And so we arrived at 2008. Not really knowing what would happen, but hoping for the best.

Speedweeks started out the way I wanted it to. Nobody had ever swept the weekend in Cup, and I was thinking that it was a good thing that you didn’t win anything, but looked strong in all of the races.

My worries came when you won the Nationwide opener. Because no one had won that before the 500 and then won the 500 too (Junior did something close in 2004, but rain forced the Busch Series race to Monday, so it wasn’t quite the same).

And then the 500. I had consoled myself in ‘05 and ‘07 by saying that the 50th 500, in 2008, was the one that I really wanted to see you win.

And you just about nearly did it, until that pesky pair of Penske Dodges freight trained you going down the back.

I had not experienced what it was like to have my stomach drop out of me roller-coaster style until then. I have not experienced something like that since. ‘05 and ‘07 were somewhat tolerable compared to this. This hurt.

I was crouched in front of the T.V. and had my head in my hands as the field made its way to Turn 3. I couldn’t even bear to look at the screen as the race finished, because I knew you were toast once Kurt and Ryan got around you.

There will always be second-guessing. What if you had stayed up top and brake-checked the hell out of those two guys? I imagine that’s all it would have taken for you to finally win the thing.

Long and short of things is that that 500 is a dark day in my memory. I don’t like revisiting it. It’s still hard for me to watch that broadcast back. And the flack I took the next day in school didn’t help either.

It sucked, obviously, but I guess there is a silver lining in that people knew to come to me to get on my case. That people knew I was devoted enough to know that it would also hurt that much too.

I knew that being a supporter of Tony Stewart was part of my identity internally. The week following the 500 cemented in my mind that everybody else around me knew it now too.

And things in 2008 just never got any better. A few examples of my reactions over the season:

• Oh man, we’re gonna win at Bristol! HAHAHAHAlolno, said Harvick.

• The Coke 600 is two laps away! NOPE! Flat tire’d.

• Oh s***, we’re gonna be in this mess at Dover, aren’t we? Yup. Car is toast now.

If things weren’t becoming rote before, they sure were now. I suppose we should have seen something big coming.

“But I’m very proud today to be here and announce that myself and Joe Custer have, with the Haas CNC team, merged and now formed Stewart Haas Racing.”

Jayski had the rumors up a few days before, but if the Toyota announcement was weird, this was a completely different animal.

My reaction to it was something along the lines of “He did WHAT?!?!?” Or definitely something to that effect.

Ten years with the ole’ ball coach, and now you’re off to go run your own team, partnering with a guy who was only famous in the NASCAR world up until that point for Netzero sponsorship and missing the show more often than actually racing in it?

If I wasn’t nervous with the Toyota announcement, boy was I nervous now! I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen with your career from here on out.

But it made sense to you. The press conference from Chicagoland said a lot. That you wanted the unique opportunity and challenge, that you wanted the chance to build a legacy bigger than just your driving career, that you wanted security and a way to stick around the sport after your racing days were done.

And there were touches of that same refrain from the Toyota announcement too: that if you don’t make any changes, then it’s hard to be in a position where you could lead.

On the surface, it was bold. Underneath that surface, it was sensible. Things had become stagnant at JGR. You needed the change almost as much as they did.

All I saw back then was the boldness. Likewise, it wasn’t easy to accept. But I wasn’t leaving anytime soon. Not now. Not ever.

No surprise, then, that Homestead that year was bittersweet. I’ll be using things I learned on that day to help cope with what will happen on Sunday.

Stay tuned for installment four of this five-part series, coming up tomorrow on Race Chaser Online!

The opinions expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Race Chaser Online, the Performance Motorsports Network, Scorpion Radio Group, their sponsors or other contributors.

About the Writer

James Pike is a multi-faceted reporter for Race Chaser Online and an analyst on the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.

He is the lead correspondent for Race Chaser Online’s coverage of Australian Supercars and also covers regional touring series events in the Carolinas. He is a graduate of the Motorsports Management program at Belmont Abbey College and currently resides in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Email James at: [email protected]

Follow on Twitter: @JamesVPike

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