Chapter 207 Get Back Up Again
The first time Case got back behind the wheel, he was slightly nervous. But he’d told himself that was just for practice. It wasn’t nearly as dangerous as an actual race. Now that he was sitting behind the wheel, getting ready to start the race at Texas Motor Speedway, in Denton, Texas, his hands were shaking slightly. This was the real thing.
It had taken a lot of convincing for NASCAR to approve him to race just one week after the accident that had landed him in the hospital and almost cost him his life. But since he didn’t have any lingering effects from the crash and no further sign of a concussion, they had eventually consented to letting him race.
Now, he just had to do it.
Charlie was on the poll. After all of that, the anguish his friend had put himself through, the despair, the mess… he’d come back stronger than ever and claimed the first position during qualifying. Case wasn’t too surprised, but he hadn’t waited to tell Charlie, “I told you so,” when qualifying was over.
Case had been cautious during qualifying and had ended up in the middle of the field in eighteenth place. But that was okay. He didn’t have to win today. All he had to do was finish the race. And not wreck.
The car in front of him pulled out, and they slowly started toward the racetrack, building speed behind the pace car. Case didn’t think about anything under than the task at hand. He didn’t let thoughts of what had happened the last time he raced enter his mind as he began to make his laps, and when the race went green, he stepped on the gas, like he had hundreds of times before.
Soon enough, he was settled into his work, not thinking about what had happened during the last race but clocking laps. He passed a few cars and was passed by a few cars. He wasn’t trying to win the race, though. He didn’t need to do that. He only need to prove to himself that he was capable of racing again.
As the laps began to wind down, he found himself in fifteenth place, which wasn’t bad at all for not trying. Charlie was leading the race, but Gordo Jones was closing in on him. With ten laps to go, Jones got a little anxious going around a lap car and accidentally caught the other driver’s tail, spinning them both out.
For a split second, as Case saw those cars spiraling toward him, he panicked, and all of the fear he’d felt the week before, when he was swirling through the air, came back to him. But his reflexes won out over his fear, and he expertly steered around the wreck without causing any damage to his car or even cutting down a tire. On the other side of the wreck, he was more confident that he would be just fine than he had been since he’d woken up in the hospital.
Later, in victory lane, Charlie was ecstatic, thanking everyone he could think of for helping him get that win. Case interrupted long enough to give him a hug, not minding at all that he had champagne and who-knows-what sprayed all over him. Charlie deserved to win, and he hoped that was all his friend needed to prove to himself that he belonged on the racetrack.
Case had ended up coming home eleventh, just outside of the top ten. It wasn’t bad for his first try after a major accident. A lot of reports wanted to talk to him, too, but he didn’t have much to say. He just thanked God for seeing him through the last wreck, thanked NASCAR for letting him race again, thanked his team for their hard work, and thanked Andrea for being there to support him every step of the way.
He didn’t linger at all. He wanted to see her as soon as possible. Obviously, it had been emotionally trying on her for him to get back in the car again, too, but when he saw her waiting for him next to his pit box, he ran over and scooped her into his arms, twirling her around and kissing her, glad that no matter what he went through, she would always be there for him.
“I love you, Case,” Andrea whispered into his ear.
“I love you, too, baby. Let’s go home.”
She didn’t hesitate to agree. Just like a cowboy from the Old West, he swept her away—in a golf cart, not a horse—off into the sunset, knowing he was strong enough to race again. Next time he sat behind a steering wheel of a racecar, he’d be racing to win.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
