Short Track Lovin' ✅

Chapter 9: Winchester 400

Summer 2015

The Winchester 400 started off as Chase wanted – leading, dominate, great handling car. It seemed that once again, he and Ricky Turner had figured out the right set-up to put under the No. 9 Late Model. It was just a matter of managing the car, and saving his stuff for the run at the end while balancing the lead.

The second half of the event came rather quickly and as the laps continued to wind down, Chase found the late model becoming a little tougher to keep under him, battling a loose condition through the corners. It resulted in not rolling the corners as smoothly, causing his lap times to slow down. As a result, those behind him were able to close the gap that he had formed, with a certain black and pink late model now right on his tail.

Sarina knew of Chase's condition, watching him slide up from the center off the corner. She watched as he tried to roll in a little slower to perhaps help the condition, but to no avail in giving more run off. While he was getting looser in front of her, she had managed to make the right adjustments with Jeremy to have her car continue to improve each run.

With the laps winding down, she kept herself in position and through the middle of one and two with about 20 laps to go, the door opened and she stuck her nose to the inside. She kept it there off of the corner, rolling into the next one on his inside. Able to get the throttle down quicker and more speed off, she would pull ahead as they headed back to the flag, taking the lead.

It seemed from there that her lead just continued to grow, a couple tenths of second each lap. There was no catching her as Chase couldn't to fall back, falling back to third by the time the checkered flag waved, courtesy of fellow NASCAR star John Hunter Nemechek. Nemechek wasn't able to catch her, though, as she led the rest of the way en route to winning the race.

Standing on pit road post-race leaning against the car, Chase couldn't help but smile as he heard the screams from victory lane by Sarina and her crew chief. They certainly deserved the fortune that had come their way, and it was nice to see her break through after some of her rotten luck over the season.

"Sorry about letting you down there bud," Ricky says, snapping Chase out of his thoughts as he glances over at his crew chief. "I just went too far on that last adjustment a little."

"It's okay," Chase comments as he gives his crew chief a pat on the back. "You did a good job considering the situation of not having me here for practice. I'm still proud of the run that we had today." Ricky could only shake his head and smile. Any other week, he knew they'd be sharing frustrating comments back and forth, comparing notes how they could be better for another week for racing. There was only one reason he could chalk up for the calmness before him right now.

"You're just not disappointed because your girlfriend is in victory lane." Chase rolls his eyes, but that was the truth. Everybody knew he'd be upset in leading that many laps and losing. However, he couldn't find a way to be since he knew how much this meant to Sarina. "She's going to rub this in, right?"

"She was already riding my ass pre-race about not beating Chris last night and my championship chances." Ricky laughs and shakes his head. Sarina was known for her teasing, playful ways with people. It was one of the reasons why he knew they'd be perfect for each other as Chase had a way of delivering his own lines.

"Dude, you do need to do something about that as she's right. Although, I will admit – Chris needs to make a mistake now. Perhaps this weekend." Chase shrugs his shoulders. If Chris made a mistake, it'd certainly possibly turn the tables in his way. However, you never wished bad luck on your competition and if you got beat, it was due to not being stronger yourself. He knew that he couldn't deny that their program this year hadn't been as strong as last.