Page 64 of The Champion
“I think I have a pool of water in each cup from all thissweat.”
Jameson grinned wider. “That’s attractive.”
“Hey,” I shifted handing him to Axel to him airing myselfout. That kid produced a lot of heat. “I aim to please.”
“That you do honey.” Axel bounced in his arms when therace day activity kicked up. A thriving country band, surrounded by screamingfans, played their new single on the stage located in the infield grass. Itreminded me of a time when Jameson and I would sit in the infield at the localdirt tracks surrounded by country music, old trucks, and tailgates down sittingon coolers full of beer.
Jameson’s arms snuck around my waist swaying to the musicas he held our son.
“I wasn’t referring to the heat either.”
Leaning back against his chest, I whispered, “I know.”
I knew he was referring to our time spent in this exactlocation a year ago. Me feeling like I was about to burst with anxiety and him,though I didn’t know at the time, experiencing that gnawing dread of wantingsomething you thought was completely out of reach.
But here we were, a year later, after overcoming tragedy,together.
There wasn’t a single breeze that day. The heat scorchedhigh in the sky over Lowe’s Motor Speedway grid of forty three cars waiting forthe race to begin.
Though I thought for sure they were lying, thethermometer said it was a hundred and four. It had to be at least two hundreddegrees. I was sure of it.
Jameson, to prepare for the heat today, had been carryingaround a gallon water bottle and was well on his way through his second gallon.
“I know in about an hour,” he shook the half empty gallonjug. “I’m gonna have to pee.”
“And then what?” I asked laughing at the thought of himasking to stop the race for a bathroom break.
“I just hold it.” He looked down to sign an autographfrom a pint-sized fan who approached.
“What if you can’t?”
“You just go.”
I had a feeling this happened before. He’d been awfullyquick to change his uniform after the Texas race.
On days like this when the temperature outside broke ahundred, the heat inside the cars peaked one forty. A driver’s biggest concernwas the heat. With the safety equipment they wore, gloves, and a complete racingsuit, they felt the heat.
The exhaust systems ran underneath the driver’s feet andthe heat from the engine and transmission was intense.
With all that heat, they sweat. And when they sweat, itdoesn’t pool in their bra. It’s absorbed by their suit usually but it leads todehydration eventually. It’s not uncommon for a driver to lose about fivepounds during a race just from water weight.
The problem is that dehydration leads to more blood flowthroughout your body trying to cool you off and less reaching your vitalorgans. In turn, you deal with impaired concentration, decreased energy andfatigue. That’s not exactly ideal when inside a car pushing two-hundred andsurrounded by concrete walls.
Jameson had a good ritual on days like this. He’d watch theweather closely, prepare by drinking lots of water and eliminating soda andalcohol, two things that could dehydrate you quickly.
Back in the days when he raced sprint cars on dirt, he’dpack his racing suit with ice packs just prior to the feature events but nowthey had cooling systems in their helmets that circulated air and also a “cool”shirt. These shirts have about fifty feet of tubing inside of them that has theability to keep you cool by flipping a temperature switch. They also havesomething similar built into their seat to cool them and it’s controlled by anauxiliary switch on their dash.
Kyle caught me when Jameson was with the media and askedmy thoughts on how Jameson would handle the heat today.
“Are you worried?” I asked. Kyle never showed emotions onrace day. He kept his, thoughts and remarks, focused on the race and winning.
“No but I want to be sure he’s gonna be okay.” He fiddledwith his head set adjusting the volume as I’m sure Mason was asking himquestions. They used headsets even when Jameson wasn’t on the track. It waseasier to communicate that way when the team was spread out around the track.“It’s hot.”
“You’re telling me.” I laughed fanning my face with myhand. “I think my bra has a gallon of sweat in it.”
Kyle looked around to see who heard me and then chuckledreturning his head set to his ears. “Always a pleasure conversing with youSway,”
Before Jameson got in the car that afternoon and preparedfor six hundred miles, I handed Axel over to Nancy who took him inside theair-conditioned towers. It was too hot for him. Hell, it was too hot for me andmy pooling sweat.
