Lightning In a Bottle {A Chase Elliott Story}

Chapter 1: The Interview

Jessica Andrews wasn't sure how her life had gotten to be where it currently was. She was currently driving into Charlotte Motor Speedway to do an interview with Chase Elliott for some project one of his sponsors was working on. Truthfully, Jessica knew some about NASCAR, but didn't really care too much for it. As she parked her car in the lot, she started making the trek to the garage area. She rounded a corner and found herself outside the garage. "Whoa miss, we need to check your pass," the security officer said. "Oh sorry," she replied, flashing the hard plastic card emblazoned with the race name and HOT. After they searched her bag, she walked the garage looking for the No. 9 NAPA Hauler. When she finally found it near the front, she was relieved. There seemed to be so many things going on all at once. Fans chasing their favorite drivers, crew members working on the cars and media trying to get the next story. She walked under the awning to the door where she saw the crew guys hurrying about. "I'm looking for Jordan for Chase Elliott. We have an interview," Jessica said. "Come with me," the crew member said, leading her to the front of the hauler.

They came to a small door at the front of the hauler. "Wait right here a second," the guy said. Jessica nodded as he knocked on the sliding glass door. "Jordan, there's a girl here for an interview with Chase." She saw another head pop out of the door and make eye contact with her. "Tell her to come on in." The crew member motioned for Jessica to come to the door so she followed orders. "Thanks," she said, as the crew member scurried past her. "I'm Jordan, Chase's PR guy and you must be Jessica," he said. "Yes," she replied. "Perfect. I have to take a call, but Chase only has about 15 minutes." "No problem, it shouldn't take that long," she replied. "Great. I'll be right out here if you need anything," Jordan said, walking out of the door. Once the door shut behind him, Jessica turned to face who she guessed was Chase Elliott standing there. "Sorry to be rude. I'm Chase," he said, extending a hand. "Jessica," she replied. "So I'm here to do a quick interview with you about your sponsor NAPA and the charity work you are involved in with them." "Great," he said, motioning for them to sit on the leather couch that wrapped around the room. She pulled out her phone and turned on record. "Chase, you and your longtime sponsor NAPA have some great charity events coming up, can you tell us a little bit about that?" "This year NAPA and I have partnered to host a go-karting event up at GoPro Motorplex in Mooresville to raise money for Children's hospitals. It kind of works like we do when we let kids design our shoes during the season and then auction them off." He gave her a look like she should have known what he was talking about, but she didn't. She asked him a few more questions and then thanked him for his time on the recording. "Thank you Chase for your time. This means a lot of what you're doing for children's hospitals." "It's the least I can do. I've visited the Nationwide Hospital before and saw some kids who were fans of mine and to see that I've made their day a little better, is the best thing." "That's great," she replied, as she gathered her things. "Are you around for the race this weekend?" he asked, his southern drawl coming into full effect. "I hadn't planned on it. I don't really watch NASCAR and really had no idea who you were until I knew I had to interview you." "Really? You seem like you know," he said. "I'm really good at faking it until I make it," she said with a laugh. She watched as a smile crossed his face, making the dark features including his brown eyes shine. She knew he was a year younger than her, but wow if she wouldn't let him do bad things to her. Bad Jessica, her inner self screamed. "If you do decide to stick around this weekend, you're more than welcome to come to our pit and maybe sit on the pit box to see what NASCAR has to offer." Jessica wasn't sure if she was in the twilight zone or if Chase had invited her to come watch the race. "I'll think about it," she said giving him a smile as she walked out of the lounge door.