The Tale of Love & Racing: Sarina's Story

Chapter 31: "Are you sure you want to see that?"

Friday, February 23, 2018 – Atlanta Motor Speedway

Chase makes his way into the garage area, smiling as he sees the guys going about business as usual. It was a smooth start to the weekend, much better than everything they had seen in Daytona. He was glad even with the latest scare, the guys were still business as usual.

He walks over to the pit box, looking over at Alan Gustafson. He couldn't help but try and read the emotions, knowing if it affected anybody it would be the man before him. Alan and Jordan were different than the rest of the group. They actually understood everything going on.

"Everything okay?" He questions, catching the crew chief's eyes. He hadn't wanted to interrupt him, but the emotions weren't as easy to read as he would have hoped.

"Yeah, absolutely," Alan answers as he crosses his arms. He could already tell why his driver was asking the question. That was never something he heard on a regular weekend before practice. "If you're referencing last night, most of the guys had no reaction at all. there were a couple intrigued responses, and an offer from Josh to kick everybody's ass for you." Chase chuckles, not surprised.

"I'm sorry that she brought you guys into-"

"I don't want any apologies, Chase. It's obvious why she did it – to get inside your head. She wants you to think about it, and ponder the possibilities. She wants to know that you're thinking about her, and what she's doing, rather than yourself. Do you know what I have to say to that? Don't give her the power. Focus on this weekend, and having fun." Chase nods his head in agreement, knowing that advice fell right along with what his dad told him. Now he just needed to follow through. Why was it harder than normal? "Now, how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, Alan. I told you that you didn't have to worr-"

"That was before the wreck at Daytona. I heard it aggravated things from Jordan." Chase glances over to where Jordan was, before looking back over at Alan. It seemed that you could not keep a secret on this team no matter how you tried, with everybody perhaps being over caring at times. 

"Just a little extra pain for the first couple of days, but now it's back to where it's been. I'm fine, Alan." Alan nods his head, accepting. 

Chase's eyes, meanwhile, remained locked on Jordan as he went through his usual duties of making sure the radio was connected through the helmet, and the cockpit was ready to go per driver instructions. However, his eyes immediately drew to Jordan's pocket, seeing the corner of an envelope sticking out. 

He immediately lets out a sigh and closes his eyes, trying to block out any thoughts that were set to enter his mind. However, he could only ponder the contents, considering the past 24 hours. While not being able to see or know was supposed to be helping him, admittedly he was driving himself bonkers right now.

He makes his way over, tapping the interior mechanic on the shoulder, before reaching for the pocket.

"Are you sure you want to see that?" Jordan questions and Chase nods his head. Jordan lets out a sigh as he takes it out, handing it over, before focusing back on his job. There was no sense arguing with him over it as that'd just create an unnecessary scene. They didn't need to add more emotions and questions on top of everything else. 

"Curiosity is driving me insane," Chase answers as he opens the envelope. He wasn't about to waste time given some of the theories that had entered his mind while standing there.

"Curiosity is also killed the cat. Then again, you remind me of a cat in having like nine lives with this family. Don't use up your chances." Chase lets out a sigh as he pulls out the piece of paper, seeing it's a complete depiction of how to build a bomb. That just seemed overkill given what she had already done over the last couple weeks. Why would she send those instructions now?

"I already knew that she could do that..." Chase shoves the piece of paper back in the envelope, handing it back over to Jordan. While he didn't want it to become a thought in his mind, there was no mistaking his nerves had picked up a notch. What if? "Make sure the guys are on their toe-"

"I've already talked to Alan and Josh, and they spoke to everyone. Just make sure to watch your back, okay?" Chase nods his head, as that was the same advice he had heard the last full week. Was it worth repeating anymore? "And Sari-"

"Rudy is aware of what's going on. Her guys aren't letting anyone near her." Jordan was thankful for that as he went back to finishing up his duties, taking a final glance towards Chase as he watched his driver return to his previous spot.

Jordan could only hope that the end was near for everyone.

Everybody didn't get much chance to think about it any longer, with the lone practice of the day starting. While hopes were high based on previous success at Atlanta and how well the limited testing had gone, the car was evil right from the get go. Chase immediately began to complain of a lack of security with corner entry, feeling the car wanting to snap on him. Alan was able to make some adjustments to improve the condition a little, but they ended up finishing the day ranked 29th on the chart.

"You're not the only one struggling," Alan comments, bringing up their teammates' data as Chase just shakes his head. It would be one thing to struggle on their own and feel as though they were on an island. However, knowing their teammates were in the same boat, Alan didn't feel all of the responsibility dropping on his shoulders at once. 

"But at least Alex is decent in qualifying trim," Chase says as he runs his hands through his hair. "How do you end up three miles per hour off of the quick time?" Alan shrugs his shoulders as he glances over his notes once again. Perhaps if he read them for the 10th time in the past 20 minutes they would reveal some magic secret. 

"That adjustment helped, right?" Chase nods his head as he looks over. "I think if I can keep going that route, we should be closer to where you want to be. I may take a bit of what Greg has put under Alex, and combine with the direction we were headed, and maybe we can manage to get something out of qualifying."

"Whatever you feel is going to work, I'm game. I'm going to watch truck practice. I'll come see you an hour before qualifying, if you want?" Alan nods his head as he makes a couple notes, before flipping to another sheet.

Chase makes his way out of the garage stall, headed straight to the NAPA Hauler where he goes up on top, sipping a bottle of mountain dew as his eyes focus to the on-track action.

As the track appeared to come in more, with both the top and bottom groove being relevant, he was admittedly impressed right away by the speed that Sarina showed. It seemed Rudy had the truck where she wanted, ranking fifth quickest in the first session. The second round, she continued to get even stronger, even passing her boss at one point to top the session.

"At least one of us has this place figured out this weekend," he offers as he walks into her garage stall, wrapping his arms around her from behind.

"I've missed you this weekend," she replies as she spins around, kissing his lips. "I know it's only been a couple hours not seeing each other, but it's been paining me. I was expecting to see you stop by sooner." Chase had thought about it, but every thought in his mind had him stuck in his place. He didn't need her experiencing the same worry that was currently plaguing him from the notes. 

"I got busy talking with Alan about the car, trying to figure out what to do and everything. I'm sorry, okay?" She nods her head, kissing his lips once again. She understood the frustration, knowing she'd been there as a driver herself. However, she believed in the boys and knew Sunday could still produce some great results. 

"Fingers crossed for a better qualifying run than you've had all day." Chase chuckles, knowing anything was better than where he had practiced. "Don't tell me you're losing fai-"

"I trust that Alan will do what he can with what we've got, but we may be further out to lunch than we want to admit." She looks on surprised as he can only let out a sigh. "I don't know. We'll see what happens."

"Believe, and as you would always say, dig."