Trackside

Autographs

Autograph session with Cruz - Jackson would rather do literally anything else.

___

"Why? Why her?"

"Because you're both famous and cars are gonna line up out the wazoo to meet you. It's marketing. Gotta put on a good show and act friendly. Make us and yourself look good."

"But-"

Ray cut him off before he could complain any more. Jackson scowled and looked over at the booth he was assigned to. Meet and greets weren't anything new. Meet and greets at a shared booth, now that was new, and he didn't like it. Curse this venue for being so cramped!

Why couldn't IGNTR have been paired up with another sponsor? Not only did Dinoco dwarf his sponsor in sheer size and reputation, but they also had the most recognizable racer, apart from himself of course. Anything would be better than sharing a booth with Cruz. Heck, he'd even tolerate that Treadless guy to get away from her.

Cruz was already at the booth, and he could feel her bubbly personality from a hundred yards away. He did not have the patience to deal with her that day, however his contract said he'd better suck it up if he wanted to keep his job. He groaned and glided over, taking a spot next to her and looking at the photographs of himself on the table.

"Oh, hey Storm!" Cruz greeted him.

"Sup." he didn't even glance at her. Instead he picked up the silver marker he'd be using to sign predominately black merchandise and fiddled with it.

"Beautiful day isn't it?" she gestured to the clear blue sky above them. "I love these events, meeting the fans and all."

"Yeah, yeah sure." he agreed, praying that someone was taking notes of his efforts to be nice.

Cruz continued to babble on until the fans started to approach them, forming lines, much like what Ray had said, longer than Jackson had ever seen. For some reason beyond his understanding though, there was only one queue for their booth. There should have been two, he argued to himself. Not everyone wants to see both of them at the same time.

At first there were several awkward moments where the fans didn't know what to do upon approaching them. Did they acknowledge Cruz? Or Storm? Or both? It was uncomfortable for one racer to get 100% of a fan's attention while the other sat there, but they managed. Whoever designed this venue was definitely going to be receiving some constructive criticism afterwards.

Jackson watched as Cruz handled more than half of the attention at the booth, and tried to figure out why everyone loved her so much. Every young girl in line came up to her and told her how inspirational she was, and how they all wanted to be like her. Cruz always responded in the most positive, encouraging manner, trying to motivate them to be their best. Maybe it was her experience as a trainer that set her apart at these events. All Jackson knew how to do was sign his name and smile for a picture.

Try to make it a competition. See if you can't outdo her. Yes. That was it. That was the motivation he needed. Ray wanted him to make them all look good? Now he had some references to use in order to do so.

A teenage boy, a little timid, but clearly excited, approached the booth and turned towards Jackson's side. Storm tried to soften his normally steely look with a smile, and waved the kid over to him.

"Hey there, man." Jackson greeted him.

"Hi Mr. Storm. I, uh, I just wanted to say how awesome I thought it was that you won a Piston Cup your rookie year. How did that feel?" the undersized pickup truck struggled to maintain eye contact, but Jackson had seen worse. The kid was just nervous.

"It was rewarding, I tell you what." Jackson answered, turning his answer into something he thought Cruz would say, but also staying truthful. "It made all that time I spent training and working really hard worth it. It made me believe I could do anything I set my mind to."

The kid stared up at him like he'd just heard angels singing. "You had to work hard to get this good?"

"Yeah, nothing worth having comes easily, my man. You gotta decide what you want and then do everything you can to go get it."

"Awesome." he hesitated, letting it sink in. "Can I get an autograph?"

"Sure thing. Who should I make it out to?"

The truck left with a big smile on his face, and Jackson felt a strange sense of accomplishment. The kid seemed to have really taken what he'd said to heart. Was this what it was like to make a difference?

"That was sweet of you." Cruz complimented him before the next fan approached. "You're so good at this."

"Only as good as the next car." Jackson shrugged, letting the compliment slip.

Cruz smiled and turned her attention from him to the next fan that approached them. It was an older RV that had clearly seen better days.

"Miss Ramirez, what a pleasure." he greeted her.

"Well, thanks, I- "

"Do you mind if I just get a picture 'n autograph from ya?"

"Uh, sure thing."

Cruz smiled for the camera as the RV turned himself around to face the same direction. It was over in a flash, and Cruz hurriedly grabbed a photo, signed it, and gave it to him. She had a slight twinge of discomfort as the fan hesitated to leave her side.

"I also just wanted to tell you how beautiful you are, and how you look when you're out there on the track, I can't help but- "

Jackson knew how the male mind worked, and he saw this guy's move coming from a mile away. The second he saw the RV's front tire shift toward Cruz's fender, he revved his engine to make a scene.

"Hey, buddy!" he yelled. "Rules say no uninitiated touching. Move along."

"Right, right, sorry. Thanks, Miss Ramirez." the motor-home scurried away, embarrassed.

Cruz looked relieved. Confused, but relieved.

"Uh, thanks, Jackson. You didn't have to do that." she said.

"Don't worry about it. Dude was givin' me the creeps." he explained shortly.

Those in the front of the line of fans waiting to meet them had seen the whole thing. A day later, video evidence had surfaced of Storm standing up for Cruz, and it went viral. Everyone saw the champion in a different light.

At the next meet and greet event, Jackson had a booth all to himself once again, much to his relief. But now, his queue was even longer than normal. Now there were cars wanting to thank him for what he did for Cruz, on top of the fans that had already admired him.

"It's crazy what a single act of kindness can do" Gale later told him. "Just think about what a few more could do."