The Champion (Racing on the Edge) (47 page)

“Ashley caught up with me last week
...
” my voice trailed off hoping he’d
understand.

“Let me guess
...
she
told you.”

I groaned. “Bobby, why would you do that?”

Bobby leaned closer for privacy as we filed through the
gates to the stage. “I don’t know why. It just sorta happened one night.”

“Were you married then?”

He didn’t say anything and that pretty much answered my
question for me. I knew this happened with other drivers. The temptation was
there and was readily available for us if we wanted it. Not once had I ever
acted, or been tempted to act on it. Sway was everything to me. It just wasn’t
an option for me. The fact that Bobby had cheated on Kelly was sickening to me.

I always thought that eventually the nerves of standing
on the grid of the Daytona 500 would fade, but no. I was fine all morning but
when I stepped on pit road the morning of my tenth career Daytona 500, the
nerves hit me.

“Jameson, how are you feeling this morning?” a reporter
with ESPN asked while I talked with Tate and Bobby by my car.

“Oh
...
I’m feeling
good.” I replied laughing at the joke Tate has just told.

“I hear both your boys couldn’t be here today, racing
huh?”

“Yeah,” I hated talking to the media about my kids. It
was none of their fucking business but it was part of the game. “They raced in
the Duel in the Desert yesterday and won their divisions.” I smiled. “Casten is
just getting started but he’s taken really well to it. Axel helps him along.”

“Speaking of Axel, he’s really tearing it up in the
quarter midget series. Heard he’s won two district Championships and a handful
of Regional and track championships.”

I laughed leaning back against my car. “He did,” I
agreed. “He’s nine now and chomping at the bit to get into the full sized
midgets but you have to be twelve these days.”

Back when I started, age wasn’t enforced as much but
after a few kids were killed in the series the age restrictions were strictly
enforced. Hell, I was racing a full sized sprint car by the time I was twelve
but looking at Axel’s size compared to a full size sprint car—I had no problem
with the age enforcements now.

“Hothead in the making I hear. Didn’t he throw his helmet
at a USAC official last weekend?”

Another laugh escaped. “Yeah, he’s worse than me at
times. Doesn’t like to finish second,” I shrugged. I was considered calm on the
track compared to Axel. After he threw the helmet at the official, he was
suspended for a race. It took him being suspended to realize he had to control
the temper or they wouldn’t let him race.

Sound familiar?

I’d cooled my jets these days, being a father humbles you
and when you see their reaction to a fit you’d thrown on or off the track, it
really makes you think about that image you’re creating for them. Not only did
you face the ramifications, but your kids had to as well.

That’s not to say I didn’t have my fair share of drama at
the track. Colin Shuman, Shelby Clausen and I had spent enough time in “the big
red hauler” last season that we had assigned seats. Even with all the arguments
and wrecks we got into, we usually ended up throwing back a few beers
afterwards. That’s when I felt I grew up.

“Well, good luck today.” The announcer said finally and
left me to get ready.

Once I was inside my car, the pre-race jitters were
wearing off and I finally began to relax when I realized why I’d been so amped
up this morning. Sway wasn’t here.

She’d only missed three of my eight starts here and those
were from having my babies but now she was with our babies. We made a rule
early on that at least one parent had to be present when the boys raced. This
usually meant Sway but occasionally I was able to attend when time permitted,
not often, but every once in a while I could.

Arie decided to come with me to Speedweeks and stayed for
the 500 race. There my little angel was standing beside my car handing me a
good luck charm she made me.

“Here daddy, I made this for you.” Arie beamed handing me
a beaded bracelet she made.

“You did,” I looked down at her wide and excited emerald
green eyes thinking of Sway. “I’m sure I’ll win now.”

“You will.” That’s one trait my little angel possessed.
She believed in her daddy and if anyone told her differently, well she told her
big brother and when that happened, it was over. 

My kids were definitely Riley kids, Axel and Arie more so
than Casten. Axel would do just about anything to prove you wrong and his
determination never wavered when it came to protecting his family’s name, as
did Arie. But with Axel, he seemed to be a mixture of Sway and me together. He
could be cocky, arrogant and indomitable but he could also be relaxed, amiable,
and blasé. The kid was wise beyond his years and a force to be reckoned with.
By the time he was four it became apparent Sway and I were in over our heads.

Now Casten, he was in it for fun. If he wasn’t having
fun, he didn’t do it. He was blithely carefree and loved everyone, just like
Sway. You rarely saw that kid without a huge smile. Even when he was sleeping,
he was smiling and he had the negotiation skills of a politician, no lie.

Arie listened to my in-car audio on the pit box and
provided her own commentary on the race and her thoughts. Much to my surprise
but not hers, I did win. After ten years of trying, I finally won the Daytona
500.

Arie was there to greet me in victory lane along with her
brothers and my wife who must have shown up sometime throughout the race.

I smirked when I saw Sway jumping up and down with the
same excitement our kids showed owing that their father was a Daytona 500
winner.

“I knew you could do it.” Sway whispered in my ear when I
pulled her hard against my chest. With our schedules, it’d been weeks since I
last seen her. “You behave dirty heathen.”

I winked. “I love you honey.” I whispered back before our
kids were climbing on us.

All those times away; the late nights, the early rises
and the sacrifices were rewarded at times like this.

The only thing I ever hoped for out of all this was that
those who helped me along the way understood they were a part of what I do and
always would be. When I won a race or a championship, it’s not just for me or
my dad as the car owner or even Simplex as my sponsor. It’s for
everyone
and I hoped that they felt the same excitement I felt winning. I’m sure no one
felt like I did but I sure hoped they realized what they meant to me to have
that support. Yeah, I was a 6-time NASCAR Sprint cup Champion and had won
113-cup races, but I owed to everyone else.

My tenth season in the cup series was by far my best year
yet. Not only did I win the Daytona 500, but I also won the All-Star race and
managed to pull off my seventh Cup championship.

It was a good year.

One of the most closely guarded secrets in NASCAR,
besides the rulebook, is how much each driver is paid. You see it with the NFL,
NBA, NBL; most nationally recognized sports flaunt what a particular athlete is
paid each year, aside from NASCAR.

Word gets out on occasion but you’ll never see a driver
say, I made “this” amount. Not only do we receive a base salary from our
owner/sponsor, but we also get outside money from prize money, contingency
awards and endorsement contracts. It’s not uncommon to see a veteran driver
raking in around $15-25 million in a season.

Without a doubt this seemed to be one of the best years
of my career with a record number of poles and wins and the championship title
once again. Financially, I was also on top of the sport. Along with my $900,000
salary from Riley Simplex Racing, I received 40 percent of my winnings and then
my endorsement deals from clothing companies, safety gear, shock companies, the
list went on and on. Then you account for my owner profit for JAR Racing and
the twenty percent I took home from each time Justin, Cody or Tyler pulled into
victory lane, I really wasn’t hurting for money.

But all that didn’t matter. Sure it was nice but I wasn’t
in it for the money. I was in it to race and you know what happened because of
that?

I became the best driver in the series.

20.
        
Back Out – Sway

Back Out – When a
driver takes his foot off the gas pedal (all the way or part way) he “back out”
or “lifts” the throttle.

Despite my sanity, I agreed to let Logan and Lucas come
out for the fourth of July the summer of 2013. Why they wanted to come out here
was beyond me. They were sixteen. Didn’t they have more appealing things to do?

I just knew having sixteen-year old half-brothers around
my spaz children was a bad idea.

Their plane got in the night before we were set to leave
for Daytona’s night race.

When Spencer to get them from the airport, I was relieved
that Lucas had stayed home. I could handle one of them.

“We’re here!” Spencer announced slamming the door behind
him. Jameson wasn’t home yet from the shop as they were apparently making some
changes to Justin’s sprint car before it headed to Dodge City Kansas tomorrow
morning.

“Sway—you in here?” Spencer’s booming voice echoed
throughout the downstairs.

“Yeah,” I sighed removing the cookies from the oven. I
couldn’t figure out for the life of me why I decided to make cookies. It wasn’t
like I wanted Logan to feel welcomed and want to stay. “I’m in the kitchen.”

Spencer and Logan came around the corner, standing next
to the island. Logan laughed. “Since when do you bake?”

“I bake a lot asshole.” I shot back throwing a cookie at
him.

“Really, judging by the number of kids in the movie room
fighting over a movie
...
I’d say you do
other
things in your free time.”

I noticed the kids came into the kitchen to see what all
the commotion was about.

“Where the hell is Jameson?” Logan asked looking around.

“He’s at the shop. He’ll be home later.”

Logan shrugged eating the cookie. “Well aren’t you happy
to see me or are you pissed Luke didn’t come?”

“Although he’s the normal one of the two of you, no, I’m
not pissed. And yes, I guess I’m happy to see you.” Logan stood and wrapped his
long arms around me. I laughed at how tall he was. “Geez, you’re tall these days.”

Spencer plopped down on a stool. “He’s barely 5’6, Sway.”

“Hey—I’m 5’7 now.”

“It’s pissed a bad word?” Casten asked Axel. I didn’t
even know they had come into the room yet. “If it is, I’m up to ten bucks now.”

I grabbed Casten and headed for the island setting him on
the stool. He held his hands up in defense. “I was only kidding.”

I hugged him tightly.

“I’m warning you two now,” I looked over at Axel and I
would have told Arie but she wasn’t in ear shot. “Don’t listen to that Logan.
He’s riding the crazy train and collecting passengers.”

“We don’t want to be passengers?” Casten asked
innocently.

“No, you don’t.”

“Geez Sway,” Logan sighed. “you act like I’m some kind of
delinquent.”

“You are.”

He ignored me altogether and went in for the kill, “Hey
Axel, how’s it going little man?”

Axel just stared at him, probably wondering how in the
hell he was related to something like Logan.

Logan had the power of persuasion down to a fine art just
like my kids. This was going to be tough and I knew my kids were in danger of
corruption. They’re like sponges.

Logan looked up at me. “What’s for dinner?”

“I have to feed you too?” I asked in horror. I don’t
remember Andrea telling me anything about feeding him. “And what the hell is up
with your hair?” What used to be brown was now black and had red streaks in it.

“I let my girlfriend do my hair.” He shrugged. “She’s is
beauty school.”

“Looks like she’s doing
well
,”

“So what is for dinner?”

“Jameson is bringing pizza home.” All the kids, Logan and
Spencer included lit up with excitement. I decided now was time to tell Logan
my rules. “Listen dude, I have rules.”

“Great,” Logan moaned leaning back in the chair. “Let’s
hear these so called rules. They may be deal breakers.”

“No smoking, no drinking, and no cursing in front of the
kids unless you want to lose all your money. If you get arrested for any of
your bright ideas, you’re on your own. I’m not bailing you out.”

Logan looked confused staring at all the kids now in the
room. “Did you pop out another kid?”

“They’re not all mine.” I pointed to each kid. “Those
three are mine. That one is Lane. You’ve met him before dumbass. And in the
other room is Lily, Justin’s daughter and I think Lexi, Cole and Noah are in
the movie room somewhere. Charlie is with Aiden getting some groceries for
tonight.”

“Tonight,” Logan looked more confused. “What’s tonight?”

“We’re having a little get together since Lexi’s birthday
is on Wednesday and we’ll be at the track. You’re just in time for an eleven-year
old’s birthday.”

His only response was rolling his eyes and eating yet
another cookie.

“Where’s Luke, I thought he was coming too?” Lane asked
grabbing a few cookies from plate as well.

“He’s got a game this weekend in Seattle.” Logan answered
before following Lane outside toward the track where Axel disappeared to.

Axel wasn’t one for crowds or birthday parties so I
couldn’t blame him. If only I could have joined him. At least Lucas wasn’t here
too. This way they wouldn’t gang up on me.

Both Logan and Lucas were heavily involved in baseball
and both well on their way to receiving scholarships for college. At least this
was better than the alternative for the little hoodlums which was prison.