It's been two weeks since my dad passed away. To say these two weeks have been easy, I would be lying. Seems like every day just drags along. Dad's passing hasn't been hard on only me, it's been hard on everyone, but especially Chase. The whole NASCAR community was devastated over the passing of one of the greatest racers there ever was.
But today was a good day for Blaney Motorsports. About a month ago one of our drivers, Nick, got into an accident. He is out the rest of the season with a broken back and his contract was up at the end of the season. He called Ryan and I a few days ago and told the team he didn't want to be signed back. BMS put their plan into action and we were officially signing Emma Turner.
"Got the contract?" Ryan asks as I stepped into his office.
"Yep, got it right here," I say placing the file on his desk. "She should be here any minute," I say looking up at the clock.
"Sorry, I'm late," Chase says walking in with two cups of coffee in hand.
"Damn tired much?" Ryan jokes.
"No, McKayla called me and told me to get you coffee," Chase replies setting the cup down on the table. Ryan glances over at me with a questioning look.
"What? You get bossy when you don't have your coffee." I chuckled. Ryan playful rolls his eye just as Emma walks in. "Hey Emma, ready for your big day?"
"You have no idea." She smiles sitting down in front of Ryan. Ryan explains her two-year contract, which is including the rest of this season plus next season. "Sounds good to me. It's an honor to be driving for ya'll."
"Well, let's make it official," Ryan says. Ryan grabs a pen and signs the document then slides it towards Emma. She eagerly signs it. "Emma Turner, congratulations and welcome to Blaney Motorsports."
||Texas -Saturday Xfinity Race||
"One lap to go," I say biting my nails. "Come on Em, get him." I cheered as Emma inched closer and closer to Kyle Busch's bumper. On the backstretch, she finally gets close enough to disturb the air near Kyle, and barely gets him loose. She dives to his inside passing him coming into turn four.
The whole pit box cheered as Emma came across the finish line, winning the race. Ryan and I climbed down and made our way to victory lane with the crew. As we arrived Emma was just pulling in. She quickly straps out of her seat and stands upon the window sill, celebrating with everyone.
"Just a few days ago you signed with Blaney Motorsports. How does it feel to win your first race as an official driver of BMS here in Texas?"
"It feels incredible. I owe a lot to Ryan and McKayla for believing in my driving skills and taking me into their team. I just can't wait to bring this team the success they deserve."
||Sunday Morning||
The Texas sun shined through the window making me stir awake. I flipped over and looked at the time, seeing that I had overslept. This pregnancy was something else compared to my others, this time it has been taking up a lot more of my energy. I slowly get out of bed and walked out of the bedroom.
"Hi mom." Noah waves.
"Hi honey." I smiled.
"Morning sleepy head." Ryan greets kissing the top of my head. "Order for Ms. Summerlyn," Ryan says placing a plate of food in front of her.
"Happy birthday sweetie," I whispered in Briella's ear.
"Thank you, mommy." She giggles holding my face with both of her hands.
"Daddy and I have a surprise for you after breakfast," I added. She gets excited but continues to eat.
"It's open!" Ryan calls out. The door swings open revealing Bubba and Amanda walking in with a box.
"I hear it's someone's birthday," Bubba says. I place Briella on the floor once she began jumping in her seat. She runs over to the box and, slowly but surely, finds a way to open it up. She knocks the lid off revealing a puppy. She squeals in excitement capturing the rest of the kids' attention. Peyton, Noah, and Summerlyn all jumped out from their seats and crowed around the box.
"It's so cute!" Peyton says in awe.
"Now this may be Briella's present, but everyone has to help out taking care of the dog," Ryan says. The kids all agreed and started playing around with their new golden retriever puppy.
||Race- End of Stage 1||
"Ryan Blaney will win stage one!" The announcer says. The kids and I clapped as Ryan crossed the line. Ryan needed every point he could get with the competition being so close this season.
"Need any adjustments bud?" Jeremy radios in.
"I'm a little tight but nothing I can't handle," Ryan reports back.
"Alright, four tires and some fuel coming up," Jeremy replies, telling the guys the plan. Pit road opens and Ryan comes sliding into his pit stops. "Awesome stop," Jeremy says.
"Looks like the 22 car barely beat us out." The spotter says.
||End of Stage 2||
"Ryan Blaney as dominated yet another stage. He will win stage 2." The announcer says.
Stage 2 ended under caution for Busch and Johnson. Kyle's damage was extensive and they couldn't beat the five minute damage repair time, meaning they were out of the race. Which is good for the Penske, Kyle was Penske's biggest competition.
"Nice job there bud. No one is near your lap times. Keep it up. We'll pit two tires and some fuel in it."
"Who's closer to my lap times?" Ryan asks.
"The 88 car, but you're beating him by little over half a second," Jeremy replies. "Not bad considering this is a new car."
||Two Laps to Go||
"Come on Ryan!" Everyone in the pit box cheered. The last thing we needed is a caution, but yet a caution would be nice considering Ryan could run out at any moment. Daniel Suarez was quickly catching up with Ryan. Ryan was doing everything he could to save beforehand.
"Keep saving." Jeremy reminds Ryan. Finally the white flagged waved as Daniel was only two seconds behind. "I think you've saved enough. Go for it, and we'll see."
Ryan steps on the gas and distances himself from Daniel. Coming into turn four Ryan runs out but still manages to get across the finish line.
"RYAN BLANEY WILL WIN AT TEXAS!"
@mckaylablaney: yeehaw cowboy 🤠 @blaney
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
