Page 185 of The Legend
31.Drive Train – Jameson
Drive Train– The components of an automotive vehicle that connect the transmission withthe driving axles and include the universal joint and drive shaft.
How do youdecide how much of yourself you’re going to put into something?
It’s a toughdecision to make.
Come Marchand all my friends were back to racing, I was bored and wanting inside of a caragain. More importantly, I wanted to go back to sprint car racing.
Thethought scared me and instantly made me think of the accident that took my dadand nearly killed me. But if I never got back in one, I would never get overthat fear.
My otherthought was could I just go out there for fun?
The thingwas, I found the idea of guys just racing for fun ludicrous. If you didn’t cometo win, why race at all.
Afterspending a few weeks at Grays Harbor in April getting the track reading withVan, who took over as General Manager there, my decision was set. I wouldreturn to racing sprint cars with the World of Outlaws. It wasn’t hard to finda sponsor. In fact, Simplex sponsored Justin’s car and mine along with SolarSeals, JV Manufacturing and Colton Construction.
All thatled me to Lernerville in May. The first time I returned to a sprint car.
Don’tthink I wasn’t nervous because I was.
Most of ourfamily was there along with my entire JARRacingteamthat Axel had merged with. It was a lot easier than having two sprint carteams.
Was Inervous to get inside a sprint car?
Yes.Very nervous.I had some flash backs of Knoxville and theaccident but just like that crash in Pocono, Sway was there to calm me down.
After techinspection, we were standing outside the hauler with Axel and the boys. Theheat of the afternoon had peaked and left most of the guys with the suitspulled down around their waist and no shirts. I was one of them.
Sway’sarms wrapped around my waist and she pressed herself into my back. Kissing overmy shoulder blade, I felt her smile against my skin. I smiled too rememberingthis very same scene as kids.
I thinkthat’s why I went back to sprint car racing, or wanted to at least. There aretimes when you get older that you’re reminded of what made you happy as achild. It’s almost like it is your hearts way of reminding you of where youcame from and what you were made of.
That’s whyI came back.
Beinghere, with Sway, and the kids, my friends surrounded by the only lifestyle Iknew was what I needed. I thought retirement was what I needed for myself andSway, especially after the accident. It felt like we had lost our connection whenall along, we needed each other and this.
Twistingin Sway’s arms, my lips found hers remembering the way they molded to mine asone.
When I gotback into the car that night, the fear hit me a few times and I wasn’tcompetitive when I got caught up early on with a driver out of California.
All inall, my first race wasn’t eventful. I showed up, raced, talked with fans,signed autographs, flirted with my wife and threw back beers with the boys. Itwas the mostlaidback night of racing I had everexperienced. There was no pressing media or rival drivers, it was just racingand in the purest form.
We endedup staying in a hotel after the race with the rest of the family, even my mom,and it was just like every other experience I’ve had with my family. A few getdrunk, others fight, and we end up nearly getting kicked out of the hotel.
At somepoint Tommy and Willie took off to Pittsburg and we never saw them again. Theonly problem with that was they took our sixteen-year-old son with them.
“Jameson,” Sway said to me that morning with her concerned motherly tone shehad about three times during the course of our marriage. “I’m not okay withCasten parting with Willie. The dude’s got some issues.”
Peeking up over my cup of coffee, I smiled. “I know honey. I didn’t say hecould go...but I alsodidn’t stop them.”
She seemed to contemplate for a minute and then shrugged. “I hope they’re notin jail. I really don’t want to bail my son out of jail.”
Not more than two minutes later, Casten came back to the room with my mom, whowas wearing a handful of beaded necklaces around her neck and another one thathad a shot glass tied to it.
As soon as her knees hit the side of the bed, she fell face first into themattress and was asleep a second later.
Casten satnext to her and sighed, his expression something similar to that of a concernedparent as he stroked the back of her head petting her. “Poor girl, she had arough night.”
