Page 52 of The Legend
She put the frozen corn down her shirt. “Nah, I’m gonnawatch a movie.”
“Why do we pay her?”
Sway laughed leading me upstairs to our room, “Becauseshe’s funny.”
Though Sway was good at taking my mind off the news, Istill couldn’t get over the fact that no one would ever forget the Darrin deal.They used every chance they could to bring it up again and I hated it. I wantedto forget it. Ultimately it was my own doing. I went after him. I took the lawinto my own hands when they did nothing to protect my family. Though I wasnever charged with anything, Darrin was never found the assumption was stillthere by everyone, media included.
The thing was, as public sports figures, our lives are likeopen wheel race cars. We’re subjected to everything the outside world wants tothrow at us. Like an open wheel car, we had to be careful how close we get to othercars and how closely we race with others. Just a shift of inch in the wrongdirection surrounded by others and you’re in the catch fence.
Heading into the Monster Million, Spencer had to have kneesurgery and wasn’t cleared to be pitting for me just yet. I wasn’t excited tohave him gone for the simple fact that it was a race that gave the pit crews arare chance at recognition, something they rarely got. I will say that the waythe sport had advanced over the years. They received far more public recognitionthan they had ever seen in the past. Nowadays they were introduced to the crowdbefore races, had their names on their uniforms and even interviewed thembefore and after races much like the drivers, crew chiefs and owners.
With Spencer recovering from knee surgery, I was confidentI wouldn’t be finding any glitter bombs in my helmet that weekend or my shoelaces cut, or worse, shoe polish on my sunglasses. I missed the asshole but Iwas surprisingly relaxed. It was strange not having him there. Every Cup race Ihave raced in, Spencer has been there to raise my window net.
I flew out to Dover Delaware on Thursday morning with Bobbyand Paul. The crew arrived later that afternoon, as did my family. I’m not surewhy Spencer chose to stay home but if I had to guess, it might have been fromthe knee surgery and a vasectomy in the same week.
Who did come with us, everyone else! We had most of ourfamily, including the kids, aside from Axel and Lane who were in Las Vegas forthe Supercross/Freestyle championships. The majority of the sprint car guysmade it out and most of the boys at the shop came, including Grady. Up untilnow, Grady had never been with us to a NASCAR event. This gave me a chance tosee how he was doing and if I could trust him enough to be doing jobs otherthan just fabrication and cleaning bolt on parts.
Grady kept busy with the crew trying to help in any way hecould, but the troublemakers seemed to be Casten and Cole. No surprise there.Since they arrived, I think I had smacked Casten upside the head five times andeven got Cole once or twice. Cole stayed clear of me most of the time. Heclaimed I was unstable. True but it still amused me.
Cole and Casten, looking for girls, were hanging around thehauler right before the meet and greet where all the drivers mingled with thefans in the stands and tried to persuade them to vote for us. I wasn’t exactlyexcited about the meet and greet but understood the benefits. Last year I waschosen because I signed a woman’s tits. No one confirmed that but I like tothink it sealed the deal for me. Let me rephrase the way I said “signing hertits”. I didn’t sign her bare chest or anything, but I have done that in thepast, only it was my wife, that’s beside the point. I was there in the infield lastyear, rousing the fans when a woman in her mid-thirties asked me to sign herchest. She said if I did, she’d get everyone to vote for me. What kind ofdriver would I be if I didn’t agree?
She not only got my signature but she got a half-dozenother drivers to do it and we were all chosen too.
Tate chuckled, his hands reached up to adjust hisDoncoOil hat, as we walked to the infield from thepaddock. “Do you think that chick that had us sign her tits is here this year?”
Bobby came up behind us throwing his arms around ourshoulders. “If she is gentlemen, I will be finding her!”
Casten and Cole, jetted past us heading for the infield.“Dude, where’s the chick with her tits hanging out?”
“Please stop him,” Alley asked annoyed with Cole as her andSway caught up to us as well. Most of the families tagged along to thisparticular meet and greet. “I don’t want to see my kid on the news againanytime soon.”
Alley was referring to the street fire incident. Alley hadbeen out of town visiting her parents when the street fire happened. Much likeus, she found out about it watching the news.
I reached out and smacked the back of Cole’s head. “Stopit. You’re stressing out your mom. That’s my job.”
“Why do you let him do that?” Casten asked him slowing downto keep step with his cousin. “He’s not your dad. It’s not like yougottalisten to him.”
“He scares the shit out of me. Of course I’m going tolisten to him.”
“Pussy,” Casten mumbled.
I smacked the back of his head. “Have some class.”
“Oh sorry,” he laughed trying to trip me. “What’s theproper term? Oh right…Crankcase!”
Shaking my head was about all I could do.
Open Wheel – Sway
Over theyears meet and greets weren’t my thing. Being as enthused as my husband, Iunderstood why Jameson hated them so much. When you’re in the spotlight like heis, or even the rest of his family, our kids and myself included, the meet andgreets had turned into an invasion of privacy and the questions they asked eachyear got more and more personal. Would you feel comfortable telling them aboutyour personal lives?
Probablynot
A girl allof thirteen was talking to Jameson about USAC racing, Casten intently listeningto her. It surprised the hell out of me. Casten usually never paid any mind togirls his own age.
Jameson’sattention, though he was smiling, seemed to be more on the crowd rather thanthe polite girl standing before him. It was getting slightly out of hand withthe thousands of fans flooding the infield of the Monster Mile in Dover butthat’s what this race was about.
It wasdifferent than the All-Star race held the weekend before the Coca-Cola 600 raceas this one was strictly based on votes.
