Page 139 of The Champion
Look at when I started in USAC on the East Coast. Sure, Ihad money but my money did nothing for me when I came head-to-head with thefire-breathing beasts from the East. Talent got me where I am today and talenthas gotten Axel where he is, currently in first place with one lap to go.
He’d been battling hard, swapping the lead with a kidnamed, Shane Jennings, when Shane’s front right tire caught Axel’s left rear.Axel wobbled slightly while Shane smashed into the tire barriers leaving Axelto take the win.
I had seen him win before, but the Battle at theBrickyard would be comparable to me winning the Daytona 500, something I hadyet to do.
His fan club was jumping up and down, my mom included.Sway appeared to be crying, which was nothing new. When it came to ourchildren, she was a little basket case.
When the cars pulled off the track Axel came back aroundto be presented the trophy.
“Is Shane okay?” was his first question.
“Yeah buddy, he’s fine. See, he’s right there.” I pointedto Shane who gave Axel a thumbs-up and walked back, with his dad, toward thewall to his car.
The next thing he asked, “Are you proud of me?”
I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why he alwaysasked this. “What would ever make you think I wasn’t proud of you?” I askedhugging him once he untangled himself from his belts.
He seemed to contemplate this for a moment, notimmediately answering. When he did his voice was small and quiet. “You andgrandpa...you are...legends.” he shrugged as his eyes fell. “I just wanna make youproud of me. I wanna be like you.” He avoided my eyes, looking at his shoes.
Placing my hand gently under his chin, I forced him tolook me in the eye. “You are buddy. Everything about you is just like me. Idon’t know if you should be proud, or worried.” We both chuckled and before wecould have any longer in our father-son moment, the announcer was wanting tointerview him.
“Did you have a good time?” he asked Axel who stoodstrong beside me.
“Yep,”
“Did your dad give you any advice here?” He motioned tome.
Axel looked up at me and winked. “Yep, he told me, bepatient.”
“Well, considering your dad is a NASCAR cup serieschampion...you should listen to him,huh?”
“I did.”
“Yes you did, because this monster trophy is bigger thanyou!” he handed Axel the trophy that was no doubt bigger than my little pintsized son. “Ladies and Gentlemen,” the crowd whistled and screamed, most ofwhich came from our family. “The winner of the Jr. Animal 120 class...Axel Riley!”
My dad was right when he told me nothing compares toseeing your kids’ dreams come true. I just hoped that this washis dreamand not something that he felt he had to live up to some unspoken expectation.I never wanted him to feel like this was something he had to do. Knowing hewanted to race was comforting. I never forced him to do this but in the back ofmy mind I wondered if all that pressure I put upon myself to be great wassomehow imparted to him to do the same.
Either way, I needed to be careful of the yellow lines.They blurred so easily when it came to parenting. It’s easy to let yourselfpush your dreams toward them, but the line needs to be drawn. They are their ownpeople and they have every right to live their dreams and not yours.
One thing I did before we left that night, I found thatwoman I turned down the autograph for a made sure she got the autograph she waslooking for. To me, that was me showing my appreciation for her respecting myprivacy.
18.Stop-and-Go Penalty –Sway
Stop-and-GoPenalty – A penalty which requires a driver to stop at their teams pit for atimed penalty before re-entering the race. This penalty can be assessed for anythingfrom speeding in the pits to contact with an opponent.
“We need a night out Sway. We just do!” Emma stressedpulling at her hair as she watched Noah smack his brother in the thigh with aplastic knife.
“If those were my kids, I’d have to agree with you.” Itold her taking another drink of my mocha.
I couldn’t get enough coffee these days. It seemed, likewith everything else, our lifestyle was catching up with me and I turned tocoffee. I had this deal with myself that if I drank coffee, for every cup Ihad, I had to drink a full glance of water. This just met I was drinking allthe time and when I wasn’t drinking something, I was peeing.
I was now down to two cups a day because I couldn’t spendmy life in the bathroom.
All my habits aside, we did need a break. It was themiddle of the season and the battle for the chase was in full swing. Jamesonwas riding in the wild card spot and just as hungry for the spot as the otherfour drivers in line.
With a string of three top twenty finishes, he haddropped from his fifth place position in the points to eleven and was feelingthe pressure. In turn, we all felt the pressure building. Jameson was goodabout controlling it but there were the times when he would lash out at hiscrew or the guys back at the shop for simple mistakes. He couldn’t blame themfor everything as he himself was struggling on the track. It happens to everydriver out there and they all took it just as personally as Jameson did.
“So, about going out...”Emma caught my stare at the wall. “I was thinking we could sneak out when theguys are in Atlanta.”
