"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Daytona 500, the Super bowl of motor racing events." "Walking onto the grid is the two-time" "Daytona 500 and defending champion Rowdy Burns." "And perennial contender from Reading, Pennsylvania, Aldo Bennedetti." "gentlemen, start your engines." "Big turn back for number 43, Richard Petty." "Petty spins to the inside of the track." "A tough break for Richard Petty." "Richard Petty is out of the Daytona 500." "Speaking of people who are out of the race, perhaps it's time to remember the legendary crew chief, Harry Hogge, whose great driver, Buddy Bretherton, died here last year in a fiery crash, hitting the wall at over 195 miles an hour." "So you're enjoying the good life, Harry?" "Yeah." "I never minded spreading a little fertilizer around now and then." "There's worse things." "How's the truck running?" "Runs good." "I want you to build me a car." "Now, Tim, everybody knows some downtown car dealer can't afford a race team." "No driver worth a damn is gonna sign with you." "'Cause they wreck one car, you can't afford to build them another and they're out of the deal, you know." "And no car's gonna win without a driver." "Not even mine." "If you built the car, I'd get a damn driver." "What kind of driver are you going to find after the season's started?" "Some old boy who's washed up and wasn't worth a shit to begin with." "You can work with him." "You can build a driver like you build a car, Harry." "Tim, take a look at that hound." "That's the best coon dog I've ever seen or heard about." "And I didn't teach him a damn thing." "Well, I got somebody." "Who?" "Take a look at him." "Anybody I gotta take a look at, ain't somebody." "Then take a look at nobody." "Look, Tim, I gave up racing." "You gotta know that." "All right?" "You didn't give up racing, Harry." "You quit to avoid an investigation into Buddy's crash at Daytona." "Hey, I didn't avoid any goddamn investigation." "Anyway, I talked to NASCAR and if you come back in there won't be any investigation." "How the hell did you sell them on that deal?" "I'm a hell of a salesman." "Now, that's a racecar driver." "When's your driver due?" "Harry tells me your guy runs those Indy type deals." "Yeah." "Sprints, mainly." "Two World of Outlaw championships, three all-star wins, seven straight feature wins and he's been driving ASA." "Hey." "Got yourself a real statistician there." "Does he know anything about drivers?" "We'll see." "Harry, where'd you say your driver's from?" "Eagle Rock." "It's up around Wilkesboro, isn't it?" "No." "Glendale, California." "He's a Yankee?" "Not exactly. lf you're from California, you're not a Yankee." "You're not really anything." "You said it." "The shocks are right, we're dialed in, buddy." "Don't change a thing." "Hey, you ain't buried in horse manure after all." "Looking pretty good." "You're the one who's looking good." "It hadn't been easy, Harry, I'll guran-damn-tee you, but this bitch is ready to run." "I can't tell you how much we all appreciate you letting us use the car, Rowdy." "I told you about this, Rowdy." "Harry's got some new driver and he needs a car just to turn a couple of laps." "I told you it was Harry Hogge who'd asked us personally, as a favor." "Who is this driver?" "Tim tells me you've been running open-wheels." "That's right." "And now you just want to up and drive NASCAR?" "That's right." "What do you know about stock car racing?" "Well, I've watched it on television, of course." "You've seen it on television?" "ESPN, the coverage is excellent." "You'd be surprised at how much you can pick up." "I'm sure I would." "Look, this may not be the best time for you to run this car." "Was there some problem?" "No, sir." "You all go right ahead." "But you bend this bitch the least little bit, I'm gonna tear your balls off." "Okay." "Would you mind very much holding on to this?" "Didn't he hear what that man said?" "Hold on a minute." "Don't you think we ought to talk?" "What?" "About how I'm gonna run?" "Sure." "About how you've managed to live as long as you have." "Look, I ain't gonna let you race this car." "What's going on?" "He's had second thoughts." "You said you'd look at him." "l've looked at him." "I paid $2,500 to use this track today, Harry." "Forget it." "He needs a brand name like Exxon or Richard Petty." "Well, I know a damn race driver when I see one." "What's going on, Harry?" "is this happening or what?" "Do us all a favor, Harry." "Let me drive." "I won't make a fool out of you." "That tunnel turn's real tricky." "Now, whether it's hot or cold, it gets as slick as a butt." "Then you'll slip and slide and slam yourself into the wall before you know it." "So just take it easy." "l'm dropping the hammer." "No, you're not." "It's under Rowdy's time." "Well, it might have been better if he cracked up the car." "That was fast." "Yeah?" "Thirty-one flat." "That's good enough to take the pole in the last race here." "Hell, I thought this was gonna be a joke." "You never drove a stock car before?" "No, sprints mainly." "What's your name?" "Buck Bretherton." "What's yours?" "Cole Trickle." "It's damn nice to meet you, Buck." "Damn nice to meet you, too, Cole." "You were one lucky son of a bitch in that tunnel turn." "That car was way out of shape." "Well, if you think it was luck, let's do it again." "You run good." "Thank you." "Now, go get your own car and we'll see how you do in a crowd." "So, how come you don't stick to open wheels?" "I lost my ride." "After two championships and seven straight wins, you were fired?" "I lost my ride." "Doesn't matter. I'd have quit regardless." "Why's that?" "l wasn't going anywhere." "Where do you want to go?" "Indianapolis." "But you can't win in Indy without a great car." "And my name's not Andretti or Unser." "On the other hand, stock cars are stock cars." "Pretty much the same." "Hey, there's nothing stock about a stock car." "Look, I'm not trying to insult you." "All I'm saying is, stock cars are built to run equal." "lsn't that right?" "So the rule books say." "So I don't have to worry about getting beat by another car." "In other words, all you have to worry about" "is getting beat by other drivers." "Yeah." "You build me a car, and I'll win Daytona next year." "I'm gonna give you an engine low to the ground." "Extra-big oil pan that'll cut the wind from underneath you." "That'll give you 30 to 40 more horsepower." "I'm gonna give you a fuel line that'll hold an extra gallon of gas." "I'm gonna shave half an inch off you and shape you like a bullet." "And when we get you primed, painted and weighed, you're going to be ready to go out on that racetrack." "You hear me?" "You're gonna be perfect." "Okay." "I'm going to pull this rookie's chain." "Cole, you're wandering all over the track." "Yeah." "Well, that son of a bitch just slammed into me." "No, he didn't slam into you, he didn't bump you, he didn't nudge you." "He rubbed you, and rubbing, son, is racing." "There goes the fender." "There goes the quarter panel." "All right." "Get back!" "All right, while we're still under a caution, I want you to go back out on that track and hit the pace car." "Hit the pace car?" "Hit the pace car!" "What for?" "Because you hit every other goddamn thing out there." "I want you to be perfect." "Now, go on." "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "You're going too high." "Stay in the group." "How about that?" "This side we don't have to fix." "I don't want you spoiled, Buck." "This is gonna hurt." "Move!" "Move!" "Move!" "Did you see that guy?" "I've got to pit." "I don't think so." "We're busy now." "You're what?" "We're eating ice cream." "Ice cream?" "Now, you're welcome to come on and get one, but I don't believe NASCAR would think much of you trying to eat an ice cream cone out there." "You have enough trouble riding around the track as it is." "Take it easy." "Come on now, Cole!" "Cole!" "Cole!" "We messed up big-time on Sunday." "I had sponsors in the stands and I'm hugging and holding hands and kissing them in the air and praying for a good showing." "And what do we do?" "We end up looking like a monkey fucking a football out there." "Everybody out, please." "Except you two." "I've got a question." "What is the one thing you absolutely need to do to win a race?" "lt's pretty damn obvious..." "You keep quiet!" "You need to finish the race." "Tim, I realize Harry's been around a long time." "I'm not saying that his ways are antiquated but it'd help to have a car that handled properly and didn't blow engines." "Well, if he wouldn't get excited and over rev the son of a bitch, the engine wouldn't blow." "Now, Cole, when you shift the gear, and that little needle on the tach goes into the red and reads 9,000 rpm, that's bad." "It's also my fault if the tires blow, if you ask this old fart." "Well, hell yes, it's your fault." "There's 40 other vultures out there who managed to finish the race on their tires." "You see Darrell Waltrip using up his tires?" "There's nothing I can't do with a racecar." "Well, that's the difference between you and me." "There's only so much I can do!" "That's obvious." "Harry, he doesn't need to appreciate yourjob to do his." "Well, he sure as hell does." "How can he expect to race if he don't know what a racecar can and can't do?" "What is this shit, huh?" "You want me to work the pit and you drive?" "Fine." "We'll try that." "I can't talk to this son of a bitch." "I can't talk to that son of a bitch." "I really can't. I can't..." "You think he can drive?" "He can drive." "He can drive beyond the limits of the tires, the engine, the car, anything else." "If the son of a bitch listened to me, we wouldn't hardly ever lose a race." "If we don't get us a sponsor in the next couple of races, my ass is fried." "I'm liable to be out of the car business altogether." "And, Harry, I know you're great." "You know you're great." "But if the guy in the car doesn't trust you, we're never going to win a damn race." "Hey, Harry." "We've gotta talk, all right?" "All right, Harry." "Talk." "No." "On the radio during the race." "Now, you wanna run right on the ragged edge all the damn time, you've got to tell us what's going on with the car." "Or you just want to change the way I drive it." "Maybe." "Well, maybe you can set up the car so I don't have to change." "I'd be happy to." "You just tell me how." "What do you want to know?" "Well, hell, Cole, you are the driver." "You think she's running loose or tight?" "Tell us." "We give a turn here, take some wedge out there, we'll win some races." "That's all there is to it." "l can't do that." "Why the hell not?" "Because I don't know what the hell you're talking about." "How do you mean that?" "Because I don't know much about cars, okay?" "Well, hey, Cole, that don't make you a damn bit different from any driver I ever met." "No, I mean, I really don't know." "I don't know what you just said about a turn here and a wedge there." "l don't know. I don't know." "How can that be?" "What's the difference?" "They told me to get in a car and drive." "And I could drive." "The point is, I'd like to help out but I can't." "I'm an idiot. I don't have the vocabulary." "Well..." "Well?" "We're just gonna have to figure one out, aren't we?" "Don't worry about it." "All right?" "How does she feel?" "Her ass is all over the place." "Well, the rear end's loose." "Car's fast." ""Loose" is fast, and "on the edge," you're out of control." "Now, Cole, there is something else." "Tires is what wins a race." "Yeah." "What the hell are you talking about?" "If we can't figure you a way to run so you don't melt the damn tires, we can't finish a race." "So, what do you want?" "I'll tell you what, you run 50 laps any way you like, then 50 laps like I want you to." "Give me an honest run." "If you do, I'm gonna beat you." "All right." "Now we're going to do it 50 laps my way, all right?" "Now, when you were racing Indy cars out west, the tires were twice as wide and the car weighed half as much." "Now your car weighs twice as much and the tires are half as wide and you're burning them up, all right." "Now, if you do..." "When you burn them up, they melt, when they melt, they get greasy and you slip and slide." "And you're out of control." "All right?" "Let's go!" "His way, my way." "I was six seconds faster." "You can buy me some lunch at the highway joint, Tim." "What's wrong?" "We're trying to figure out what to do." "About what?" "About what?" "We're in trouble." "Rowdy took the pole in 30.25." "We run 31 .1 0." "We're almost a second off the pace." "We're looking for some speed out of this." "The car's perfect, Harry." "It's the first race of the season here at the legendary DarIington international Speedway." "And the most treacherous turn is number four." "30:90." "Leader's 30:80." "You're running 1 2th." "Thirty laps to go." "Thanks, Harry." "You're gonna burn the damn tires, Cole." "So take it easy." "Harry, I'm not going faster." "Everybody else is going slower." "He's right, Harry." "I checked his lap times." "We just haven't fallen off as much as everybody else." "That's right." "You're doing good, Cole." "You're doing real good." "You're running fifth and you're gaining half a second a lap on the leader." "Fifteen to go." "Don't pass on the outside of turn four." "That's right." "Stay to the inside, Cole." "Ten laps to go." "And trickle has moved into the number two spot, right behind Rowdy Burns." "l'm right behind the leader." "Five laps to go." "Remember me?" "What in the hell's going on?" "Just a little rubbing, Harry." "Rubbing's racing." "I'm going to take this rookie once and for all." "All right, God damn it." "That's enough!" "You can't play with Rowdy like this." "He's gonna give you a real ass ripping." "Just relax, Harry." "Somebody's got to give." "And it's Rowdy Burns who's out!" "No!" "An incredible recovery by Rowdy." "He retains his position on the lead lap." "And we have a new leader." "cole trickle in the number 46 City chevrolet Car." "We're under caution with three laps to go." "Caution's out." "Come on in." "What for?" "It's almost over." "You've been on the green for 68 laps." "Everybody's got to pit, Cole." "Go, go!" "Go, go!" "The air gun's jammed, give me another one." "Give me a gun." "Give me a gun." "lt's jammed." "Come on, switch it, guys." "Let's go!" "Damn it!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go." "Get them on quick!" "God damn it!" "Son of a bitch!" "Now, Cole..." "Son of a bitch!" "Cole, we're on the air, all right?" "I come into the pit, I'm in first place." "I go out, I'm in third with two laps to go." "All right." "First of all, don't get excited, all right." "You're in third place." "That's a pretty respectable position." "Now, what you do is this." "When they slow down into turn four, you just keep your foot on the gas and drive right by them on the outside." "Harry, you told me, nobody goes to the outside on turn four." "Well, now I'm telling you different." "If you go to the outside, you can hold it." "He's going to end up in the wall." "All right." "Cole, the pace car is about ready to duck on off." "We don't have a whole lot of time to talk about this." "Well, tell me how." "It's 'cause we've got a real good set of match tires on." "What?" "What?" "Those tires are matched perfect and staggered special." "You're gonna get him killed." "Pace car's about ready duck on off." "If you go to the outside, you can hold it." "All right, Harry." "When it comes to the car l'll take your word." "The white flag is out." "One lap to go." "The boy don't have the balls to pass me on the outside." "And they're heading into treacherous turn four." "Yes!" "And cole trickle wins his first ever NASCAR victory." "Second place goes to Rowdy Burns." "Cole Trickle..." "Cole, did you have any idea you could run the car wide open into that last turn and make it stick like that?" "l knew it all along." "How's that?" "Well, in our last stop, when I came in, Harry put on special tires." "Special tires?" "Harry Hogge, what's special about them?" "Well, nothing in particular." "Looks like Harry Hogge has a little explaining to do." "You told me... I lied. I had to tell you something to calm you down." "You were acting like such a candy-ass." "After the air gun stuck, I figured you'd never get back on the racetrack." "You son of a bitch!" "Try this on for size." "We've got ourselves a sponsor." "Promise me one thing, boys, whatever else we do from here, we win Daytona." "That's a promise." "That's a promise." "Selling thousands of dollars worth of useless mining stock and they call that a dog and pony show." "It may be funny, but it's not that funny when it happens to you, son." "It happened to me." "What?" "You bought worthless mining stock?" "I told you I lost my ride." "That's how I lost it." "Team owner was a conman." "Junk bonds, worthless companies." "But mainly he sold stolen yachts." "When I won enough races, he even used my name to promote the sales." "He went to jail and I lost my ride." "It was pretty humiliating, actually." "Hell, Cole, there's no need to be embarrassed by some lowlife, piece of trash who put you in that kind of position." "Well, Harry, that depends." "On what?" "On whether or not you're related to that lowlife, piece of trash." "He was my father." "I've never really stuck with anything since." "They don't trust me, I don't trust them." "You know how that goes." "Like for instance, you lied to me today." "It was dumb luck I didn't end up crashed or dead." "l ought to punch you out." "Yeah?" "Give it a try." "No." "Don't wanna get my ass kicked by a 60-year-old man." "Fifty-nine." "Whoop his ass, Harry." "Come on, Cole." "Oh, God." "Come on." "Drivers just don't go to the outside like that, Cole." "But I knew you could do it. I knew it." "I believed it in my heart." "Peach or cherry?" "Cherry." "I'm taking a leak." "There you see now, there's calculating drivers, and then there's kamikaze drivers." "And our Cole here's a kamikaze, like my pappy was." "And who's that?" "Buddy Bretherton." "Buddy Bretherton was your dad?" "He died at Daytona, didn't he?" "Last year." "How did it happen?" "Mind my asking?" "He hit the wall." "Which turn?" "He was probably dead before he hit it." "The coroner's report showed massive heart attack." "I believe we've been pulled over." "All right." "Everybody out and up against the wall here." "You're under arrest." "Let's go." "Move it." "What the hell for?" "lt's right there in your hand." "Transportation of illegal alcohol across state lines for the purpose of distribution." "Well, I don't know what this looks like to you, Officer, but this is not distribution." "This is consumption." "Well, that don't exactly make it legal." "You know what..." "Now up against the wall." "What..." "What is this?" "Up against the wall!" "Officer?" "Well, looks like we've found something." "What's that?" "A concealed weapon." "Where?" "Right here." "Now, the only question is," "will he actually use it?" "Please don't be mad." "Harry and the boys just thought you might like me." "Here we are for summer speed weeks in Daytona Beach, Florida." "It's the Firecracker 400." "And the favorite here today is newcomer cole trickle in the number 46 SuperfIo chevrolet." "He's the hottest young rookie in NASCAR history and has won an unprecedented five out of his last six races." "Stop playing peek-a-boo in Rowdy's rearview mirror." "I thought you boys would've had enough of that by now." "l'm not doing anything like that, Harry." "Well, then what are you doing?" "He rubbed me the wrong way and loosened his bumper!" "I'm just gonna have to come all the way out." "Try that and his rear bumper's liable to go through the radiator and take you out of the whole damn race." "That bumper gets any looser, Rowdy, they're gonna black-flag you." "Let him go by." "He's waving me by, I'm gonna take him on the high side." "What are you so worried about, Harry?" "Well, you surely got my attention." "Great driving, great recovery, Cole." "cole trickle now right behind the number 51 car of Burns, and they go at it again." "There's a crash coming out of turn four, Cole." "I see it!" "Can you hear me?" "l can't see anything." "Wiggle your fingers for me." "Wiggle your toes." "I can't see anything." "I'm all right." "Take this off." "Hey, what do we got?" "Hook up the other monitor." "I'm not a car battery." "I don't need recharging." "Relax, it's just standard procedure." "Hey, you go screw yourself, okay?" "What was that, Mr. Burns?" "I wouldn't tell you to do that, Doc." "What's going on?" "Keep your head down." "Relax." "I can't see." "God, tell me what's going on!" "I'm blind, God damn it!" "What's your name?" "What..." "What's your name?" "Cole." "Cole." "Cole, would you help us out and lie still, please?" "C-spine and CAT scan, right away." "Yes, Doctor." "Can you move your fingers for me?" "Just tell him he's had a concussion." "His brain is bruised, and like any bruise, it's gonna swell." "Now that swelling is almost certainly what's affecting his vision." "You have a concussion and your brain is bruised and it's going to swell." "It's certainly gonna affect your vision." "You mean this will go away?" "Tell him we're gonna run some tests to confirm everything." "What did his helmet look like and was it cracked?" "No." "Was it scratched?" "Are you a brain doctor?" "Was the helmet scratched at the front or the back?" "I believe it was scratched in the back and the front." "Are you a brain doctor?" "Could someone talk to me?" "When I'm driving, I got a guy on the radio who talks to me. I can't see him." "But he talks to me." "Don't worry, we're going to take care of him." "Harry." "Are you okay, Harry?" "Yeah." "Why?" "You look all bent out of shape." "Hell, it's probably just my eyes." "No, it's me, I've been here all night." "Jesus." "What are they giving me here?" "Harry, what happened?" "Rowdy was spinning across the track." "The rule is you go straight for them." "So I never took my foot off the gas." "He should have been gone by the time I got there, man, but he wasn't." "I think another car hit you and knocked you into Rowdy." "He came out of nowhere." "Yeah." "It's one of those things that never happens." "I wouldn't even think about it, you know." "l'll get the doctor." "l feel great." "Cole." "Damn nice to see you, Cole." "How you doing, buddy?" "It's damn nice to see you, Buck." "How you doing?" "Cole, you've met Dr. Lewicki." "That's your doctor, Dr. Lewicki." "I don't think he's actually seen me before." "Sure, Harry." "No..." "Dr." "Lewicki." "Smock, stethoscope." "It's a great costume, Harry." "So how are you, Doc?" "No, Cole, this really is Dr. Lewicki." "I was just about to go off duty." "You thought you'd come by to look me over." "Well, it's not a bad idea." "I figure your vision's restored?" "I think so." "Nothing's blurred?" "You're not seeing double?" "No haloes around objects?" "Flashing lights?" "What are you going to do with this?" "Look into your eyes." "Doc, Doc." "Isn't this what you're really looking for?" "Well, that's interesting enough, Mr. Trickle, but it's just not my specialty." "She's the real thing?" "Well, I wouldn't play no joke on you in a situation like this." "Sorry, Cole, I'm trying not to smile." "All right, get out." "Get out." "Get out of here." "Get some rest, man." "I am not well." "I can walk, God damn it." "Not as long as you're in this hospital you can't." "I don't want to be next to this clown." "You mind picking up the pace a little?" "Hey, man, if you want drugs, you have to see the nurse." "Okay?" "Wait!" "Get out of the way." "Good morning, gentlemen." "Right this way." "So, neither Mr. Burns, nor in this case, Mr. Trickle present any significant intracranial injury." "Now hold it, Doc." "Let's have that one in English." "Did they mess up their squash or not?" "Their brains are intact." "As much as they were before the accident anyway." "You're willing to give them clearance to get back on a racetrack?" "Well, that's obviously a dangerous way to spend your time." "That's a philosophical objection, Doc, and I'm looking for a medical one." "I'm not inclined to give them clearance at this time." "That's total horseshit." "Gentlemen, please." "I think they're saying they would like another opinion." "We would like to talk to your boss." "You're welcome to, of course, but Dr. Wilhaire and I have consulted and we're of the same opinion." "Which is a re-evaluation in a week or two." "Thank you, Doc." "Now, we have a little something we have to say to the boys here and I don't think you necessarily need to hear it." "Okay, Big John's turn." "If you wanna turn yourselves into a greasy spot on a country road somewhere, go right ahead." "I don't give a shit and I don't think anybody else does, regardless of what they say to your face." "But you two monkeys are not going to do it on my racetrack." "Have you all heard of Japanese inspection?" "Japanese inspection." "You see, when the Japs get in a load of lettuce that they're not sure they want to let in the country, why, they just let it sit on the docks until they get good and ready to look at it." "By then of course, it's all gone rotten." "Ain't nothing left to inspect." "In other words, lettuce is a perishable item like you two monkeys." "You trade paint one more time, you so much as touch, I'm gonna black-flag the two of you." "Gonna take apart your racecar for 300 laps." "Then if you pass the inspection, and you put your car back together, I might let you get back in the race." "Now, just to show us there's no hard feelings, we're all gonna go out to dinner together." "l've got other plans." "Yeah, and so do I." "Well, you're gonna have to change them." "And not only that, you two are gonna drive to dinner together." "Dr. Lewicki." "I want to apologize for what happened with Cole when you come into the hospital room." "Mr. Hogge, please, it's nothing to worry about." "And in any case it was hardly your doing." "Well, that's just it, I believe it was." "You see, not too long ago after he won Darlington, we played a trick on Cole." "We dressed up a pretty girl in a highway-patrol uniform." "Anyway, we told her to get real ornery with him and she did." "By ornery, you mean..." "l mean, real ornery." "Why would you want me to know about this?" "I don't want you to hold a bad opinion of Cole." "I believe it scares him." "He needs reassurance from you that he's okay." "After all, you're his doctor." "That's it." "Doc." "I heard you thought I was a highway-patrol officer." "I also want to thank you for taking care of me." "It's my job." "It's my life." "Well, this time let's shake hands." "Of course." "Of course." "Good luck, Cole." "Dr." "Lewicki, could I see you?" "You will, I promise." "No, I mean, have some dinner, go catch a movie. I'll take you to a race." "That's very sweet, really, but it won't get you back on the track any faster." "No, it's not what I meant." "You got me here, now what?" "Here's how I see this deal." "Since you agree I ain't gonna let you drive this car to dinner and I agree you ain't gonna let me drive this car to dinner, there's only one way to settle this." "What are you talking about?" "Absolutely." "Let me tell you something, Tim." "If you can't control your race drivers any better than this, you might consider sticking to something you can control." "Like used cars in downtown Charlotte." "Too close to call?" "Yeah." "You're late." "We had car trouble." "What kind of car trouble?" "I believe it was the radiator." "Wasn't it, Cole?" "Yes, Rowdy, I believe it was." "Tim, do you know anybody at Daytona Memorial?" "The chief of staff." "Why?" "ls he a race fan?" "He was born in the South." "Tim wanted you to meet Russ Wheeler." "He's gonna be driving for us till you get your medical clearance." "It's a real pleasure to race your car, Mr. Trickle." "Yeah, thanks for helping out." "Yeah, Tim, I need a home address of a doctor... I'm only sorry I won't be able to drive it nearly as good as you though." "I'll see you later, Harry." "Yeah, the doctor that..." "That..." "What?" "I was desperate to get your attention." "Well, you got it. I walked into a jungle." "No, it's nicely extravagant, but really, I can't. I'm a doctor on call." "And I'm a patient." "Somebody has to re-examine me. I need clearance." "Come up here and do that." "I'll take you to a race." "Come on, I don't want to watch you guys going round and round in circles, chasing each other like a pack of dogs on my day off." "Then how about chasing me on your day off?" "I don't have a day off." "I'm on call 24 hours." "Okay, Doctor, let's suppose you had a couple of days off..." "Sugar." "Sugar." "...with nothing else to do." "Could I interest you in the North Carolina countryside?" "Speaking theoretically?" "Speaking theoretically." "Maybe." "But you'd have to convince my boss." "Good." "Good." "How tall are you?" "What did he say?" ""Doctor, fly to Charlotte and check those boys out."" "Boy, you're very quick." "You ought to see me drive." "Rowdy's not here." "Well, I told him to meet us at the infield by 5:00." "Well, we should probably get started on Cole." "Close your eyes." "Palms up." "Open your eyes." "Arms down." "Follow my finger." "Stand with your feet together and close your eyes." "Walk one foot in front of the other." "Open your eyes." "And back on the table." "This is tough." "Examinations always are." "Why's that?" "Because I'm looking you over and I might not like what I see." "That has to worry you." "Pick a spot on the wall and look at it." "Please, don't move." "Your eyes." "l didn't move." "Just focus on one spot." "What do you see?" "The retina." "What does it look like?" "Very pretty, actually." "Seen enough?" "Just about." "What did you do that for?" "lt's the Babinski sign." "If the toe goes up, you're in trouble." "You're fine." "Put on your clothes." "You're cleared to race." "I'm sorry, it just drove me nuts in there." "How could you ignore me like that?" "l wasn't ignoring you!" "I wasn't ignoring you." "I gave you a very thorough physical." "You're not gonna do anything weird on my leg, are you, Cole?" "No." "It's just something Harry and I work on together." "It's called drafting." "One car tucks in behind another." "Two cars can go faster than one." "They divide the air resistance between them." "Now, here's where it gets interesting." "The lead car has to floor it to hit 200 miles an hour." "But the car that's stuck behind doesn't." "He can go just as fast and still have power in reserve." "So, when these two cars come off that last turn, the car that's in back can move out of the draft, and slingshot past the lead car, beat it to the finish line." "And he goes straight to Victory Lane." "You and Harry work on that, huh?" "More or less." "Yeah, right. ls there anything you want to do besides racing?" "Anything you say." "Cole, there must be something else that you want to do in life, eventually." "I can tell you what I don't want to be in life, that's a fraud." "I want to know it's not just dumb luck that gets me around that racetrack." "But that's not the question you're really asking." "What's the question I'm really asking?" ""How can I be in bed with this guy?" -l know the answer to that one." "Maybe, but you're still asking it." ""How could I, a brilliant brain doctor," ""be in bed with a guy who drives a car for a living?"" "What's your response to that, by the way?" "Do something to make me respect you." "Do it." "Tell me what you love so much about racing." "The speed." "To be able to control it." "To know that I can control something that's out of control." "I'd really have to show you." "Show me." "It's funny about this place." "When I grew up, I hated farming." "All I wanted to do was work on racecars." "Got into racing." "Now all I want to do is to make enough money to work on a farm." "Hi, Claire, I'm Jennie." "Nice to meet you." "Hi, nice to meet you." "Hi, Cole." "Hey, Jennie." "Just beyond the top of that knoll, we're going to build our permanent home." "Costs much to build up there?" "About $1 0 million." "Oh, Rowdy." "Jennie's gonna do the building." "She's designing the house." "We just want a place that nobody's ever lived in but us." "Isn't that right, honey?" "Rowdy, what is it?" "l think I'm getting seasick." "Seasick?" "You've never been seasick a day in your life." "You didn't forget about the physical, did you?" "Nobody in my family goes to a doctor unless they're dying." "Just 'cause you ain't feeling good, shit." "Stand with your feet together." "Put your arms out." "Close your eyes." "Take it easy." "Take it easy." "l'm fine. I'm fine." "Yeah, I've got you." "l'm fine. I'm fine." "All right." "We've got to get you back to Daytona." "Bill Wilhaire, the head of neurosurgery, is my boss." "He's as good as they come." "Did you get sick in there?" "No." "He did, he got sick." "Rowdy." "You're one hell of a candy-ass." "I faint and you throw up." "Rowdy, it's imperative that you get back to Daytona Memorial and see Dr. Wilhaire." "The report on the birth of another new Winston Cup team." "Behind me, the bright orange and blue colors of Hardee's adorn this chevrolet." "Who's the driver?" "Well, to no one's surprise, it's Russ Wheeler, the young man who subbed so superbly just weeks ago for the injured cole trickle." "Listen to this horseshit." "Nowjoined by car owner, Tim Daland." "Now, Tim, my question now is, you've got two competitive spirits here, and will these competitive spirits cause you a conflict?" "Well, of course, Jerry, we believe that we can maintain the integrity and the independence of these two race teams, otherwise, we wouldn't be doing it." "Who will you be rooting for come Sunday, Tim?" "Well, I tell you, Jerry, I'll even wave to him every time I lap him." "These new tires are terrible." "You should have put on scuffs." "You're doing good, Cole." "I'm too loose." "The carjust feels all wrong." "What's wrong?" "Cole's upset." "What about?" "About being in that racecar." "Wheelerjust passed the eighth car." "He's coming up on your inside." "Jesus!" "What happened?" "The engine blew." "How?" "l'm not a mechanic, Harry." "Claire, I'm in Georgia today." "Rowdy's in North Carolina." "Well, somebody better talk him into coming down here." "Claire, we've got a trauma in the ER." "He's almost certainly hemorrhaging." "The longer he ignores it, the more damage is gonna be done to his brain." "He's your friend, cole." "Where's Cole?" "He's on the phone." "He could use a little privacy." "What's wrong with him?" "I'll tell you what's wrong in this deal, it's you, Tim." "You're a victim of your own goddamn creation." "Two race teams!" "That's one too many roosters in the hen house." "It doesn't seem to bother Russ Wheeler." "Oh, no, no, no." "Ever since that Daytona crash," "Cole's been called a troublemaker." "Wheeler figures he can bump and bam Cole all he wants." "I don't see Russ doing anything like that," "NASCAR doesn't see Russ doing anything like that." "I guess it ain't happening then, under the watchful eyes of experts like you and NASCAR." "I tell you what is happening." "Cole's not running good, he's not looking good, and now he's got sponsor trouble." "But you don't, is that it?" "As far as that goes, no, I don't." "But I want to keep the sponsor and Cole." "He's the one that really made this happen for us and I haven't forgotten that, Harry." "Right." "Right." "You on the phone with the doc?" "Fighting?" "She's too busy to talk right now." "Here's your owner, Tim Daland." "What do you think about this young man, Tim?" "I think Russ ran a great race today." "I'm really, really very pleased." "One hundred and two laps complete, but we're under caution here at North WiIkesboro." "How come Cole hasn't seen Rowdy yet?" "Cole's no different from any other driver." "What do you mean he's no different?" "Well, I mean, of course Cole doesn't want to see Rowdy." "Drivers can't stand to be reminded of what can happen to them in a racecar." "They don't go to hospitals, they don't go to funerals." "You get a driver to a funeral before he's actually dead, you made history, Doc." "He's blocking me." "That's right." "Move the son of a bitch!" "Son of a bitch!" "Trickle moving to the bottom of the track with both right-side tires flat." "Russ wheeler takes the checkered flag..." "Russ Wheeler don't deserve to win, Tim." "If NASCAR won't call it lowdown, shit-assed racing, you better." "lt's just racing, Harry." "Oh, yeah?" "Cole overreacted." "Yeah." "Oh, yeah?" "Change my tires." "l don't know what for, Cole. lt's over." "Change my tires." "There seems to be a little post-race activityjust outside the pit lane." "You shit!" "He's destroyed both my cars." "He's destroyed both my cars!" "He's fired!" "You're fired!" "You're all fired." "You hear me?" "Are you going to get your bags, head off to Daytona?" "Where are you going from here?" "I'll take you to the airport, drop off the rental car, catch a flight to Charlotte." "You want me to come with you?" "You don't have to go back to the hospital?" "We could also try to see Rowdy." "Yeah." "ls there anything wrong with that?" "Of course not." "l guess I just forgot about that." "Yeah, I know." "Cole!" "Let me out of the car, Cole." "Let me out of the car, Cole." "Let me out of the car." "Let me out of the car!" "Let me out or I'm getting out." "Hey!" "Hey, hey!" "Claire!" "Wait." "Just wait." "Get away or I'll call the police." "You'll what?" "You heard me." "Okay, call the police." "But I'm not leaving until you talk." "l've got nothing to say." "Well, I do!" "Okay, great." "Let's hear it." "That's it?" "Fine." "Just..." "You shouldn't be driving a car anyway." "Not on a road, not on a racetrack, and not in a parking lot." "You're selfish, you're crazy and you're scared." "l'm not scared." "You are scared to death." "You and Rowdy, you have the same sickness. it's called denial." "And it's probably going to kill you both." "You want to control something that's out of control, that's what you said to me, wasn't it?" "I'm going to let you in on a little secret that almost everybody else in this world automatically knows." "Control is an illusion, you infantile egomaniac." "Nobody knows what's gonna happen next." "Not on a freeway, not in an airplane, not inside our own bodies, and certainly not on a racetrack with 40 other infantile egomaniacs." "Nobody knows and nobody controls anything." "Now, you've gotten a glimpse of that and you're scared." "You might not have the courage to race anymore." "You may never have had it." "God, I hate you for this, you son of a bitch." "You make me sound like a doctor." "Jennie." "Why are you here?" "Where is he?" "l hear you're out of a job." "Yeah." "You're not looking too good." "How many of these things do you chew every day?" "What did you come here for?" "To take you to the hospital." "If it had been anybody but a damn woman doctor, I'd have been back on the track weeks ago." "ls that right?" "Yeah, that's right." "Listen, man, I've raced with my legs broke, heart bruised, eyes popping out of my head like they're on springs." "This is going to go away just like anything else." "As far as I'm concerned, I'm going to live forever, unless I go to some damn hospital where they take your shoes off, and make you shut your eyes, and bang, you're dead." "What did you win this for?" "This one right here." "What did you win this for?" "Doesn't it say?" "Yeah, it's the Winston Cup, buddy." "Well, hell, that's an easy one to forget." "What's your name?" "Or has that slipped your mind, too?" "Screw you, man." "Okay." "We can go down there and fix your head or we can fix it right here!" "Now, what's it gonna be?" "Rowdy would like to see you." "How is he?" "He's okay." "How are you?" "Good." "Think he'll make Daytona?" "It's not for a few months." "I think he'll make it out of the hospital." "But he'll never drive a racecar again." "Cole, this is Dr. Wilhaire." "He's going to be doing the surgery." "Cole Trickle." "Cole." "So, how is he?" "Well, the doc here says I need minor brain surgery." "Well, that's not exactly how I put it." "Well, listen, Doc, any surgery on his brain is bound to be minor." "You all mind if I talk to this guy a second?" "Of course." "They say I got a busted blood vessel in my brain." "So, they want to drill a hole in my head and get rid of the leaky blood." "You think I should let them do it, Cole?" "Yeah." "You'd let them if it was you?" "l would." "Okay, then I've got to ask you to do something for me." "Well, name it." "Drive my car." "What are you talking about?" "Daytona." "No, Rowdy, you have plenty of time to get ready for Daytona." "You don't need me." "I lost my sponsor." "They put their money on me, not the car." "Now, they ain't too sure I'm going to come out of this deal." "Are you?" "I've got a lot of land and a lot of plans I ain't paid for." "So the only way to get my sponsor back is to make sure my car runs good at Daytona." "All that network TV shit, you know." "Well, you don't need me." "There's plenty of other drivers." "You don't need me." "Don't give me that mealy-mouthed shit, you son of a bitch." "I got to put a driver in my car that'll finish in the top five, before my sponsors will pick up the tab for the year." "Maybe after Daytona, maybe I can drive." "Maybe it'll be a different driver." "But in the meantime, I want the best for my family." "So don't you bullshit me, Cole." "is there some other reason why I ain't good enough for you to drive for?" "Then you'll do it?" "Shit, man." "You had me going." "Now, let's get down to business here." "What's your deal with Daland?" "Hell, we'll work that out, okay?" "Excuse me for a second." "Cole, what's wrong?" "Just tell Rowdy I'll call him." "No, no, no, no, sir!" "Can't use them." "Don't want them." "Couldn't afford them if I did." "What the hell are you talking about?" "Racecar drivers." "I know all about you and Rowdy Burns." "And I ain't setting up that car for Daytona or anywhere else, Cole, but you're welcome to come on in." "We'll bring out the moonshine and start telling lies and calling up the women." "But no talk about racing." "Come on." "All right, no talk about racing." "Come on, Buck, I'll race your ass." "I believe I'm gonna take off." "Good night, Harry." "Why won't you set up the car?" "Ever since you and Rowdy crashed at Daytona and Rowdy got sick, you've been waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting on something bad to happen to you." "Just like Buddy Bretherton." "He started hearing voices." "All kinds of them, everywhere." "Atlanta, Richmond, Wilkesboro." "And all of them only had but one thing to say," ""Get out of that racecar." "Get out..."" "You pegged the engine in Atlanta, redlined the son of a bitch and blew it sky-high." "Done it deliberate." "Done it deliberate." "9,400 rpms according to the little telltale button." "You was worried if you didn't get out of that car right quick, you'd die." "Now call me a liar." "You're not lying." "All right." "What the hell are we talking about then?" "Racing Rowdy's car at Daytona." "I can't do it without you." "You can't do it period." "And I ain't going back there, Cole." "Buddy didn't really die of a heart attack, did he?" "No, he didn't, but you don't wanna hear about it." "NASCAR privately claimed the setup on the car is what killed Buddy." "You used thin-walled tubing to keep the weight down." "The exhaust fumes broke through the fire wall and carbon monoxide knocked Buddy out." "Horseshit!" "When Buddy hit the wall at the third turn, he was jabbering on the radio about as fast as he was driving." "Carbon monoxide, my ass." "That was the loudest-talking unconscious man you ever heard in your life." "Nothing killed Buddy but his imagination." "Why didn't you let them investigate, Harry?" "Why?" "Why?" "'Cause I should have known better than to let him drive in the first place." "You see, Buddy..." "Buddy was a terrible pain in the ass." "He really was." "He thought he knew about cars, which made him twice as ignorant as you." "But still... I look at guys like Buddy... I've seen him do things in my racecar that's absolutely unbelievable." "That really showed me what I had done." "And then you see, you're gonna automatically have to sort of love that guy." "Whether you want to or not." "Buddy Bretherton." "I have to ask you something, Harry." "Now, before Buddy hit the wall, how was he actually doing in that race?" "You ornery, no good..." "Hey, hey..." "You set up that car." "You set up the car." "If you get back in that car, you'll die." "You'll die." "You hear?" "I'm not getting back in my car, I'm getting in Rowdy's." "Well, I see how you're dumb enough to be a race driver." "You think you'll hide from your bad luck in his car?" "What the hell for?" "For Rowdy?" "If he could run tomorrow, he'd crash you to win the race!" "He's mean." "He's no particular friend, so why?" "Because he asked me to." "Horseshit!" "You just wanna race again." "Yeah." "And so do you." "Well, you're scared." "You're scared." "Yeah, and so are you." "Yeah." "What?" "I need this, Harry." "I don't have anything else." "You've given me a life." "God damn it, I don't want to lose it." "Just put me in that racecar." "Let me be the one to show you what you've done." "Just trust me." "Let me drive, Harry." "I won't make a fool out of you." "I honestly just wouldn't know how this deal's going to turn out, Cole." "You know." "Neither do I, Harry." "I'm setting up for cool weather." "But if that sun breaks after you're on the track, you're liable to run real loose real quick." "I don't wanna worry you enough, but Cole's not ready for that." "He's changed." "See, he's changed." "You cannot get out of control and expect him to bring you right back." "He's liable to hurt you, you're liable to hurt him." "I couldn't handle that." "So..." "You've got to take care of him." "All right?" "You've got to take care of him." "This is not the kind of answer I'm looking for from you." "Daytona is a tough racetrack." "And I'm sure, myself and everybody, we're going to keep an eye on Cole to see if he's there, you know, all his reflexes and everything." "He's plenty capable of running that racecar good and I don't think he has any kind of effects from the accident that would be a factor in the way he performs." "I'm glad he's well enough to come back and I hope I beat him at the same time." "You know, a lot of guys don't like him." "And it's just the situation where the guy's got a lot of talent." "He's wide open, he doesn't think about anything else, he just wants to win. I like that." "Since the crash, he's been a danger to himself and to other drivers." "But if he comes near me, I'm going to put him in the wall." "Simple as that." "I don't expect I'll see too much of him." "Except in my rearview mirror." "Come in." "Harry said you wouldn't mind if I stopped by." "How's Rowdy?" "He's getting better every day." "Especially since you told him how much you were looking forward to getting in his racecar." "So I lied." "What are you thinking?" "Just how much I'd like to know what you're thinking." "I guess everybody's the same." "You've got to be good at yourjob before you can enjoy the rest of your life." "This is my job." "It's all I know." "You know I can't watch you do this." "Claire." "I'm more afraid of being nothing than I am of being hurt." "Walk me out?" "We welcome you to the Daytona 500, the Super bowl of motor racing events." "certainly among the favorites for today's race has to be Russ Wheeler driving the number 18 Hardee's sponsored car." "He has certainly given race fans something to talk about after winning the pole for today's event." "But don't count out cole trickle, who is returning to Daytona for the first time since his near-fataI accident here last July." "Told me you guys didn't have a sponsor." "Well, they gave us just about enough money to put their name on the car." "Tim." "Cole." "Why is the hood up?" "What's wrong with the car?" "Take it easy." "We had to change engines." "We forgot to tighten the oil line." "Why did you have to change engines?" "Found some metal in the oil filter." "Where did you get the engine?" "Well, we stole it." "Claire, put the boy in his car, tell him to get out on the track before he starts sweating, all right." "So, you're going to get in your car and take off?" "Drive carefully." "gentlemen, start your engines." "We are underway." "The Daytona 500 is on." "We are 56 laps into this 200-lap event and Russ wheeler is in the lead." "47:01 Lead is 45:90." "You're running last." "What's going on, Cole?" "Are you all right?" "Just past the halfway mark and wheeler still leads." "There's a crash at turn three, and some oil at the bottom of the track." "The lead is just taken." "Cars are sliding down from the top of the track, so watch yourself." "You'd better go high, Cole." "Pick a line you can drive through." "Cole, are you all right?" "Answer me, please." "Go around those wrecks." "You can drive through it." "I know it. I know it in my heart." "I'm through it, Harry!" "I'm out of here." "cole's moved up to ninth." "He's coming on strong." "Russ wheeler in car number 18 continues to lead the way, but the man on the move is cole trickle." "I'm gonna make a hole to get through here." "Here we go." "Wheeler knocked me into Ganz." "Ganz spun out." "He's going high." "God damn it!" "And on the high side of the track, trickle takes the lead." "Go, Cole!" "This is it, this is what it's all about." "With just 23 laps to go, cole trickle is leading." "Take him now, Russ." "He's all mine." "The accelerator is stuck, Harry." "It's stuck, it's on the floorboard." "I can't slow down." "Step on the clutch and let the son of a bitch blow it. lt's over, Cole." "Son of a..." "Cole, you okay?" "The good news is the accelerator is fixed, the bad news is the transmission is screwed." "I'm coming in." "Are they out of the race, yet?" "They will be in about 45 seconds." "That's the pace car." "Get me out in front of the pace car or the race is over for us!" "The linkage is all twisted." "Just give him the high gear." "Get me out there." "I got it." "Pace car's on its way." "Let's go." "Come on, man, come on." "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Get out there and help them!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "All right, all right, we made it." "Good work." "I owe you one." "Hey, you can't do that." "That's not your car." "It's my engine in that car, I gave him that engine, and that's what my boys are pushing." "cole, you better be at max speed when the green flag drops." "The pace car pulls off the track." "The green flag is out and racing resumes." "Wheeler broke away, he's still in the lead." "Where am I?" "Running ninth." "How many laps to go?" "Eight." "What's the interval between me and Wheeler?" "Trickle's fifth and moving up fast, Russ." "Remember me?" "I'm going to draft Wheeler, make him pull me around the track." "The son of a bitch is on my ass." "He's going to take me on the outside." "I'm going to put him in the wall." "What's going on, Cole?" "l'm just setting him up, Harry." "There's the white flag." "One lap to go." "Last lap, cole." "Don't keep this up, Cole, please." "Harry, this guy's going down." "Last turn, be careful." "He's going to try and slingshot past you, Russ." "Don't worry, I know Cole." "He always goes to the outside." "This one's for you, Harry." "He's going high." "He's going low!" "Son of a bitch!" "Here come the cars to the finish line, it's cole trickle taking the win." "All right!" "All right!" "l thought you weren't gonna watch." "l lied." "Where's Harry?" "l don't know." "Harry." "Harry, say something, will you?" "I really can't. I can't." "You didn't know how this one was going to turn out, did you?" "It's like you said." "There's nothing you can't do in a racecar." "We won." "We won." "l know." "Yeah." "Now, can you walk, or am I going to have to carry you?" "Where to?" "Victory Lane." "Yeah." "Walk?" "Hell,"