Trackside

Good to See You, Hud

Thomasville watches the tiebreaker race.

___

"All it is is a publicity stunt." Smokey grumbled. "That ain't real racin'. That's just three cars showboatin' around a track. This is gonna be more boring than that time I had to - "

"Give it a rest, man." River reached out and amiably hit him on the fender. "How else were they gonna break a tie? There's no precedent for that."

The group of retired Piston Cup legends were lined up along the bar inside the Cotter Pin, Thomasville's central hub of socializing and gossip, staring up at the flat screen before them. The three racers had just accelerated out of their pace lap, signalling the start of the race.

Or as Louise had called it a couple days earlier, "200 laps of eye candy".

"Boy, look at 'em go." Louise whistled, her gaze glued to the screen.

Junior snorted, looked over at her, and put on a fake look of disgust. "Lou, I've always been under the impression you were into older men. You're old enough to be - "

"Hey." she snapped. "I can look, can't I?"

The sound of tires screeching on pavement broke into their quibble and commanded everyone's attention. They watched as the young rookie slid off the track after a strange mistake.

"Did he just... try and turn right?" River asked, confused.

"I reckon getting stuck in the boonies does a thing or two to them yuppies." Junior said humorously.

"Poor kid." Louise was more empathetic. "I hope he's alright. He's too young to - "

Her voice trailed off, as sudden silence spread from where they sat at the bar across the room as the other patrons noticed the familiar face that was being displayed on the screens. The band even stopped playing. The sounds of racing engines and Bob Cutlass' voice coming through outdated speakers were the only things to drown out the crickets singing outside.

There he was. The very same that had ghosted them all fifty years prior was sitting atop the 95 crew chief stand. Smokey blinked a couple times as if he were seeing things. He was definitely seeing something.

"Well, I'll be..." Louise whispered.

"He is alive." River muttered.

"You alright, Smokey?" Junior noticed the odd look on Smokey's face, one that conveyed confusion, but also something that looked an awful lot like hope.

"The last thing he told me was that he'd never go back. He was done." Smokey said so quietly they wouldn't have normally been able to hear him.

Someone in the back of the room started hootin' and hollerin', triggering an all-out uproar of cheering and celebration. Smokey felt his mouth twist into a smile as the cameras seemed to forget about the race in favor of the legend before them.

"Good to see you, Hud."