Page 87 of The Legend
I wantedkids, eventually, but right now just didn’t seem like the time. I would bestarting my second-season that year andwantedthat championship. I wasafraid my focus wouldn’t be there now.
Lilywasn’t coming with us to Knoxville. She was staying with her mom for the weeksince she had just had surgery on her back.
I guessnow would be my time to adjust to everything.
Themorning we left, everyone met at the shop and we decided who was coming and whohad other plans. We ended up taking a variety of crew members and a few guysfrom CST Engines.
Lane, Coleand Logan were flying out with me and Tommy. Everyone else was already thereincluding my dad. Casten decided to stay home that weekend with the girls,something about a date with a girl but I later found out he was grounded again.
Racing inthe winter generally wasn’t done anywhere other than Tulsa for the Chili Bowl,Irwindalefor Turkey night or Australia. Usually, it wastoo damn cold usually.
But thisyear Knoxville Raceway was doing an event called Frost Nationals which was athree day event to kick off Speedweeks before Daytona and the opening of theWorld of Outlaws in Barberville. Each night would have main events. From adriver’s point of view, this was ideal.
The nextnight, it started all over. That was ideal because it didn’t matter if youfucked up and got a bad spot on Wednesday. On Thursday, it was a clean slate soto speak.
No points,just money; a million dollars to be exact. None of us did it for the moneythough, we all just wanted to race. The joke was, since my dad was going,“Million Dollar Maybe” they called him, would win it. They called him thatbecause anytime someone asked him if he would win, he said maybe. Anytime hesaid maybe, he won.
Dad was ofcourse set to race along with Justin, Cody, Rager and Tyler. It would be astacked field for sure.
I didn’tknow grandpa was racing until we were standing outside the registration booth.
“Holy shitdude!” Shane reached for the entry list, his eyes wide. “Jimi’s racingtonight?”
Huh?
I rippedthe sheet from his hands and looked back at my dad who was signing the waver.“Did you know about this?”
He smirkedhanding the clipboard toward Justin on the other side of him. “Who do you thinkgot his car ready?”
It wasn’tthat I didn’t want grandpa racing. I wanted to race against the best but hewasn’t exactly in the best shape these days. At sixty-five, he was getting old;not that he was the oldest guy to race sprint cars these days.
BuckyMiers after ten years in retirement climbed in a USAC Silver Crown car lastyear to prove a point he still had it in him and he was seventy-six.
Age nevermattered in racing but physical condition did. With a hip surgery, a recentheart valve replacement and more concussions than any brain needed, hisphysical condition wasn’t great.
“Doesgrandma know your old ass it racing?” Lane asked nudging grandpa in the ribs ashe pulled his racing suit over his broad shoulders getting ready for hot laps.
“Boy,” hedrawled out slowly with a smirk I hadn’t seen in a while, “your grandma wouldnever question why I wanted to get back in the car.”
“Shedoesn’t get scared?” I asked standing next to them, my dad followed behind me.
“Womenthat marry racers love them for who they are and never question why they getbehind the wheel. And when it all falls apart, they are right there, puttingthe pieces together again.”
I didn’tlike the way he said “falls apart”. Even dad, who stood next to him, glanced upwhen he said that and then walked away shaking his head.
Lanelaughed and walked toward Cole and Logan who were trying to wrestle my dad tothe ground when I blurted out the first thing on my mind.
“Lily’spregnant.” I don’t know why I said it right then, it just came out. Maybebecause I was scared and I thought if I told someone maybe I wouldn’t feel soscared.
“No shit?”Grandpa said nodding his head in approval.
“Uh-huh.” Igave him this half smile, half scared shitless look that made him chuckle.
“Youexcited?”
“I guessso.” There wasn’t much I could say about it. She didn’t even know how far alongshe was just that she had a positive test and we would be parents in nine monthsor so. That literally scared the shit out of me.
“Didn’ttake you long,” He laughed leaning against the hauler behind him crossing hisfeet over one another when Tommy walked up.
