Right in Front of Me

Chapter 6

I woke up to a text from my mom.

"I am going to have Charlee fly out. Pick her up at the airport at 6 tonight."

I tried my best to go back to sleep, but the glare of Chase's phone kept me awake. Once my eyes adjusted I saw it was a picture of Courtney.

"You're not helping yourself," I told him.

"I know," he replied.

I walked over and gave him a hug.

"It's only 5:30. We should probably get some more sleep."

He nodded as tears fell down his face.

I finally fell back to sleep at about 6. By the time I woke up it was already 11:30.

"Good morning," Chase told me.

"Morning. Is it really 11:30?" I asked.

"Yep."

"You should've woke me up."

"You would've let me?"

I nodded.

"Well I'll remember that next time. So what are we doing today?" He asked me.

"Well, the Xfinity race is tonight. There's practice on and qualifying. But, I mean, only if you're up for it."

"I want to watch it. Today's been difficult. I just need to get my mind off of it for a while."

"I get it. Final Cup practice starts at noon. Oh, and I have to leave at about 5 so I can get Charlee at the airport."

"Wait," Chase said surprised. "Why is she coming?"

"My mom sent her."

"She seriously doesn't trust us?"

"Guess not."

I grabbed the remote and clicked on the TV. There was seriously nothing on. We settled for an episode of 'Drake & Josh.'

Noon rolled around and I turned it to Fox Sports 1. So far in that practice the top 3 were, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr, followed by Carl Edwards.

"Where's Dale?" Chase asked me.

"8th," Chase and I said at the same time.

"Have you seen Austin yet?" I asked.

"I just saw him," Chase started. "13th."

"That's not bad."

That practice ended and next was Xfinity qualifying.

When coverage began, Jamie Little interviewed Kasey Kahne.

"Kasey, you're in a little different situation and a different number for the race tonight. What are your thoughts on this weekend?"

"I always love getting extra track time," Kasey started. "But not under this type of situation. Definitely wish Chase could be in the car. We're thinking about him and Courtney along her family. Hopefully before too long he can get back in this 9 car."

Chase and I looked at each other and smiled. We both knew that 9 car was in good hands tonight.

******

After qualifying, Kasey ended up on the outside pole, Erik was 3rd, Austin was 5th, Darrell was 7th, Ty was 10th and Ryan was 25th after a spin. Matt Kenseth was the pole winner.

5 o'clock crept up on us quick. I got up grabbed my phone and my keys and started for the door.

"Wait. Can I go with you?" Chase asked me. "I wanna get out of here, but I don't want to actually do anything."

"Ok. That didn't make much sense, but let's go."

We arrived at the airport 15 minutes before Charlee's flight landed, so we sat in the parking lot. I turned down the radio and started the conversation.

"Who do you think will win tonight?"

"Well," he started. "Keep an eye on the cup guys for sure. Like Kenseth, Kasey, Kyle Busch, Austin. I wouldn't count Ryan out of it. And Erik's always fast. But honestly I think that Darrell might come out with the win."

"Can't say I disagree with anything you just said."

I heard my phone ring. It was a text from Charlee.

"Just landed!"

"C'mon we gotta go. Charlee's here."

We walked into the airport, and Charlee was there with her things.

"Hey, hey!" I said as I gave her a hug.

"Hey guys!" She said back. "Chase, how's it going?"

"Well, I'm surviving. Let's put it that's way," he answered.

"We should really get going. It's about 6:20 and it's nearly a 45 minute drive back to the hotel. Race starts at 7. We're gonna be pressed for time." I said as the three of us walked back to my truck.

We got back to the hotel with five minutes to spare. I quickly turned on Fox Sports 1. 'Raceday' finished up and went into pre-race ceremonies. The green flag waved and we were racing.

We got our first caution on lap 50 for a spin from Chris Buescher. Teams came down to pit and the green flag was back in the air. At lap 100 we were still green. Kasey was leading, Darrell was not far behind him in 2nd, Erik was 4th. Austin was 6th. Ty was 7th and Ryan had made his way up to 10th. Lap 120 we got another caution for debris. With 10 to go it was a battle for the lead with Matt Kenseth and Darrell. All three of us were yelling at the TV hoping Darrell would go on to win his first career Xfinity win, but the laps ran out. Kenseth was the winner, Darrell was 2nd. Austin was 3rd. Kasey had a nice 5th place finish Ty was 7th, Erik was 8th and Ryan was 9th.

After Fox talked to the winner Katlyn Vincie talked to Darrell.

"Great run by Darrell Wallace Jr tonight. It came down to the last 10 laps, did you have anything for him?"

"No I don't think we did," Darrell started. "He was fast all weekend long. But I gotta thank my guys for giving me a great car. A win for us is not far off. First and foremost we're thinking about Chase. Wish he was here tonight, hopefully we can see him back here soon."

They then sent it off to Alan Cavana to talk to Kasey.

"Kasey Kahne with a solid 5th place finish. Were you going for that win for was it just more to get the best finish you could because you're with a different team?"

"No we were going for the win," Kasey answered. "Wish we could've won for Chase, but I'm happy with the finish. This team is incredible. I see why they're so successful. I know Chase is probably watching so, hang in there bud! We're thinking about you!"

I looked over at Chase, he looked really upset. Not about Courtney this time. Because he wanted to be in his car. But there were too many emotions going through his head. There's no way he would've made it through that race.