“And Jack Harvey and Slim MacDonald from our sprint car team, we talked them into helping us out. I mean…” Jimmy‘s voice started to break, but he swallowed and continued. “Me and Harvey and Slim, we been through some days, you know? Those guys are special and they‘ve been real, real good to me.”
Jimmy looked over at those beautiful blue eyes. “And Renee here, she‘s my cheerleader. She knows the right things to say and she picks me up when I‘m down.
“Really, it‘s like everything finally came together. You dream of a day like this, but you never know if you can make it happen. Everybody involved in this deal worked hard. I still can‘t believe we won this race!”
Jimmy let loose with another war whoop and the crowd roared their approval. The guy shook Jimmy‘s hand and he and the microphone disappeared.
Jimmy stood there, realizing that his euphoria was starting to wear off. He suddenly felt awfully tired, and he plopped his butt on the left rear tire, taking another slug of water. He heard the PA guy begin to interview Duke, and he paused to listen.
“Well, we‘re disappointed,” Duke said. “I feel like we got a little complacent, and that bit us. Jimmy and those boys were loaded for bear today and they got the job done. Hats off to them for that. I think you saw something special today, and that‘s OK. A young guy like Jimmy, he‘s good for the sport.
“But we aren‘t done yet. Hopefully this wakes me and our guys up a little bit and lights a fire. I don‘t like running second, not in these cars. We‘ve got some work to do, but I love a good fight for the championship. We‘ve still got a shot at it. We‘ll be ready when we get to Minnesota next week.”
Harvey hurried over to Jimmy. “Did you hear what he said? They ain‘t done yet … I told ya! Duke, he‘ll do some ass chewing this week and those boys will be motivated! We can‘t let off the gas … we‘ve got to be ready, too! Saint Paul is a tough little race track.”
Jimmy grinned broadly.
“Let‘s enjoy this one for at least an hour,” he laughed. “Work is for tomorrow. Today it‘s party time! We beat Duke! Ain‘t that a helluva thing?”