Long Haul

Seven

They started the pace laps as Kade was on the inside of Alex Bowman. The Team Penske car of Ryan Blaney came out from behind Bowman and took over the lead while Kade was shuffled back to 5th. Bubba Wallace got in between him and Blaney as they all rode around on lap 5.

By lap 8, he was pushing Bubba, who was pushing Ryan, and their line moved slightly ahead, putting him in third. They all went single file for a little bit before the 9 Chevy's decided to go in for the pit stop at lap 23. Kade won the race off pit road and started to lead their little pack of Chevrolets as they tried to catch the leaders.

He was currently in 12th and only a little ahead as the Ford group was about to put them a lap down before they went onto pit road.

"Are they comin'?" Kade asked his crew chief as he only saw cars the same cars behind him.

"Yeah. But they have not pit yet. Trying to bank some time. Run like hell,"

"Trying to!" Kade said as he did his best to get as fast as he could.

Ashton sat in the pit box, feeding Bristol as she and Dayton watched closely.

She always listened to the radio and liked hearing what he said as she watched. It also gave her some piece of mind when there was a crash since she wasn't waiting to hear or see if he was okay.

"They're right behind you guys. Pitting now. Hurry it up. Get around," Jack told him, watching as they went passed the group of fords on pit road to try and make it around.

The Fords and Toyotas came out right before them and took the lead back with the 22 in the lead.

Ashton was waiting for the caution to come, which would stack them all up again and give Kade more of a chance to get to the front.

With ten laps to go, they were still behind but lapping Bowman, who already had the pole for the 500.

Five laps left to go, and no one had crashed, spun, or left debris on the track for caution. Everyone was playing nice for now, and she feared they would be crashing over the line.

"3 to go, Kade," Nathan told him, telling him where they were and how far they were from catching the Ford/Toyota group.

The white flag was soon waving, and after a fast lap, the 22 of Joey Logano took the win while Kade finished in 10th.

"P10. Good job, man," Jack said as they all slowed down to caution speed and headed for pit road.

He got out after the car was parked and helped Dayton down the ladder before hugging her tightly.

"Here, take Bee," Ashton said as she handed her down to him.

"Hi baby," he smiled, taking the little one so Ashton could easily climb down. "Hey, beautiful,"

"You did good, babe," she smiled, kissing him after she was able to hug him tightly.

"We'll see where we start," he said as Mr. Hendrick came up with Jeff Gordon, "hey boss,"

"Nice job out there, kade,"

"Thank you, sir," he grinned, wiping some drool off Bristol's face.

"She's already getting bigger from that first visit," Jeff smiled, all of them looking at the baby.

"She's an eater. She's like her daddy. Dayton is more like her mama,"

"That's a good thing, Daddy," Dayton giggled as she hugged him. "Can I go see Uncle Alex?"

"You stay here, baby. We'll go in a minute," Ashton promised, taking Bristol while Kade lifted her up.

"You're getting pretty tall there too, Dayton," Jeff chuckled, "you gonna race if Mom and Dad let you?"

"Mamas already shot that one down," Kade chuckled along with Ashton.

"I have enough anxiety with my husband racing. I couldn't imagine my kid being a part of it," Ashton smiled a little.

The 2 of them stayed a little longer before they were heading back up to the pit boxes to watch the second duel.

"Alright, let's go, kiddo," Kade nodded, taking her over to the pit box of the 48 car.

"Uncle Alex!" Dayton yelled, running over to the other driver and hugging his legs.

"Hey, squirt," he chuckled, "Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"

"Mommy said I could stay up late to watch you and Daddy race. I don't get to see Uncle Chase, though,"

"That's okay. I'm sure he'll understand," he chuckled, "I'll see you tomorrow. Alright, squirt?"

"Okay," she nodded, hugging him before returning to Ashton.

"Go tell daddy goodnight," Ashton told her, walking back to the 24 car's pit stall.

"Daddy!" Dayton yelled as she ran over and jumped into Kade's arms.

"Yes, nugget?" He asked, chuckling as he caught her and held her on his hip.

"Mommy said I have to tell you Goodnight,"

"You absolutely do. It is way past your bedtime, little lady," he said as he kissed her head, "I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

"Night night, Daddy," she nodded, kissing his cheek before getting down.

"And I'll see you in a little bit?"

"I'll be up," she nodded, giving him a quick kiss before she headed back to the bus with the kids.

She put both of the girls to bed and went to bed herself, watching the second duel on Tv.

Their two teammates at HMS finished in the top 10, which was pretty good for their team as an organization. They already knew Alex and Kyle would be starting at the front, but Kade and Chese's spots were unknown for right now.

By the time Kade returned to the bus, Ashton had locked the door and fallen asleep in their bed.

He got in and locked up once again, changing before checking on the girls and crawling into bed with his wife.

"Where are you starting?" She mumbled, rolling over as she woke up slightly.

"21," He sighed, "But we'll work everything out, and the car will end up fine with practice tomorrow and Saturday. Big show will be Sunday,"

"Exactly," She nodded, "Night,"

"Goodnight, honey,"