Chapter 127 Checkers or Wreckers
Winning the race was all Case could think about. Having made it through that first major wreck, his confidence was even stronger than ever. He managed to make it past several other cars spinning out of control throughout the course of the race, and unlike the dual race a few days earlier, there was no hanging out in the back for Case. He wanted to stay in the lead as much as possible.
The only car that was anywhere near as good as Case’s was Stewart Antony’s. That wasn’t surprising considering he’d qualified on the outside pole, which meant he’d had the second fastest car during qualifying. For most of the race, Case was winning, but every once in a while, Antony would get a big push from behind and take over the lead for a while until Case was able to get enough cars behind him to help propel him back to the lead.
Charlie wasn’t doing as well as Case was, but he’d also managed to stay up toward the front most of the day. A wreck at lap 105 had given Charlie some damage to his back right quarter panel, which made drafting harder than usual. But he was determined, and Case hoped, as the laps began to tick down, he’d be back at the front with him.
With twenty laps to go, a car blew a tire, and the racers all took the yellow flag. Case was relieved he’d have a chance to catch his breath, come to pit road for new tires, and get a cold drink from his crew.
And… whenever he went to his pit box, he could catch a quick glimpse of Andrea sitting up there next to Brad as well. It might’ve been a distraction if he’d let it, but he was thinking about winning the race for her, and not letting her distract him at the same time. It was difficult, though. The sun was starting to go down, and her red hair picked up streaks of gold and pink from the sky, making her look even more gorgeous than usual.
With a new cold drink in his hand, Case listened closely to Brad to give the signal to go. As soon as his crew chief gave the word, Case peeled out onto pit road, setting his water bottle aside and concentrating on staying below pit road speed but going as fast as he could.
He managed to get out just ahead of everyone else, including Stewart Antony, which meant, when the race went green again, he’d be in the lead. A glimpse in the mirror gave him another pleasant surprise. Charlie was right behind him in third. If they could stay there for the next sixteen laps, which is how many would be left when the race started again, they’d both have a great finish.
Case got into line and glanced over at Stewart. He couldn’t hear a word he was saying, but his body language let him know Stewart was threatening him, trying to scare him into messing up the restart. He made another gesture that let Case know he meant business.
Ignoring him and focusing on the pace car and the flag, Case got ready for what he hoped was the last restart of the day. His foot was on the gas pedal, his eyes on the flag, his ears open to Truitt’s signal. When he heard the magic words, “Green, green, green,” Case didn’t play any games—he just hit the gas pedal and steered his car straight down the race track.
He got out ahead the rest of the pack, but not by much. Stewart stayed with him with help from his teammates. Charlie was also right behind Case, pushing him on the straightaways to keep him ahead of Stewart. As the laps continued to wind down, Case stayed ahead by almost a car’s length.
“Two laps to go,” Truitt said in his ear. “Now’s the time to make your move.”
Case didn’t have a move to make at the moment. All he could do was hug the white line that ran around the bottom of the race track and try to keep his car ahead of Stewart’s. Something told him Antony did have a trick, though. As the flag man threw the white flag, indicating one lap to go, Charlie gave Case a huge push from behind, rocketing him in front of Stewart.
It was enough—or at least it should have been. He should’ve been able to keep a lead of this magnitude with just one lap to go. He was a full car’s length ahead now and more, with Stewart starting to fall back. Then, the car behind Stewart gave him a huge push as well, propelling him even with Case’s back quarter panel.
In his mind, Case could see the same scenario unfolding as what happened last time, at the race in Miami. Stewart would hit him in the back quarter panel as they approached the white flag, the flag that signaled the race was over. Case would spin out of control, and Stewart would win. He’d done it before, he’d do it again. It was exactly what had happened the week before, too, only in that instance it had been Gordo, not Stewart. Still, Case had no way to combat it if Stewart hit him. He could only pray he could pull in front of Stewart far enough so that Stewart couldn’t reach him.
But no matter how hard Case mashed down the gas pedal, he wasn’t getting far enough ahead of Stewart to prevent it from happening.
He came back around to the start finish line and saw the white flag flying. Whoever got there first would win.
In his mirror, Case saw Stewart coming at him and held his breath, bracing for impact. This was it. Stewart would hit him… race over.
Only that’s not what happened. There was an impact, a wreck, cars flying everywhere… but it hadn’t gone down the way he’d expected. Not at all…
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