fit.
“You’re
coming with us whether you want to or not. I’ll drag you kicking and
screaming.”
Arie, true
to her nature, rolled her eyes, “Whatever dad.”
“Whatever?”
I mouthed to Sway.
Sway
laughed hugging my waist. “I should have taken notice back when her
pediatrician was trying to sell me books on spirited children.”
“What’s
her problem these days? She acts like we’re not cool. We’re cool people.”
Sway
shrugged. “She’s sixteen.”
Even with
her fit throwing, she was asleep right along with Sway before we even reached
the freeway.
Casten sat
up front with me and provided the entertainment but soon, he too started to
yawn.
“You ever
think of racing again?” I asked making conversation.
“I don’t
want to race anymore.” Casten replied as though I shouldn’t question him. “It’s
not the same for me.”
“I can
understand that.”
I could
understand. A lot wasn’t the same after the plane crash but it was even
stranger being at a place like Knoxville Nationals and not seeing Ryder. Casten
had taken to the USAC series when he raced, which was the series Ryder had
always raced. I wasn’t around enough to teach Casten what he needed to know but
Ryder was. In turn, they were very close.
“Do you
ever think about racing sprint cars again?”
“Yeah, I
do all the time.”
It was
quiet for about ten minutes as Casten’s phone held most of his attention before
he asked. “Do you ever get scared racing?”
“No, well,
there are times when I think, shit, this is gonna hurt but I’m not scared of
wrecking. The safety is much more advanced these days. I guess I think if it’s
your time to go then it was meant to be.”
Casten
tucked his phone inside his jacket. “Do you think Ryder was scared?”
“No, Ryder
wouldn’t have been scared. He knew the dangers very well. In fact, much like
you and him, his mentor, Ron Walker was killed racing too.”
Casten
seemed to think about that for a moment and then looked down at his phone that
beeped.
Nothing
would take the place of Ryder being gone no more than it would having guys like
Andy and Colin gone or a more dedicated crew member than Gentry. I missed Cal’s
cooking and Wes, I missed his crazy war stories. My point was, any time you
lose someone, it hurts and nothing takes that pain away.
Casten
yawned with a chuckle adjusting his sweatshirt against the window. “I miss that
crazy asshole Ryder.”
“We all do
buddy.”
5. In/Out Box - Jameson
In/Out Box
– This box contains the direct drive slider gears on a sprint car. Since sprint
cars do not have a clutch, the car has to be put into gear before racing. The
slider gear has to be engaged before the car is off and then the engine will
start by compression. It’s similar to a running start in a street car.
Paul
Leighty, one of my current teammates driving the No. 19 car for Riley Racing,
was the type of racer that would talk himself up so high he’d need a space
shuttle to return to earth.
It’d been
my experience that people who made themselves out to be some sort of god on the
track really had no clue how to handle the goddamn car if it became ill
handling.
My theory
was right after Bristol.
The more
time I spent around Paul, the more he annoyed me. We’d had our run-in’s in the
past but this year we had more and it seemed to be coming to a head.
Unfortunately,
for me, he wasn’t going anywhere. He’d just signed a five-year contract with
us.
And as it
turns out, there was someone out there even more mentally unstable than me.
Who would
have ever imagined that?
Throughout
the Cup season that year, Paul and I had been getting into it on the track. At
the shop, it was worse and in team meetings, we actually got into a shoving
match.
It seemed
Paul had a problem showing that “respect”. The thing I talked about so often.
He somehow felt it was okay to cut down on me with only inches or to bump draft
in the corners at
“You’re
coming with us whether you want to or not. I’ll drag you kicking and
screaming.”
Arie, true
to her nature, rolled her eyes, “Whatever dad.”
“Whatever?”
I mouthed to Sway.
Sway
laughed hugging my waist. “I should have taken notice back when her
pediatrician was trying to sell me books on spirited children.”
“What’s
her problem these days? She acts like we’re not cool. We’re cool people.”
Sway
shrugged. “She’s sixteen.”
Even with
her fit throwing, she was asleep right along with Sway before we even reached
the freeway.
Casten sat
up front with me and provided the entertainment but soon, he too started to
yawn.
“You ever
think of racing again?” I asked making conversation.
“I don’t
want to race anymore.” Casten replied as though I shouldn’t question him. “It’s
not the same for me.”
“I can
understand that.”
I could
understand. A lot wasn’t the same after the plane crash but it was even
stranger being at a place like Knoxville Nationals and not seeing Ryder. Casten
had taken to the USAC series when he raced, which was the series Ryder had
always raced. I wasn’t around enough to teach Casten what he needed to know but
Ryder was. In turn, they were very close.
“Do you
ever think about racing sprint cars again?”
“Yeah, I
do all the time.”
It was
quiet for about ten minutes as Casten’s phone held most of his attention before
he asked. “Do you ever get scared racing?”
“No, well,
there are times when I think, shit, this is gonna hurt but I’m not scared of
wrecking. The safety is much more advanced these days. I guess I think if it’s
your time to go then it was meant to be.”
Casten
tucked his phone inside his jacket. “Do you think Ryder was scared?”
“No, Ryder
wouldn’t have been scared. He knew the dangers very well. In fact, much like
you and him, his mentor, Ron Walker was killed racing too.”
Casten
seemed to think about that for a moment and then looked down at his phone that
beeped.
Nothing
would take the place of Ryder being gone no more than it would having guys like
Andy and Colin gone or a more dedicated crew member than Gentry. I missed Cal’s
cooking and Wes, I missed his crazy war stories. My point was, any time you
lose someone, it hurts and nothing takes that pain away.
Casten
yawned with a chuckle adjusting his sweatshirt against the window. “I miss that
crazy asshole Ryder.”
“We all do
buddy.”
5. In/Out Box - Jameson
In/Out Box
– This box contains the direct drive slider gears on a sprint car. Since sprint
cars do not have a clutch, the car has to be put into gear before racing. The
slider gear has to be engaged before the car is off and then the engine will
start by compression. It’s similar to a running start in a street car.
Paul
Leighty, one of my current teammates driving the No. 19 car for Riley Racing,
was the type of racer that would talk himself up so high he’d need a space
shuttle to return to earth.
It’d been
my experience that people who made themselves out to be some sort of god on the
track really had no clue how to handle the goddamn car if it became ill
handling.
My theory
was right after Bristol.
The more
time I spent around Paul, the more he annoyed me. We’d had our run-in’s in the
past but this year we had more and it seemed to be coming to a head.
Unfortunately,
for me, he wasn’t going anywhere. He’d just signed a five-year contract with
us.
And as it
turns out, there was someone out there even more mentally unstable than me.
Who would
have ever imagined that?
Throughout
the Cup season that year, Paul and I had been getting into it on the track. At
the shop, it was worse and in team meetings, we actually got into a shoving
match.
It seemed
Paul had a problem showing that “respect”. The thing I talked about so often.
He somehow felt it was okay to cut down on me with only inches or to bump draft
in the corners at
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