Wreckers or Checkers: In It to Win It Page 4

  When I came out of the room he looked at me, “What the fuck were you doing?” he asked with his eyes narrowed.

  “If you really want to know I just watched Chass fuck herself with a dildo and I rubbed one off while I watched her.” I told him then reached up and patted his face with my hand. He slapped my hand away and started gagging as I walked out of the RV.

  Jerod caught up with me and punched me in the ribs, “You’re a sick son of a bitch! So was the show awesome?” he asked.

  I glared at him, “Fuck you, she thinks I’m not coming home until tomorrow but I’ve already got a flight booked out for after the race is over. I think my ticket is for eleven this evening.”

  “What the fuck man, I’ll fly with you, I know you get scared.” He told me.

  I snorted and shook my head, “We’ll have to talk it over with Mitch and Jason first, Mitch might want to fly with me so he can get back to Asher.”

  Once we were at the trailer, Jason had just finished up putting tear offs on my helmet, and Mitch was double checking tire pressure. Cameron and his girlfriend came into the trailer a few minutes later.

  “You ready for the big dance?” he asked and reached out to shake my hand.

  “Yeah, I think so, just gotta keep my head on straight.”

  “When are you leaving tonight or tomorrow morning?”

  “Well, I’ve got a ticket booked to fly out tonight around eleven.” I told him then looked at Jason who had a confused look on his face.

  “I was going to talk to you guys about something. My girlfriend has a cousin that lives in the same town as you go to college. She just had a baby and we were planning on making the trip there to see her. I’ll drive the rig and she’ll follow me if ya’ll want to just go home tonight?” he told us.

  “Hell yes!” Mitch, Jason, and Jerod all said at the same time.

  “That’s settled then, I’ll leave you boys alone and we’ll see you in Victory Lane.” He said with a smile then they turned and walked away.

  “Holy shit! I’ve gotta call and get tickets, then let Asher know.” Mitch said.

  “No! We will just surprise them.” I told him.

  I called Mike to see if they had arrived at the track, he told me they were going to sit in the grandstands since Kim wasn’t up for all the walking. I offered to get Lawrence to drive them around but he said Chase would be able to see better from the stands. He wished me good luck before handing the phone to Chase.

  “Jet, good luck tonight. I’ve got your shirt on and a sign we made for you!” he told me practically screaming it into the phone.

  “Right on buddy! I’ll see you after the races okay?”

  “Can we come to winners circle when you win?”

  I laughed, “If I win we’ll have somebody bring you guys down how’s that sound?”

  “AWESOME! Good luck!” he said then handed the phone back to Mike that handed it to Kim.

  “Good Luck Jet we are sporting all the gear you guys gave us, and we made you a sign last night. Chase worked his little heart out on it I’ll send you a picture when we hang up.”

  “Thank you Kim, I’ll talk to you guys after the races.”

  We hung up, then a few minutes later she sent me a picture of all three of them holding a sign up that had a race car that Chase had drawn and my number 52/1J in bright red marker on it then #1 Go JET! I smiled and sent her a Thank You text back. I text Lance to make sure that Chassis and Asher were at the house to watch, he text me back letting me know the house was packed and that they were both there. I went into the trailer and changed into my fire suit, when I came out Riley was standing beside the car. I rolled my eyes as I walked past her.

  “I just wanted to stop by and tell you good luck.” She said with a smile.

  “Thanks, do me a favor please though…stay the fuck away from me from now on.” I said and stepped around her then climbed in the car. I didn’t bother looking back at her, I started fastening my seatbelts then pulled my fireproof gear on. After she walked away Jason came over to the car and bent down resting his forearms on the sheet metal of the door. “Don’t let her get in your head, you’ve got a good chance at winning this. Keep your head in the game and drive this mother fucker like you stole it!”

  “I think I’ve made my point pretty clear that she needs to leave me the fuck alone. I’m more worried about finishing with Cameron’s car in one piece.” I told him.

  “You’ll do just fine. Good luck!” He patted me on the shoulder, put my window net up then stepped away from the car. I put my helmet on, pulled out of the pit stall and drove over to the line-up area.

  I had been asked by numerous people, “What’s going through your head while you’re waiting in line-up to race? Do you get nervous?” I had never thought about it until they asked me, I have fallen asleep in the line-up area if the race before us is full of cautions. I’ve sat there texting on my phone, I quit doing that after people continued texting me while I was racing though. I wouldn’t say I get NERVOUS nervous, if anything it’s more the adrenaline rush and waiting. My brother always told me, “You’re one twitchy mother fucker, you’re like a crack head waiting for their next hit. Shaking your leg back and forth and drumming your fingers on the steering wheel or decking, I still don’t see how they’ve never diagnosed you as having that ADHD!” I sat there in my car laughing to myself when movement out the corner of my eye caught my attention. I turned my head and there was a camera crew walking past all of us drivers. I held up the peace sign and smiled, and yes my leg was practically shaking the entire car. “Alright guys, there’s only 5 to go, get your cars fired up. Remember it’s three wide once you pull onto the track. Then you’ll do one parade lap, stay three wide and hit that loud pedal when that green flag drops!” The guy told us in our race receivers. He came back on when the race was completed and it was time for us to pull on the track.

  We made one lap slowly for the fans that were lined all around the racetrack. I was starting on the fifth row on the inside. “Green next time around!” the overly energetic guy said to us over the race receivers. The car behind me pushed at my back bumper as we gained speed down the back stretch. I reached up pulled on the straps to my seat belts to tighten them one last time, “GREEN GREEN GREEN GO GO GO!” The guy practically screamed at us. Out of turn four the cars in front of me were beating and banging off of each other, the car behind me was trying to spin me out and the car beside me was pinching me off pushing me closer to the bottom. Once we all made it one complete lap we started to move and push a little harder trying to get a line that worked for us. “Mother fucker let me off the bottom!” I said as I tried to move onto the high side as we raced down the back stretch. No matter what I did I couldn’t get around the car that was in front of me and the car on the high side was trying to dive to the bottom where I was. “Jesus Christ can we get a caution yet?” I grumbled as the car next to me drove like he couldn’t see me on the bottom of the track. After a few more laps the top ten cars had finally been able to get a two wide and single file lines going. I was running in twelfth place still trying to move to the top side of the track, the race was forty laps but with each lap that ticked off the race I was getting more and more impatient and pissed off that I couldn’t get moved to the high line. Thankfully as I came off turn four there was a hole just wide enough for me to put the nose of my car between the car beside me and in front of me. As I pushed through I felt the car behind me clip my rear quarter panel but I never lifted. I gained ground on the top ten cars pretty quick, then the caution flag came out at about the seventeen lap mark for a car that spun out and ended up against the front stretch wall.

  “Alright boys, single file restart. Don’t hit that cone! GO GO GO GO!”, the same overly hyper guy told us. I couldn’t help but laugh when that guy would talk, he seriously reminded me of Lawrence after he had too many energy drinks. Out of turn four the front ten cars all found their lines pretty quick, most chose the bottom but I had to run the high side. Within t
en laps I had moved into fifth place and was hot on the rear end of the car in front of me. Another caution came out for three cars that had piled up in turns one and two, we circled the track a few laps until they had them cleared off of the track. I reached up to pull a tear off off and nothing came off, “Are you fucking serious?” I yelled as I wiped my glove across my shield, “Jason I’m going to kick your ass.” I said and hurried to clean my shield with my other glove. The guy screamed into our ear piece that it was green flag racing, and there were still twenty two laps to go. One good thing about running on the top of the track, there wouldn’t be too much mud kicked up to dirty up my shield so hopefully I could make it and not crash because I couldn’t see through the damn thing.

  As I passed another two cars I moved in to third place, I passed better coming off of the corners and could gain some ground on them in the corners. One other good thing about that guy that was hyper as hell and yelling in our ears, he kept telling us what lap number we were on. On lap thirty I drove hard in to turn three and felt the ass end of my car start to break loose. I lifted enough to let it come back and straighten out, then as I exited turn four I moved to the middle of the track. My car was too tight so I had to move back to the top of the track. I passed the second place car as we raced out of turn two and down the backstretch, that put me right on the leaders bumper. He dove to the bottom and I stayed on top, out of turn four I passed him like he was barely even trying. “Fifty two J, takes the lead!” the guy yelled “Ten to go!” he finished. Now the bad thing about hearing him say that, my mind went right to the “Oh shit oh shit oh shit” mode. My adrenaline spiked and I felt my hands start shaking as I gripped the steering wheel tighter, “Calm the hell down and drive.” I told myself. I never moved off of the high side I kept the same line the next ten laps. When I crossed the finish line and seen the little girl waving the checkered flag I was in complete shock. “FIFTY TWO J, Jet Crow. We’ll see you on the front stretch, then to the victory lane!” he yelled. I shook my head and laughed, “Holy Shit!” I breathed out and flipped my shield up.

  I circled the track and then stopped under the flag stand. Before I could even get the chin strap undone, or my five point harness seat belts unbuckled Jason was ripping down my window net.

  “HOLY FUCKING SHIT BROTHER, YOU DID IT!” he yelled and shook my shoulder.

  I handed him my helmet, “Look at that and tell me what’s wrong.” I told him with a laugh.

  He turned it from side to side then laughed, “Dude we seen a whole string of the tear offs come out of somebody’s car but we didn’t know who’s. God damn man wait until you watch the race replay, I don’t think you understand how hard you were driving. I’m pretty sure Jerod and Mitch covered their eyes a few times!” he told me then stepped back so I could climb out of the car.

  Once I was out of the race car I was being tackled to the track by Mitch and Jerod, “Get the fuck off of me you assholes!” I yelled and tried to push Mitch off of me.

  “Oh no you sexy mother fucker you are getting a victory kiss from me!” Mitch laughed then puckered his lips up like he was going to kiss me.

  “Mother fucker I’ll knee you in the balls…don’t do it!” I yelled then finally got Mitch off of me.

  Jerod jumped on me almost making me fall again, “Look at them Jet, they are going fucking NUTS!” he said and pointed to the grand stands. I waved at the crowd and they erupted into more cheers and whistles. The announcer walked over to me and gave me a one arm hug, “Holy shit man, you have no idea how good of a show you put on, Congrats! Your pit crew is obviously happy.” He said then turned his microphone on. Before he could say anything I asked him if I could have some friends come down, then told him to call for Mike, Kim, and Chase. Once Chase broke away from Mikes grip by the flag stand he ran down the track and right into my legs, “YOU WON JET! YOU WON!” He yelled as I picked him up and hugged him.

  “I did, didn’t I buddy!” I said with a laugh, then walked around to the stadium side of my car. The announcer was listing off sponsors on the car, the crowd was cheering so loud I could barely hear Mike telling me congratulations. Kim hugged me and wiped away a tear, “Don’t say a word, it’s hormones! That little boy had everybody in our section on their feet cheering for you.” She said and rubbed Chase’s back as he held on to me and smiled big at her. “I did Jet, they all screamed loud!” he told me and hugged me again around the neck.

  “Alright ladies and gentlemen, boy and girls…here he is JET CROOOOOWWW!” the announcer yelled into the microphone and walked over to stand beside me. I sat Chase on the roof of the car and leaned against the side of the car. A camera crew stood in front of us recording us while others had cameras blinding us with their flashes. “Jet, give us a recap of the race. I haven’t seen that awesome of a race in years, you worked hard for it. Congratulations!” the announcer said into the mic then put it in front of me.

  “Well, I’m bad at this interview stuff so bear with me…I really just had to find a line that worked. The car setup seemed to favor the high side and honestly that’s where I’m most comfortable racing. I wouldn’t have been able to even race had Cameron not offered me a back-up car to race. It’s a damn good car, these guys were all a blast to race against and you can bet I’ll be back here again next year.” I said and smiled at the crowd.

  “So tell us who all the awesome people are, who’s that fella on the car?” the announcer asked.

  I looked at Kim and Mike, “That’s Jet’s son!” Kim blurted out before I even had a chance to reply. I smiled and nodded my head as Chase’s eyes got big and he smiled. I pointed at my pit crew and told the crowd how I wouldn’t have made it this far without the help of them and my sponsors. “I would also like to send a shout out to my girlfriend Chassis back in Ohio and her friend Asher, we’ll be seeing you ladies soon.” I said and winked at the camera guys. We posed for a few pictures we took the car to the tech area, after about an hour we were loading into the enclosed trailer of Cameron’s. I spent almost two hours signing autographs, posing with fans, and talking to teenage boys and girls that were starting to race in the lower classes. Once most of the people had left I went into the trailer and changed back into my regular street clothes, I sat down leaned my head against the side of the trailer. I couldn’t believe I had won, the biggest race of my career and I won. My dad’s words telling me I couldn’t do it played over and over in my head, there was a soft knock at the door before it opened. Kim and Mike walked in and sat down on the other side of the small table across from me.

  “I hope you’re not mad that I told the announcer and all of Boone that Chase is your son.” Kim said.

  “No, of course I’m not mad, I just didn’t know what his reaction would be. Is he confused?” I asked.

  “Not really, we explained it to him this morning, he just doesn’t understand who he’s supposed to call his dad.” Mike said with a small laugh.

  “You, you’re there for him, I don’t want him to upset you guys. You’ve been there for him since day one. Do I need to have a talk with him?”

  Kim smiled, “He will understand better the older he gets, if he calls you dad we are totally okay with that because if it wasn’t for you…we wouldn’t have him in our lives.”

  I nodded my head, “Thank you both for being so open to me meeting him, you really have no idea how much it means to me. I’d like for my mom to meet him sometime too if you’re okay with that. My dad though, he doesn’t need to know him.”

  They both nodded their heads in agreement, then Chase came running inside the trailer and jumped onto my lap.

  “You leaving tonight? That big guy the football player said you are.” He asked.

  “Yeah buddy, we’ve gotta get back to campus, but I promise I will talk to you as much as you want to. Mommy and daddy have my phone number so we can talk, FaceTime, Skype, whatever you want whenever. Unless I’m in class but I’ll always call back okay?”

  He nodded his head, “Can I call you in the mor
ning?” he asked with excitement.

  I laughed, “Sure buddy, but if I don’t answer it’s because I’m sleeping. I’m not a morning person but I promise I’ll call you back.”

  “Cool!” he said and jumped off my lap.

  We all stood and walked out of the trailer, Chase wanted me to walk them to their vehicle so I did. Kim cried, Mike laughed at Kim, and Chase broke my heart when he started to cry and told me he would miss me. Chase stared at me and smiled until he couldn’t see me anymore. When I got back over to the trailer everybody was already standing around with their bags ready to leave. “What the fuck are you guys in a hurry?” I asked and looked down at my watch. “Never mind, let’s go find Carley to see if she’s ready to take us.” I grabbed my bag out of the trailer and locked the doors. I sent Cameron a text to let him know that we were getting ready to leave and that the trophy and all my winnings were locked inside the trailer. He sent me a text back to let me know again how proud he was of me and that they would see us in a couple of days. We found Carley at her step brother’s trailer patiently waiting for us.

  “Ya’ll do know all of us won’t fit in my car right?” She said and laughed.

  Her step brother handed her the keys to his Ford dually, he shook my hand, “That was a hell of a race man, you earned that title. We’ll come visit you in Ohio in a few weeks.”

  “Sounds good, thanks for letting us take your pick up. If I had to hear that CD one more time I’d end up walking to the airport.”

  We all laughed then got in the pickup, Carley asked if Chassis and Asher knew that we were flying back tonight. I told her no and that she better not tell them. “Cross my heart I’ll keep my mouth shut.” She said and made and X over her chest.

  As we cruised down the freeway Carley asked, “So how mad were you about watching us the other night?”

  I crouched down in the seat, pulled my hat over my eyes, “I was more pissed she wouldn’t let me join.”

  “Jet you couldn’t handle the both of us.” She said and laughed.