although the one with the racer forced off the track and cursing from his car was particularly vivid.

I thought this story might work better with less wordy dialogue and a few more visuals thrown in during the racing scenes.  The story itself is very solid. 

Looking forward to the Lucy follow-up!  :)