The Tale of Love & Racing: Sarina’s Story – Chapter 372: Cheddar’s 300 Presented by Alsco

“All I can do is be on the same page as of my team and just try to drive that thing balls to the wall and hung out sideways and try to go fast. It’s really the only thing I can do is to try and win races. It is what it is, whatever happens. If you’re a man and you throw a punch, you better be able to take a punch. You can’t change what’s going to happen in the future but just try to do my best.”

Sunday, May 31 – Dawsonville, Georgia

Chase makes his way up the stairs, glancing into the bedsroom as a smile forms on his face. No matter how things went at the track, he could always take one single look at his little girl and have a smile on his face.

“I bet she’s as proud of you as I am,” he hears as arms wrap around him from behind, with Sarina’s chin landing on his shoulder. “But you know it’s rude to enter the house without telling me first. What if I thought you were an intruder?” He takes a deep breath, not wanting to let the thought process his mind in knowing the possibilities out there.

“I’ll be sure to announce my presence next time for you,” he replies, before turning around to face her, placing a kiss on her cheek. “Are you sure you’re proud of me considering I made a dumb mistake?” Sarina nods her head, knowing that sucked as a win would’ve ultimately been much better.

“Everybody makes mistakes, Chase. We’ve all been there before as that’s part of the game. Instead, I’m proud of you for standing your ground with Joey as he deserves that right back in return, considering his track record.” He smiles a little, glad someone understood where he was coming from today.

“He yelled at me because I didn’t come over and apologize immediately. That’s all he could focus on – nothing else. He kept going on and on. I almost wanted to just say shut up.” Sarina wasn’t surprised as she wanted to reach through the TV screen and strangle him.

“You should’ve as he deserves it. The fact he went on about that to you, and then when the camera showed up, he didn’t stop there, either. He went on to say that you should be a man and come up for an apology, but instead he had to force one which he called childish. Like, I’m sorry he’s the biggest hyprocite. Do I need to point out his discussion with Matt Kenseth, or with Denny Hamlin, or with Tony Stewart, or even Kevin Harvick if we want to go back far enough?” Chase nods his head, knowing these points were exactly right.

“I was just about ready to shout it back in his face, but I figured I better not or else I may be stuck there all day with him. That’d suck.” Sarina chuckles, nodding her head in agreement. “I hate it, I really do. It sucks for both teams as nobody likes a wrecked car. But when I first set on making the move, I was ready to clear and go on for the win. Though as soon as I hit the apex, I knew I was in trouble.”

“But hey, that’s part of racing. I’m proud of you taking the chance and going for it. I’m proud of you for doing what you thought was right and making that move in that moment. No racecar driver – unless they’re an idiot – can fault you for what you did. That’s the fire that Alan and I both have wanted to see out of you.” Chase lets out a sigh, having grown old of Alan trying to push that more and more. Perhaps that was the one positive here. “Lindsay even asked me over our video chat about that, in wondering who lit the fire cracker under your ass.”

“Call it being out of the car, or perhaps just loving this format in unloading and going straight for it, or perhaps the midweek races – it’s brought back that original diehard passion that I remember from those good ‘ol late model days. It feels like we’re back to where we want to be.” Sarina nods her head, rubbing her hands together.

“It’s why I can’t wait to do my version of the Bristol stomp tomorrow night.” Chase smiles, as he honestly believed in her chances, considering how well they’d been running and her success on short tracks.

“Go finish what I started….”

Monday, June 1 – Bristol Motor Speedway

As predicted, the speed was there in the No. 9 right from the drop of the green flag, with Sarina moving into the top-three quickly, taking the top spot on Lap 50. She was then able to hold off Justin through traffic to score the first stage victory.

Unfortunately, the pit stop would not go as planned with the airhose coming disconnected, resulting in her coming off fifth. Although she was frustrated, a deep breath reminded her how strong the car was, and the fact there was plenty of time to make up the lost ground.

She wasn’t left to think about it long, with Kyle coming across the radio in the FOX Sports booth to get her thoughts on the opening stage of the event.

“Hey Sarina, do you know who you’re talking to?” Kyle questions after the standard questions, to which Chase hoped the answer came easily to her. She should know his voice, right?

“Not a clue, man,” she replies back in response, as Chase just sits there totally stunned. How was that possible? He almost chuckling at this point right alongside Kurt who was in the booth with Kyle.

“Alrighty then, buddy. Nice talking to you, and good luck the rest of the race.” Chase knew as soon as she saw a replay of that after the race, she would have the biggest regret over her face.

“Oh shit – I mean, hey that’s my ‘ol bossman. Have fun watching the show, Kyle.” Chase could only chuckle now, but knew the comment was right along the lines if things went according to their plan.

Off the drop of the green flag, she was able to make up some lost ground, moving into second behind Justin before a caution, and eventual red flag for an incident.

“it takes too long to get around the center,” she comments over the radio under the delay. “It’s too gripped up on the bottom.” Chase knew that wasn’t just all chassis related, but rather related to the change in the track with more rubber having being laid down.  Either way, confidence remained in that Dave would give her what she needed to keep running strong.

Despite feeling speed in the car, she was unable to get around Justin when they went back to green, finishing the second stage in second.

“Justin, this is the Fox Sports booth, do you got me?” Kyle asks Justin over the caution, which was no surprise to Chase. They always seemed to talk to the stage winner.

“I got you,” Justin replies back in response. “Can you hear me?” The question didn’t surprise Chase, either, as he knew sometimes the tight bullring made for radios being hard to hear at times with all the news. It was very odd in having a lack of fans there to contribute to the feeling.

“Loud and clear, but do you know who this is?” Chase rolls his eyes, knowing exactly why Kyle was asking. For everybody’s sake, he hoped Justin got it right – but felt it’d be more funny if he didn’t in seeing Kyle’s reaction.

“Yeah, I got you.” Chase almost began to smirk, wondering if his vision would be coming true.

“But yeah, do you know this is?” Chase almost crossed his fingers in hoping that Justin didn’t give him a clear answer.

“Yeah, it’s Kyle.” Chase shakes his head, knowing that’d make things even worse later for Sarina when she got to watch both full clips from the broadcast.

“Okay good, because your teammate didn’t.” Chase couldn’t help but laugh, even if it was at Sarina’s expense, still shocked she didn’t get it immediately. “One more question. Were you ready for the start of this race?” Chase chuckles, remembering how Justin had gotten into the wall on the second lap.

“I was ready for Lap 1 – but not Lap 2.” Chase had to give Justin credit for the quick clap back in response.

Restarting second alongside Justin, Sarina would fall back to third behind Justin Haley shortly after the green flag. She then began to lose some ground to the top-two before the caution resurfaced with 52 laps to go.

“Car got tight there,” she tells Dave, which didn’t surprise Chase based on what he was seeing. Of course, it contributed back to his original thought in the track changing based on the rubber being put down. He wondered if Dave was remembering to keep that in mind when making adjustments. “I was trying to save some stuff for later…” Chase was actually surprised by the comment initially, though smiled in remembering how she won several of her late model races in that fashion.

A trip down pit road for four tires, she’d come off in third behind Riley Herbst who took two tires, and Justin Allgaier. The two tire decision for the rookie didn’t work as he’d miss the bottom, getting loose off of turn two, taking Haley  up to the wall with him. Thankfully, both JRM cars were able to sneak by without damage – to the relief of the anxious husband.

Another restart, Brandon Jones would clear Sarina initially, but Sarina was able to get back to his outside. Haley then caught up to the pair, contact ensuring, with Sarina once again able to escape away without damage – again to Chase’s relief.

“We’re just stuck, same speed,” Sarina comments over the radio, in comparing herself to Justin Allgaier. “Tell him I’ll take the bottom. I want the bottom.”

With the top line being the preferred groove that he liked, Justin took the top, enabling Sarina to have the bottom as she wanted. Restarting inside the final eight laps, the pair battled side-by-side for the lead, not giving an inch. As they went down into turn three and four, Sarina got loose going into the corner, pushing Justin up, into the wall, followed by the No. 7 going around as she got away.

“Oh fuck…” Chase comments with a deep breath.

He certainly had mixed emotions in watching the move happen. It was the same thing he had done the day before, but yet better executed as both cars weren’t wrecked. She had finished the task in the getting the lead. However, that was her teammate and the worst person to always have that happen with was your teammate.

He also liked Justin and remembered working with him, and how great he was as someone to lean on. Justin was someone who wouldn’t rub someone the wrong way. Was it fair to watch that happen to him? Certainly not.

Taking a deep breath, he remembered the same discussion that took place after yesterday, and after Darlington. When your racing in close quarters, mistakes are going to happen. Sometimes it’s not going to go as you planned. It sucks but that’s racing, right?

“I just hope you finish this out…” He comments, knowing if Sarina didn’t win after that move, it’d just make things that much worse at JR Motorsports after this.

On the final restart, she’d get the job done, cruising away from the field to score the victory for her second win of the season.

“Thank you boys, thank you!” She immediately yells over the radio, obviously the excitement of Bristol taking her over. “Apologize to the 7, but thank you. I’m going to enjoy this!”

She was always a fan of the short tracks, and the type of racing they delivered. It was why she had always excelled at them being aggressive. Though on top of that, Bristol had a special unique spot in being the Last Great Coliseum and the history associated. Now, she, Sarina Elliott, could call herself one of the great winners there.

Following the burn-out on the frontstretch, along with her standard climb of the fence even with no fans in the stands, it was time to head to victory lane and solidify this win.

As she made her way up pit road and turned, she saw a familiar red firesuit headed her way. Taking a deep breath, the past couple weeks in the Cup Series had taught her to expect anything in response to what happened.

“We both made mistakes there – we’ll talk later,” Justin says as he reaches in the car, as she simply nods her head back in return. There was no disagreement. She knew she made a mistake wrecking him. He was the last person that she would’ve wanted to wreck considering their friendship.

“I’m sorry,” she replies back as sincerely as possible, to which he nods his head in response.

“Like I said, we’ll talk later.” He then heads off, as she continues the drive to the famed Bristol Motor Speedway victory lane.

It was awesome going through the motions in climbing out of the car with the fireworks and confetti. It was awesome glancing over the trophy that she’d get to take home with that night. She even admitted feeling like a badass hoisting the sword in the air.

Then of course came time to do the post-race media, which she knew what to expect. She knew some people would be critical of the way she won. She knew some people would be critical of teammate respect. She also knew there were those who didn’t like her aggressive nature. There was only one response to offer back.

“If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen,” she commented. “All I can do is be on the same page as of my team and just try to drive that thing balls to the wall and hung out sideways and try to go fast. It’s really the only thing I can do is to try and win races. It is what it is, whatever happens. If you’re a man and you throw a punch, you better be able to take a punch. You can’t change what’s going to happen in the future but just try to do my best. If I do my best, then I can’t do any better.”

Sarina walks through the door, a smile still plastered on her face as she looks into the living room where Chase laid on the couch awaiting for her to return. he just smirks in seeing her hoisting the sword up high.

“You proved to our daughter that you could kill any monster that she faces,” she comments, in relation to Miles currently residing in Abigail’s bedsroom. “I am standing here to prove that I can slay any dragon that shall enter our lair.”

“I must say that you look pretty sexy there with that,” he replies as she comes in and sits beside him. “Congratulations on a job well done. You deserve that win and the success.”

“Thank you.” She then leans in, easily accepting the kiss as she sets the sword aside for safety reasons.

“Now when I said finish what I started, I wasn’t quite meaning like tha-”

“You know that I’d never, ever wreck Justin on purpo-”

“I know, I trust and believe you. it’s the same thing as what happened with Joey and I – I made a mistake. Unfortunately, I just didn’t follow through like you did to make it worth it. I’m always proud of you, and that continues tonight. Sure, there is going to be people who will send you comments, tear apart every bit of your driving styl-”

“Am I really too aggressive at times?” Chase bit his lip, as part of him wanted to sell out the lecture that he had used in past times with her. However, he wasn’t about to do that here. Instead, he wanted to keep the encouraging tone as he felt she did nothing wrong.

“You’re more aggressive than some – and that’s fine. That’s what makes you who you are. We both know the reason is because the fire burns deep, and you want to prove yourself more than anything. I don’t blame you for that.” He takes a deep breath, finding this a little more difficult than he originally planned. How does Kyle handle these situations? “Sometimes being aggressive can frustrate people, turn people off the wrong way, but I wouldn’t change a thing about your driving. Look at where it’s gotten you. you’re absolutely amazing just the way you are so keep being you and kicking ass.”

“Thank you, and that’s the plan – all the way to the grand stage in December.” Chase smiles as he absolutely liked the idea of that happening. It’d be quite amazing if they could celebrate championships together at the end of the season.

“I also believe that Justin will forgive you. Give it time, but he’ll come to understand – just like I did with Kyle. You’re both still going to be amazing teammates together.” She smiles as it was nice to hear the advice. “Now, does a win call for a celebration?”

“I wish, but I’m beat tonight.” Chase looks at her a little surprised, hating to be breaking that special tradition. “I’m sorry, but Bristol kicked my ass. I’m tired.”

“Are you the race kicked your ass, or perhaps the fence climb?” She then chuckles, knowing that was more difficult than she originally envisioned.

“A bit of both. Regardless, I’ll issue you a rain check and make sure you do follow through.”

The Tale of Love & Racing: Sarina’s Story – Chapter 371: Food City 500

“Hey, I like close racing and I could’ve done better than that. I take the blame, but he could’ve handled that better.” – Chase Elliott

Sunday, May 31 – Bristol Motor Speedway

Kyle walks over, giving Chase the glance over with a sigh of his own. He hadn’t spent as much time around him as others, but the time and things he’d seen Chase and Sarina go through told him enough about the reaction on the young man’s face.

“I know that look on your face,” Kyle comments, breaking Chase’s train of thoughts. “You’ve got something on your line.” Was it really that obvious? Chase could only let out a sigh in knowing that Kyle was right about that fact.

While he knew his focus should be on the upcoming race that afternoon, it seemed highly unlikely at the time. Instead, he was focused on the possibility that remained with ‘Andrew’ looming possibly out there, ready to make his move at the opportune time. nobody could blame him, as it was just hours earlier that Sarina heard back that Chris did not want to speak to her, either.

It brought a bit of relief as he didn’t want to see the siblings near each other, knowing what possibilities lied there in having witnessed that once before already. However, he felt for Sarina in seeing the distance remain between her and her brother, in contrast to the memories of their childhood she still held onto. He couldn’t blame her for the pain that was there.

There was also part of him that wanted the meeting for the simple fact of information. Chris had dealings with Austyn, Andrew’s father, through his time. There was direct knowledge of how the family worked, and possibly spots they could be found. If the threat offered from Alison and Carter was real,  that could all prove invaluable.

“Are you going to offer the details, or am I off your confident list now?” Kyle questions, catching Chase’s attention. He thought Darlington was already in the rearview mirror.

“I’m just thinking of how to beat you today,” Chase offers, trying to dodge the topic entirely. Even if there was possibly something looming, he wasn’t about to share those details with anybody – yet. It was just something for him to think about – perhaps that’s why Alison planted the thought and Carter ran with it. it was just another mind trick like always.

“I know you better than that Elliott.” Chase was now even more taken back by the commentary. “You can trus-”

“I know, that hasn’t changed with what happened – even if you’re still a dick for making that mistake.” Kyle wasn’t about to contest the comment as he still felt bad it happened to begin with.

“It’s part of racing sometimes, buddy.” Chase lets out a sigh, nodding his head, as to was part of the reason why it was easy to let go. “Does it deal with Sarina?”

“How about I’d rather not talk about it and keep it to myself for now?” Kyle would’ve rather heard the details, but totally understood his stance at this time.

“Fair, but if you need someone to talk to, you know where to find me. I’m always hear to listen and help if you need someone.” Chase nods his head, offering a small smile. If things continued to grow, he may very well take him up on the offer.

“Thank you, I appreciate it.”

It seemed all of the misfeelings before the event were forgotten immediately once the green flag dropped. Chase’s focus shifted to the task at hand, and things looked to be happening the way they warranted. With a fast No. 9 Chevrolet underneath him, he was able to keep himself up front throughout the first stage.

As they got into the final 15 laps, he made his move, going back and forth with Ryan Blaney en route to taking over the top spot.

“Classic Bristol racing – that was good,” Sarina comments on the exchange, while sending Lindsay a text with the tongue sticking out and a chuckle.

The move enabled him to win the first stage, followed by a dominant run through the second stage for another. Sarina takes a deep breath, as she couldn’t believe the terror that they seemed to be on lately with speed – and knew it’d be total shock to win two races in the span of four days, three in seven if you count the truck race.

The strategy in the late stages of the event would see him drop back a few starts, ultimately restarting third with 15 laps to go behind Denny and Joey. Knowing their history, combined with Chase not having the smoothest of times with either, she was thinking she may need to break out the Talladega Tums routine.

“Holy shit!!” Sarina lets out as she looks on in pure amazement, pumping her first in the air with a huge smirk across her face. She knew that Chase was a very capable short track racer with his late model resume, but still was in pure amazement of how smoothly that move paid off. “Damn boy!”

“Who lit a fire cracker under his ass these past couple weeks?” Lindsay asks over their video chat, as they’d switch to that format through the later half of the race following their children’s nap times.

“I think we have Samantha’s husband to thank for that.” Both Lindsay and Samantha chuckle back in response, no doubt agreeing with the sentiments. “In all seriousness, he could always drive – just needed the cars underneath him. This is just amazing to watch lately.”

“It would’ve only been made better if it was Joey into the wall instead of Denny,” Samantha offers, to which both girls nod their heads in agreement. While both of them could be a pain at times, Joey was more painful in all respects. “Sorry Linds-”

“I don’t care if Ryan is his teammate, Joey is the biggest douche out there,” Lindsay comments, earning a raise of the drink from Sarina in response. “I got to say – he is damn lucky he was able to follow Joey through there. That was damn close.”

“You don’t need to remind me,” Sarina offers, taking a couple deep breathes. She knew with this setting up for a late-race restart, the drama was only going to continue. She just hoped it ended with the No. 9 finding its way to victory lane.

“Ah shit!” “Damn it!” “Come on Kyle!”

Frustration appeared on all of the ladies’ faces in seeing the initial contact, followed by both Joey and Chase up in the outside wall together. it certainly remained in seeing Brad Keselowski take the checkered flag with Kyle second, too.

“Fuck!” Sarina lets out, still frustrated in what she had just witnessed.

“I’m sorry but Stevie Wonder could’ve seen that car wasn’t going to stick in the middle of the corner,” Lindsay offers, causing Samantha’s jaw to drop in shock.

“I’d rather see my man go for the win and make a mistake, then load it up without trying. I am frustrated, I am pissed the contact happened, and I hate to see our dominating day thrown out the window. However, I feel better going down swinging aggressive than playing it safe there. I don’t blame Chase for making the move.”

“I don’t either,” Samantha offers with a nod of approval in Sarina’s sentiments. “We know how badly these guys want to win and that’s what the move was all about – trying to win. That’s what we, the fans and competitors, want to see – hard racing. Sometimes it doesn’t go over well – and it sucks and frustrating, but I agree – better to try.”

“You know Joey is going to whine about it day and night,” Lindsay adds, to which Sarina lets out a sigh. it seemed he was always the first to whine when done wrong, but yet the first to just brush off anything he did wrong – even if more deliberate than what Chase did.

“I’ll glad send him the video of Denny imitating him from Martinsville last year,” Sarina comments, earning a chuckle from Samantha. “That’s short track racin’ children.”

“I’m sorry dude,” Chase says over the radio with a sigh once the checkered flag was flown. He had a fast car, dominated all race, and another win within his grasp – until his small stupid mistake threw it all away.

“It’s okay,” Alan tells him immediately. “It didn’t work out for us, you did a good job.”

Chase makes his way down pit road, slowly slipping off the belts and helmets. He reaches for his mask, putting it on accordingly before climbing out of the car. Seeing the scene around him on pit road, it caused a mix of eye rolling and chuckling. Of course after everything he’d end up parked between Joey and Kyle.

He leans back against the car, finally allowing himself to glance towards his left, catching the glare being shot in return from Joey.

In hindsight, he didn’t blame him considering as he would’ve been frustrated if he was at the other end of the move, too. He knew how Joey felt – ala his own incident with Kyle at Darlington. But this was part of the hard racing and sometimes, contact and mistakes will happen, whether you like it or not.

He then notices Joey turn more his direction, before beginning to close the gap that remained between the pair. Taking a deep breath, he was ready to face the music – just hoping that Joey was overly understanding about things. He had caused similar incidents with other drivers in the past so he should know how it went, right?

“I shouldn’t have to come down here and see you, and I didn’t deserve that,” Joey offers, to which Chase lets out a sigh. Didn’t Joey understand the act of avoiding immediate frustration, and speaking the next day? Chase knew he was going to send a text apologizing – even if he didn’t totally mean it. But as far as not deserving that, was it time to begin pulling out some receipts to show him?

“Man…” Chase starts, not knowing where to go first with his comments. There was so much that he could say right now to Joey.

“I passed you clean down there and then when we went down to the other end, you just wrecked me. I mean, I don’t know what to say.” Chase knew the explanation right away – it’s hard racing, it’s part of short track action sometimes. Besides, anybody who knew Chase’s driving style, they knew he didn’t mean to do it on purpose – he just got it in hard trying to make a move. But for Joey to assume it was on purpose, now he was starting to get on Chase’s nerves.

“You’ve done it before.” He watches Joey’s eyes go wide in response – perhaps he should’ve bit his tongue.

“Seriously?” Chase wasn’t about to back down as he never did that when he went in for these incidents. Besides, Joey brought this on himself right now with his comments.

“It’s the end of the race, we’re both going for a win. I got in there a little deep – possibly got loose; I may have had a tire going down.” They did have contact before that, so it was certainly a possibilities. Besides, it was weird how it gave no warning and started sliding immediately from the driver’s seat. “I take the blame.” No matter what, it was his fault  and he wasn’t going to shy away from that.

“Then why not walk down and offer an apology, man up and say sorry?” Chase already knew his thoughts on that, knowing Joey’s history. Everybody knew that he gets frustrated easily and he has a history of driver confrontations, from Denny and Kyle to the most famous with Matt Kenseth. Besides, weren’t they supposed to be social distancing? The world is in the midst of a pandemic.

“I know you’re upset, I know you’re frustrated; I didn’t want to start a fight.” He also didn’t feel that Joey deserved a discussion, as it was self explanatory as to what happened.

“No, instead I’m more frustrated because I’m having to come down here and pull this out of you.” Chase chuckles, knowing that was the furthest thing from the truth. He was prepared to take the blame right away, so how was he being forced to say anything? Chase almost wanted to throw Joey’s incident with Denny back in his face and how Joey tried to escape without facing that music, but knew that may be a little too much right now.

“Oh, really? Again, you’ve done it before. You know how it goes.” Did Chase need to remind him of each and every incident? Did he need to be reminded of how he didn’t go forth with the same steps he expected Chase to follow here?

“Doesn’t change how I feel right now…” Chase lets out a sigh, already knowing that was going to be the outcome. It was just like him and Kyle after what happened at Darlington. No matter what they discussed, no matter how much it being a mistake came out, it was frustrating, it hurt, and certainly disappointing.

“Man, I’m sorry. I hate it – for both of us.” Really for himself, as he truly believed he should’ve won given how dominating the first half of the race was. In hindsight, that was four races he should’ve easily won since they came back from the pandemic now. Instead, there was only one trophy that he got to hoist.

“Thank ya’ll for the second-place finish,” Clint then says as he goes walking by, as Chase glances towards his direction. Focused on his conversation with Joey, he hadn’t totally gotten what Clint had to say – actually curious if he was offering an opinion.

“Nice run,” Joey quickly offers, without taking his eyes off of Chase in the process.

“What was that?” Chase questions, trying to grab Clint’s attention. Could anybody blame him for being curious? You never knew what Clint was going to say. “No, come back here for a moment….”

“Seriously?” Joey asks, obviously full of disbelief in Chase’s focus on what Clint had to say.

“I just said thank you,” Clint offers, as Chase looks on a little surprised. Was that really the right thing to say right now, either?

“Nice job, but really?” Chase questions, still surprised by the comment. He tries to get Clint’s attention once again to no avail as he heads off.

“So you pay more attention to him than me?” Joey asks, getting Chase’s attention back. Could anybody blame him right now? It didn’t seem like Joey had anything interesting to say right now. “Really?”

“He deserved a pat on the back.” No doubt Clint drove a strong race all day, and was clean through the craziness at the end. it was the right thing to congratulate a competitor on a good run if you felt they did a good job – and that was all he wanted to do there. Instead, that seemed to piss off Joey, too.

“I just think it’s not fair that you’re not hearing me out. I mean, when you make those mistakes, you really have to make the effort to go over and apologize so it doesn’t get bigger.” Chase almost wanted to chuckle, wanting to ask if Joey learned that lesson from Matt. Or did trading punches with Denny and Kyle offer that?

“No, no, I appreciate it.” Maybe if he gave into his ego, he would shut up and go away.

“I’m just trying to offer some advice, okay?” It was taking every bit of effort for Chase to bite his tongue and not offer some sarcastic line in response.

“Okay.” Now could he be left alone?

“Don’t be an asshole.” Chase almost wanted to break out laughing, thinking that was even more ironic right now considering what the general consensus about Joey was in the garage area.

Instead, he kept a straight face as he walked over to where Alan stood with Paul Wolfe. He would prefer to leave the topic alone entirely and not even be near Paul either, but he wanted to quickly go over some stuff with Alan before flying out.

“I took the blame,” he starts as both crew chiefs immediately look over at him. He figured he better offer some explanation or else they’d be bugging for answers. Though given the understanding he was seeing between them, he focuses his eyes towards Paul, knowing he deserved something. After all, it was the crew that had to fix the cars after the driver’s blunders. Besides, maybe he’d be able to leave a message that Paul could get through to Joey eventually. “I just wanted to tell you that as I don’t think he understood that. I get it, though…”

“He’s just frustrated,” Paul offers, which was probably just touching the surface in Chase’s mind. “But you know you went in there…” Chase rolls his eyes, not believing that he was having to go through this again. Didn’t anybody understood the method to the move? He didn’t mean to do it!

“Hey, I like close racing and I could’ve done better than that. I take the blame, but he could’ve handled that better.” Chase knew he didn’t deserve the explanation about not being an asshole from Joey. Though given the nod from Paul and seeing him walk off, perhaps that didn’t sit well with him either. “Am I truly an asshole today, Alan?”

“You went for the win and made a mistake – they’d be acting the same way on the other side of the situation,” Alan offers, remembering his own response to Kyle at Darlington. “Now you know how Kyle felt when we both chewed him out for his mistake.”

The Tale of Love & Racing: Sarina’s Story – Chapter 369: The Bow

“There’s that saying – imitation is the best form of flattery. That’s real cute.” – Kyle Busch

Tuesday, May 26 – Charlotte Motor Speedway

“Appreciate the effort boys, thank ya – appreciate it,” Chase says over the radio once the win was secured.

“10-4 Great job Chase,” Charles Denike replies. “We put this together three weeks ago to go to Atlanta, and it’s nice to come here and do this. Let’s do this again.” Chase wasn’t about to deny that thought, as he’d be all for scoring another win together.

“10-4, appreciate it.”

Everybody watched as Chase got out of the truck, doing his interview before picking up the checkered flag. Chuckles then filled the room in watching the events transpire afterwards.

“Did he just do what I think he did?” Lindsay questions as she watches the scene before her, earning a nod and chuckle from Sarina in response.

“Pure savage,” Ryan comments as he breaks into his own series of chuckles.

“That was perfect – I don’t care what Kyle says,” Sarina offers as she just smiles in response. She could only hope Kyle wasn’t too upset, given the circumstances.

Amazement could only be felt in watching the post-race scene as Chase went through the motions of taking the winning photos, followed by his media availability. Of course, just as she would usually, she tuned in to see what he had to say. She also was curious as to Kyle’s reaction to the bow.

“There’s that saying – imitation is the best form of flattery,” Kyle comments when asked. “That’s real cute.” Sarina could only smile, knowing Kyle got where Chase was coming from in doing it, knowing there’d be some fun teasing back and forth.

Charlotte Tues 02

Tuesday, May 26 – Charlotte, North Carolina

Chase makes his way out to the porch, smiling as he sees Sarina relaxing back comfortably. It was certainly a different feeling than returning home as they’d been the past couple of weeks, but he also enjoyed being able to catch up with Ryan and Lindsay a bit.

“Did you like my post-race celebration?” He questions as he sits down alongside her, knowing that relaxation himself would be a good idea with another race to go tomorrow. He knew running three events in four days wasn’t going to be easy, but it was a challenge he was ready to handle.

“I thought that was perfect given the situation,” she offers to which he just smirks back in response. “Hopefully Kyle gets where you’re coming from.” Chase nods his head, having already heard the post-race media center comments.

“I’m sure he will once he lets go of his frustration with the team over what happened tonight. Truthfully, I don’t blame him one bit as for them to not be prepared is a shock.” Sarina wasn’t about to deny that, knowing the work that went in behind the scenes at KBM from her couple of years spent there.

“He almost still got you, too. I mean that just proves right there what everybody is saying.” Chase nods his head, as he rethought back to the bow.

“Sort of like the bow, to where most will say I’m mocking him. Instead, I’m in one way staking my claim on the bounty, but also still bowing down as he is the king of the trucks. I mean, I would not be surprised if he kicked my ass the next two races.” Sarina chuckles, knowing that wasn’t out the whelm of possibility.

“Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. GMS has a stout program so I’m sure they’ll have something for him.” Chase wasn’t going to deny that as he was ready to give it his all. He then glances towards her phone, seeing another notification. “Don’t as-”

“If somebody is bugging you, you know I’m going to ask because I want to take care of them for you.” Sarina smiles as she was honored that Chase was willing to do whatever it took for her, still.

“It’s just Christopher, okay? He’s sending over the midget schedule once again, offering great date options that would work within our schedules, tempting and teasing me about running the midget.” Chase wasn’t surprised as he remembered all the excitement that was shed about the opportunity following how strongly the test went. Of course, things had hit some bumps since then.

“You told me him you were really excited about doing it, and I remember how impressed he was with how quickly you adapted. The excitement is contagious…” Sarina nods her head, knowing that and understanding the reasons. Under different circumstances, she would’ve probably jumped on the opportunity.

“But Chase, let’s face it, our schedule is chaos. We are busy one way or another racing a ton every day of the week while trying to balance raising our daugh-”

“When are our lives not chaos?” She chuckles, knowing that was something they established a long time ago.

“But there’s also other stuff going on. I don’t want to take chances with the pandemic going on, no offense. There’s also the concerns surrounding my health as you’re well aware. Combined with working through an adoption process, and the other drama we can’t ignore, do I really need to add more to my plate?” Chase shakes his head no, wishing himself their lives could get much simpler and easier. But for them, it always seemed like one thing after another.

“So why don’t you tell him that?” Sarina lets out a sigh, having almost done so a couple text messages ago.

“I told him about my schedule and pandemic concerns. He quickly reminded me about the same things you said, along with the fact that they’re taking precautions. I also don’t really want to mention the other details yet, either.” Chase takes a deep breath, knowing they were both doing whatever they could to keep both Andrew and her prolapsed bladder on the down low. As of right now, only Lindsay knew about the prolapsed bladder and nobody knew about Andrew.

“I know we talked about that, and I still say we’re doing the right thing as no need to blow this up if there’s nothing to it – even if the conversations connect some dots. That said, Christopher and Morgan were there that night when we came across Carter for the first time. Without them, I don’t know if we’d be here where we are today. Morgan saved my life, and Christopher helped you through that night with the pregna-”

“So are you saying that they deserve to know the truth?” Chase lets out a sigh, as that was certainly a theory on his mind. However, he also remembered why they were keeping it quiet. Otherwise, Alan would’ve known already.

“If we tell them, they’re going to constantly worry and wonder. They’ll probably want to tell other people the truth, as well. That’s why we wanted to keep this quiet. But I also feel it’s a disservice considering they went through that with us. I almost wanted to blurt it out to Alan when he had a keen eye on me. Truthfully, I don’t know what to do….” Sarina reaches over, clinching his hand with hers.

“If you’re worried, you can tell me. If you’re scared, you can tell me. Share your feelings as I understand where you’re coming from.” Chase glances over at her, taking a deep breath.

“I can’t deny that I am not nervous because nobody wants to go down that path again. But I promised myself that I would do whatever it took to protect you and Abigail, and we’re not repeating past mistakes. Just because she has this great theory and it connects with my conversation with Carter, it doesn’t mean that I am letting her control my life. I am going to run each day like I would without the thought. If he shows up, though, I cannot make any promises.”

“I love you, forever and always.” Sarina then leans over, giving him a kiss.

Wednesday, May 27 – Charlotte Motor Speedway

Chase glances out the window, letting out a sigh as it seemed there was no stopping the rain no matter what. What else was new with the schedule lately?

He then sees a message on his phone, catching his attention. He lets out a sigh, having known to expect it sooner than later with what Sarina had told him last night.

“You know I’d never stop her from doing something that she wants,” he replies back to the text from Christopher Bell. He was actually surprised that he’d assume that.

“It just seems that she’s dodging me a bit right now, though,” Christopher sends back. “I mean, I know things are tough with the schedule and pandemic for you both, but we also know that she’s ready to rip it no matter where and when, as long as it has wheels.” Chase chuckles as that was actually a good way to describe Sarina.

“She’s a mother now, too, so she isn’t just looking out for herself, but for Abigail and our potential addition as well. Hence why trying to keep chances of exposure down.” It was certainly a good excuse to use, without telling the full truth.

“10-4 I understand. Hence why the team has asked me to be careful in what I choose to run, but you know there’s no stopping me. I just wish she wouldn’t dodge me so much.” Chase takes a deep breath, remembering the conversation that he and Sarina had last night on the very topic. It was called she’d ran out of reasons as to what to say without the truth.

“She’s just got some stuff going on, man. It’ll work out and be fine and you’ll get to play with her in the dirt.” Chase had crossed her own fingers, and said his own prayers in that regard, hoping the next doctor’s appointment showed progress. He also knew there was nothing to worry about Andrew right now, even if the thought was in the back of his mind, given that he hadn’t seen any signs of him despite the conversations. What if this was Alison and Carter trying to weave their way in again?

“Do I want to know what’s going on, Chase? Anytime ya’ll say something, ya’ll scare me now.” Chase takes a deep breath, as it brought him back to what he and Sarina had talked about in Christopher and Morgan being there. Did they have a right to know right now?

“Just a little health scare, nothing serious as of right now. We’re just watching some things and as long as they improve, she’ll be fine – hence why I said don’t worry.” He could already feel that he’d said too much as he knew Christopher would probably bug from here on out.

“Let me know if ya’ll need anything, and I’ll lay off a little.” Chase smiles as he knew that’d make Sarina feel better. He just hoped that he didn’t get a slew of messages wondering how things were from here on out.

“Thanks.” Another glance at the window, seeing the monsoon that was coming down, the next message he received was no surprise as he’d be racing tomorrow with Sarina’s Xfinity race now pushed back to Monday.

Wednesday, May 27 – Charlotte, North Carolina

“You know it’s all your fault that I need to wait two extra days to go racing,” Chase hears as he walks into the bedsroom, stopping and chuckling a little.

“Do you really think I asked to sit around and stare at rain clouds all day?” He questions, in which she just shrugs her shoulders. “Relax, it just means you’ll have the opportunity to watch the master and how it’s done before you go to work.”

“Oh really?” He nods his head as he crawls up in the bed alongside her.

“What are you working on?” He tries to reach over and glance through the pages, but his hand is immediately swatted away. “Sarina…”

“My book, for your information. I am going through editing it before sending the draft into the publisher.” He looks over slightly surprised as he hadn’t expected her to be that far along already in the writing process.

“So when do I get to read this book?” She smiles back in response, knowing how badly he wanted to read it. On one hand, she wanted to allow him to do that as she wanted his feedback. On the other hand, it was also nerve wracking in wondering what he’d say.

“After all the edits are done and it’s re-typed, I will allow you to read it. I told you that you get to read it once it is done, remember?” Chase nods his head, as he had pushed to read sooner without avail.

“Can I read what you’ve edited so far? I may be able to help type the edits for yo-”

“Chase, I appreciate the offer and I know how badly you want to read it. But sorry hun, you’re going to have to wait.” He then wraps his arms around her shoulders, pulling her close. “No matter what type of stunt you pull.”

“Really? No matter what, huh?” She just rolls her eyes, slowly unclawing his arms from her as she focuses on the paper before her.

“I would appreciate no distractions. I want to make sure this is perfect. I want to do this right..” Chase smiles as he watches her closely, withstanding the pressure of just reading what’s on the pages before her.

“I believe in you. I know that you’re going to do an awesome job because you’re amazing. This book will be amazing. People will love it.” She smiles as she glances over, placing a light kiss across his lips.

“Thank you.”

The Tale of Love & Racing: Sarina’s Story – Chapter 368: Alsco 300 / North Carolina Education Lottery 200

“Payback is dish best served with cold hard cash.”

Monday, May 25 – Charlotte Motor Speedway

Chase takes a deep breath, getting comfortable on the couch, ready to take in the action. It felt wrong to be taking in the action via the telecast in knowing she was only racing about a half hour from where they were located.

“We should’ve convinced one of those condo owners to let us invade,” Ryan offers, as he gets comfortable alongside. Chase couldn’t help but nod his head in agreement, but thankful he had company which was a change from the past couple weeks.

Starting 10^th, Sarina was able to run up front through the whole first stage, with a mini-surge in the late stages en route to finishing fifth.

“Plowing…” was the complaint on the radio before coming down pit road for adjustments.

The adjustments worked as the No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet stayed solid through the second stage en route to a fourth.

“I’m loose on the bottom – not loose, but losing grip,” she reported at the stage end, earning a couple confused glances as Ryan and Chase traded a look in hearing the comment.

“How does a crew chief even make sense of that?” Lindsay wonders, obviously most confused of the bunch.

“The actual handling of the car hasn’t changed, but rather the track is getting slicker with the changing temperature and rubber,” Chase explains, to which she easily accepts as that made more sense than Sarina’s comment. “Sometimes as they say in our world you’re not just adjusting to the car and driver, but trying to stay ahead of the track conditions. I’d rather that be the case rather than plowing like earlier.

“Loose is fast and on the edge of control, right? Yes, I’ve watched Days of Thunder.” The boys just chuckle in response.

Despite dropping back to the tail end of the top-10 early in the final stage, Sarina was able to work her way back up to sixth before the final round of green flag pit stops started with 50 laps to go. There were a couple nervous times in watching the pit stop, though, as she’d slide sideways off of turn four, tires smoking, almost missing pit road, but managed to make her way down without catching a speeding penalty.

“I think she’s been paying too much attention to Kyle in pit road approach,” Ryan comments, knowing it was right up Kyle’s alley to be one of the strongest getting on and off pit road in taking advantage any chance he could get. It was something the others wished they could get better doing, as well.

“That was too close for comfort,” Chase says, taking a deep breath as he tries to get himself back calm for the final run to the checkered.

There’d be a yellow flag midway through the sequence, but thankfully pitting early enough allowed everything to work out with Sarina remaining in a position to challenge. Restarting fifth, she’d be unable to make up much ground as a result of another yellow flag for a wreck in the back of the pack.

The second restart with 17 laps to go would see Austin Cindric not go, with Sarina launching off. However, Kyle Busch would give Austin the push he needed, allotting him to get to the lead with Sarina second and Kyle third before the next caution – this time for Myatt Snider and Justin Allgaier.

“Can you tell me whoever is behind me to fucking push me?” Sarina begins yelling on the radio as the yellow comes out. “We’re timing these right on, but nobody wants to help me. We need to get something going here.”

“You’re nailing your timing on your restarts,” Dave tries to assure her despite the rant. “Just stay with him.”

The next restart would come with 12 laps, with things not going according to how Sarina wanted once again, as Kyle would push Austin, with both getting by which relegated her back to third before the caution with 8 laps to go for Riley Herbst.

“I feel good about our chances here,” Sarina starts on the radio. “I think being the pusher may be what we need to challenge as we want to here. Tell Kyle to pick the bottom. I  can beat these fuckers. Tell the 54 I’ll have him clear of the 22 by the start/finish line if he chooses the bottom, please.”

“After what happened last week, nobody would’ve predicted that happening,” Ryan comments with a chuckle as Chase couldn’t help but laugh as well.

“I still can’t believe you allowed Kyle to be your comforting voice on Sunday,” Lindsay adds to which Chase simply shrugs his shoulders. He actually still appreciated the conversation they were able to have.

Ultimately, Kyle did not follow the instructions, electing to go with the top and have his teammate Harrison push him on the start. Things wouldn’t go according to plan with Austin not launching as Kyle pulls away from the field. Austin would get away, with Sarina set to make her move. It wouldn’t go as planned, with her getting loose and going around, collecting several others in the process.

“The tires are up, just keep rolling here,” Dave tells her over the radio afterwards, frustration and disappointment laced in his voice.

“I fucked up,” she replies simply as she drives it back to pit road.

Sarina walks inside the house, letting out a sigh as she slips off her shoes. After running inside the top-five most of the night fighting for everything she had, being in the thick for the win in the late laps, all she got some damage to the car and an 11^th-place finish.

“You have nothing to hang your head on,” Chase comments as he sneaks up behind her, wrapping both arms around her shoulders. “You were doing everything right there. You were doing what you needed to fight for the win, and put yourself in position. It sucks it happened, but sometimes very easily possible when on the edge of control. Live and learn for the next time…”

“I know,” Sarina comments as she spins around to face him. “I wouldn’t change a thing, honestly. I did everything that I needed to do in that moment to give myself a chance to win. That’s all you can ask for. It sucks the restart went to shit, but it happens when on the edge. We’ll get ‘em at Bristol, right?” Chase smiles, nodding his head in agreement.

“Considering the way you’re running, I have a very good feeling about this weekend. I see you breaking through..” Sarina smirks as that was certainly a wonderful thought when it came to Bristol.

“Are you mad that I let your rival in Kyle win?” Chase chuckles, shaking his head no as he was cool with seeing Kyle win. He was actually impressed with how that run came together, seeing as Kyle had the speeding penalty and had to fight his way back up there.

“I told you before – Kyle is a good dude. He made a mistake – a real shitty mistake, but he’s still pretty cool.” Sarina smiles as she hadn’t been looking forward to roasting Kyle in the future.

“Just so you know, I told Lindsay the other night about the prolapsed bladder – in case she says anything to you. I meant to say something, but I figured telling you while you were drunk may not be the best decision.” Chase chuckles, though was also relieved in hearing the news. He knew having a good support system around them was always beneficial.

“For the record, I wasn’t that drunk. Ryan was more than I was.” Sarina looks at him with a little surprise, knowing that was a lie.

“I don’t think you quite realize how much of the whiskey you had. I should remind you of the comments you said.” Chase shakes his head no, knowing that may not be a good idea.

“I’m glad that you told her as that gives you someone to talk to about it when I’m not here. Don’t ever be afraid to tell her anything as I know how much her support and friendship means to you.” Sarina smiles as she never took for granted the second chance that she was getting to spend time with Lindsay.

“And I have you, my amazing husband, to thank for making that happen.” She then leans in, lightly brushing her lips across his. “I’d do anything for you, and I look forward to seeing you kick Kyle’s ass tomorrow night.”

“That’s the plan.”

Tuesday, May 26 – Charlotte Motor Speedway

Despite starting 26^th, Chase was able to quickly make up some ground, running 16^th as of the competition caution at Lap 15. The progress continued with the No. 24 iRacing Chevrolet Silverado as he was able to score a sixth in the first stage.

Meanwhile, it seemed the issues were plaguing Kyle as he was thrown a suspension issue during the first stage with the right front.

“Kyle gonna be bitching at everybody tomorrow at KBM,” Sarina comments, remembering some of those board meetings. “It actually shocks the crap out of me that they’re having issues like this. You’d literally think they’d be better prepared.” Ryan and Lindsay couldn’t help but nod their heads in agreement.

There was no problems at the front for Chase, though, as he was able to drive to the lead right after the restart, scoring the second stage victory.

“We haven’t worked together so we’re learning as we go, so we’ll see what happens,” Chase tells the broadcast crew. “It seems the track is as racy as it was on Sunday. The grip strip along the top is coming in nice, but these trucks are so slow enough that the bottom is also an option.”

Sarina smiles, remembering for her truck days what they were like and how much fun they could be. She was actually jealous with the amount of fun she watching right now.

Meanwhile, it seemed that things weren’t getting better with Kyle as he was bitching on the radio, “The vibration is so bad I swear it’s going to blow up.” However, it didn’t seem to phase him too much given he was restarting third.

“You know he’s not going to give to Chase easily,” Ryan offers to which Sarina nods her head in agreement.

“A betting person would go with the king of the series,” she starts, knowing the direction that Ryan was headed. “But we’re not like everybody else, are we? We both know that Chase can get the job done with the right truck underneath him and I have faith in tonight.”

“Besides, doesn’t he have some extra motivation?” Lindsay questions, to which Sarina just smirks back in response. She knew the saying developed by the marketing department was perfect for tonight.

“Payback is a dish best served with cold hard cash.” Ryan just rolls his eyes, remembering the discussion from last night’s Xfinity race with Kyle. “I saw tha-”

“You know that he’s let go what happened, right?” Sarina nods her head. “Just checking, and I’d assume you have based on wanting to work with Kyle last night.”

“I was looking out for the best chance to win…” Ryan then watches her carefully, though shakes his head in seeing the smirk forming on her face. “I could never stay mad at Kyle and Samantha no matter what after everything.”

Their eyes focused back on the broadcast as Chase chose the outside line, but wasn’t able to launch despite Todd Gilliland giving him a shove. Instead, Kyle was able to push Ben Rhodes ahead and the take the lead. The caution would come out soon thereafter, though, for an incident with Natalie Decker and Brennan Poole with 49 laps to go.

“The race is now official – Natalie has wrecked,” Sarina comments, causing a series of chuckles from Ryan as he had heard the joke on twitter a couple different times.

“Shouldn’t you be supportive?” Lindsay wonders, intrigued as to how Sarina was picking on a fellow female racer despite continuing to get the short end of the stick it seemed.

“I don’t care female or male, she couldn’t drive a wooden screw. She has no talent and practically wrecks every time that she’s on the track – oh, except the one time she somehow figured out what to do and got a top-five at Daytona.” By this time, Ryan was full of chuckles as he watched the ladies together.

“I now understand why you married Chase as you’re stealing lines right out of his playbook.” Sarina chuckles, glad that someone had caught the reference right away.

“I’m sorry, but that quote about McDowell is just everything. One of my all-time favourite Chase is pissed off quotes.”

Under the caution, Chase would elect to pit, sending him back to 16^th, while Kyle stayed out.

“If you can’t straight up beat him, might as well try something different,” Sarina offers, and she had faith in their plan.

Given the way the truck race had been going and being able to gain ground and passes, along with the amount of those who pitted, she believed pitting right now was going to be the right medicine. She knew waiting later would put them behind the eight ball with less laps to make up ground and more traffic to contend with.

Over the course of the next 11 laps, Chase was able to make up a bunch of ground – running sixth when the next yellow flag came out. Kyle would make the decision to head down pit road this time around, dropping him back to 24^th while Chase moved up to third for the restart.

“I feel good about our chances here,” Sarina comments, to which got a pair of nods in return.

Restarting closer to the front, Chase took advantage of the opportunity before him, getting up into second behind Zane Smith before the caution came back out two laps later. Meanwhile, Kyle was making his moves quickly as well, having moved up to 13^th.

“You better get a good restart here, boy….” Sarina says, taking a couple calming deep breathes.

Chase would get a terrible restart, dropping back to third in the process, while Kyle made the most of it to go from 13^th to fifth in a lap. Sarina takes a deep breath, knowing that this was just increasing her nerves.

She felt a bit of relaxation, though, in watching the No. 24 head to the front of the field with 23 to go as he got by Johnny Sauter. Kyle’s progress continued, too, as he eventually made his way to second. Though Sarina felt a bunch of relief now in watching the lead that Chase had built up, combined with the No. 51 not getting any closer.

“Hell yeah!!” Sarina lets out, as she watches him take the checkered flag for the win. “We got ourselves a bounty!!!”

The Tale of Love & Racing: Sarina’s Story – Chapter 367: Coca-Cola 600 Part Deux

I felt bad for him. Obviously, through everything that happened the week before and for how bad that situation was, him and I both kind of felt like at the end of that one, there was a heck of a lot of ways to lose these things. Disappointment, he’s taken it a heck of a lot better than I ever have. I certainly was never very good at disappointing races. He’s doing good and just told him to keep going forward and go get the next one.” – Kyle Busch

Sunday, May 24 – Charlotte Motor Speedway

“I mean, your fucking kidding me…” Chase continues to go off on the radio, frustration easily seeping through with the late caution coming out during the Coca-Cola 600.

“I know, I know…” Alan simply replies back with a sigh. it was easy to tell the frustration was getting to everyone lately with everything adding up.

“It’s always fucking something!” Sarina lets out a sigh, already knowing if things didn’t pan out these final laps, she was staying as far as she could from him once he got home.

“I know. We got some time to make up ground,” Sarina rolls her eyes, as anything was going to suck short of winning after dominating through that stretch. “Alright bud, let’s go…”

Restarting 11^th as the first car with four new tires, Chase made the most of his effort on the drop of the green flag for the restart, scoring a third-place finish behind Brad (who had stayed out) and Jimmie.

“Son of a bitch!” Chase lets out, obviously echoing the frustration that everybody was feeling at this point.

“It’s all good,” Eddie comments, trying to spin something positive on the night.

Chase lays his head on the roof of the NAPA Chevrolet, just shaking his head as he couldn’t believe the events that just transpired. Damn if you do, damn if you don’t, right? There was no way to know if staying out would’ve ultimately paid off or not, considering what happened earlier in the race. Besides, he could’ve stayed out and watched the whole field behind him pit instead.

“I feel for you man,” Kyle comments as he walks over, giving him a pat on the shoulder. “It sucks no matter what you say or do..” Chase nods his head knowing there was no way around it.

“Just frustrates me to no end as we should’ve won with that lead we had,” Chase replies, to which Kyle nods his head. He knew there was no way he or Brad were tracking Chase down at that point.

“I’ve been in your shoes too many times to count, and all I can say – it sucks no matter what you say – especially when it’s a pointless caution like that was.” Chase wasn’t about to argue, as that perhaps frustrated him more than anything. what was with drivers and flat tires constantly bringing out cautions lately?

“I honestly expected better out of Willie B.” Kyle wasn’t about to argue, having worked with him previously.

“Just keep doing what you’re doing, man. You’re doing good and you’ve got your head screwed on right – a lot better than I do sometimes. It’ll come to you and you’ll get the win that you want.” Chase smiles a little, appreciating the confidence boost from Kyle – even if it didn’t help soothe the wounds right now.

Lindsay walks into the room, freezing upon the sight before her. Was this really happening?

“Are you seriously watching his media availability?” She wonders, to which Sarina simply nods her head with a sigh. “I thought you would’ve gotten enough of your boy when he was home to not give a care what he told the world.”

“I was curious as to what he had to say,” Sarina offers, with a sigh as she watches him answer the questions. “Let’s just say that nothing has surprised me. He’s ready to get out of there as soon as possible.” Lindsay wasn’t about to argue with that approach after what she had witnessed that night.

“In other words, he may be a little too grumpy for some fun tonight.” Sarina chucks the small pillow off the couch at her as Lindsay looks back surprised. “Looks like his feelings are transferring to you, too. Don’t be worrying my furniture over your disappointment.”

“You realize that’s two races that he should’ve won in a row?” Lindsay nods his head, not about to deny that in having seen the speed out of the No. 9 car. “We should have like four or five wins this year, instead of a big fat zero in the win column. It sucks.”

“He’s got the speed and team together to do well – that’s half the battle. You know yourself that once he gets one of those wins under his belt, it’ll start rolling in one after the other. Besides, this isn’t the important part of the season yet, either.” Sarina nods her head, knowing this would hurt much more if it was October.

“I just wish he was in a better mood, though. He’s a much better cuddler when he’s in a better mood.” Sarina then stretches out, letting out a sigh as she reaches the pill bottle on the table.

“I’m sorry, but is there something that I should know that I don’t know is going on?” Sarina lets out a sigh, knowing there was a couple things on that list right now, from the hysterectomy complications to Andrew. She wasn’t quite ready to share the lather yet, even though she should.

“With my hysterectomy surgery, there is a complication with a prolapsed bladde-“

“How far has it dropped down?” Sarina was surprised with Lindsay understanding the concept right away, but was glad as it made things easier.

“It’s not terrible right now as Dr. Grayson says it’s only stage one of four. So it can be fixed hopefully through exercises and estrogen pills. If that doesn’t work, there are other forms of treatment that can be followed – such as electrical stimulation or a pessary into the vagina. If any of those don’t worry, though, then we will need to do surgery.” Lindsay bites her lips, knowing the last option on the list wasn’t going to go over well with anybody if it was necessary.

“So are the pills and exercises doing the job?” Sarina shrugs her shoulders, as she knew that wouldn’t be known until she went to see Dr. Grayson once again for another check-up.

“I think they are as I’m not getting as many infections or pain as I was before beginning it. We’ll just have to see when I go see her again, though.” Lindsay nods her head, sympathically.

“Well, I hope it works out for you, girl, as you don’t deserve to go through this.” Sarina lets out a sigh, having grown old of these things herself.

“It’s just part of life, right?”

Ryan walks out on the back deck, setting the glass beside Chase on the table, before laying back in his chair.

“You know, drinking your disappointment away is not a healthy thing to do – or so they say,” Ryan comments as he takes a long sip of his beer.

“I think you’ve drank more than I have so I’m safe here,” Chase offers as he sips his glass of whiskey. It was certainly nice to get his mind off what happened by enjoying some quiet time with his best friend on the back porch. “Are you sure you’re going to be safely able to climb those stairs tonight?”

“I think you’re going to be the one crawling.” Chase chuckles back in response, shaking his head no. “All I know is that I feel for you man, as I’ve been there myself. Does Las Vegas ring any bells?”

“It’s just part of racing. Shit happens and it sucks. It hurts and it stings, but we eventually got to move on.” Ryan nods his head, having grown to learn that lesson all too well himself.

“It just gives you more motivation to go kick some ass on Wednesday night – as you finish second to me, of course.” Chase chuckles, rolling his eyes as he wasn’t surprised one bit by the comment. “Besides, I believing you have some fun to accomplish on Tuesday. Don’t you know that payback is best served in cold hard cash?”

“You like that line, huh?” Ryan nods his head in approval.

“I’m actually surprised that Kyle came over to you and was the first to comfort you. Nobody could’ve predicted that after what happened last week.” Chase was admittedly surprised himself, but had appreciated the comments from Kyle at that time.

“He’s not a bad guy, actually.” Ryan smiles as he had grown to understand that.

“That’s what I keep telling you about Bra-”

“I will never believe you about that in regards to Brad, or Joey for that matter. I’m sorry, but you need some new teammates.” Ryan shakes his head no as thus far, he hadn’t found issues with them.

“At least my teammates don’t cost me race wins by being an idiot with a flat tire.” Chase glances down with a sigh as he knew Ryan was right on the money with that comment. “Besides, at least your other teammate gave you an extra spot. I was surprised to see that Jimmie was DQ’d.”

“Yeah, I was too when Alan texted me to let me know.  According to Cliff, it’s a shitty DQ.” Ryan wasn’t quite to believe that, knowing the games that were played by crew chiefs.

“Can he swear to that under oath?” Chase wasn’t quite sure, as he hadn’t gotten the full details as to why Jimmie was disqualified and how that all came to happening.

“I can’t believe you tried to drink your water bottle with your mask on…” Ryan was quite intrigued by how quickly Chase tried to change the topic, but chuckled.

“Oh trust me, I knew it wasn’t going to be a good drink. But I didn’t think it’d be an annoying feeling as it turned out to be. I just want this whole virus to die off and go away so we can get back to normal.” Chase nods his head as that would be nice.

“That’s not going to be happening anytime soon if you look at certain states right now. it seems certain people don’t have a care about the spread of the virus.” Ryan lets out a sigh, having seen that in the messages that he had checked.

“That’s why I am being careful as to who I hang out with. I don’t want to bring that home to Lindsay and the girls.” Chase nods his head, sympathizing as he didn’t want the same thing for Sarina and Abigail, either.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do with some of these races coming up. This lack of travel, can’t say in your motorhome, regulations – it’s going to be a pain in trying to do everything right while finding that balance together with Abigail.” Ryan easily sympathized, wishing that he had Lindsay and the girls with him at the track as well.

“I think in your case, if you talk to NASCAR, you may be able to work out a way for you both to come together, stay in the motorcoach together without anybody else around. Not that I’m saying you deserve or should have special treatment – no offense, but they may understand with the travel and everything.” Chase knew Ryan could be on some right track, but also didn’t feel comfortable in asking himself as it’d feel unfair towards others.

“We’ll just have to see what happens, right? hopefully things get better and we get back to normal sooner than later. But for now, it’s about making the best of the situation – like taking advantage of tonight to share drinks with you.” Ryan glances over with a smile as he knew he’d never give up spending a night on the deck with his best friend.

The Tale of Love & Racing: Sarina’s Story – Chapter 364: The One-Finger Salute

“If that ****ing happened the way I think it happened, then that’s ****ing bull****.”  – Alan Gustafson

Wednesday, May 20 – Darlington Raceway

Off the drop of the green flag, Chase would make his way into third quickly, ready to chase down Denny for the top spot. He would get to the outside of Kyle off of turn four, almost seemingly easily going by – until it happened.

“18 is there…quarter, bumper,” Eddie calls over the radio. “Oh he just hooked us! What a son of a bitch!”

Kyle would try to slip in the gap between Chase and Kevin, through wasn’t clear of Chase’s rear bumper, hooking him and turning him into the inside wall.

“Fuck!” Sarina lets out immediately as she chucks the pillow across the room. “Are you fucking kidding me? Really, Kyle? Really?” She could only shake her head in disgust in seeing the scene unfold before her, even more disgusted that it was Kyle whom caused the incident.

“Come on 18!” Alan lets out, obviously his frustration equaling Sarina’s right now. She knew that he knew where she was coming from, as Alan and Kyle had worked together previously and were still friends. Just like she couldn’t believe it with them all being friends and her experience driving for him, here they were. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I am good,” Chase says over the radio, to which Sarina lets out a sigh of relief in that regard. The anger had certainly caused any potential worry to be subsided as her focus was on kicking Kyle’s ass.

“If that fucking happened the way I think it happened, then that’s fucking bullshit.”

“Oh it happened.”

Sarina watches Chase climb from the car, and knew from his stance that it wasn’t going to be good as she could read his frustration immediately.

“Please don’t throw that helmet,” she comments to herself, knowing how much he’d regret that later with cherishing them closely. Though even frustrated, she knew he’d be smarter than that, too. “A HANs device makes a good weapon…”

Though watching him dodge off the safety officials and make his way to the just below the yellow line, she couldn’t help but clap in seeing the sight as Chase delivered the perfect one-finger salute to Kyle.

“Well deserved,” she comments, still shaking herself over the whole ordeal even as the broadcast continued to show countless replays of the contact.

She then lets out a sigh in seeing that just three laps later, the skies had decided to open up with rain falling all the way around the speedway. It seemed that mother nature was not a fan of the contact, either. If only that would’ve fallen seconds earlier, they would’ve still had a car in one piece and a runner-up finish. if only seconds earlier than that, they could’ve been celebrating in victory lane.

Instead, they had a wrecked car, with a lot of confusion and anger over what happened.

“Might want to look to your left there, KB,” Adam tells Kyle over the radio, catching Sarina’s attention. She was practically tuned off the event in seeing the rain, with the cars now brought down pit road to a stop. She had switched to Kyle’s channel after the incident in hopes of hearing some explanation, though nothing heard met her approval thus far. “Looks like you have a welcoming committee.”

“I believe so,” Kyle replies to which Sarina couldn’t help but smile. It was nice seeing Alan and the crew ready to defend their driver in what happened with a trip down pit road to greet Kyle where he had stopped under the red flag.

“Looking real good there Tyler (Semke),” Sarina comments with a chuckle in seeing him sitting there with his firesuit tied around his waist. If you’re going to show you’re not backing down and ready for a fight, then it was time to show off the big guns.

It wasn’t chuckles on pit road as Alan could only sit there in disgust, a mix of confusion and anger still filling him as he repeated what happened in his mind time and time again. Why? Why them? Why them, again? What was Kyle thinking there?

“I just want to make sure your guys are going to stay here,” Chris Jones breaks Alan’s thoughts, as he glances over at the Kyle Busch crew member. Alan was surprised in seeing his guys follow him down there, but he appreciated the back-up should something happen. Besides, it was nice to show their frustration as one united group.

“Yeah, for sure,” Alan replies back, allowing his eyes to focus back on the No. 18 M&Ms Camry on pit road. “I’ve got my guys.” Alan then looks down pit road to where the group sat together, following his lead in staring at Kyle’s car. “Guys…” Each crew member nods their head in approval with the crew chief, knowing they wouldn’t move in unless necessary.

As everyone predicted with how steadily the rain was coming down, NASCAR called the event with Denny getting credited as the victor. Alan could only let out a sigh in knowing what could’ve been just a couple, or five laps earlier.

His eyes don’t leave the No. 18 Camry as he watches Kyle climb the car, putting on his mask per NASCAR requirement. He keeps his eyes locked, catching the gaze of his fellow competitor. He knew by the glance back in return that the message had been delivered, and was followed with Kyle walking directly over to him.

“I’m sorry,” Kyle starts to which Alan just keeps his eyes locked in a dead heat with Kyle. “I made a mistake. I know I fucked up, and I’m sorry.”

“You could’ve used some more patience there,” Alan advises to which Kyle nods his head in agreement. “I mean, I expect better out of you knowing your talent.”

“Tony said I was clear over the radio, and I took his judgment as I was focused on Kevin in my mirror. I should’ve checked myself.” Alan chuckles as wasn’t that obvious now by the bent sheet metal?

“No shit, Kyle. I mean, I thought you were smarter…” Kyle lets out a sigh, understanding the frustrating spewing over from Alan right now.

“We’re friends, Chase and I are friends. I’m still friends with most of the guys, too. Do you really think I’d do that on purpose, Alan? I made a mistake!” Alan nods his head as that was certainly obvious, too.

“A mistake that we’ve seen before by not only you, but others. It just seems ridiculous seeing it once again.” Kyle hated it just as much as Alan did right now, as he knew what it felt like to be on the other side. That was just part of racing sometimes, right?

“You don’t need to keep rehashing the fact as I get it. I mean, you know me! Come on, man! You know I don’t filter my words. What the fuck?” Alan gives him a glance knowing that this was going a little too far already, and perhaps that was just his own frustration with coming close and no wins yet this year.

“You’re right, I know you. I’ve worked with you and I know you’re smarter than this. That’s why it sucks so much!” Kyle lets out a sigh, knowing they weren’t going to get anywhere.

“Listen, there’s not much more I can say. I’m sorry. I really mean it.” Kyle then walks away as Alan lets out a sigh.

As angry as he was, he recognized it was a simple mistake – and perhaps he was being a little too harsh. But it still sucked to see a crumpled up car in the garage, and it still sucked that their chance of winning was wiped away just like that.

Thursday, May 21 – Dawsonville, Georgia

Chase glances at his phone, letting out a sigh as soon as he saw the caller ID. He knew the conversation was coming sooner than later, but didn’t expect to be having it this afternoon. He thought Kyle would be busy racing on track right now, against his wife. With a chuckle to himself, he just hoped Sarina didn’t decide to take payback into her own hands.

“Hello?” He answers the phone, knowing that he couldn’t just avoid the conversation.

“Hey Chase,” Kyle simply starts, knowing that this could go one of two ways, hopefully better than warranted. “I was hoping to chat with you if you have some time during this rain delay since I’m just sitting around here watching rain drops.”

“Are you that bored already that you need me to entertain you?” Kyle couldn’t help but chuckle in response. “You could always go see Sarina for some entertainment.”

“I don’t know if I want to see her quite yet after yesterday. She may still want to kill me.” Chase wasn’t about to deny that, knowing the frustration was still there from Sarina when he got home. He had died off some himself, but still felt it even speaking to Kyle right now.

“Do you honestly blame her, Kyle?” Kyle lets out a sigh, knowing he had that coming to start this conversation.

“I can’t, if we’re being truthful, as I know the frustration and anger has to be there with you and Alan, too. That’s why I wanted to call you and say the same thing that I told him, your crew guys, and the media – I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I turned you. I’m sorry the incident happened. I never would want to wreck you on purpose.” Chase thought that deep down, knowing how close they’d grown through Sarina driving for him and the process of having Abigail. However, it barely had crossed his mind – just a touch – when the initial contact happened.

“We also both know how aggressive you can be, and how that can affect decisions made on track.” Kyle wasn’t about to deny that, knowing he was more aggressive than most. However, he didn’t plan to change anytime soon because that is what he believed was necessary to win races, and championships – as he had done.

“You’ve been in those situations late in the race – you want to get in line as soon as you can, because if you lose ground, you’re screwed. I knew that I had to get in line behind you or else Kevin was going to get by me, too. Literally in that moment, I was looking in my rearview watching Kevin, and I trusted Tony’s judgment. He said I was clear, I went up and caught your bumper. I’m sorry, man. It was an honest mistake.” Chase lets out a sigh, having expected a similar explanation based on previous scenarios he’d been involved in himself. The honestly straight up from Kyle was nice.

“Look, I don’t think you wrecked me on purpose. I think you were trying to make a spot that wasn’t there. I get that mistake happen, that’s part of life, but you’re not a guy to make mistakes. So for me to be on the poor end of a rare mistake, at the end of the day, it’s unfortunate and it stings.” Kyle nods his head, accepting, as he appreciated the honesty in Chase’s frustration.

“Listen, I hate that it was you too, especially considering how close we are as friends, as well as everybody on that team. I know most of those guys really well, Alan especially. It stings more. It would’ve been much better if it was Joey instead.” Chase wasn’t about to deny that as Joey getting a taste of that would be nice considering some of his antics.

“Could you please turn Brad the next time you make a mistake?” Kyle chuckles, knowing Chase’s thoughts on Joey’s teammate matched his. It seemed the Penske duo was a problem.

“Again, I have to ask you because you’re good friends with him. How does Ryan stand those two as teammates?” Chase couldn’t help but chuckle as he asked himself that question.

“I asked, and he told me that they’re much better to deal with than they seem. I can’t say that I believe him, though…”

“For the record, I’m glad that you elected to just flip me off rather than come beat me up. Unlike Joey, you could probably kick my ass.” Chase chuckles even more, remembering the thought process.

“I was so frustrated and angry, and to be honest, I still have no regrets over that even with your apology. It was warranted and deserving for your dumb mistake.” Kyle wasn’t about to deny that. “Besides, my arms are short so it’d be difficult to fight you six-feet apart. Although, it seems Alan broke that boundary with the discussion.”

“When I looked over at the pit wall and saw all the guys – especially Tyler sitting there without his shirt, I thought I was fixing to get my ass kicked.” Chase chuckles, having seen the video since last night of that waiting crew and discussion.

“You know better than anybody – Tyler is a gentle giant.”

“So we’re still good, right?” Chase wanted to stay angry, and no doubt still frustration in seeing another opportunity to win slip away. However, he knew it’d be unfair to direct that towards Kyle.

“We’re good, man. I can’t stay mad at you after everything you’ve done for me. Besides, payback is dish best deserved with cold hard cash. I’ll see you Tuesday, buddy.” Kyle could only shake his head, as reminder of their bounty surfaced in his mind.

“I’ll see you before then, but I’ll be ready to kick your ass come Monday, as well. Don’t worry, I promise to not wreck you this time.” Chase bites his tongue as he was ready to dish something back in return.

“I look forward to the challenge, sir.”

The Tale of Love & Racing: Sarina’s Story – Chapter 339: “So you think you can steal the bounty, huh?”

Friday, February 28 – Los Angeles, California

The group walk out of the concert hall together, with Ryan still humming some of the songs.

“So, what’d you think?” Chase questions as he glances over at Jimmie. After some careful convincing, the pair had convinced Jimmie to tag along with them. Ultimately, it was a good decision as he certainly added a fun layer to the night out together.

“I told you that I’d heard Whiskey Myers before and thought he was good,” Jimmie answers as he looks over. “Seeing him live, it adds to that respect as he puts on a good show.” Ryan and Chase couldn’t help but nod their heads in response, as that was why they had made sure this was one of their stops this season.

“All I know is somewhere on the way back to the track, we got to stop for food,” Ryan comments as Chase could only chuckle, chalking it up to a typical Ryan response.

“I told you having those drinks without food would come back to bite you,” Chase retorts, earning a flip of the bird from Ryan, which just made him chuckle in response.

“Why don’t we get some tacos?” Jimmie suggests, pointing to a taco truck that was parked out front of the venue. The pair of friends could only look at him with a bit of surprise. “You said you were hungr-”

“I was also taught to not trust tacos from questionable places, or they may come back to bite you,” Ryan interrupts, to which Chase chuckles. Certainly some of their questionable Mexican place stops through the years had resulted in some careful lessons learned.

“See, what you don’t know is that California has some of the best street food, especially taco trucks. It actually puts a lot of Mexican places to shame.” Ryan looks over slightly concerned as he glances over at Chase.

“Your call….” Chase smiles as he looks over at Jimmie, having grown to trust him a lot through the years on a lot of levels.

“I’m game,” Chase comments as Ryan lets out a sigh, still unsure about this.

The group got some tacos together, before heading off to make their way back to the track that night.

“Please tell me that I was correct…” Jimmie says as Ryan looks over, still with a slight look of concern.

“They taste absolutely delicious – as long as I don’t need up in the bathroom all day tomorrow,” Ryan replies as Chase couldn’t help but laugh in response to some of their memories. “Lindsay swore the last time that he took me out that she was kicking me out of the house if that happened again and frankly, I don’t blame her. Those stunk.”

“Trust me, Sarina was ready to kick me out to the doghouse,” Chase comments as he thinks back to that experience. “But these are good so Jimmie, I have to give you credit.”

It wasn’t long before they were back at the track, and headed for their respective motorhomes. Chase couldn’t help but smile as he walked inside and through, seeing Abigail had passed out  – hopefully easily – in her bed. Though the smile grew as he made his way to the back bedsroom, seeing Sarina curled up on the bed comfortable with her notebook in her hand. Chase recognized the book immediately, knowing that she was spending the night getting down some writing.

“You know it’s impolite to stare without saying hello,” she comments as she takes her eyes off the page to look up at him. She had heard the door open, and part of her tingled in fear initially, though she let it go in knowing had happened lately and it was probably him.

“I didn’t want to interrupt you or break your concentration,” he replies as he makes his way into the bedsroom, sitting down beside her. He then leans in, snagging a kiss. “How is it going?”

“I actually made some good progress tonight. I finally got down to writing everything that happened prior to meeting you, and those initial feelings that I felt and those fears.” Chase was intrigued to see how those turned out on paper, having remembered everything that he felt through those days. “Being able to take a break for awhile was exactly what I needed, but I just felt inspired tonight. So I decided to sit down, and get some more words down on paper. I can safely say that I have the history of myself, combined with the beginning stages of the journey to Abigail. Now it’s just writing the rest and then tiding everything up.”

“Well, I believe in you and know that you’re going to do a great job because you’re that awesome.” She just rolls her eyes, having grown used to the flattery comments. “I’m serious. Anybody that can go through everything you’ve gone through, and want to be open about it and help others, is amazing and inspiring. I also know that you can write well, as I recall some special notes that you wrote me. I absolutely believe that everybody will enjoy reading this once it is released.”

“Well, maybe just maybe, I’ll let you be the first person to read the first draft.” He looks on with a little mix of surprise, as he was expecting that by default. However, he also understood how tight lip she had been about the process, in only sharing details with Samantha and Dale thus far.

“I look forward to when I am able to do that…”

Saturday, February 29 – Auto Club Speedway

Sarina lets out a sigh as qualifying finishes up, seeing the No. 9 Chevrolet ranked 12^th on the speed charts. With how practice had gone the day before, she expected to be closer to the front, perhaps in the top-five or on the pole.

What the heck happened?

“Staring at your phone won’t give you the answers to why you can’t qualify well,” she hears, glancing up from her phone with a chuckle as Justin Allgaier stood there.

“Then please, wise one, share Daniel’s secret,” she replies, having seen that Daniel Hemric qualified fourth.

“Unfortunately, I do not know the secret or else I would’ve qualified right there with him. But hey, take a deep breath, relax. You know that you have the best handling car of the group and can run whatever groove you want. You’ll be fine today.” A smile forms on her face in the words of advice from Justin.

“Thanks for letting me know, but trust me – we’re on the same page. That’s why I am not dwelling on it and focusing on other things.” Justin looks at her slightly intrigued, almost now really wondering what she was looking at her on her phone.

“For the record, I’m not interested in learning my teammate’s bedsroom secrets…” She looks up with a mix of shock and horror on her face as Justin just breaks out laughing. “The only thing I can hope is they’re good things that you’re focusing on.” She nods her head, not fully wanting to open up about it just yet.

“Trust me, if this goes to plan, then they’ll be a lot of smiles everywhere.” The comment just made Justin that much more intrigued as he watched his teammate closely.

“Care to share the details?” She takes a deep breath, shaking her head no. Normally, they had been pretty open about everything. However, she couldn’t take a chance of him saying something to Chase before she said something.  “Hey, that’s cool. I’ll just say that whatever it is, good luck….”

She smiles in watching him walk away, turning her eyes back to the e-mail. She knew that she shouldn’t take the next step in doing this, but there was no harm yet as it wasn’t like she was setting things in stone here.

“Thanks for the response,” she begins typing as she takes a seat on the pit wall. “I appreciate you explaining everything. Just say that I wanted to move forward and we were going to take the approach of having you choose someone in-house, how would we go about making that happen?”

She takes a deep breath, battling the insecurities of trust in involving a stranger. However, she knew that there was nothing to worry about yet. This was just about finding answers for the future in case, the same way they initially begun the adoption process. Perhaps these answers were what she needed too, as assurance in response could erase the initial concerns that she was experiencing.

Although single-car qualifying was certainly much better than the group format, there was one downside – waiting for your turn when you weren’t until near the end. Letting out a sigh, that was the situation Chase was stuck in now as he stood on pit road, watching each car go out one by one and run their two laps, awaiting for his chance to qualify.

“So you think you can steal the bounty, huh?” He hears, chuckling as he had expected a visit from Kyle at some point this weekend following the announcement. Considering they were both awaiting their turn, it seemed like the perfect opportunity.

“Absolutely,” Chase comments, letting the confidence lace his voice despite having some doubts. After all, he hadn’t run as much as the intermediate truck events as Kyle and he knew that Kyle had his stuff figured out. “I’ve won a couple races in my own right, actually have a pretty win percentage, and I did beat you at Atlanta a couple yea-”

“I ran into some issues, and didn’t my driver Christopher Bell beat you ultimately?” Chase nods his head, having hoped that Kyle would not have remembered that slim detail. “Just because I like your wife doesn’t mean that I am going to make this easy with you.”

“Ah, see that’s another advantage. She can share all her secrets from when she drove for you, too.” Kyle just rolls his eyes, knowing that Chase was playing the game pretty well right now. “Look, I don’t expect it to be easy and I know that it’ll be tough to beat you, but I’m up for the challenge.”

“I’m actually excited to race you, truthfully. I think we can put on a battle, even if I rate Kyle (Larson)’s odds better than yours.” Chase couldn’t argue with Kyle about that, as everybody knew how strong Larson was at Homestead through the years, no matter what he drove. “I was actually surprised when I saw your entry.”

“As I told Sarina, it’s better than sitting on the couch twiddling my thumbs as racing at Atlanta is always fun, no matter what I’m driving.” Kyle couldn’t help but smile in agreement, having the same feelings about hometown racing in relation to Las Vegas. “As soon as Kevin dropped the bounty, I screenshotted it and sent it to Maurice and asked if we could work something out. He was on-board right away, as well as Hooters.”

“It doesn’t surprise me, either. It’s a win-win situation for everybody as the exposure that this is gaining even has surprised me.” Nobody could  argue that, as the bounty was the talk of the garage with everybody wondering who else was going to step up at Atlanta.

“Even if you chewed Kevin’s ass out at first about why he did it?” Kyle laughs, as he thought back to his media availability and answering questions about the bounty.

“When have you known me to not mess with Kevin? I’m sorry, but he’s an easy target.” Chase laughs, as they had certainly traded a nice line of comments back and forth through the years. From the outside looking in, it was certainly entertaining to see what they had to say for each other.

“As long as you don’t mess with Delana, I think you’re safe.” Kyle thinks it over carefully, debating his response. “As Joey learned, she wears the firesuit in the family.”

“Actually, I think these days that job belongs to Keelan and Piper.” Chase couldn’t argue, having seen everything that they were doing with the kids lately. It was something that he looked forward to in the years to come as Abigail got bigger.

“I can’t argue as Abigail has already taken over my heart and everything in my house.” Kyle smiles as he couldn’t help but think back through the struggles that he watched Chase and Sarina endure. It was nice to see them happy and enjoying being parents now.

“From what I can see, you’re both doing an incredible job. Just make sure to savor every single moment. You both earned it.” Chase nods his head, having heard that advice from plenty of people to date, but let it hit home every single time. He just needed to think back to January in the bathroom with her to remind him of that. “Now, good luck trying to beat me today.”

“That should be easy…” Kyle just rolls his eyes as he walks away with Chase just smiling. It was certainly going to be fun at Atlanta in a few weeks.

For now, they had this weekend in California to focus on. Considering how he practiced, there were no complaints about qualifying 12^th as he believed they could certainly work with that following the progress made in practice. And for the record, he had managed to out-qualify Kyle as he predicted, with him starting 17^th.

The Tale of Love & Racing: Sarina’s Story – Chapter 310: Banquet Time

“He (Bowyer) said I know it’s going to happen, but yet I can’t avoid it. now in racing, you know something is going to happen, so you move to avoid it. But you guys keep going head on.” – Michael Waltrip

“Well, we know we’re going to wreck at Talladega and we still go back there every year, twice, knowing what’s going to happen.” – Chase Elliott

 

Thursday, December 5 – Nashville, Tennessee

Sarina emerges from the bathroom, dressed in her pajamas, finally changed out of her outfit. Chase could only roll his eyes and laugh as he glances over at her, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“What’s so funny?” She questions as he takes his eyes off of his phone to look at her. “You had just as much to drink as I did last night.”

“Either I’m not sure you’re correct, or perhaps I can handle my liquor better,” he replies, watching a confused glance form on her face in return. “Do you realize what time it is?”

“3, 4 – God knows how long you and those girls kept me ou-”

“How about you try 9 o’ clock in the morning?” An immediate glance of shock appears on her face as he begins chuckling once again. He then turns his phone around to show her the time to emphasize the point.

“You’re trick-”

“Look at the time on your phone, or better yet, how about you look out the window?” She then spins around slowly, making her way to the window as she pulls back the curtains. The bright light shines in immediately, to which she shuts them quickly back in return and spins around to face him. “You never came to bed last night.”

“I was just in there for five, 10 minutes max. I mean, I may have fallen asleep a little, but I woke up-”

“Yeah, six hours later. We got back and I went to the bathroom. You then grabbed your pajamas, told me that you were going to go and come out. I lost track of time and finally realized that you’d been in there for 15 minutes. I leaned up against the door, knocked but got no answer, tried the handle but it was locked. Then I heard you snoring so I just left you for the night. I went to bed and woke up an hour ago, surprised that you were still in ther-”

“And you never thought to maybe break in and check on me?” He lets out a sigh as he shrugs his shoulders.

“I figured if I could hear snoring that you were having quite the sleep. I didn’t want to disturb you.” She then lets out a sigh as she sits on the edge of the bed.

“Damn….” He then chuckles as he stands up, glancing straight into her eyes.

“Relax, don’t worry. That’s what this weekend is supposed to be about, right? Enjoying drinks with friends and partying.” He then leans in and snags a quick kiss, before heading into the bathroom to grab his own shower.

Sarina stands at the back of the room, glancing down at the latest message from Samantha. She could only chuckle at the image that she had been sent from Kyle and Samantha’s photo shoot around the city yesterday with the trophy.

“Brexton’s expression is everything,” she texts back in response.

She then glances up, watching at the line seems to go on forever in front of Chase. She knew it was part of the sponsor obligations, and keeping everybody happy was part of the game, but she would’ve preferred to not be at Hooters right now doing an autograph session. Perhaps she should’ve stayed back at the hotel and took that dip in the hot tub.

She then thinks back through the previous night, shaking her head. She knew once she began drinking with Erin and Kaitlyn, there was no turning back. Kaitlyn could certainly drink her share of beers, and it seemed Erin wasn’t too shabby herself. The encouragement around the room, combined with some of the drinks not being too bad, it seemed to explain how drunk she got last night. Or maybe it was the shots that she did on the encouragement of Clint and Jeff after she was already half-way there.

Either way, she knew there was probably no way living this down as she was certain that Chase would probably bring it up once again – even if he brushed it off that morning. She could only hope that the comments did not leave their own conversation, or else she knew the teasing from others would be ruthless.

She hears her phone go off, half-expecting it to be Samantha replying, though is surprised in seeing the message from Erin. Clearly somewhere during the night, the ladies had exchanged phone numbers.

“How are you feeling?” Erin sent her, to which Sarina could only roll her eyes in response.

“I’ve definitely been feeling better than this before,” she replies back.

Considering the amount of drinks consumed and the fact that she had slept on the toilet with her pajamas in her lap, she actually wasn’t feeling too bad. She had heard the horror stories of hangovers with vomit and headaches. Chase informed her that she did puke a little on the ride back to the hotel – to which she didn’t remember either, but there was nothing other than that. Perhaps she was lucky in that regard.

She then looks over at Chase, feeling her breath almost hitch in her throat as she thought she saw a familiar face. It almost grew in noticing his glass on the table.

Though a deep breath, shake of the head for clarity, and she knew that she was dreaming. Alison was locked away, nowhere in sight. There was also no other trouble lurking right now. She didn’t need to worry or be nervous in these situations as finally, things were alright.

“Are you okay?” Chase asks as he walks over once he’s done signing the last autograph.

“Yep,” she replies back with a smile, easily accepting the kiss. “But can you make me one promise? Don’t leave your drink unattended.” He then takes a deep breath, catching the reference immediately. He wasn’t about to forget that appearance, either.

“Just for you, I’ll keep that in mind – even if I trust all the ladies in this room.”

Chase and Sarina enter the room together, as he wraps an arm around her shoulders casually, pulling her close.

“You look absolutely amazing – sparkling if I may add,” he comments, before giving her a kiss as she just looks back at him with a smile.

“Do you really think so, or are you just saying that to flatter me, Mr. Elliott?” Sarina questions in response as he stops, turning to face her directly in the eye.

“We both know that no matter what you’re wearing, I love you and care about you. I also think you’re beautiful from head to toe, even if dressed in a paper bag. But trust me when I say this – the dress is perfect for you. You look amazing. I love you, Mrs. Elliott.” He then leans in, snagging another kiss.

“Look at the them,” they hear a voice in the distance, catching their attention. They could only smile in watching Kyle and Samantha enter together with Brexton. “Aren’t they just adorable together?”

“I don’t know how we’re going to top that,” Kyle adds as they walk over, trading hugs between each of them. “I have to agree with Chase, though. The dress looks absolutely amazing on you.”

“Well, thank you Kyle,” Sarina replies with a glance towards Samantha. Although the dress that Samantha had chosen wasn’t something that she’d personally prefer, she had to admit that it looked great on her. “Your wife is a great help when it comes to choosing a dress, which obviously anybody could figure out by how amazing she looks right now.”

“Are you sure it’s not too much?” Samantha questions, causing a couple shocked expressions all the way around.

“Um, tonight is your night. Kyle won the championship so you both deserve to be the top of the class, and this dress does exactly that.” She then scoops up Brexton in her arms, already excited for when Abigail was older so she could dress her up for these nights out. “And just for the record, I think you’re the cutest little man here tonight.”

“Really?” Brexton asks and Sarina nods her head as Chase crosses his arms.

“If she says that you’re the cutest man, then you must have done something special…” He muses, to which Sarina glances over at him with a wink.

“Someone is getting lucky tonight!” Kyle lets out, noticing it immediately, which earns him a small smack almost immediately from Samantha.

“Now promise me that you’ll behave, and I’ll have a surprise for you next week, okay?” Sarina offers to Brexton, to which he immediately nods his head in response. She then lets him down, watching him head off down the carpet with his parents. “They’re so adorable together….”

“Cutest little man, huh?” Chase questions, as Sarina glances back with a smile.

“You saw the wink…” She then closes the gap between them, looking straight into his eyes. “Don’t worry Clyde, nobody could ever replace you in my life as you’re stunning and perfect just the way you are.”

The pair continued down the walkway together, stopping when instructed for photos together. They then stopped for the NBC Sports interview, trading jokes with Rutledge Wood; Chase even gave Sarina a spin around, allowing her to fully showcase the dress. Sarina then stood back as Chase did a couple other interviews – radio, print, and video – chuckling along with some of the jokes.

She then takes a deep breath, knowing only one more remained before they could enter the ballroom together as Chase stopped to talk with Michael Waltrip and Kaitlyn Vincie.

“How has your week been?” Michael questions, to which Sarina could only smirk.

Truthfully, she had no complaints about how everything had gone and yes, that included the escapades last night. She wouldn’t trade in the time that she spent with the ladies. She also felt better at the burn-outs in Nashville than Las Vegas, simply based on the fact that it was a better atmosphere, more fans turning out, and everything is always better at night, right? Then combined with a solid fan reception at the autograph sessions, and there was no complaints right now.

Regardless, though, no matter how everything went, her response would’ve been positive but let’s face it – nobody can go to Nashville and not have a good time.

“Nashville has welcomed us with open arms,” Chase answers to the question, to which Sarina nods her head in agreement.

“Do you have a headache? A lot of guys have been telling us they don’t feel good.” Sarina could only chuckle, remembering the discussion as they were getting ready for the banquet. It seemed the week of partying was catching up with them slowly – but that didn’t mean that they were toning it down later tonight. They had all winter to recover, right?

“Yeah, I’m not feeling that well.” Sarina was actually surprised by his honesty, but knew it was to be expected as everybody knew about the driver’s adventures.

“You look great, it’s not showing Chase.” Sarina had to agree with Kaitlyn, but she always thought he looked great no matter what.

“I appreciate that. I’m not good.” Sarina just rolls her eyes, almost chuckling at the repetition in his words.

“I talked to Bowyer last night,” Michael starts, to which Sarina knew was trouble considering everything that happened between Blake’s place and Tootie’s. “He said I know it’s going to happen, but yet I can’t avoid it. now in racing, you know something is going to happen, so you move to avoid it. But you guys keep going head on.”

“Well, we know we’re going to wreck at Talladega and we still go back there every year, twice, knowing what’s going to happen,” Chase reasons, to which Sarina actually froze letting it digest at first. Perhaps he was on to something.

Sarina comes around the corner, stopping and smiling as she watches him pose for a series of photos.

The banquet had overall gone smoothly. It was fun watching Chase and Ryan get called up together for their season interviews in front of the crowd, as a chance to reflect. It was odd how the points standings ended up that way – even though if she would’ve preferred them to one and two instead of where they were.

There was also no surprise in hearing Chase’s name called out for the Most Popular Driver Award. She had felt the fan’s presence spending each week with him at the track, and knew that wasn’t going to falter anytime soon. She smiled at how gracefully he accepted the honors, and thanked the fans for their support.

The speeches through the night from other drivers weren’t bad, either. She even had a chuckle in watching Denny place the piece of tape across his own mouth.

Though of course the best moment of the night belonged to Kyle and Samantha – as it should with the night being to celebrate his championship. However, she couldn’t contain the tears that streamed down her face. It was beyond sweet in watching Kyle thank Samantha for being there for him before the entire crowd, and mentioning the multiple failed attempts at IVF and having their daughter. If there was anyone whoever questioned why those two belonged together, she hoped those doubts were dashed tonight as there were no words to describe the scene before her.

It was why before coming to find Chase, she had stopped by and offered Samantha hug in support, reminding her once again as she had done through the year that she was there whenever necessary if needed.

“I appreciate it more than you can understand sweetie,” Samantha told her afterwards.

“You were there for me and Chase, I want to return that favor to you 10 fold because I wouldn’t be where I am without you,” Sarina had emphasized at the time.

She takes a deep breath, letting the emotions from the night as a whole settle in, focusing once again on the sight before her. She knew that she’d never get old in seeing Chase dressed up as he certainly cleaned up very well. There was also something special in seeing grey on him as it just seemed to bring out every special feature.

“Is there a problem?” He questions as he walks over to her, having noticed her staring the entire time.

“Absolutely not one single damn problem dear,” she answers as she runs her fingers through his hair. She could couldn’t complain about the curls right now, either. “Have I told you lately how handsome you are?” He nods his head in response.

“Do I need to remind the lady how sexy she is sparkling like a diamond?” She shakes her head no as she wraps her arms around his waist.

“Please don’t cut your hair for the whole off-season. I want to take full advantage of these curls.” He looks at her a little intrigued, but simply nods his head in response accepting.

The Tale of Love & Racing: Sarina’s Story – Chapter 306: Xfinity Series Banquet

Friday, November 22 – Charlotte, North Carolina

Chase and Sarina walk onto the red carpet, with him taking a pause to let her walk ahead. She then stops and glances back at him.

“Aren’t you coming?” She questions and he nods his head, glancing at the various cameras.

“I thought I’d give you a chance to enjoy the spotlight as this is your banquet and night to celebrate your season,” he comments with a smirk. “Besides, I want some of these photos of you looking stunning for myself.” She gives him a glance, though easily accepts the request in posing for a couple photos for the cameras. She then reaches her hand out, tugging on his and pulling him close to her.

“Sweet and charming, but I would like some of us together as you look quite stunning as my escort tonight.” He easily accepts, wrapping an arm around her waist as they pose for a couple photos together.

“And that shade of blue certainly looks good on you…” A comment catches their attention, as they both smile in watching Kyle and Samantha begin the walk down the red carpet together. “She had the right taste in choosing the shirt for you to wear.”

“How do you know that she dressed me?” Chase questions, to which Samantha just gives Kyle a glance.

“Because let’s face it – Samantha dressed me tonight,” Kyle comments, to which brings smile around the entire group, before a round of hugs. “You look absolutely amazing in that dress. I heard from Samantha that she was adoring the dress you chose, and I must agree. Secretly, I like it better than Sam’s.” Samantha looks at him with a touch of shock in return.

“Well for the record, Samantha’s dress is lovely as well,” Sarina comments as she gives her the glance over. She wasn’t a big fan of how the dress was at the top with the neckline and such, but she absolutely adored the fringe at the bottom. “But we both know that she always dresses stunning for events like these.”

“I got to make sure that I’m in fashion if I want to sell clothes,” Samantha offers, to which Sarina offers her nod of approval. She admittedly had some of the outfits from Murph in her closet at home.

“So I hear there’s a chance that you may be playing with Christopher and Karsyn this off-season…” Kyle starts, catching Sarina off-guard. She was aware there were some rumors, but how had they reached her previous employer? “I’m surprised that Kelley signed off on it.”

“She told me the decision was fully up to me to decide what I wanted to do,” Sarina replies, recalling the exact conversation. It hadn’t gone totally smoothly, but she had gotten the answer she wanted. “If other things don’t come into play this off-season, I’m really considering running the Chili Bowl with them.” Chase glances over as this was the first time that he had gotten word of a decision being made.

“Did I hear that you’re really considering it?” Another voice chimes in, to which everybody recognized immediately as Christopher joined the party.

“If other plans aren’t made, then yes, Christopher, I will be your teammate for the Chili Bowl.” He lets out a fist pump in response, to which brought mixed feelings from Chase after their conversation.

“Should I be concerned about these other things?” Samantha wonders, to which Chase and Sarina immediately trade a glance. They both knew what it meant, as they hadn’t been planning any vacations. Though at this moment, Sarina wasn’t ready to bring it up to Samantha and others.

“Don’t worry – there’s nothing bad that’s going on or going to happen,” Sarina covers her tracks immediately. “I haven’t totally decided if I’m running it as we may be away in Colorado or just enjoying family time, or maybe something else, but if I do, it will be for Tucker-Boat Motorsports.”

“Are you sure that you can handle Karsyn and Sarina both as your teammates?” Kyle questions Christopher with a slight chuckle.

“I handled you as a boss so I think I can handle whatever comes my way,” Christopher comments with a wink, having seen the various comments from others. “For the record, you should let people know the sweet side of you instead of this mean ass very badass boss. You may be able to finally beat this Georgia guy for Most Popular Driver.” Kyle could only shake his head as he glanced back over towards Sarina and Chase.

“I’m actually surprised that Mrs. Elliott did not get the award this year,” he reasons, to which Sarina just shrugs her shoulders. It didn’t matter to her at the end of the day, as she knew the fans that she had reached and Justin wasn’t a bad guy after all.

“Where is Justin anyway?” Sarina questions as she begins to look for her teammate. Chase goes to follow her, though his path is blocked by an arm.

“Is everything truly okay like she said?” Samantha questions once again, catching his attention. “I know she’s partially maybe trying to protect me because of everything I’m dealing with and not wanting to cause me more issues, but Chase, I’d hate to watch you guys lie to me for that reason. I can handle it. I can be there for you guys if you need someone…” Chase takes a deep breath, having heard the details of the rough times for Samantha and Kyle this summer. It was why he and Sarina offered to watch Brexton a couple nights.

“You can trust and believe her Samantha,” Chase starts, respecting Sarina’s wishes for the time being. “Nothing is going on. All the trouble that we had before is in the past. We’re set on the future together with our daughter. You don’t need to worry and Samantha…” He places his hand on top of hers, looking into her eyes. “I know things haven’t gone as you wanted, but no matter what happens, it is going to work out as it should for you and Kyle.”

“Thank you.” She then offers him a hug, before watching as he hurries off to catch up with Sarina.

Sarina walks out onto the balcony after the after-party, slipping the door closed behind her. She then walks over to the railing, noticing the bottle that was in his hand as he stood there.

“I’m sorry….” She comments quietly, catching Chase totally off-guard by her words as he looks over at her.

“Excuse me?” He questions as she lets out a sigh, leaning on the railing. He had chosen a nice spot to come and stand, as it was a nice overview of the city of Charlotte.

“I’m sorry for what I said earlier. Obviously I screwed up…” He shakes his head no as he takes a long sip of his drink.

“I’m not out here because of what you said. I’m not upset or mad with you, either. I just came out here to get some fresh air for a bit.” She nods her head accepting, though wondered if that was a lie.

“But you were surprised when I made the comment about the Chili Bowl. It was written all over your face.” He then takes a deep breath, knowing that had shown through more than he wanted. it was why they were having this discussion now, and why Samantha approached him afterwards.

“It was the first mention that you made about that decision. I was surprised to hear you say it out loud first rather than to me privately. It doesn’t matter, though, as I’m not mad or upset either way. I told you that if you wanted to run the Chili Bowl, you had my full support.” Sarina remembered that conversation, hoping that’d be the saving grace right now. “I also caught how you mentioned the other decisions that we have to make. Obviously, you haven’t decided about that.”

“My mind still keeps outweighing both sides as I discussed with you, whether it’s the adoption, surrogacy, or the hysterectomy. I can’t fully slap down what I want to do and I don’t want to say something and then regret it partially through the process. Is that fair?” Chase nods his head with a sly smile. He was glad that he saw the reasons why he didn’t want to make any quick haste decisions.

“I’m glad that you’re taking the time to weigh out things. No matter what you decide, it’s going to be a big decisi-”

“Chase, do you think that I should get a hysterectomy?” He then glances at her with a bit of surprise. He hadn’t expected the question to be asked so bluntly.

“It’s your bod-”

“I want your opin-”

“You have to deal with what comes from it, and it’s your body. I feel that the decision should be yours to make.” She shakes her head with a sigh. She wished that these discussions would go simpler with them.

“I appreciate you giving me the freedom to do what I want, but I want your opinion in what I should do, Chase.” He takes a deep breath, remembering his initial thought process, as well as the discussions he had since with both Jimmie and Alan.

“I hate seeing you in pain. I hate watching you in agony every single month. I also remember Dr. Grayson’s words about another pregnancy, the risks that were involved, and why you would not want to repeat the experience – despite everything going fine with Abigail. I remember us both saying in the weeks that followed that we would not be risking it again, but rather focusing on the other options – hence those discu-”

“So are you saying that I should do it?” He looks over at her, taking another deep breath, debating how to say this. He didn’t want to make her feel bad in any way.

“Since we’re not planning on having another baby, obviously you do not need your uterus. So why not kill two birds in one stone, preventing the chance of getting pregnant and handling the pain so you do not have to face it? If it was my decision, then yes, I think you should do it – that is solely my opinion. But it is your body, so it’s your decision as to how you handle things moving forward. That’s why no matter what I believe, I want you to make the decision for yourself.” She glances out over the city, letting out a sigh. She appreciated his opinion as he certainly had several good arguments in relation to everything.

“Do you remember how we both felt when we initially learned that we could not carry a baby full term?” Chase nods his head, as there was no way he could forget the wave of emotions they both experienced in the months that followed. “Then we beat the odds, and we had Abigail. We both said everything happens for a reason and she came to us, Chase. She taught us so much about each other and ourselves, but showed determination pays off. I remember that same very conversation with Dr. Grayson, and I know it didn’t bother me at the time because I have Abigai-”

“We got lucky in many ways that things worked out….” Sarina takes a deep breath, knowing that as they certainly pulled the risks with those nine months.

“I’ve been thinking since, though. They’re always making advances in modern medicine, coming up with ways to do things better and differently. What if somewhere down the road, even five years, we’re able to make it so we can have that second baby without any risks? By having a hysterectomy, we totally close off that opportunity. I’m struggling with doing that – even knowing how much it’ll help me each month.” Chase reaches out and places her hand on top of hers.

“I respect, and understand that, as you could certainly be right about your predictions. I’m glad that you’re weighing that as much as the other side. That’s also why, no matter what decision you choose to make, I will be here for you. I’ll help you through whatever path you choose to go down. I married you because I loved you, and wanted to be with you forever, supporting you through whatever came our way. That hasn’t changed. I love you, Sarina.” He then leans in, and lightly kisses her lips.

“I love you, too, and thank you…” She then moves a little closer so he can wrap both of his arms around her. “I just wish everything could be so much simpler and easier. Oh, and I’m sorry I made you lie to Samantha. I just wasn’t ready to say something right yet.”

“It’s okay, I understand. You can tell her when the time is right, or never tell her at all.”

Thursday, November 28 – Dawsonville, Georgia

Chase and Sarina walk in the front door of his parent’s house, freezing immediately as a smile forms on his face. You could always tell when it was his birthday at their house.

“Is that German Chocolate cake I smell?” He questions once slipping his shoes and jacket off, and making his way to the kitchen. He then walks up behind his mother, taking a swipe of the icing with his finger.

“Chase!!” Cindy immediately lets out, giving him a smack as he laughs. “I just about had this perfect and you ruined it.” He then licks his finger, the smile widening.

“It’s my birthday, so it’s okay, right?” She then gives him a glance.

“Just because it’s your birthday, you’re not getting away with that. Keep your hands to yourself!” Chase looks on a little shocked as she fixes the spot that he messed up before putting the cake in the fridge.

“It’s my birthday, momma. Can’t I have an early taste?” She then shakes her head no. “Not even if I offer cuddle time with your granddaughter?”

“While I will never deny time with Abigail, it’s not happening…” Cindy then easily accepts Abigail from Sarina’s arms. “And you, my dear, are adorable as ever. I hope you’re not learning these ways from your daddy.” She then walks out of the kitchen as Chase stays by the fridge door. “If I hear that door open, even just a crack, I will kick your ass.”

“I think you should cite his full name so he remembers who’s in charge,” Brittany then comments with a smirk as Chase just rolls his eyes. He then offers her a hug, followed by another for Starr. “How’s our favourite superstar keeping?”

“Things are going okay, enjoying a nice quiet break for a change,” he replies back as he watches Cindy and Bill fuss over Abigail. “How did that flight go, by the way?”

“I have so much that I want to tell you from that….” She then pulls up a couple photos on her phone, before detailing some of the highlights.

“Wasn’t she trying to kick your ass last Thanksgiving?” Starr questions as she takes a glance at Sarina, who watches the siblings trade stories together.

“That was the Thanksgiving the year before actually,” Sarina recalls, taking a deep breath. She remembered the events of last year’s thanksgiving, knowing the multiple emotions on the table in relation to Alison and her letters. It was why the siblings had spent time together then. It was a nice change of pace to be able to smile, and not have a single worry over her shoulder.

“This is certainly a much better way to be spending family time…” Sarina smiles, nodding her head in agreement. “Although, if something was to come up, don’t think she’d let you off the hook easily. I’m sure she can go back into badass sister mode in the flip of a switch.”

“I actually don’t mind that side of her now that I’ve gotten to know her…” Starr looks on slightly surprised as she returns her eyes back to the pair.

“She still scares the crap out of me sometimes, even though I love her a bunch. Meanwhile, I don’t think we’re going to get dad and Cindy away from Abigail….” That just made the smile wider on her face as she glanced over in seeing Bill and Cindy spend time with both their granddaughters.

“But isn’t that what Thanksgiving memories are supposed to be about? Spending time with family…” Starr smiles, nodding her head.

The Tale of Love & Racing: Sarina’s Story – Chapter 239: National Infertility Awareness Week

Wednesday, April 24 – Dawsonville, Georgia

Chase walks into the bathroom, standing in the doorway as he watches Sarina brush her hair.

His mind kept thinking back to last night, and the fact that she woke up on a couple different occasions shaking in his arms, crying as she had flashbacks to what happened. While he was able to help her with cuddles and words of assurance, he hated that he couldn’t do anything else to make the feeling go away from her. It absolutely gutted him worse than his own thoughts about Alison to think about what she had been through.

“Let me help you,” he finally speaks out loud, walking over as he takes the brush from her hands. He then brushes it through her long hair a couple times, before putting it up in the ponytail that she desired. “You look absolutely beautiful.”

“Do you really meant that?” She questions as she looks up at her reflection in the mirror, seeing him nod his head behind her. “I appreciate that. I really do appreciate that. I wish I felt it more.” She then glances down, as he rubs her shoulders. “I just – I almost feel like a total different person when I’m still me. How is that?”

“I don’t know, honestly. I can understand the reasoning due to what you’ve been through. But I want you to know that no matter what, you’re absolutely stunning to me.” She wanted to let the words soak in, but all she could picture in her mind was rough hands pushing against every part of her body.

“You’re just telling me that to make me feel bett-”

“No, I’m telling you that with complete honesty because it’s true beyond anything. You’ve always been beautiful from the day that I met you, and that hasn’t changed. Actually, I think my fondness for you has only grown more. I love you, Sarina…” He then kisses her shoulder.

“Are you sure that I chose the right dress for tonight?” He nods his head, as he absolutely loved how it flowed down the length of her body. “It doesn’t show anything, does it?”

“No.” He then goes back to rubbing her shoulders, as he lets out a sigh. He appreciated how strong she was being – admired her for the strength that she was showing. However, he knew what was going on beneath that. He saw signs by her inability to sleep last night, and now this conversation. It was the same thing that he tried to call her out on yesterday at the golf course. “Are you sure you want to do this, tonight?”

“Absolutely. I promised Samantha that I would be there.” Chase nods his head, remembering when she told him about the conversation the ladies had about this conference.

“Samantha would understand with what happened why you were unable to atte-”

“But what about the others?” She then turns around to face him, looking into his eyes. “What about the woman out there fighting for a dream to have a baby? What about the woman who can’t afford the countless doctor appointments, treatments? What about those who never get their miracle? What about those who went through a miscarriage, without any sign of hope moving forward? Chase, we got our blessing; we were able to have the daughter of our dreams. I want to be part of the reason why others are able to do that, too.” He nods his head, remembering the passion that she displayed when she told him about the details initially. It was another reason why he admired her.

“I know you want to make a difference, and I admire everything about you what you’re doing. However, you don’t always have to be strong. It’s okay to admit when  you need to take a break, a breather. It’s okay to admit when you’re hurting. We both know what you went through, and we both know how that’s affected you. I just don’t want you to push yourself too far by doing this.” She nods her head, easily accepting the advice that he was offering. She could also see where he was coming from, as she had some nerves about facing the crowd tonight. Would they look at her differently due to word getting out about what happening? Would that become the focus, rather than the difference they were trying to make? However, call it her stubborn nature, she wasn’t about to not do anything tonight.

“Chase, I am going to be fine tonight – I promise you. I appreciate you caring so much, but I am going to be fine. I can handle this.” She then leans in, lightly kissing his cheek, before leaving the bathroom to go looking for her shoes.

Wednesday, April 24 – National Infertility Awareness Week Conference – Charlotte, North Carolina

Chase stood at the back of the room, watching as Sarina sat on stage alongside Samantha and the other five ladies. Each of them were sharing their story and experience with infertility, followed by opening up a panel to discuss the many topics they faced.

“I’m surprised to see you here tonight,” Chase hears, catching his attention as he looks over his shoulder to see Kyle standing there. He easily accepts the drink from him, before looking back forward to focus on the ladies up front. He wasn’t about to take his eyes off of Sarina no matter what tonight.

“I’m surprised as well, to be honest,” Chase confesses as Kyle looks over at him. “I wasn’t on-board with her being tonight, afraid of how it’d affect her with everything that happened. I even told her that as she was getting ready before we flew down here. I reminded her that she didn’t need to be superwoman. But she was adamant on being here.” Kyle nods his head, as his eyes focus back forward on Samantha.

“Do you remember the Cup Series banquet?” Chase had to look over slightly confused. “So we lost our baby girl the night before the banquet. I remember lying with Samantha the next morning. I kept telling her that it was okay if she didn’t come with me as I could cover for her. I told her that it was okay if we told everyone, as I could handle what came with it. I also told her that Joey and Brittany wouldn’t see it as a slap of face in distraction of the championship. However, we both know how adamant she was on handling it and going through the night as if nothing happened.”

“I never would’ve known if Sarina hadn’t said something. You both pulled that off perfectly..” Kyle nods his head, remembering how hard it was at time in hearing the comments from various people through the night.

“Whether it’s Samantha that night, or Sarina tonight, I understand why they handled it like they did. They both want to prove that they’re strong. they want to show their strength that they can fight through whatever is thrown their way. They want to show the world that no matter what is going on, you can be the perfect image of strength and encouragement. It’s all about keeping the rough moments and tears hidden so nobody knows.” Chase easily understood that, as it brought him back to the previous night.

“So what do we do while they’re trying to be superwoman?” Kyle smiles, remembering exactly how he handled it with Samantha through the highs and lows.

“You just be there. You offer the encouraging words. You offer the shoulder for them to lean on. When they’re ready to break down and share those emotions, you let them cry on you, vent to you, hear them out. When they want advice, you try to offer what you can. I know it sounds pointless and typical, but it means more than you probably realize.” Kyle glances over at Chase, remembering a moment back at the motorcoach last season. “You were the same way. The girls went to the grocery store, and you played with Brexton. You also had him come over for a sleepover – just because you wanted a break from everything. Remember those moments you had, but also think about how Sarina helped you through your fears with Alison. Look back and realize how much those small moments meant. Now it’s your turn to just deliver right back to her in return, 10 fold.”

“Thank you.” Kyle smiles as he was glad to lighten the load on Chase’s shoulders a little with his advice.

“And for what’s it worth, I hope that they pay for everything that they did to you both because I will admit that I felt sick to my stomach when Christopher told me what happened.” Chase nods his head, remembering when he was laying in the hospital bed and his dad told him.

They then watch as the girls finish up their conference on stage, before rejoining them at the back of the room. Chase instantly wraps an arm around Sarina, pulling her close with a kiss on the cheek.

“You did an amazing job up there,” he tells her. “I’m proud of you for wanting to make a difference and your courage. You’re amazing. I love you, forever and always.”

“I love you too, Clyde,” she replies. “Thank you for letting me share our story for all these other ladies to hear.”

Thursday, April 25 – NAPA Headquarters – Atlanta, Georgia

It was annual tradition, but at least it was somewhat fun compared to some of the other things the sponsors made him do. NAPA Employee Appreciation Day resulted in Chase having to make the trip up to headquarters, posing with and signing autographs for the various members. It was an experience that could be fun sometimes with the stories some of them had to share in return, and it was nice to catch up with his fellow NAPA driver representatives.

While he hated being away from Sarina for the day, he knew that he couldn’t skip out on the obligation as they were the primary sponsor and it wouldn’t be the brightest look. That’s why he was thankful that Sarina was able to stay at his parent’s house, not surprised that his parents easily accepted as he knew they loved spending time with Abigail.

“How’s your little girl?” Ron Capps asks as they make their way inside for a couple of photo-ops after being done with the meet-and-greet.

“Adorable and amazing as ever,” Chase answers, pulling up a couple images from the Easter photoshoot earlier that month on his phone. “It’s crazy how much she’s growing every day and changing. Her giggle is the absolute cutest.”

“Obviously she hasn’t pooped on you if you’re still feeling the honeymoon phrase,” Brad Sweet teases, in which Chase simply rolls his eyes in return. Admittedly, that hadn’t happened yet – but Chase didn’t see that changing what he thought of his girls. “So when are we getting you in the sprint car?”

“I can’t even convince the boss to let me try Alex’s midget. How am I supposed to convince him about that?” Brad could only smirk back in response.

“Do and then ask for forgiveness later?” Chase lets out a sigh as he knew that was defiantly an option. However, he wasn’t about to go behind Mr. Hendrick’s back as he had too much respect for the boss for that.

“I bet you’ll probably get Sarina in the car before he runs it,” Alexander Rossi teases as Chase rolls his eyes. He was used to the teasing from the boys each time they met.

“I’m surprised she hasn’t tried a midget with how much time she spends with Christopher and Morgan,” Brad offers, which brings a smirk to Alexander’s face. There was an obvious direction that they normally headed down at this time in their efforts to tease Chase. However, both being aware of what happened with the rest of the world, they both bit their tongues. “I bet you’ll probably end up in it before him, too.”

“I still say we need to convince Ron to make a left turn for once.” Ron shakes his head no as he wraps an arm around the shoulders of the youngest member.

“You’re awfully quiet Derek,” Ron comments, in reference to Derek Kraus.

“I’m just taking it all in,” he replies with a glance between the group. “But for the record, I’m willing to try whatever car you throw my way – seeing as though Chase is too scared.” The comment catches the group by surprise as they hadn’t expected him to throw the dig in so quickly.

“Suddenly you’re my new favorite!” Brad comments, offering a high-five for Derek.

“I promise you fear has nothing to do with it,” Chase offers as they get ready to pose for the next series of photos. If he could handle everything thrown at him the past couple of years, then  let’s face it – he could handle anything the world threw at him. He was just glad that he got to take on the challenge with Sarina by his side.

Friday, April 26 – Talladega Superspeedway

Sarina climbs from the car, offering a pair thumbs up for Dave in the process.

“Are you really that happy?” Dave Elenz questions and she nods her head as she walks over, snatching her bottle of water off of the pit box.

“I was able to move from the top lane to the bottom, run both and have no issues at all,” she answers, recalling the series of practice moves. “I ran front of the little group, back of the little group – the car felt exactly how you’d want it to feel in those situations. I think we’re absolutely ready to go for Saturday.”

“I’m glad to hear that as we’re skipping the second practice.” She then glances over, actually a little surprised by the comment.

“And what if I wasn’t happy?” He then shrugs his shoulders as he walks away from her.

“I just feel there’s no need to continue risking the chance of something happening, and making wasted laps to learn nothing. It’d be a good idea to give everybody a small brea-”

“You don’t need to offer special treatment or care, Dave. I told you that already.” She had warned him on Thursday that she wasn’t expecting any special in return from any of the guys in relation to their concerns about how she was doing. She just wanted to go through the weekend as normally as humanly possible.

“If it was just about you, why are all four JR Motorsports cars following the same plan? We know what the cars and team is capable of on these tracks. We’ll be at the front when it counts tomorrow.” She nods her head, knowing was dependent on one thing – making the right moves at the right time to put herself in the position necessary.

“Let’s just hope that we do a better job at that than we did in Daytona.” She then glances over towards the Cup Series garage, seeing Chase getting ready to head out on track. “Are we done for the day then?”

“Yes madam. You’re free to go stare at your husband all day long.” She then rolls his eyes, having grown used to comments of that nature from Dave and the crew. However, today, she had a different purpose. She reaches onto the pit car shelf, grabbing the camera she had stashed there earlier. “Oh no, did Chase get you taking photos, too?”

“Actually, that’s something that I’ve enjoyed doing – normally shooting flowers and nature. I thought I’d have some fun and take photos at a race track instead. Maybe it’d calm my nerves some.” It was also something that she hoped would be a good distraction from the other thoughts that were on her mind, too.

“Well good luck with that. And Sarina, I know we’re not close by any means, but I do tend to worry about you and are here to talk if necessary.” She nods her head, as it was common to also hear the offers of support. However, while she’d been easily able to do that with Marcus and Rudy, the same couldn’t be said as of right yet with Dave.

“I appreciate it, Dave, but I’m good right now.” She then makes her way out of the garage stall, heading over to the Cup Series garage. She knew standing on top of the hauler with Chase’s guys would give her a good vantage point – and the security that she wanted to feel right now.