Page 131 of Happy Hour

“Where’d she get the bruises from?” Tate asked with a sour edge to his voice. I had an inclination right about now he did not intend to believe me regardless of what I said to him right then.

“I have no idea. I pushed her off my lap but I never touched her neck and sure as shit never forced her to suck my dick.”

He hesitated for a brief second before speaking. “Stay away from Chelsea.” He growled and walked away.

Well that went well.

Knowing my inclination was now correct, I was about to go after him to give him a piece of my mind.

Fortunately, for me, Kyle appeared and shook his head. “Don’t.” his eyes were caveat. “Just let Phillip handle this. If you get involved any further, it could interfere with the case.”

Leaning against the back wall, Gordon, the Director of Competition, began the drivers meeting. Standing there, I realized Kyle was right. I needed to forget about it for now and let Phillip do his job. Not being the type of person to just sit back and donothing, which was a feat in itself. I had to be in control and right now, I wasn’t.

Darrin walked in with his crew chief, both glancing my direction. Keeping my calm, I looked the other way.

I couldn’t tell you what it was between us but it started back in USAC when he wrecked me for no reason. From there, I guess you could say the rivalry was born. We never did talk back then. Our first conversation came around the time I was testing in the Cup series over the winter and went something like this:

“So you’re the badass USAC driver everyone talks about...you don’t look so badass now,” was hiskindway of greeting me.

“I’ve had my moments.” I responded signing a few autographs as I walked towards the paddock that winter afternoon in Daytona.

“Guys like you have it easy. Your father funds everything for you.”

Guys like me? He had no idea how much time I spent racing as a kid. How ever since I was old enough to walk, it’s all I’ve ever wanted. Constantly training myself, focusing on what I thought was important. The long hours, the time spent traveling, how I never had a childhood really, the things I gave up...Sway...he had no fucking clue what it was like for me.

Luck...sure I had that on my side at times but I worked hard for everything I have.

“Yeah, I have luck but I’ve worked for everything I have.” I told him matter-of-factually walking away.

“Yeah...right,” He muttered and walked away himself.

As you can see, we never really got along.

During the meeting, they talked about the usual topics, pit lane safety, caution flags, and then a few changes in race format with a competition yellow this week due to rain yesterday.

And then it was on to aggression, something they weren’t happy with. Gordon and NASCAR made it clear they wouldn’t tolerate any retaliation on the track and any driver caught up in retaliation ofanykind, would be suspended for a minimum of one race from this point forward in the season.

I respected NASCAR’s position as a governing body for the sport. But I had a problem with how they enforced these rules at times. This one, the retaliation, was total bullshit if you asked me.

NASCAR had turned into some kind of marionette with the way they tried to oppress everything. They were sure quick to advertise the fights they didn’t condone though. That one of Darrin and me in the infield after the Winston still plays when they advertise the next race. Funny enough they penalized us both for that but they were making money from it.

Personally, I say if you want to punch a driver in the face because he pissed you off, well then, punch him. They did it in hockey and look at how well that’s received. It’s not like they didn’t want to see the fights, they wanted to, believe me.

Fans wanna see the good ole days when the drivers went at it in the infield of Talladega. They wanted drivers who showed emotion, they wanted real people.

I agreed this needed to be done in moderation. Retaliation as an act was a very fine line. The way I saw it, you need to be held accountable for dirty racing. If you race dirty, you had better be ready to defend those actions; that was my theory at least. Most racers I knew raced that way. And well Darrin, he knew nothing about this apparently. He had no problem racing dirty but when it came to answering the bell, he acted as though he did nothing wrong. That’s where my problem lied with him.

After the drivers meeting, I made my way back to the motor coach to put my racing suit on and get some food. Last night I wasn’t able to get in touch with Sway so I tried once more but it went straight to voicemail. I thought for sure I’d be able to get in touch with her sense it was my birthday and all, but no such luck. Part of me wondered if something was wrong with Charlie but she would have called, I hoped.

Before long, as with any race day excitement, I found myself standing outside my car waiting for the pre-race ceremony to begin. Leaning to one side, my legs crossed over appearing relaxed. Conversation around me shifted to there’s the “Rowdy Way” as though this was an intentional stance for me.

I’m not sure when I began leaning against my car that way. A handful of other drivers did it as well, maybe all with a different meaning. Or maybe it was comfortable for them too.

As far as when it started for me, it may have happened back when I raced sprint cars. At times, you found yourself waiting on pill draws, putting heat in the engine or simply waiting for your feature race to begin. In a sense, it was just a resting position. In time, a trademark “Rowdy Way” was developed and though I never consciously did it, I became known for it.

When drivers walked by; I casually kept stance. You know, maybe it was to deliver a message with a curious indifference that had them looking. Or maybe I was telling them in a quietly defiant way they’d never get to me.

Reporter after reporter made their way over to me along with a few hundred fans that’d been granted pit passes. Keeping stance, I told them in that quiet defiant way, the fines didn’t bother me. Darrin didn’t bother me and NASCAR didn’t bother me. In reality, I could have been lying but that’s the message I delivered.

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