Friday, October 27 – Martinsville Speedway

Christopher Bell kept a keen eye on his teammates – there were a slew of them this week as Kyle Busch decided to enter four trucks, giving each of the kid's a shot at glory. It was either going to work out really well, or really ugly as he knew they all wanted to win badly.

"Where's Sarina?" Harrison Burton asks, catching Christopher's attention. He points to the trailer, where she stood on top watching the Cup practice session. Harrison went to leave the group, possibly go get her, when Christopher grabbed his arm. He knew better from their experiences together this season, even if he would get grief from it. He'd rather not hear from her right now. 

"Just leave her," Christopher instructs as he lets out a sigh. "She's watching her boyfriend." Harrison figured that, but knew they should have all of them together for a practice debrief. The session had gone better than expected, with all four trucks in the top-10, including both Christopher and Harrison in the top-five.

"And that's an excuse for missing our meeting?" Christopher lets out a sigh, already wanting to strangle his teammates. How did Kyle think this was a good idea? It was already complicated enough with just him and Sarina sometimes. 

"No, but there's other reasons. There's other stuff going on that you guys don't understand. She's been quiet and that's not like her around me. So I think it's best that we give her some space." Harrison and Todd both glanced to where she was as Todd crossed his arms. He knew what he'd want in a similar situation, and figured it'd be a bit entertaining. 

"What if we go tease her and loosen her up a bit?" Todd suggests as Christopher could only let out another sigh. Why were they not understanding this already and dropping it? "Or not. Look, I think we all have great trucks for tomorrow and I think it's going to be a great day."

"Just both of you just be smart about it. It's not a long race – but it's not super short, either. You have time to make moves so be patient."

The group continued to share words through the rest of the Cup practice, with Christopher's eyes leaving the fold at times as he glanced up at the hauler to see whether her demeanor had changed. Once their discussion was over, the group separated and Christopher made his way down through the Cup stalls. He knew he shouldn't be concerned – maybe he was over reacting, maybe it was none of his business – but he couldn't help but worry about his teammate.

He stands by the No. 24 garage stall, watching as Chase breaks down the session with Alan and Josh. He waited until the group separated. He could see the serious look on Chase's face – wondering if the practice had gone according to plan. Chase had shown speed, but Christopher also knew of his struggles at the paperclip. Maybe this was a bad time...

Against his own judgment, though, he made his way up through the stall over to the driver in question.

"Hey," Christopher says, catching Chase's attention out of his daze. It was not like him to come down, unless something was going on. Should he be worried? 

"Hey," Chase simply replies, caught off guard a bit to see Christopher standing there. His mind immediately wandered to the possibilities about Sarina. What if she was sick again? What if she had been attacked, again? What if someone was bothering her? "Is everything okay?"

"Don't worry, your girl is fine. She was actually on top of the KBM hauler watching your practice." Chase smiles, not surprised as that was her normal spot if she wasn't on top of the NAPA hauler. "Look, I don't want to come across at the wrong time or interrupt something important, but I have to ask – is everything okay?" Chase crosses his arms, caught off-guard by the question. Again, this wasn't something that ever happened with Christopher. 

"Why are you asking?" Christopher takes a deep breath, hoping his observations weren't off. It was either going to earn him concern in response, or an explanation to help solve his concerns. He hoped the lather because he didn't want to throw Chase off of his game. 

"Sarina just seems quieter than normal, almost in a moody state at times – if you don't mind me saying. I'm just concerned." Chase was used to Christopher being concerned, and sometimes knew to accuse of overstepping boundaries. This weekend, though, he knew the thoughts were valid via conversations prior to arriving at the track. He just hoped Sarina wouldn't yell at him for sharing if she found out. 

"She hasn't won a race this year and she hasn't run as well as she thought. Plus, there's the pressure to succeed because everybody wins in KBM equipment. It's eating at her some as she and I talked about that this week. Now combined with the fact we're at a short track where she's expected to do well, and knows that she could win, she's really entering this serious focused mode, set for nothing less than success. You understand where she's coming from, right?" Christopher nods his head, remembering a couple moments like that of his own last year. It was something a young driver went through at least once in their career, as the pressure to succeed was at an all-time high. If you didn't equal the pressure, then most times it meant the end of the road, something nobody wanted to face. 

"Did you give her the common it's okay for rookies to struggle, she's done a great job, and to just have fun with it because if it's meant to be it'll happen?" Chase smiles, having said those exact things, among others. He was used to the experience himself so he had tried to offer what he'd want to hear in response from everyone. It was why he also understood the words not doing anything to change her feelings, too. 

"But for her, combine that with the other crap. She can't get her mind off the lack of sentence for Bethany, or literally nothing at all for Allison. It also doesn't help the process for a restraining order is a little ridiculous. Then on top of that, we don't know where things stand with her brother. How long will be behind bars? Will he be found guilty of poisoning me and Ryan? She's got a lot on her mind." Christopher was glad his observations weren't too far off, and glad he took the chance on having this conversation with Chase. At least he would know how to handle things for the rest of the weekend with her. 

"I just gave her some space, let her think and do her own thing. I hope that's right..." Chase nods his head. There wasn't much else you could do in Christopher's shoes.

"Yeah, that's all you can do. I'm trying my hardest to give her advice, as well as Marcus and Kyle. We've all agreed we just need to take it day by day, step by step, and try to make this weekend fun." Christopher glances at the speed chart, shedding a smile as he sees Kyle at the top of the charts.

"You're not too bad...." Chase glances behind him, seeing he finished the practice in the top-five.

"Anybody can knock off one quick lap around this place. It's all about getting that rhythm to be there all race long." Christopher puts a hand on Chase's shoulder, catching him off-guard. It was usual to see their conversations about Sarina, and nothing else. But they had never shared any comfort together.

"You will figure it out, and as much as I love my boss – I do hope you get a win soon. Good luck." Christopher then turns on his heels, leaving the stall as Chase lets out a sigh. Crossing his fingers, he knew both he and Sarina needed a good weekend to turn things around.

************

Saturday, October 28

Chase sat on the pit box, watching the action around the paperclip closely. It had been an exciting race so far, as Sarina had kept herself up in the top five throughout the first stage, and was doing so as the laps closed down in the second. He watches as the checkered flag flies, seeing her cross the line in third once again.

So far, so good....

Pulling off pit road in fourth, she kept herself right up there, immediately moving into third behind Christopher Bell and Matt Crafton. His eyes were so focused on her No. 18 Toyota Tundra, that he was surprised when he heard the curse words begin to fly in constant fashion out of Kyle's mouth. An immediate glance towards the corner told him why, though, as he saw the No. 4 truck of Bell turned around backwards.

"Would you believe Matt says that bullshit was unintentional?" Kyle questions out loud as Chase shakes his head. He then watched the replay on the big screen, even more surprised. Matt basically just drove in there, spinning Christopher around. "Unintentional – yeah right. Meanwhile, your crew chief had just told you to pick him apart. That just goes over nicely...."

"Bell has time – he will get back up there," Chase offers, not knowing what much else to say as Kyle put his headset back on. He didn't realize his time supporting Sarina would also involve having to try and offer comfort to her boss. "Well, this is interesting...."

"Don't let a truck struggling to make a pass in front of you get you bogged down in return," Kyle then advises Sarina over the radio. Chase had been listening all day, intrigued by the advice he was giving, also eating some of it up himself. Kyle knew his way around Martinsville, and anyway he could be better he was going to use it. "And I don't care what you do with the 88 (Matt) here. You can wreck the shit out of him."

"Oh lawdy...." Chase knew Kyle was venting frustration, but he also knew that wasn't necessary here on the radio. There was still over 70 laps left. Sarina just needed to be smart here restarting second, keep herself in position, and do her thing – and maybe it'd come together. But filling her head with other unnecessary banter wasn't going to help things.

Chase's eyes were locked on the paperclip over the next several laps, watching as the laps continued to tick down with Matt Crafton leading over Sarina easily. He watched as the gap didn't seem to close, despite Sarina locking down solid laps, one after the other, after the other.

With 15 laps to go, the game changed as a caution flew for a spun truck near the back of the pack. Chase ran his hands over his face, taking a deep breath, knowing shit was about to crazy here.

"Be careful about pinching him because he's racing for a championship, " Kyle advises Sarina about Matt. "He'll probably wreck you..." Chase could understand where Kyle was coming from. After seeing Matt's aggressive style against Christopher earlier and everybody knowing that a win here locked you into the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, everybody was willing to do whatever it took to make it happen.

His eyes are immediately locked on the frontstretch, watching the green flag fly with 10 laps to go. Crossing his fingers, he watches Matt and Sarina dive into turn one. She gives him room, running her line, hitting the gas up off the corner to stay even with him down the backstretch. He stand up on the pit box, watching them go around the corner side-by-side, again Sarina picking up the gas, this time getting the run off.

With nine to go, he watched as the No. 18 truck scurried ahead, getting clear of Crafton, before slipping down in front of him through the next set of corners.

Chase could feel his stomach flip flopping, butterflies swirling. His fingers instantly crossed themselves, followed by toes looking to do the same. He found himself nervous to watch, afraid of a late caution or Matt coming back, but wanting to watch as this was Martinsville – everybody liked watching a good short track race.

Each time she passed by start-finish, he clicked off another lap in his head, just wanting it to be over. 2 to go....white flag.....

As she came around with the black and white flag flying, it was almost disbelief came over him as he watched her drive underneath it first. It was over....

"WOOOHOOOO!" She lets out the biggest scream over the radio immediately as Chase pumps a fist in the air. He and Kyle immediately catch each other, sharing a hug before they both pat Marcus on the shoulders.

"Way to go!" Marcus says over the radio in response.

"Spectacular driving at the end!" Kyle adds. The group hurries down the steps, eyes focused on the frontstretch as the No. 18 truck comes around. "Burn 'em down...."

They watch as the epic burnout as they make their way across pit road, sharing high-fives with various crew members along the way. Chase beams in total glory as he watches her come to a stop, climb out, dancing on the back of the truck, fist pumping in the air. She then jumps off, climbing the fence, as the crew hurries to join her.

"You're coming too!" Kyle lets out as he motions for Chase to hop the wall with him. Chase couldn't deny being happy for her as he joined the fray, pausing to stand on top of the wall and take a couple photos on his phone himself.

Sarina hops off the fence, feeling a bit of vomit rise, immediately bending over and letting it come up, falling into the cracks of the safer barrier. She feels a pair of hands on her shoulders, half-expecting them to be Chase, but is caught off-guard when it's Kyle.

"Are you okay?" He questions as she looks back, smile still firmly planted on her face. A little bit of vomit was not going to wipe off the excitement she was feeling today. 

"Just got a little over excited, overwhelmed," she answers as she wipes her mouth off. "I can't believe this...."

"Believe it, embrace it, and enjoy it. You're a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race winner. You get to take home a clock!" She immediately grins even more, pulling Kyle into a tight hug. If there was anyone deserving a thank you, she knew he ranked very high on the list.

"Thank you for the opportunity!"

After letting herself calm a bit more, she moves the truck to the official victory lane location on the frontstretch before the stage, climbing out once again with her arms up in the air. She didn't care how many times she had to do this – she would do it all night if she needed to. She then hops off the truck and feels a very familiar set of arms immediately wrap around her from behind, kissing her lips immediately.

"I'm so proud of you!!" Chase lets out as he spins her around. "You did an absolutely amazing job. That was spectacular. I don't know you made that move on the outside on the restart, but wow. You're amazing!" She just smiles back in return, still in disbelief, a couple tears trickling down the cheeks in the process.

"Thank you for believing in me," she tells him. "Thank you for the chance with your late model team, and thank you for believing in me. Thank you for being there, giving advice, letting me lean on you, and for being you. I love you so much...." She then kisses his lips one more time, before turning around, set to face the world with her comments. "Finally!!"