Zavier Scott eagerly opened his laptop.

Just two weeks prior, he'd proposed to McKenna Haase and received an enthusiastic "yes" to spending the rest of their lives together. Now, Zavier readied to watch her drive in the 2024 Knoxville Nationals sprint car race.

He located McKenna's red-and-white No. 55 car, smiling as engines revved and the green flag dropped in Iowa.

But then, disaster.

As drivers approached the first turn of the first lap, a car slid up the track and across all three lanes into McKenna, sending her car crashing into the wall and then into violent, back-to-back flips.

Men wearing highlighter-yellow, flame-retardant suits and helmets immediately sprinted toward the pile of twisted metal lying motionless in the dirt. Cameras panned away, and the broadcast stopped.

Zavier's heart dropped.

***

Inside the car which had landed upside down, McKenna dangled from her shoulder harness, waves of pain coursing through her body as she struggled to breathe.

But she was alive.

"When I kept flipping, it ripped the wing off the top of my car, and I went cage-first into the ground with no cushion, and that basically stretched a bunch of muscles and also collapsed my lung," recalled McKenna, who additionally suffered a lung contusion. "It was awful. I've crashed a lot, especially at Knoxville; if you crash there, you crash hard. But there was just something different about this one.

"My outcome physically, even though I was badly injured, I was pretty blessed considering what could have happened," she added.

McKenna noted the bottom of her seat bar had been struck, which oftentimes can break a driver's back or even paralyze them. Her steering wheel also was heavily damaged, and a piece of the wreckage pierced through the top of her helmet.

She called it "super rare" for the carbon fiber racing helmets to be penetrated.

"Some people feel if I was a little taller, it probably would have been a different outcome," McKenna said. "I got hit from every direction in that cockpit and essentially 'walked away.' I was extremely blessed to have survived it."

Faith, football and a racing foray

McKenna never has been deterred by risk and uncertainty.

Neither has her husband Zavier, who shortly after McKenna's accident found himself released by the Colts and pivoting to the Vikings. Both have natural passion for their respective crafts and also credit their Christian faith for finding calm in the chaos.

"It comes from believing in Jesus as God — but also drawing close to Him and trusting His promises, that He works all things together for the good of those who love Him," Zavier said, referencing Romans 8:28 from the Bible. "He says we can give our burdens to Him, and He'll make them light. And He's done that."

Long before they met each other at a church in Indiana, Zavier and McKenna each leaned on their faith along journeys most would call unlikely.

The chances of making it to the NFL are realistically slimmer-than-slim, with only 1.6 percent of NCAA football players making it to the next level. And yet Zavier has always believed playing pro football was in his future.

He recalled his childhood in Texas, where over and over he'd toss a football into the air and make leaping touchdown catches on his bed. No teddy bears or stuffed animals for a young Zavier, who instead cradled the pigskin to sleep.

Asked if there was a moment in his life he saw the NFL as a reality, Zavier pauses for a moment and tilts his head just slightly.

"I don't know; there was always something in me that just always felt like it was possible. It felt real to me," he said. "I think God put that vision in me. It wasn't a vision for stardom or money, but it was just this true passion for the game and the people, the fans."

In Iowa, a young McKenna discovered a similar zeal for racing thanks to a chance run-in at a local shopping mall.

She recalled noticing autograph seekers buzzing around an individual who turned out to be NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne. McKenna stuck around to have her photo taken with him and chatted for a few minutes about a sport that was unfamiliar to her.

McKenna kept close tabs on Kahne's career following the interaction and fell in love with NASCAR and all things racing.

At 11 years old, she tried convincing her parents to let her try it.

Absolutely not. When you're 16, you can drive yourself to the track and make your own decisions.

McKenna thinks now her parents likely assumed she'd phase out of the interest. The exact opposite occurred.

"I just never dropped it," McKenna said. "I'd enjoyed a lot of things I tried, but when I found racing, it was a whole new level of passion for me. It's like it unlocked something inside of me; I'd never found anything like that before."

McKenna got an early taste of racing at Slideways Karting Center, a recreational track where she competed weekly in a men's league.

"It was like $20 to drive these karts, anybody could race, and I was a middle schooler driving with a group of guys every Thursday," McKenna laughed. "But I really enjoyed it. They were slower karts, obviously, but it was just for fun, and I learned a lot. The track was asphalt, and they used to put baby powder down to make it slick so the karts would slide. I remember I would come home and take a shower, and the water turning on would just create this huge cloud of baby powder."

But she really cut her teeth at 12 years old when, after consistently hanging around the local track, English Creek Speedway, McKenna was given an opportunity by the owner to drive an outlaw kart — a smaller version of a sprint car — and she was hooked.

Her parents officially gave in. Using the $800 she'd saved up, McKenna and her family bought a small car, and she started steadily racing and rising through the ranks. By 17, she was driving full-sized sprint cars and on her way to the pros.

Fast and fearless

Meet McKenna, and her profession might surprise you.

She's softspoken and softhearted, a gentle face framed by long blonde hair. Zavier noted his reaction was "probably the same as everyone else" when he first heard (at a Bible study shortly after meeting) McKenna had moved to Indiana to focus solely on racing.

"My extent of racing knowledge was, like, the Indy 500 and Talladega Nights," Zavier laughed, adding McKenna's career was unexpected but "very cool."

At 28 years old, McKenna has made a name for herself in a male-dominated, gritty industry as a driver, mechanic and full-time team owner of Team Haase Racing.

"You're up against men in each of those categories. And when you're doing it at a professional level, it can get pretty aggressive," said McKenna, who at 19 was hiring men in their 40s and 50s to work for her. "The national tour for sprint car racing is called The World of Outlaws, and I usually tell people the name says it all. It can be a pretty aggressive group.

"They race about 100 races a year, coast to coast, and it's one of the most dangerous forms of racing in the world," she added. "And while there's money to be made, it's not really spread out across the field."

In 2015, McKenna became the first woman to ever win a feature Sprint Car race at Knoxville Raceway. She graduated as her high school class valedictorian the next day. At Nationals last year, she was one of 110 drivers — and the only woman. She also was the only one of 62 drivers competing to make the final feature of the Kings Royal ("It's called the Kings' Royal for a reason," she quips).

McKenna isn't easily intimidated but admits it's certainly not a sport up everyone's alley.

"It definitely takes a certain personality," she said. "Some people like the adrenaline, like the danger of it. They thrive on that. And it's fun to just be in something chaotic, too.

"It's hot; you're strapped in tight. That was something that caught me off guard the first time I ever got in a racecar … the stuffiness of the helmet, how limited your head movement is," she added. "I'd watched racing for years, but being inside the car, I was like, 'Wow.' I didn't expect it to be quite like that. Your view is so small. You can't see much at all. But you get used to it quickly. I felt like I naturally kind of grew into it."

She speaks humbly of her experience and success, thanks in part to her ability to read the racetrack and adapt accordingly.

Dirt racing differs so greatly from asphalt, she explains, as weather and temperature can affect the track.

"You're changing the car as the track's changing," McKenna said. "There are so many factors that go into it. And it's so fast. Sprint cars are called sprint cars for a reason … it's intense but for shorter periods of time."

Before a race, McKenna often feels a gamut of emotions. Sometimes she's completely relaxed, even being known to grab a quick nap on the grid (the cars' staging area) prior to start.

"Then there's other races where, I once threw up right outside the car before getting in because I was so nervous. Thankfully, I ended up winning," she laughed.

Some tracks are known for being "especially gnarly," which can occasionally prompt extra nerves; overall, though, McKenna is simply in her element when behind the wheel.

It's why Zavier feels calm watching her races, despite the risk involved.

"I trust she knows what she's doing. If I was driving that car, I'd be nervous. Those things are too powerful for me," he said. "I was playing on a simulator, and I'm crashing every single time. I'd probably get taken out, literally, if I was in that car.

"I also pray before every race, and I just feel such a peace about it," Zavier added. "That it's gonna be OK, and that she's just gonna go out there and do her thing, and it's been so cool to see."

The next turn

When McKenna and Zavier started dating in February 2024, they each respected — and learned to navigate — the commitments of the other person to their respective craft.

They laugh about early days when Zavier would come by McKenna's shop after his day with the Colts wrapped up.

"I was head mechanic at the time and taking an engine out of a car. Zavier comes in and I'm like, 'Oh, hey. Hold this, grab this.' I don't think he was planning on doing stuff like that," McKenna chuckled. "If the job wasn't done, you don't go home. Sometimes I'd be there until really late at night or the early hours of the morning. It was hard because we were dating and he'd be like, 'So, are we gonna go hang out?' And I'm like, 'What? No.' "

But the two made it work, soon unable to imagine not being together.

Fast forward to August 2024, and Zavier had just watched his fiancée's car flip end over end after slamming into the Knoxville track wall.

"I was just praying. You know it's a bad crash when they don't show the replay," he recalled. "One of her crew guys, Tyler, was keeping me in the loop a little bit, which I'm so grateful for."

McKenna was hospitalized through the weekend, missing Saturday's finals race, and told she wouldn't be able to fly for at least six weeks due to the pneumothorax in her lung. Devastated at the idea of missing Zavier's final Colts training camp days, she turned to her parents — this time, asking them to drive.

"My mom drove me all the way back to Indy. I was lying flat on my back the entire time, banged up, but we made it there," explained McKenna, who arrived just in time to surprise Zavier as he exited the practice field. "He was walking away from me and knelt down to pray, so I went and stood right in front of him, and when he opened his eyes, I was standing there."

That weekend, Zavier scored his first NFL touchdown in the Colts preseason game. He also racked up 55 rushing yards … the same number as McKenna's car.

The couple was thrown for a loop when Zavier fell victim to Indy's final roster cuts. But again, they had faith everything would work out.

Zavier had a few options. After praying and having a dream about playing for a purple team, however, he opted for Minnesota.

"I still thought for a bit, 'Did I make the right decision? Am I supposed to be here?' But the next day, it was instant clarity," he reflected. "This is where I'm supposed to be."

Zavier also prayed that he'd find a mentor in Minnesota, a veteran player who'd organically show the young RB the ropes.

Look no further than C.J. Ham.

"He took me under his wing," Zavier said. "I have so much respect for him and how he's played, how he's lived as a man and as a believer … and I'm thankful for the friend and teammate he's become.

"I'm so glad I'm here," Zavier added. "I love everything about Minnesota."

He and McKenna were married in March, fittingly posing in one of their photos with his and hers helmets.

A lengthy physical healing process resulted in McKenna missing several previously scheduled sprint car races, and she's subsequently pivoted (at least for now) to stock car racing. The transition has meant a more open schedule for McKenna, as she's only driving and not working on her own car, and she's thrilled to be more present during Zavier's training camp and preseason in Minnesota.

"I record everything he does during practice," she laughed. "It's probably kind of excessive. But it's cool. It's fun watching him pursue his dreams; you don't get many opportunities in the NFL.

"I'm racing a part-time schedule," McKenna added. "It's important to me to be at his football stuff and make that more of a priority right now."

She and Zavier know they live a life of uncertainty, but they love each other and love what each does. And whatever comes around that next corner? They're ready for it.

"You have to just trust in what you can't see yet, and that's where faith comes in," McKenna said. "There might be things that God puts on your heart that come to fruition, but there might be things you weren't expecting at all… And I think coming to Minnesota is a big part of that. Sometimes you make a transition in life that you're not sure about, but then you can look back and say, 'I can't imagine life without these people.' "