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Before I could walk, I had a wrench in my hand |
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I was my Mama's little angel and my Daddy's second chance |
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He went end over end the first year he went pro |
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Lost part of his eyesight and he couldn't race no more |
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But he never lost his touch when he got underneath the hood |
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He knew how to make them run and he knew one day he would |
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See his name in victory lane and engraved on that cup |
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Just like all them other crazy fools with racing in their blood |
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He would put me on his lap when he'd drive and I'd take the wheel |
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He'd say "What do you think about that son? How does she feel? |
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You just wait till them little legs get long enough to reach the gas |
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Once you put her on the floor one time there ain't no turning back" |
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Every Saturday, he'd take me out to the garage |
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He'd take an empty bucket and fill it full of engine parts |
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He's sit me down and pour em out in front of me on the floor |
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I'd have to tell him what each one was and what each one was for |
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We'd jump into the car and go down to the race that night |
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He'd tell me what each driver was doing wrong and what each one did right |
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He could always pick the winner before they ever took a curve |
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#3 might have the car but 43 has got the nerve |
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Before I turned 18 Daddy said "Now pretty soon |
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You'll be old enough to drive but I'll leave it up to you |
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I taught you all about it, taught you everything I know |
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You gotta have a car to do it and you gotta work and buy your own" |
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The first one I bought was a Mustang #2 |
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Nobody kept'em any longer than they kept a pair of shoes |
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They started showing up at every used car lot in town |
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A V-8 on a go-cart, easy terms, no money down |
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Me and Daddy and my uncle took her home and tore her down |
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Checked her out real good, cleaned her up and bored her out |
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Took out all the seats, pulled the carpet off the floor |
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Knocked out all the glass and welded up the doors |
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The first time that I raced my qualifying was a shame |
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I started out way in the back and came back about the same |
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I pulled her in the pit, couldn't look my Daddy in the eye |
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He said "If you quit now son, it's gonna haunt you all your life" |
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It ain't about the money or even being #1 |
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You gotta know when it's all over you did the best you could've done |
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Knowing that it's in you and you never let it out |
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Is worse than blowing any engine or any wreck you'll ever have |
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Since then I've wrecked a bunch of cars and I've broke a bunch of bones |
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It's anybody's race out there and I've learned to race my own |
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I'd shove em in the wall and I'd hit em from behind |
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I'd let them know that I was there, I'd let them know that track was mine |
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It's been several years now since my Daddy passed away |
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But his picture's on my dash every time I go to race |
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I lost more than I won but I ain't gonna give up |
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Till they put me in the ground or Daddy's name's on that cup |
