Page 81 of Trading Paint

I wouldn’t say I was nervous but I was tense. The entire season came down to one night.

It had come down to forty laps. Anything could happen in those forty laps. Tires shred, engines blow, drivers misjudge and it’s the luck of the draw.

With Ryder and Justin voraciously behind me, I needed to focus so once again while inside the confines of the cramped cockpit, I was one with the car.

Giant Speedway is a 3/8 mile clay oval and by the main that night, the surface was glazed over, slick and full of ruts.

It was a night Jimi would say: “Stand up and drive.”

I did.

Ryder was all over me. I wasn’t sure if maybe he was just sizing me up or if he was actually struggling to pass. He took a look at passing me each lap but that’s all he ever got, just a look. I led the entire feature. I wasn’t sure where Justin finished so I had no idea if I won the title until I pulled into my pit and saw my family jumping up and down.

Sway was the first, always the first to congratulate me. She leaned inside of the car before I was able to pull myself out and kissed me. I froze since myentire familywas watching but she pulled away and I realized it was just her excitement for me.

“I knew you would do it!”

“Thanks honey.” I said hoisting myself from the seat to stand through the top roll bars. Everyone was screaming and throwing beer and champagne at me. It wasn’t just the thrill of the victory that night it was finally being able to take a breath. There was an end in sight.

Ryder had become one of the best drivers in the USAC divisions that year. To beat him at tracks like Eldora and Knoxville and then to come back and beat him when track conditions couldn’t have been any worse; that was something I was proud of. I gave those beasts from the East a run for their money this season and proved to them that a kid from the Northwest could pull it off.

I may have been considered Jimi Riley’s son but that night, I was known as Jameson Riley, the eighteen-year old kid that just won the USAC Triple Crown.

I stayed at that track celebrating with my family, friends and fans until the lights were turned off. Right after the race, I started signing autographs before loading the truck. This was something I learned from Jimi.

You rarely got him to sign anything for you during a race night but afterward, that was about the fans that had just devoted their entire evening to watching him race. So did I...I stayed until I signed everything they wanted because without them, I wouldn’t be racing at these levels because there wouldn’t be these levels of racing without them coming out and watching.

After standing there for three hours signing for people, the last kid said what pretty much summed up the season for me and made me understand once againwhyI risk it all.

He couldn’t have been much older than ten, maybe eleven. He was all smiles as he handed me a program to sign. I asked his name, he said it was Jake. I’d seen him before but I couldn’t place him but then I’d seen a lot of kids these days. Just as he was about to leave with his autograph he stopped and smiled back at me pushing his golden blonde curls away from his face.

“Jameson?” he asked politely.

“Yeah?”

“Do you think maybe I could get a picture of you and me?” his voice was soft and timid.

“Of course buddy.”

Sway took our picture and I gave him my address and told him I expected a copy of it when he got it developed.

He eagerly agreed and then said, “I can’t wait to hang it up in my room!” he ran off to his mother after that when his dad approached me.

Right then I realized why I recognized him. It was Shey Evans’ grandson.

Shey’sson-in-law, Greg, laughed leaning into my shoulder. “All my kid talks about is this Jameson Riley kid that is supposedly his hero.”

I smiled placing the cap back on the black Sharpie I was holding.

“Is that so...?”

“It is.” Sean put his hand on my back. “He just started racing quarter midgets this last year and tells everyone he’s going to be like Jameson Riley someday.”

I risked everything to become Jameson Riley and that night I did. Now was the time to cast who I would become as a racer. People in the racing community were starting to see me as me.

I will saystartingto because the following morning when I picked up the newspaper it was packed with articles saying:

Riley’s kid making a name for himself

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