“Say,” Harvey said quickly. “Are we talkin‘ about you, or the motor?”
Duke shook his head. “You‘re the same ol‘ pain in the ass,” he said, and they both laughed.
Earl Bartlow was also in their pit, and Jimmy wondered if this might be a bit awkward. Bart, an engine builder from southern Indiana, had sold this motor to Gregg last year. Obviously, whatever tweaks Harvey made on the motor were without Bart‘s approval — or knowledge.
There aren‘t many secrets in this business, and Bart must have been aware that Harvey had been doing some, uh, development.
“So, is it still my motor?” Bart joked as he offered Harvey a handshake. “Or just the valve covers?”
“Well, we did some tweaking,” Harvey admitted. “But it‘s your motor, yes.”
“When we win, I‘ll ask you what you did,” Bart said.
“When we win, I won‘t tell you,” Harvey smiled.
“That‘s all right,” Bart needled. “I‘ll look it over when it comes back in for a rebuild.”
“You‘ll get your original motor back,” Harvey said, returning the needle. “I‘ll see to that.”
“That‘s what I figured. I hope we win anyway.”
Jimmy climbed in for hot laps. When the session went green and Jimmy stepped on the gas, he immediately felt a sense of disappointment. The car seemed a bit sluggish off the corner, definitely not as sharp as before.
However, a little ways into the straightaway the car pulled like never before.
Holy cow! This thing is way stronger on the top end!
The session finished and Jimmy quickly climbed from the car and took Harvey aside.
“Let me guess,” Jimmy said. “Cam, injectors, maybe even the heads. Am I right?”
“Maybe. How was it at the end of the straightaway?”
“Pulled like a champ. How‘d you do that?”
Harvey laughed. “Son, I didn‘t just fall off the turnip truck. I been doin‘ this a long time.”
“Lots of guys been doing it a long time.”
“I know, but … I been learnin‘. Listen,” he said, lowering his voice. “To tell you the truth, this was a real nice sprint car motor. Matter of fact, Bart‘s doing a couple of things that are real slick. But on these miles, it left too much on the table at the top end. I had some ideas. Sounded like they worked.”
“Oh, they worked,” Jimmy laughed, almost beside himself with excitement.
“Listen, now it‘s on you,” Harvey insisted. “Ol‘ Duke, he ain‘t gonna just roll over. You got to be real smart and save those tires and run a perfect race to beat him. That‘s on you. All on you. I can only do so much.”
They prepared for qualifying and Jimmy was focused. As he waited his turn, he watched Duke — three cars ahead in the order — roll out for his run.
The Maverick car was truly a beautiful machine, and as Duke roared past on the front straightaway a few moments later he was really honking.
When Duke completed his run, Mike leaned into the cockpit.