The Tale of Love & Racing: Sarina's Story

Chapter 48: "I would rather talk about penalties over this all day."

Friday March 16, 2018 – Auto Club Speedway

"Ready to return to reality?" Chase questions as they make their way through the garage area.

"Not many people can say they get to drive fast cars for a living, and not many people can say they're spoiled with a great guy," Sarina answers, sneaking in a quick kiss as they reach the garage area.

"Everybody hide – the love birds are here!" Josh spats out as the pair reach the garage stall, earning an eye roll from Sarina. When would the comments end from him? 

"Aren't you supposed to be on vacation this week?" Chase questions, causing Josh's smile to disappear immediately. There were a couple things that were sore subjects on the team, and it seemed he hit the nail right away. 

"I don't want to talk about that...." Chase rubs his shoulders with a chuckle. He hadn't thought it'd be such a bother so quickly, but here they were.

"Hey, I'm not upset. I get pushing the envelope. I've done it before myself, right?" Josh nods his head as he picks up a stack of paper. He counts out 13 pieces, handing them to Chase. It was time to set the record straight because everybody seemed to make this worse than it was.

"That's the penalty. That's how far the spacer and shim angle were apart according to NASCAR. Tell me how that is fair..." Chase shakes his head as he hands the pieces of paper back to Josh. "I mean, what if something happens in the race and it shifts slightly? What if you catch a curb or a bump? It's ridiculous the confines that NASCAR expects out of us, and then how the fans go nuts when we just miss it by that much."

"Like I said, I'm not upset as I get it. We stick together, right?" Josh nods his head in agreement as Chase makes his way over to where Alan and Jordan were hanging out. "I just want to know if there's any way out of that penalty...."

"It's a cut dry subject," Alan offers as he crosses his arms. He wasn't seeing much hope, but knew to trust the process in having seen Chad and Jimmie scape out of things repeatedly. "We'll see what happens. Jeff and I have to talk about it some more before next week.."

"Speaking of more to talk about..." Jordan starts, pulling an envelope out of the drawer. He hated to add another layer of bad news to things, but might as well get it done and over with. "This was sitting by the garage stall this morning..." He hands it over to Chase, earning an immediate sigh from him.

"I would rather talk about penalties over this all day," Chase comments, as he rips the top of the envelope open. He had hoped to avoid any thought or collision course with Alison for the rest of time, and find her way to being caught. Why couldn't he get so lucky?

"I already reported the fact that it was found here so they're on the lookou-"

"We know how that works, don't we?" Sarina cuts them off, earning a glance from Chase. She wasn't about to deal with excuses today, especially when it concerned Alison. "She managed to sneak into a public appearance that you were doing amongst hundreds of people, spend time with you, and escape without a trace. But oh no, we're supposed to believe that having eyes on her is supposed to catch her. Do you see me being hopeful?" Chase wraps an arm around Sarina, pulling her close to him as he pulls out the slip of paper. He knew it was her fear spewing the comments more than anything, and he respected that based on what had happened. In a way, he could also feel the same trembling at times.

"I hope you haven't forgot about the decision that you made and the effects that it will have moving forward," Chase reads. "I have a surprise for you and you may not enjoy it..." He then takes the note, set to rip it right down the middle when Jordan snatches it out of his hands, slipping it back in the envelope. 

"For the record, you're not going to see that surprise no matter how hard she tries," Josh states, catching the group's attention. They didn't realize he had walked over to join them. "We've got your back, and we'll do whatever we can for you – just like you've got our backs this weekend."

"Like I said, I'm done letting her control my life." Chase walks away, glancing in the car to make sure everything was set in place for the first practice. Both Sarina and Jordan went to follow, but found a hand on each of their shoulders.

"Just leave him be," Alan advises, causing a sigh and almost protest from Sarina. "He's using practice and this weekend as a distraction and frankly, that may be a good idea so he isn't pondering every theory possible as to what she is planning. But we also know when he wants to talk, he'll say something to one of us, right?" Sarina and Jordan nod their heads.

"It just kills me to watch him let it eat at him like this," Sarina comments, as Alan gives her a shoulder a little squeeze. He could sympathize with that in having his own feelings about the matter. He could already see why Sarina would be feeling them even more right now.

"It kills us all, but that's why like Josh said, we've got his back. Don't worry – we're done playing games, too." She then looks back at the crew chief intrigued, but is left without an answer as he heads off, set to give some more instructions to the team. That was not like Alan, and began to make her wonder even more.

"Do I want to know what Alan is thinking?" Jordan shakes his head no as he keeps his eyes locked on Chase. He instead was stuck with his own theories as he watched his driver.

"Should I have hid the envelope and not let him see it at all?" Jordan wonders out loud and Sarina shakes his head no. She already could see the reaction that would've caused, in knowing it'd just add to the current frustrations. 

"He would've found out eventually, and been twice as upset," Sarina offers, before taking a deep breath and heading out of the garage area.

It pained her to stand back and do nothing with everything going on, and she knew staying there any longer would result in that coming out. Certainly, that wasn't going to help the being strong and united front attitude that Alan wanted. So for that reason, she knew that it was time to catch up with Samantha and Brexton. He was always a good distraction when things weren't going as planned.

From the start of practice to the end, Chase had to admit that the car wasn't that bad. They certainly could use some adjustments to get better, but it was handling pretty good and close enough that believing this could be the weekend they get a victory was there. Pleased with the session, he would end the day ranked 15th on the charts.

With the session in the books, he makes his way back to the team transporter, heading inside and up into the lounge. Grabbing himself a quick drink, he texts Sarina where he was in case she was looking for him, but already knew that she was having a fun relaxing afternoon with Samantha and Brexton. Truthfully, he was glad to see that knowing her reaction to the note, and almost wishing a perfect distraction could be in his corner right now.

"It's nice to see you again, Chase," he hears, instantly catching him by surprise as he looks towards the doorway, watching it slide close slowly.