[Authors Note:] Sorry it took so long, i was waiting for Observer to look it over, but since he hasn't been on in about a month or two i decided to post this chapter anyway. This chapter was modified from what i originally planed an is unlike most of the chapters i've written so far. you will learn a little more about Alexander throughout this chapter. Also there are two people that have the same names as other characters in other stories, this is because one story i was not planing on writing fully, or at least not before i wrote this chapter, and the other i took from another story because i liked the name. these two characters are not connected to the other stories that the names appear and there for NOT cross over characters.
Previous chapters can be found here.
Chapter 13
"So how was your first race?" Alexander asked Ashley's parents an hour into the flight.
Ashley's parents looked at each other and both knew it was the right time to tell Ashley that this wasn't their first race.
"This isn't our first race," said Ashley's mother.
"What?" started Ashley in disbelief, "What are you talking about?"
"We went down to Daytona to watch you race in the Daytona 500," replied Ashley's father.
"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Ashley.
"We were afraid that you wouldn't have wanted us to be there," said Ashley's mother.
"Of course I would have wanted you guys there; it was the biggest moment of my life"
"I'm sorry we didn't tell you honey," replied Ashley's mother.
"That's ok," said Ashley.
Alexander started to wish that his parents were like Ashley's parents; they dropped everything and went to watch their daughter race. Alexander knew without a doubt that his parents wouldn't drop what they were doing to watch him or Jeremiah race, or Eleazer play ball.
"Are you ok Alexander?" asked Mr. McDonald, which had everyone looking at Alexander.
"Yeah, will you excuse me for a minute?" asked Alexander as he got up and left the table and went to the bathroom.
Jeremiah then got up and walked over to the table.
"You have to excuse Alexander," Jeremiah started as everyone was still surprised by Alexander's abrupt leaving of the table, "Our parents weren't as supportive with our choices, and I think it hurts Alexander still."
Alexander went into the bathroom and sat on the toilet and wiped away the tears that started to form. He always wondered why his parents weren't supportive of what their children wanted to do when other parents were supportive of their children. The only wish Alexander ever had was that his parents would be supportive of him and his brothers.
The next Saturday they were at Chicagoland Speedway located in Joliet Illinois, for the first night race at that track. The first race at Chicagoland was on July 15, 2001 and was won by Billy Stanley. Alexander didn't do well at this track and it showed as he qualified 24th, the best he ever qualified at this track.
Jeremiah qualified 30th second highest of the four Mac Racing cars.
Ashley didn't worry about having to qualify since White Enterprises didn't send their car because they didn't have the money nor sponsorship for the race.
Besides being the first night race at Chicagoland, it was also the first race that Samantha didn't attend. The reason Samantha wasn't at the race track was because she was settling into her new job at Alexander Hawkins Motorsports. The reason for her starting her new job now was that besides the cars from Matthew-Chandler Racing and the cars that use to be used by the thirty-six arriving. There was also Sponsorships to announce and sign.
Samantha had promised that she would get her replacement by the end of the month. The reason for the wait was because the replacement was working on a big project for their current employer and didn't want to leave in the middle of it.
The race at Chicagoland started without a problem. Ashley was sitting on Alexander's pit box with his Crew Chief and the Car Chief. As she did she noticed what Jethro McDuffie had all season so far, that the right hand of the Crew Chief, Mark Stevens was twitching on its own.
Alexander kept falling back. His car was too loose. On lap thirty the caution came out because Theodore McNulty got into the rear of the seventy-nine of Mitch Cabot and spun him. It was a lucky break for Alexander who was about to go a lap down.
They tried to fix the problem but they only made the problem worse and this time it did cost him a lap.
By the halfway point Alexander was five laps down and his car had gone from very loose to extremely tight. Ashley also noticed at the same time that the Crew Chief's hand twitching had gotten worse.
Alexander finished thirty-seventh, five laps down. Jeremiah finished his best at fourteenth, so even though the race was bad for one Hawkins it was good for the other. The winner of the race was Cecil Shepard.
Alexander lost the points lead to Russ Stanley which upset him.
There was bad news on the sponsor front from some teams coming out of the weekend. KB Toys, the sponsor of Blackburn Motorsports number fifty-one Toyota, announced that they were pulling their sponsorship due to financial reasons. Mitch Blackburn owner of Blackburn Motorsports then announced that without the sponsorship they could not continue and where shutting down until a sponsor could be found.
Alexander was taking the loss of the points lead so hard that everyone told him that he should use the off weekend and get away. And Alexander did just that, he took Ashley to New York City where he was scheduled to speak at an event at his old boarding school with his former classmates and friends Sherman Cassio and Günther Mansle.
On the flight to New York Alexander and Ashley joined the mile high club.
(More to come tomorrow)
Previous chapters can be found here.
Chapter 13
"So how was your first race?" Alexander asked Ashley's parents an hour into the flight.
Ashley's parents looked at each other and both knew it was the right time to tell Ashley that this wasn't their first race.
"This isn't our first race," said Ashley's mother.
"What?" started Ashley in disbelief, "What are you talking about?"
"We went down to Daytona to watch you race in the Daytona 500," replied Ashley's father.
"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Ashley.
"We were afraid that you wouldn't have wanted us to be there," said Ashley's mother.
"Of course I would have wanted you guys there; it was the biggest moment of my life"
"I'm sorry we didn't tell you honey," replied Ashley's mother.
"That's ok," said Ashley.
Alexander started to wish that his parents were like Ashley's parents; they dropped everything and went to watch their daughter race. Alexander knew without a doubt that his parents wouldn't drop what they were doing to watch him or Jeremiah race, or Eleazer play ball.
"Are you ok Alexander?" asked Mr. McDonald, which had everyone looking at Alexander.
"Yeah, will you excuse me for a minute?" asked Alexander as he got up and left the table and went to the bathroom.
Jeremiah then got up and walked over to the table.
"You have to excuse Alexander," Jeremiah started as everyone was still surprised by Alexander's abrupt leaving of the table, "Our parents weren't as supportive with our choices, and I think it hurts Alexander still."
Alexander went into the bathroom and sat on the toilet and wiped away the tears that started to form. He always wondered why his parents weren't supportive of what their children wanted to do when other parents were supportive of their children. The only wish Alexander ever had was that his parents would be supportive of him and his brothers.
The next Saturday they were at Chicagoland Speedway located in Joliet Illinois, for the first night race at that track. The first race at Chicagoland was on July 15, 2001 and was won by Billy Stanley. Alexander didn't do well at this track and it showed as he qualified 24th, the best he ever qualified at this track.
Jeremiah qualified 30th second highest of the four Mac Racing cars.
Ashley didn't worry about having to qualify since White Enterprises didn't send their car because they didn't have the money nor sponsorship for the race.
Besides being the first night race at Chicagoland, it was also the first race that Samantha didn't attend. The reason Samantha wasn't at the race track was because she was settling into her new job at Alexander Hawkins Motorsports. The reason for her starting her new job now was that besides the cars from Matthew-Chandler Racing and the cars that use to be used by the thirty-six arriving. There was also Sponsorships to announce and sign.
Samantha had promised that she would get her replacement by the end of the month. The reason for the wait was because the replacement was working on a big project for their current employer and didn't want to leave in the middle of it.
The race at Chicagoland started without a problem. Ashley was sitting on Alexander's pit box with his Crew Chief and the Car Chief. As she did she noticed what Jethro McDuffie had all season so far, that the right hand of the Crew Chief, Mark Stevens was twitching on its own.
Alexander kept falling back. His car was too loose. On lap thirty the caution came out because Theodore McNulty got into the rear of the seventy-nine of Mitch Cabot and spun him. It was a lucky break for Alexander who was about to go a lap down.
They tried to fix the problem but they only made the problem worse and this time it did cost him a lap.
By the halfway point Alexander was five laps down and his car had gone from very loose to extremely tight. Ashley also noticed at the same time that the Crew Chief's hand twitching had gotten worse.
Alexander finished thirty-seventh, five laps down. Jeremiah finished his best at fourteenth, so even though the race was bad for one Hawkins it was good for the other. The winner of the race was Cecil Shepard.
Alexander lost the points lead to Russ Stanley which upset him.
There was bad news on the sponsor front from some teams coming out of the weekend. KB Toys, the sponsor of Blackburn Motorsports number fifty-one Toyota, announced that they were pulling their sponsorship due to financial reasons. Mitch Blackburn owner of Blackburn Motorsports then announced that without the sponsorship they could not continue and where shutting down until a sponsor could be found.
Alexander was taking the loss of the points lead so hard that everyone told him that he should use the off weekend and get away. And Alexander did just that, he took Ashley to New York City where he was scheduled to speak at an event at his old boarding school with his former classmates and friends Sherman Cassio and Günther Mansle.
On the flight to New York Alexander and Ashley joined the mile high club.
(More to come tomorrow)
