Page 80 of Trading Paint
“Another one huh?”I motioned to his trophy. “Do you even have room for that?”
He glanced down at it smiling.
“You know as well as I do, it’s not about the trophy.”
I nodded looking down at my feet. He slung his arm around my shoulder as we walked back to the haulers.
“Let’s go get that Triple Crown.”
“Sounds good to me,” I told him with a grin.
The following Wednesday was the last point race of the season and marked the end of the USAC schedule. After this race at Giant Chevrolet Speedway, we would know the winner.
Even though this was the last race my nightly routine was pretty simple and hadn’t changed much besides maybe a few interviews on my thoughts about the title chase.
We were all at the track by two that day. The race was under the lights for the effect I could only assume.
Our entire family was there and many of my brother’s friends had shown up along with a few of mine. The pressure to win was there but I also wanted to win badly to show everyone that I had done it.
Part of me, and this was a very small fraction, wanted Chelsea there to see it. After her harsh remarks, I wanted to say, “See, I told you I would make it.”
Sway and I walked up to the pit entrance together with my arm thrown over her shoulder. I handed over my credentials which consisted of was my suspended driver license, my USAC license and my insurance card. I also had to sign the liability waiver and list all the crewmembers we had with us that night.
Two people I thought I’d never see again showed up, Kenny and Holden from the dreadful race in Republic.
I laughed when they walked up behind us.
“Doyousgot room on that crew of yours?” Kenny asked.
I smiled, as didSwaywho reached up to hug the old roughed up boys from Republic.
“Sure.” I motioned for them to come with us.
When Tommy saw help coming, he was all smiles. He was another one that could use a break.
These days we were hauling around a grill to make our own food so my mom and Sway began cooking burgers and hot dogs for everyone. I was so worked up over this race and it being the end of the most grueling season that I was hardly myself.
I barely spoke to anyone. I stayed away from Sway, and the two women who threw themselves at me when I walked toward the bathrooms probably thought I was the world’s biggest asshole when I told them to get away from me. I just wasn’t in the mood. I wasn’t in the mood for anything, only for this to be over with.
After we ate, the pit steward came around and had us draw pills to see what group we ran with for the hot laps.
When hot laps were underway, it was a battle with adjustments trying to prepare the car for the race.
That night we were in a USAC sprint car, which was non-winged. The setups were completely different because once you take away that wing all your down-force is gone. You struggle to find grip anywhere you can which means an entirely different spring and shock setup as well as stagger and air pressure adjustments.
I made an appearance in the hospitality tent for Bowman Oil and Sound Logistics, a sponsor I had recently picked up, that manufacture exhaust systems.
Between those two sponsors and Bucky I was able to run the remainder of the USAC season with a full sponsorship which helped considerably since I’d torn up more sprint cars this year than I cared to admit.
Time trials started after that and Sway handed me a bottle of water before I got inside the car but took off in another direction when a girl came up and asked for my autograph.
She was polite so I said yes but I couldn’t help but wonder why Sway was reacting the way she was. These last two months she disappeared instantly when another woman would come near me.
Time trails set the field for the feature events. There was still last chance qualifiers in the sense that if you placed in the top two of your feature you could advance to the next. Tonight they had 3-Feature events. If you were the top two in the C-Feature, you advanced to the B-Feature. The A-Feature was fielded by the top nineteen qualifiers with four transfer spots available. The top four from the B-Feature started in the rear of the A-Feature. Each track was different but this was how most of them operated.
Dad caught me before the main when I was lined up on the front stretch. He ran out there and stuck his head inside the car. “You got this kid, don’t think,drive!” He yelled over the idling engine.
I only nodded, there was no way he’d hear me even if I did say anything.
