Chapter 160 Short Track Racing
Watching the race at Bristol from the pit box was much better than trying to watch practice from the box had been the night before. Andrea found herself nervously wringing her hands for most of the race. It was unlike any other event she’d ever watched in real life. While she had definitely watched short track racing on television, it was much different to constantly hear the sound of metal on metal as the cars collided on the track. It was also different now that she loved one of the men in one of the cars.
Case was doing pretty well. He wasn’t known for his abilities on the short track, but he was hanging in there. With about twenty laps to go, he was in tenth place. Twenty laps at this track would go quickly if there weren’t any cautions, but she had a feeling there would be.
Gordon Jones was leading at the moment with Stewart Antony in second. That was a volatile mix at the moment. One of them was currently dating Sarah, the other having just broken up with her. Andrea figured it was just a matter of time before the two cars got together. When it happened, it could potentially take out a lot of other cars, too, because all of them were bunched up on the short track.
“This is a lot like trying to leave a parking lot after a major event, like a concert or a fireworks show, only everyone’s going a hundred miles an hour toward the exit,” Brad said to her, pulling the mic from his headphones away from his mouth.
“You can say that again,” Andrea agreed. There had been plenty of crashes so far, and several cars were out of the race. Everyone knew that it was impossible to leave Bristol without some sort of damage to their car, and Case had quite a few dents and scratches. Andrea would just be happy if he came across the finish line under his own power.
With ten laps to go, Stewart Antony made his move on Gordon Jones. They were going into turn three. Antony’s car was on the outside. From Andrea’s vantage point, it looked as if he was trying to give it a little more gas and swing around Jones, but he lost control of his tail, and Antony’s car swung around, hitting the outside wall. He lost control, hit Jones, and then the field began to pile up behind him.
Antony’s car was essentially parked sideways across the track as three dozen other cars tried to get by. A few of them tried to go low through the infield, but the grass slowed them down, and they began to pile up there. Others attempted to squeeze their way through the narrow lane above Antony’s car and the wall. A few made it through with only minor damage while others ended up hitting the wall or the back of Antony’s car.
Several cars had nothing to do but hold on and collide with Antony’s stopped car. Andrea held her breath as she watched the cars in the middle of the track with no place to go ram into him and then get hit from behind by cars in a similar hopeless position.
She kept her eyes on Case and watched him take the high lane. He was almost through the narrow opening when another car hit him in the rear, sending him out of control. He hit Antony, then the wall, then slid sideways down the track, collecting a few other cars that had made it past the initial wreck.
Case was done for the day.
The entire team on pit road erupted in curses and swear words. Case muttered a few over the radio, too. Luckily, he wasn’t going fast enough to get hurt.
After all of the wrecking was over, Brad asked him if he could get the car restarted. “No, we’re leaking liquid all over the track,” Case replied through the radio. “I’m gonna need a tow.”
“D*mn,” Brad muttered. “All right. It’s gonna be a crowded ambulance ride to the infield care center.”
“Ten-four,” Case replied, which meant that he understood.
Brad turned to Andrea. “You wanna go meet him at the care center?”
She nodded. It would be weird meeting him there. She knew he was okay, but it was a requirement that anyone who couldn’t get their car to start had to go be checked out by one of the doctors. With a deep breath, she took her headset off and headed down the ladder, glad she wasn’t going to the makeshift hospital for any serious reason.
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