Jake patted Jason on the back before he walked across the infield to join the other drivers gathering for the ritual before the race meeting. It was nothing more than a speech the racing officials gave on fair play and good sportsmanship. He looked back as Jake gave him the thumbs up. He had butterflies in his stomach. It was the same way before the start of every race. Even when he was just an amateur racing on the dirt tracks in the backwoods of North Carolina, Jason felt the rush of adrenaline that set his nerves a quiver. Jake told him that his father had been the same way. Erik was always jumpy until the thunderous roar of the chorus of engines drown out his apprehensions. Jason patted his chest again and thought about his dad once more. With each win that he had been able to achieve, Jason was one step closer to attaining Erik Morgan's goal – winning a Winston Cup.

Leo looked over at Billy who was still embroiled in a heated conversation with their crew chief, Benny. He shook his head feeling sorry that he had been responsible for sicking the rabid dog on the older man. Yet listening to Billy drone on and on to Pat about Elizabeth with his pack of lies, Leo wasn't able to help himself. He hated what Billy had done and Leo wasn't about to let the arrogant womanizer continue to spin his tale. Leo looked around at the sea of brightly colored racing suits some of the faces were familiar and others were not. Since he had joined Ryan Racing years ago the sport had grown by leaps and bounds. The sport had gained popularity to the point that what once had been a small loyal fan base had expanded to hoards of screaming fans. Leo knew he may never end up in the winner circle but if spent his life doing what he loved he would die happy.

Billy finally satisfied that his car was up to the caliber he expected he swankered his way to the infield. He had never been much into the tired officials' speech. To Billy it was a waste of time. Things like fair play and good sportsmanship meant very little to him. The bottom line for Billy Weston was crossing the finish line with the checkered flag flying over the hood of his car. He didn't care what it took to make that happen even if it meant playing a little dirty. Yet he found himself playing the part of the dutiful driver nodding in all the right places and shaking the hands of those other drivers standing around him when the speech finally ended. He was nothing if not willing to play his part in the whole charade of the valiant driver.

"That's it gentlemen," one of the men in the circle of officials began. "May the best driver win."

"Not to worry he will," Billy stated under his breath as he turned and headed to his racecar.

Leo let out an exasperated sigh upon hearing the conceited remark from his teammate. Not that he was surprised by it but it certainly didn't endear him to Leo. He almost said something to rattle Billy's chain knowing full well that it would throw him off his game but Leo stopped himself. In the end he thought about Pat, the man who had given him a chance when many other owners hadn't and as much as Leo hated it he knew that Billy Weston was Ryan Racing's shining star. So for the good of the team he walked toward his own car without saying a word.

As Jason turned around he collided with Billy. The men stared at one another piercing blue eyes meeting smoldering black ones. Neither was willing to give up their position. It almost looked like a precursor to what would be happening out on the track in a few minutes. "This race is mine, Morgan," Billy asserted.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Jason returned with his own self-assured voice. He knew the reputation Billy Weston possessed and even though Jason had yet to beat him that didn't take away from the fact that he knew his opponent was running scared. Jason could sense it from just Billy's posture alone and that caused Jason to smile. He liked knowing that he was making Weston sweat even if just a little.

"We'll see about that."

"Yeah we will," Jason said as he moved away from his opposition.

Elizabeth Ryan closed the door to her office as she looked at the overhead clock hanging behind her desk. She knew it was just about race time. She flipped on the radio sitting on the bookcase and tuned it into the local racing channel. The announcer's grainy voice filtered through the tiny speaker as she listened to what sounded like the same commentary she had heard a million times. She settled back in her chair and spread her brown bag lunch out before her. Months ago she would have rearranged her schedule so that she could have been at the track to cheer Billy on to victory but not anymore. Her days of being his ringleader were over.

Elizabeth rested her head against the high back chair and tried to swallow the apple-sized lump that sat in her throat. She refused to let herself cry even though every time she thought about Billy and what he had done she felt the tears sting her azure eyes. The radio announcer began reading the names of the drivers participating in the day's race and when he got to the Ryan team Elizabeth almost turned off the radio. Why was she doing this to herself she thought. But the minute she heard the name Leo Jorgenson she knew the answer. Leo wasn't just another driver on her father's race team he was her friend and he deserved her support even if she wasn't able to be at the track to give it. She hated herself for giving up the things she loved most in her life yet the pain of facing Billy continually kept her away.

In the distance she could hear the howling of the engines as the drivers brought up the rpms over the sound of the announcer's voice. Without even realizing it a shiver snaked its way down her spine at that noise. She had grown up around it but it still had a way of making her body sing with excitement. She recalled the first time her dad let her sit in his racercar. That thought still gave her chills. But the day he allowed her to zoom around the Ryan practice track had been heaven for her. The thrill had almost been enough for her to chuck her ideas of a college career and follow in her father's footsteps. Unfortunately Pat Ryan nixed the idea immediately. He had said he wanted her safe and behind the wheel of a NASCAR was anything but. However Elizabeth often wondered if he was just worried that somehow she would embarrass him in the end.

The soft knocking on the door forced her to forget about things she could do nothing about. "Come in," she said as she brought a bottle of water to her red painted lips.

"Guess you don't want to join me in the cafeteria for lunch?" Melanie King asked as she motioned to the food spread across Elizabeth's desk.

"I'll share." Elizabeth offered her friend half of her sandwich.

"Okay," Melanie responded taking the chicken salad sandwich Elizabeth held out to her.

Melanie King and Elizabeth Ryan had been friends for longer than either of them could recall. In the third grade Melanie and her father moved to Charlotte and Elizabeth immediately befriended the lonely girl. Then when Melanie's father Nathan took a job as accountant for Elizabeth's father their friendship was cemented. The pair was inseparable. The two of them understood one another. They shared a similar loss – neither had a mother. While their experiences were very different in the end both girls grew up feeling as though they were responsible for what happened.

Elizabeth hadn't even known her mother, Colleen. Yet the sadness she saw in her father's eyes every time he would talk about the wife he lost or she would spy him staring longingly at pictures of her made Elizabeth wonder if somewhere deep within him Pat Ryan didn't blame her. There was a part of Elizabeth that blamed herself for causing her mother's death. It was hard not to since her birth had been the catalyst for the event.

Melanie's mother had left her husband and young daughter without so much as a backward glance. It was a memory that still haunted Melanie to this day. The five-year-old stood crying while her father stopped her from running after the woman who he knew had never really wanted children in the first place. Melanie's mother ended up pregnant and married before she even knew what was happening. It was easy for Nathan to see that the woman he loved with all his heart felt penned in by the trappings of a being a wife and mother. It had surprised him that she stayed around as long as she had.

Melanie grew up with a hell of a chip on her shoulder that she used to disguise the pain she felt of being left behind – the pain of being unwanted. Melanie spent most of her teenage years trying to find love but each time she failed miserably only proving to herself all over again how unworthy she was.

"Listening to the races huh?" Melanie asked as she took a bite out of Elizabeth's sandwich.

"I was just flipping through the stations," she fibbed not looking her friend in the eye.

"Yeah, right," Melanie chuckled. "Just admit it. You want to see how Billy finishes."

"I do not!" she shot back.

"Elizabeth Ryan you are a terrible liar. You don't really expect me to believe that you are actually over Billy Weston, do you?" Melanie eyed her friend knowingly. She had spent hours upon hours listening to Elizabeth drone on and on about her love for Billy. There was no way no matter what happened between them that she would just be able to shut out those emotions just because Elizabeth willed it to be so.

"I am over him."

"Liz, it's okay if you aren't." Melanie tried to give her friend the shoulder to lean on the way Elizabeth had done more times than she cared to count for her.

"Actually I am interested in how Leo does in the qualifier. He made some adjustments to his suspension and well I am just hoping that it works for him." Elizabeth again cast her eyes away from Melanie's skeptical stare.

"I don't doubt that you want to see Leo do well but we both know there's more to it than that. Do you or do you not still have feelings for Billy Weston?" Melanie pulled no punches with her direct question. The issue of Billy Weston and the rocky ending of their relationship was a touchy subject. Melanie knew that but she hated knowing her best friend was in pain and wouldn't let her help.

"It doesn't matter what I feel... ..."

"The hell is doesn't," Melanie cut her off. "It matters a hell of a lot how you feel. Come on Liz you can't expect me to believe that suddenly no matter what happened you don't still love him."

"I don't," Elizabeth forced the words from her lips.

"How could you not. You had a life planned with him. You expected things... ..."

"Yeah and look where that got me." It was now Elizabeth's turn to interrupt her friend. She crossed her arms and pushed her body deep against the supple leather office chair. She felt battered and bruised by what happened with Billy and having to think about it all over again only caused the scabbing scars to bleed.

"I'm sorry," Melanie said softy. She had seen the look of determination on her friend's face many times before and she knew that she had pushed too hard this time. "I just don't want you to wake up one day and be sorry you didn't fight for this relationship and find out it's too late to get it back."

"Well doesn't that sound vaguely familiar?" Elizabeth smiled. "So you have taken to reciting my own speeches back to me now?" Elizabeth had used very similar lines on Melanie every time one of her relationships crashed and burned.

"Is it working?" Melanie asked sheepishly.

"Not hardly," Elizabeth laughed as she threw the balled up white napkin in her hand at her friend. "I don't want Billy. I don't want someone that doesn't want me. Can we please talk about something else now?"

"Sure," the young woman sitting across the desk agreed.

Jake Russell and Tom Boudean stood in the pits and watched as the bright shimmers of color circled around them with record speed. Even though it was nothing more than a mere flash, Jake was able to pick out Jason's brilliant blue car without any trouble. He looked down at the stopwatch lying in the palm of his hand and nudged Tom to get his attention. He showed the younger man its face that displayed a lap time of thirteen seconds. Tom gave Jake a wide grin. "Way to go Jase!"

Tom Boudean and Jason Morgan forged a friendship in their high school days. Both had been taking auto shop and when they had been assigned to tear down and rebuild a motor and tranny their friendship had been born. To say that Tom was a bit in awe of Jason's mechanical talent was an understatement. During that assignment Tom watched Jason run circles around even the instructor for the class. By the time they had completed the rebuild most of the students had gathered around to watch Jason work.

Tom started hanging out with Jason at school and eventually the track where Jake Russell quickly put the young man to work and before Tom knew what happened he was part of Jason's pit crew and his best friend. He dropped his eyes down to his own stopwatch and clicked the button as Billy Weston's black car streaked by. Weston's lap time was a mere two seconds behind Jason's but that was enough to put Jason in the lead.

Both Jake and Tom watched as Jason kept his steady pace as leader while the rest did their best to catch him. Jake felt such a sense of pride come over him as he watched Jason race. While Jason wasn't his son, he was the closest thing Jake would ever have to one and he loved him as though he was his own. Jake crossed his arms and continued to observe Jason's ownership of the asphalt. Again he was reminded of Erik Morgan. It was strange to think that so many years ago he had been standing there doing the same thing for Jason's father. For Jake it was almost like déjà vu. Erik and Jason's style of driving was so similar that if a person hadn't known that Erik Morgan was no longer alive one might have thought it was him behind the wheel of the car. Jason weaved between those slower cars with ease as he lapped them again. Jake smirked remembering Erik doing the same thing. Erik Morgan had always said he didn't like to have the other cars obstructing his view. So when Jason said nearly the same thing after his first win Jake knew in his heart the decision he made to back Jason's dream had been the right one. He was certain that Erik Morgan would be proud of his son.

"Looks like Weston is losing ground," Tom said pulling Jake from his memories. He offered the stopwatch again for Jake to see. The new lap time for Billy Weston that was displayed said seventeen seconds.

"Looks that way doesn't it?" Jake agreed.

Billy stared intently at the two cars straddling the track in front of him. He muttered under his breath at being unable to maneuver his way passed either one of them. He moved side to side looking for even the slightest opening he could squeeze his car through. Yet it was like the drivers in front of him were purposely holding their positions as a way of keeping him in his. That jacked Billy off even more. He knew that Morgan was still in the lead and he couldn't – wouldn't let him win this race. Pole position was going to be his no matter what he had to do to get it.

Finally as they approached the far left turn Billy dropped a gear and headed for the high side of the track. He had had enough of starring at the ass ends of his competitors. Easily Billy blew past the pair that had been stopping him from advancing for so long. Yet when he did that Billy didn't notice or didn't care that another car – Leo's car was closing the gap on him.

Before Leo could even back off the gas and down shift he felt the scrapping of his car against Billy's. Suddenly he found himself spinning out skating across the track while Billy sped past him. Leo did what he could to control the uncontrollable but not before his front end touched Jason's rear forcing him to spin out as well. Leo sat in the infield cursing Billy while he watched Jason Morgan right himself and charge through the ranks in an effort to gain what that little mishap had cost him.

At the end of the two hundred-lap qualifier Jason Morgan was the winner with Billy Weston coming in a distant third. Jason had won the pole position for the upcoming race and that had the Ryan Racing star seeing red.

Leo took off his helmet and his driving gloves as he walked toward where Jason and the members of his team were standing surveying the damage done to his car during the race. As Leo got closer he was relieved to see that it had been minimal. His own damage thanks to Billy was much greater. But in the end all Leo really cared about was that Weston hadn't won the race. "Congratulations, man," Leo said offering Jason his hand. "You ran a hell of a good race."

"Thanks," Jason said as he placed his hand in the other man's.

"Sorry about that little rubbing out on the track. I'm glad it didn't cost you the race," Leo said genuinely.

"It happens. Besides there was nothing you could have done about it. I know what really happened," Jason commented as he stared over Leo's shoulder looking directly at Billy Weston.