France enters the narrative as the place where Denny’s wet-weather driving is put before a professional opportunity. During an expensive Formula Renault testing program in the spring rain, his performance draws a scout’s attention and begins the sequence that leads to a tryout and, eventually, a seat at Watkins Glen.

A Testing Ground in Spring Rain

Denny travels to France for a Formula Renault testing program he cannot afford on his own. The season and weather matter: the tests take place in spring, when it rains, and Enzo’s account connects those conditions directly to Denny’s strength behind the wheel. France is therefore more than a stop on the way to a race; it is the setting in which a particular skill becomes visible to people who can offer him a next step.

After a session, a scout approaches Denny in the paddock and asks, “Can you drive as fast in the dry as you can in the wet?” Denny looks him straight in the eyes and answers, “Try me.” The exchange turns the rain-soaked testing into a measure of professional promise: the scout is not merely observing a fast lap but testing whether Denny can carry his ability across changing conditions.

Opportunity and Uncertain Funding

The program is expensive, and Denny tells Mike that Denny's parents paid for it as a gift. Enzo doubts that explanation, noting that Denny's parents live far away in a small town and have never visited—not for the wedding, Zoë’s birth, or anything else. The account leaves the source of the money unresolved. That uncertainty sits beside the clear result: Denny attends the program, impresses the scout, and receives an offer to try out.

Denny then goes away for two weeks of testing, tuning, and practice. His success there brings an offer of a seat in the endurance race at Watkins Glen, where he will not have to find all the sponsorship money himself. France is thus the first link in a chain that moves from difficult-to-finance testing to a more established team and a concrete racing opportunity.

Narrative Significance

The French episode gives Denny’s rain-driving ability a public consequence. Until the scout’s question, that ability is part of what Denny can do; in the paddock, it becomes something another person recognizes and is willing to test. The terse reply, “Try me,” marks that shift without resolving the larger uncertainty around how Denny reached the program or what will follow from the opportunity.

The passage also frames France through the family’s anticipation of the Watkins Glen race. Denny leaves for New York with the prospect of appearing on Speed Channel, and Eve delights in the idea that “Daddy’s a professional race car driver!” France itself is not the destination of that excitement; it is where the skill and recognition that make the excitement possible first come together.