Short Track Lovin' ✅

Chapter 24: Daytona 500

February 2017

Chase couldn't believe what had happened. He couldn't believe that one minute he was leading set to win the Daytona 500, next minute he was out of gas. Why hadn't he found the refresh switch sooner? Why hadn't he remembered? It was a mistake he knew that'd bite him in the ass for days to come.

Stopping the car at the end of pit road, he takes off his helmet as he lets out a sigh while sitting in the car. He felt gutted, heartbroken, torn to pieces. The fact that they had a fast car, great team, and a solid Speedweeks didn't matter to him in that moment.

Slipping the belts off, he slowly climbs out of the car, laying his head on the roof for a second before fully climbing out. He leans back against it, unzipping his firesuit slightly. He felt the pain creep into his side immediately – knowing it was due to the forces of racing, and the added force of being punted in the left side during that wreck. He bit his tongue a little as the pain increased, wanting to hide away with a pack of ice.

"Here you go," his PR rep Morgan walks over, handing him two Tylenol and a bottle of Gatorade. It was custom to have the sponsor product in the photo, but not wanting him to take mountain dew with the Tylenol, a fellow Pepsi product would have to do.

"Thank you," he immediately accepts it, placing the Tylenol in his mouth without hesitation. Taking some deep breathes, he knew he had to get it unwrapped and some ice on it as soon as he could with what had happened.

"Sore?" He looks over and shakes his head yes. "Are you sure you don't need to be checked out?" Chase already knew what they'd say in the medical center.

"They'll just tell me that I aggravated it, to get some rest, breathe easy, and put ice on it. It's just the wreck that we had in the corner when I slammed in the door there, it caused it to go up a little. I'll be fine, though." She shakes her head accepting, simply taking the steps to do her job properly. The pair stood there for awhile – probably around 10-15 minutes, waiting for some media to come and ask questions. However, glancing around, it seemed that nobody cared about him or Martin. "Nobody?"

"That's strange as everybody talked about you being the major story, and probably wanting to get your thoughts. It seems their busy with everybody else, though." She then takes a glance down pit road before looking back at Chase. "If you want, you can go. There's nobody headed this way, and you should get some rest. I know you need to get those unwrapped so I'd vote that you head off."

"Are you sure?" She shakes her head yes. Why should they stand there for no reason?

"Just message me later a statement and I'll forward that to Chevrolet to send out." Chase shakes his head, accepting. "Thanks for a fun weekend. Sucks it didn't go better at the end."

"That's racing." He then heads off, making his way into the hauler in the infield.

He quickly takes off his firesuit, unwrapping himself, before getting dressed. He knew it'd be best to lay on the couch for a bit, take some deep breathes with the ice on him to calm down, but he also wanted to get out of Daytona as quickly as possible.

"Ready to go?" Bill asks as Chase walks out of the hauler. Chase simply shakes his head yes as they both get in the rental car and head for the airport. Chase sits back in the seat, letting out a small groan of pain as he places the ice pack on his side. "Sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," he states as he focuses on taking some deep breathes. He just needed to get it back under control.

"Listen, I know you're upset and disappointed. I know that a loss like that is hard to take. But hey, you had a quick car and you did a great job leading that field. It's not your fault that you ran out of gas, and believe me when I say that I know you'll win some races this year." Chase looks over at his father with a slight smile. It was like he knew exactly what was swirling through his mind at that moment.