Published in the May, 2026 issue / Issue# 33 There are origin stories, and there are origin stories. David Allen’s begins in Speedway, Indiana, a town whose name alone tells you something about its priorities, where he grew up in the shadow of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His high school mascot was the Spark Plugs. A character named Sparky jogged around the football field. It was, by his own admission, a little embarrassing. ​ But that quirky Midwestern upbringing planted