The Champion (Racing on the Edge) (66 page)

Even after retirement, you’re not normal. You are
constantly searching for what will give you that same adrenaline rush that speed
gave you because only then do you feel like yourself. After all, that’s what
you’ve associated yourself with all these years. You literally don’t know
yourself without it.

I thought for the longest time that I was the only one
who felt this. I was wrong. My son felt the same thing and then eventually his
oldest felt it too.

There does come a time when racing isn’t all that matters
and you find yourself wanting to provide your family with the same support they
show you.

For over forty years, my wife showed me support,
unconditional love, and friendship above all else. I knew if I had a bad night
at the track, I could come home and Nancy would, as always, be there waiting
for me with open arms.

When Jameson came to me and told me he wanted to race, I
had mixed emotions because for one, this lifestyle isn’t for everyone and
secondly, I knew if he did race he would put everything he had into it. He was
so young when he started that it was hard to imagine what he’d become. I was
the same age when I started racing but for me, I had a childhood. I raced when
I wanted but it wasn’t everything, I was still a kid. I got into trouble,
played baseball, did all the normal childhood things.

Jameson was different.

While Spencer and Emma messed around, played sports and
interacted with their friends, Jameson did not outside of Sway and occasionally
Tommy. He was at Elma any chance he could get, outside in my shop or out back
on the track. There were no boys being boys or sleepovers with his friends,
Jameson was all about racing.

Up until he was eleven and when he wasn’t in school, he
traveled with me for a lot of the races. Nancy was worried but at the time, I
didn’t think much of it until he got into high school and I saw how different
he was from the kids he went to school with.

While most kids enjoyed graduation activities and even
graduation itself, Jameson didn’t. While the other kids mingled with their
friends and talked about what their plans were for post-graduation, Jameson
stayed against the wall with an annoyed look on his face that he even had to
attend the ceremony. And once he got his diploma, he left to go racing without
another word to his classmates.

The day they left was hard for Nancy and me. Here we were
letting our children, two of whom were under eighteen, travel across the
country to support a dream. But it was a dream all of us believed in. We all
knew he could do it because once Jameson set out to accomplish something, he
did it and with such entrancing poise you were left in awe that a kid could do
that. At barely eighteen he dominated the premiere USAC divisions against
veterans, rookies, and legends of sprint car racing. My kid, the same little
shit who would sneak out in the middle of the night to race on the track when
the full moon was out because he knew he could see. And the same little boy who
used to ask for race car parts for Christmas when other little boys wanted
trains and Legos. Clearly he wasn’t your normal kid. But I think that’s why he
was able to do what he did.

Sway was good for him because I think she kept him from
going insane. The pressures put upon racecar drivers are unlike any other sport
in my mind. While there is a team effort just as any sport, the pressure put a
driver is arduous. I also knew, if anyone could, it was him.

Whereas I wanted time to myself at times, Jameson never
showed interest in that. The time to himself was on the track. I was thankful
for Sway because in more than one way, she was the force that made him who he
was. I honestly believed that if they hadn’t come together, Jameson would have
eventually walked away from racing and in turn, regretted it. You see with
Jameson, as many know, his all or nothing attitude can destroy you after a
while. And that’s exactly what it would have done to him. It’s hard to explain
if you hadn’t witnessed it with your own eyes but the force was there and
strong between them.

I liked to think Nancy and I had a bond like them and in
a way we did. But it wasn’t perilously as vital for us. I knew if something
happen to Nancy, I would be miserable but I
could
go on for the sake of
my children and our family, as could Nancy.

I also believed that Jameson and Sway could not.

I witnessed it first hand when Jameson almost lost Sway
when she was pregnant with Axel. If she hadn’t made it, I would hate to think
what would have become of my son as he would have been a distant, even more
callous version of himself and probably would have been in prison.

Not that the rest of our families wouldn’t have been
hurting because Sway was just as much of a part of our family as anyone but the
bond between those two was stronger than something you’d see it identical
twins.

When they brought their first born son into the world, I
was in absolute awe that he resembled Jameson as much as he did. It was like
looking into a mirror not only in their physical appearances but their
mentality on life in general. It was hard to imagine someone could be so
similar to a person who was so uncannily rare and was now imitated in this
little guy.

He wasn’t exactly like him once he started racing.
Jameson never showed nervousness or hesitation on the track whereas Axel did.
He constantly needed reassurance that he could do it. I never had to tell
Jameson he was great, he knew it. There again was a vigor very few had.

I like to think Nancy and I had a hand in this but I
don’t think it was us. We never told him to race nor did we encourage it
really. Spencer never showed interest in it but with Jameson when he first saw
me race he was around six weeks old and from then on any time he heard a sprint
car, he was captivated and that’s where the fire in him came from.

The rest of us, well we were just there for support.

Galvanized Steel

Nancy Riley

Galvanized Steel –
A specifically zinc-coated steel used on many major painted panels and in key
unpainted areas of a vehicle to help prevent rust and corrosion.

If you asked me to describe my family, I’d give you one
simple answer, loving.

They may have been slightly unstable at times but all of
them brought love to this family in their own ways.

Jimi and I married when I was eighteen and soon along
came Spencer James Riley. He was the sweetest little boy. He smiled a lot, ate
a lot and enjoyed the simple things in life. It never took much to please him
and if you needed him for anything, no matter what you needed, he was finding a
way to help you.

Once Jameson Anthony came along, Spencer was in heaven
having a little brother. The only problem was that Jameson, even as a newborn
wasn’t thrilled with having Spencer around. He also hated to be touched and
prodded; two things little boys love to do.

Even as a baby, Jameson was independent. By one month
old, he was holding his own bottle, that’s how determined he was.

All this independency from Jameson and lovingness from
Spencer caused it’s fair share of complications between them but eventually
they found middle ground, as long as Spencer didn’t touch Jameson he was
tolerable of him.

Jimi was in heaven having two little boys. Though he
never said it, I knew he hoped they’d follow in his footsteps.

One cold winter night while Jimi and I were in Vail
Colorado visiting friends, we left the boys with his parents. Let’s just say we
made use of the alone time.

That resulted in Emma. Jimi was not excited about a third
child, as it was right around the time when his career was really taking off
with the Outlaw series. At the time, it was a 96-race schedule which allowed
little alone time. Now we had three little ones and no alone time at all.

When Emma Lynn was born at the end of August, Spencer was
once again very excited at the new addition. Jameson was not.

She loved to chew on him and he was not one to enjoy
this. He used to scream at the top of his lungs if you put lotion on him while
Emma would bath herself in it.

All three of them were completely different but Jameson
was by far the most steadfast of the three.

Spencer finally crawled at one and didn’t walk until he
was eighteen months. Jameson on the other hand was crawling at four months and
walking by the time he was eight months—right over to Jimi’s sprint car.

That never changed.

He spent hours out there just sitting in the car playing
with steering wheel. He never needed toys. Didn’t like them. All he wanted was
a sprint car.

Spencer just went with things and wanted to help in any
way he could. He, just like the rest of us, saw early on Jameson’s passion for
racing. I remember asking him why he didn’t care to race when Jameson, at just
four, showed such strong interest.

Spencer’s response, “That’s his thing. I don’t have the
talent he does for racing.”

I’m not sure that it was a lack of talent in racing or if
it was just that Jameson was that focused on one goal. Spencer lacked the attention
span for that.

Jimi made it very clear if either of the boys wanted to
race, they had to work in the shop too.

We had a sprint car shop at the house in Elma and
eventually in Mooresville too. In the shop were sprint cars lined up with
everything to build the sprint cars from the ground up. Back then, Jimi built
his own cars with the help of his sponsor and his dad, Casten, provided the
engines. It was a family business and he wanted to keep it that way so that in
turn involved the boys if they wanted to race.

Jameson, at five, already knew how to scrap mud from the
car, fill helmets with tear-offs, and check tires for wear.

I used to tell him it was time to come inside for dinner
or bed and he would ramble off with something like, “I can’t mom. I have to get
these tire pressures right.”

It wasn’t like he knew at five what he was doing, or at
least I didn’t think he did, but he wanted to learn. He used to scream and cry
when Jimi would leave for a race and he had to stay home. It wasn’t exactly
easy separating him from racing.

Spencer wanted to be a kid, play sports and that’s what
he did. Emma had a passion for racing as well but it was more of promoting her
family that drew her in. At six, instead of a lemonade stand, she sold t-shirts
for Jameson’s racing and then bought him a new helmet with the proceeds. That’s
the type of kid she always was.

When the kids got a little older, we traveled with them
but once they got into school, I wanted them to have a normal childhood. Little
did I know there was nothing normal about our family, our way of life or
Jameson for that matter.

I was constantly being called to the principal office and
asked to explain why my seven-year-old son wouldn’t do his homework. He
insisted on doing it at school.

My answer, “He races. He doesn’t have time outside of
school.”

And it wasn’t that he didn’t do what they asked, it was
that he didn’t do it the way they wanted him to. He did his homework; he just
did it at lunch and recess so he wouldn’t have to at night. I was worried for a
long time this wasn’t the way he should grow up but I realized shortly after he
met Sway that was just him. She never thought he was odd so why should I?

I loved Sway just as my own daughter. She was great for
him in all the ways he needed. He began acting somewhat normal and actually
took an interest in the opposite sex. This I was pleased with. Though I did
find it concerning that I found them constantly kissing and doing some
inappropriate touching for teenagers but surely it was normal. Spencer was proof
of that.

But they grew out of it once Jameson found his attraction
toward her was too much for him. He thought for sure he couldn’t provide Sway
with what she needed. Little did he know that
he
was what
she
needed.

My son was such a sweet boy when she was around.

I had always wanted Sway and Jameson together and when
they finally did get together, I was ecstatic. I didn’t realize it had happened
until I saw them in Michigan and accused Jameson of destroying his room. He
really did destroy it though. My god, it was a disaster. I’ve seen tornados do
less damage.

I remember asking Jimi to come upstairs thinking maybe
someone had broken in when he laughed and said, “Yeah, he and Sway were up here
the other night.”

That made me happy but I still felt the need to let
Jameson know he needed to clean up.

It was tough watching my son suffer the way he did all
those years wanting both racing and the girl and so many times I wanted Jimi to
talk to him but he’d always say, “He won’t listen.”

I knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t listen, not
until he was ready to hear what you have to say. He had this protective coating
applied to him that wasn’t easy to chip away at.

Not unless he wanted to be chipped at least.

I was heavily involved in all aspects of our family’s
racing careers but spent more time shaping Jameson’s fan clubs. Being involved
helped me see the bigger picture of what was really happening to our family. We
were all chasing this same dream for Jameson, but we were also helping him show
respect for everyone that helped along the way. Whether it was with Jimi’s
career, of Jameson’s or even Axel, Casten or Lane, who got involved eventually,
it was my duty to make sure everyone saw just how much they appreciated
everyone. They may not have been able to show their appreciation all the time
as time wasn’t exactly permitting but they did recognize and appreciate
everyone.

Jimi started a driver development program to get the kids
who didn’t have money and wanted to race, a way to race. So many times kids had
talent but no money to get started and that’s what Jimi wanted to see.