Miles Apart by Ken Casper

Author:Ken Casper
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Category, NASCAR (Association), Man-Woman Relationships, Racing, Contemporary, General, Romance, Automobiles, Automobile Racing Drivers, Divorced Men, Automobile Racing, Fiction, Sports, Love Stories
ISBN: 9780373217816
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2007-12-03T16:00:00+00:00

JOHNNY DIDN’T GET the pole the next day. He took fourth place and on Sunday again held his own, that is, he finished fourth. His owner and crew chief seemed happy with the result, and in Grand Prix it would have been respected, but Johnny wasn’t content. This was NASCAR, he reminded himself. The objective was to maneuver and win.

Bristol, which followed, was another matter altogether, a complete contrast to any challenge he’d come up against in Formula 1 or even NASCAR. Grand Prix courses varied in length from about two and a half to nearly six miles. Bristol was the shortest track on the NASCAR circuit: half a mile. The five-hundred-mile race encompassed a thousand laps, each lasting less than twenty seconds. It was dizzying for the driver.

Johnny started in seventh position but ended in fifteenth. With nerves tingling and head still spinning he wound his way out the window of his black-and-silver car. Laughing at his obvious light-headedness, Vaughn Steiner and Mac Roberts assured him he’d done well.

In the races that followed, Martinsville, Texas, Phoenix, Talladega, Johnny continued to make good showings, always coming in among the top ten. He didn’t win any races, but with each competition he was moving up and feeling more confident. He was also racking up significant points toward the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. Both the media and the racing world were beginning to take notice.

Jack Dolman was doing well, too. He won twice, at Darlington and Pocono, but he also had a few unlucky breaks. He was eliminated in Richmond because of a pileup that destroyed his car�he walked away without a scratch. His engine blew there, also. Pointwise, however, he and Johnny were a statistical tie.

“You’ve won so many races on the Formula 1 circuit in Europe and Asia. Did you expect to be doing so well at NASCAR here in the States, too?” a television sportscaster asked Johnny after he came in second in the first of three races in Charlotte.

“I’m pleased and excited by it all,” he responded. “The reception I’ve received from the NASCAR community and the fans has been unbelievable.”

“So you’re not surprised by your good showing?” the reporter persisted.

He refused to fall for the gotcha question. If he said he was surprised he came across as lacking in confidence. If he said he wasn’t, the impression drawn would be that he was arrogant and full of himself.

“Every race brings its own challenges,” he said with a good-natured chuckle. “And every result is something of a shock. It’s the unpredictability of the sport that makes it so exciting for driver and spectator alike.”

It wasn’t until the last of the three back-to-back races in Charlotte, however, that the media began to link the names of Jack Dolman and Johnny Rendisi as the primary contenders for the season’s championship.

“Johnny, you and Jack Dolman have been trading number one positions for the last five races. Even now you’re only ten points apart. Your closest competitor is fifty points behind you.

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