THE NEW JOB... & other things (Part 100c)

I guess I’d talked to enough people about my chance to be Rookie of the year because I ended up with a large group for my pit crew. Jay (and Jo) showed up as well as my brother. Jim and Cal were there as well and it really was a “stretch” for Cal as he was scheduled to be on duty that night. And, most important was my newest crew member, “Chucky”, the young lad from just down the road. What added to the excitement was that Rick, who’s car was literally destroyed the previous night of racing, had managed to put another car together. It seemed like there were a hundred people around his pit area. Among them was Jan, the nurse who stayed with my grandfather at night and her boyfriend, Buddah. That was a bit of a surprise as she’d expressed to me that she thought racing was a waste of time.

I qualified for the feature race with no problem. Having won the feature race just two weeks prior my starting position was mid field which wasn’t good but was better than starting in the back. As the race began there were five cars who could end up as high as seventh place in the points or as far back as eleventh. To be Rookie of the Year I had to beat my friend “Bags”. Buddah was one of his pit crew and before the race we talked some “trash”, as it’s called today. I had one other concern and that was the car I was buying was also in the race and I had to pray that it didn’t get wrecked.

Being the last night of the season and all Winter to repair any damage, drivers traditionally threw caution to the wind. I, because of monetary reason as well as the lack of a shop to work in, had driven very cautiously all season. Wrecks that I’d been involved in weren’t from my being reckless. But, I wanted that Rookie of the Year title so sat in the car waiting for the start and telling myself that if I saw an opening I had to go for it.

Once out on the track I wasn’t nervous at all. It had been that way all season. But, for the first time I was determined to be one of the aggressive ones. There were a number of accidents along the way that I, thankfully, wasn’t part of. As the two laps to go flags came out I knew I was in the top ten but the cars were all bunched up so didn’t know exactly what position I was in. When the white flag came out signifying the last lap I saw Bags’ car, the one I had to beat, ahead of me on the outside of another car. Going down the backstretch and heading for the third turn I made the decision that when I got to the turn I wasn’t going to lift my foot off the accelerator. Just as we reached the turn I saw Bag’s car bobble and separate from the car on his inside. It was the littlest of openings and I aimed right for it.

I have no memory of what happened until I saw the checkered flag waving ahead of me. Somehow I managed to get through the turn and to get ahead of both cars that had been leading me when we went into the turn. I really have no idea how I managed to do it. I may have even closed my eyes when I headed for that opening.

The overall result was a fifth place finish in the race and an eighth place in the points battle and the Rookie of the Year title. I remember Jay telling me that when he saw me go for the opening he thought I was "a goner" and that I was going to wreck the whole field of cars behind me. He called it the “move of the year”. Needless to say, Bags wasn’t all that thrilled with my move. He didn’t wreck but he was mad that I’d pushed him out of the way to get the rookie title. After we “discussed” it I went to check on the car that I was buying and found it to be in good shape. For me, it was a perfect night.

The last race of the night was for the faster cars and would determine the track champion. As I mentioned, somehow Rick had rallied his crew to put another car together so he could still try to become track champion. Almost everybody in the pits came up to watch the race. Rick started in front of the car he had to beat for the championship and we all cheered him on but by the end of the race he couldn’t hold off the other guy. It was disheartening especially knowing how hard he and his crew had worked to even get a car to the track.

Rick’s crew, in anticipation of winning, had brought all kinds of “refreshments” with which to celebrate with. Not wanting them to go to waste they broke them out anyway and I and my crew were invited to join in. I was in a celebratory mood, having exceed my racing goals for the year, but with “Chucky” along and having to get him home by midnight, reluctantly had to cut it short. After dropping Chucky off Jim said he had some beer and Cal and I went to his place to celebrate for a short while. Back home I was still too excited to sleep and eventually ended up lying in bed thinking about the next season with a new, better car.

I’d promised Elle that once school started that we’d return to going to church. When It was over I knew I needed to go to my grandfather’s as it had been a few weeks since I’d taken him to see my grandmother. Pulling into his driveway I was somewhat surprised to see Edith’s car. She’d asked for and received permission to have other nurses take her place on weekends. When I walked in she was quite upset. Her replacement hadn’t shown up but that wasn’t what she was most concerned about.

Jan had asked her to fill in for her so she could go to the races with her boyfriend, Buddah. I’d seen and talked, briefly, with her at the track and had been surprised that she'd gone. Edith told me that Jan had promised to be back no later than 11pm and she hadn’t shown up or called. She wanted to know if I had heard from her and I hadn’t. I tried to think back to when I’d left the track but I couldn’t remember seeing her or Buddah when I pulled out of the pits. Now it was me who was worried.

To be continued...