Claire Russell is hurting. You can see it in the way she leans against her modified Thorton Mackinaw, "Beast," and you can definitely hear it in the gravelly fatigue of her voice. When you first pick up the phone for Cyberpunk 2077 The Beast in me, it feels like a standard open-world distraction. You expect a high-octane racing circuit. You expect to burn rubber through the Badlands and the neon-soaked streets of Watson. But CD Projekt Red pulled a fast one here. This isn’t actually a racing quest. It’s a messy, emotionally volatile story about grief, transition, and the toxic nature of revenge in a city that eats souls for breakfast.
Most players approach this questline looking for a trophy or a new car. Honestly, that's the first mistake. If you’re just hitting the gas and ignoring the dialogue between races, you’re missing the actual point of Claire’s arc.
The Reality of Racing in Night City
The quest kicks off after you’ve spent some time at Afterlife. Claire, the bartender who usually serves you your "Johnny Silverhand," pulls you aside for a business proposition. She wants a driver. She’s the gunner. Together, you’re supposed to take on the "Qualifying Races" to reach the big finale.
There are four main races: City Center, Badlands, Santo Domingo, and the Big Race. Each one feels different. The Badlands leg is a dusty, chaotic mess where visibility is garbage, while the Santo Domingo route tests your ability to handle tight corners without mowing down pedestrians. But throughout these laps, the conversation in the cabin shifts. Claire stops talking about the engine. She starts talking about Dean, her late husband.
Dean died during a previous race. According to Claire, it wasn't an accident. She blames Peter Sampson, a corporate-sponsored driver who she claims murdered Dean on the track. This is where Cyberpunk 2077 The Beast in me stops being about the checkered flag and starts being a character study. You're not just a driver anymore; you're an accomplice to a potential execution.
It’s Never Just About the Finish Line
The game doesn't make it easy to be a "hero" here. Because Night City doesn't have heroes.
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During the third race in Santo Domingo, Claire finally drops the mask. She admits that winning the trophy means nothing to her. She wants Sampson dead. This is a pivotal moment for V. You can try to talk her down, telling her that the race is the priority, or you can lean into her thirst for blood.
Here is the kicker: if you don’t play your cards right in the dialogue options during these interludes, you lose the chance to get the "best" outcome. Many players think the choice only happens at the very end. Wrong. If you don't explicitly tell Claire that your priority is winning—not killing—after the Santo Domingo race, she won't listen to you during the finale. It’s a subtle bit of narrative branching that rewards players for actually paying attention to the subtext of her grief.
The Problem With Peter Sampson
Sampson is a "corpo" jerk. He’s arrogant. He drives a Type-66 Cthulhu that looks like it was forged in the pits of a very stylish hell. But is he a murderer?
When you finally reach the "Big Race," the script flips. After a high-speed chase through the city, Sampson’s car trashes out. He’s crawling out of the wreckage, bleeding, and he tells his side of the story. He claims Dean’s death was a racing accident. In the world of death-races where people are literally shooting lead at each other, death is an occupational hazard.
You stand there. Claire has her gun out. The Beast is idling in the background. This is the climax of Cyberpunk 2077 The Beast in me, and it’s one of the few times the game asks you to mediate a conflict where both sides are technically telling the truth from their own perspective. Claire is blinded by a year of mourning. Sampson is a man who played by the brutal rules of the street and won.
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What You Actually Get (The Loot Breakdown)
Let’s talk rewards, because "The Beast in Me" offers some of the best vehicles in the game.
- The Beast: Claire’s custom Thorton Mackinaw. It’s a tank. It handles like a brick, but it’ll crush anything in its way. You get this regardless of most choices, provided you finish the quest.
- Quadra Type-66 Cthulhu: This is Sampson’s car. It is, objectively, one of the coolest-looking rides in Night City. To get this for free, you have to convince Claire to let Sampson live. If he dies, you have to buy it later for a hefty sum of eddies.
If you save Sampson, he eventually emails you and gives you the car out of gratitude. It’s a rare moment of corporate "honor" in a game that usually treats corporations as faceless monsters. But the emotional cost? Claire is devastated. She leaves the Afterlife for a while. She feels betrayed by V.
The Nuance of Claire's Identity
We need to talk about why this quest matters for representation. Claire Russell is one of the most prominent transgender characters in AAA gaming, and CD Projekt Red handled it with a refreshing lack of fanfare. She mentions her transition casually, noting that Dean supported her through it.
It isn't a "plot point." It isn't a "twist." It’s just a facet of who she is.
This makes her obsession with Dean even more poignant. He wasn't just her husband; he was her anchor in a world that can be incredibly hostile. When Sampson "took" him, he took her safety. Understanding this context changes the weight of the final confrontation. When you tell Claire to put the gun down, you aren't just saving a racer; you're trying to save Claire from being consumed by her own trauma.
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Technical Tips for the Races
The driving mechanics in Cyberpunk 2077 have been tweaked a lot since the 1.0 launch. If you're playing on the 2.0+ patches, the cars feel heavier and more responsive.
- Don't worry about lead. The game uses "rubber-banding" heavily in these races. This means if you get too far ahead, the AI speeds up to catch you. If you fall behind, they slow down. Focus on not crashing rather than maintain a massive lead.
- The Beast is a monster in the Badlands. Use the suspension to your advantage. While other cars are bouncing off dunes, you can plow straight through.
- Brake before the turn. Simple, but most people try to drift like it's Need for Speed. In Cyberpunk, if you don't hit the brakes before a sharp 90-degree turn in the City Center, you're going into a wall.
How to Get the "Peaceful" Ending
To ensure you can save Sampson and walk away with both cars, follow these exact steps:
After the third race (Santo Domingo), Claire will sit with you and talk about her husband. When she asks for your help to kill Sampson, you must choose the dialogue option: "My priority is winning." Do not agree to help her kill him.
During the final race, stay close to Sampson. When he veers off the track into the industrial area, follow him. Do not finish the race. When you reach the crash site, wait for the dialogue to play out. Keep telling Claire to let him go. If you laid the groundwork in the earlier conversation, she will eventually lower her weapon.
It's a bitter ending. She’s unhappy. You’ve technically "failed" your friend. But in the grand scheme of Night City, stopping a cycle of violence is the closest thing to a win you’re going to get.
Actionable Next Steps for Players
- Check your vehicle stash: If you already finished this quest and Sampson died, head to the "Autofixer" terminals. You can still buy the Cthulhu, though it’ll cost you about 70,000 eddies.
- Listen to the radio: After the quest, pay attention to the news reports in elevators. Sometimes the results of the "Great Race" get a mention, depending on who lived.
- Visit the Afterlife: Go talk to Claire behind the bar after a few in-game days. The dialogue changes based on how you handled her "Beast."
Ultimately, Cyberpunk 2077 The Beast in me is a reminder that in Night City, the shiny chrome usually hides a lot of rust and regret. Whether you choose to be an assassin or a sportsman is up to you, but the game won't let you forget the choice. No matter how fast you drive, you can't outrun the ghost of Dean Russell. It’s just the way it is.