“Right.” Johnny was a little geeky with thick glasses, but when he smiled, it was easy to see how cute he was behind them. Lucky Gavin. And that made him miss Rick terribly. He’d texted Rick from the airplane to let him know he’d gotten there safely.
They headed to the car and then left the airport behind. Johnny drove with his GPS on. “This is going to be a great weekend. Are you ready?”
“Uh…I’m honestly not sure.”
“Well, Gavin speaks highly of you and so did Davey.” Davey McAllister was like a Supercross legend, so his word meant a lot, which made Coop even more nervous.
“I’ve never coached anyone before. Doesn’t that bother you?”
“Well, I mean. I thought about that…” Johnny waved his hand in the air. “But everyone has to start somewhere, and you know about a lot of different kinds of racing and styles. Gavin says you can help Nate with a lot. He’s never raced professionally for moto. It’s different than Supercross. He came up through Next.” That was the elite Supercross program that helped develop new racing talent.
“That’s what Davey said.”
“Well, you know, if Davey said it.” Johnny snorted a laugh. But Cooper only looked at him like he was crazy.
“Sorry. I go way back with Davey.”
“Oh, no. I’m just…my head is kind of occupied elsewhere. My partner is dealing with his mother's health issues while I’m on this trip.”
“Oh. Well. That’s tough. Be sure to keep your phone on you. I know you racer guys like to leave them stashed somewhere, but your partner is important. And you’ll feel better knowing you can respond quickly if he needs you.”
“Wow. Yeah. That’s good advice. I won’t let it get in the way—”
“First and foremost, Coop, we are family. You need to know that. And we get it. So don’t worry. And if anyone says anything to you about it, point them in my direction.” His smile turned shark-like. “I’ll set them straight. Trust me.”
“And I believe you.”
He laughed, but then soon enough, they turned into the hotel lot. Johnny parked in front of one of the rooms and dug in the console of the Jeep. “We went ahead and booked you in. Here.” He handed the key card over. “Drop your stuff, then we’ll head out to the track.” He looked at his watch. “We have time. Hungry? We can grab food if you want.”
“I’m good.” Coop took the card and his bag. He opened the door, took a quick peek and dropped the bag. He made sure he had his phone, then climbed back in the Jeep.
Johnny got them into the special reserved parking at the North VIP area of the track. Being earlier in the week, it wasn’t extremely busy. Most of the racers were coming out the following day. But unlike Arena or even Supercross, this was a permanent track that stretched out across the countryside. Redbud was legendary in moto.
“We’re over here, so we don’t have to walk around the whole damn track to get to the pits. I’m still not used to the dirt. Ick.”
“Used to? What?” Dirt was in Coop’s blood and Johnny was ingrained in this sport; how could he not be used to it?
“Don’t ask for shit-sakes. Ugh. Come on.”
He scrambled out of the vehicle, leaving Coop to hurry after as Johnny led him to a pit area where three bikes were set up. It was easy to see that two of the 450s were for Craige Lee and Cole Lindt. They’d been riding 450s, but there was a third. “Hey, is that Ryker’s?” Coop blurted out before any introductions could even be done. Everyone standing there looked at him. And there were a lot of folks in the pit.
One man stretched his hand out to me. “Yeah. Ryker is moving up to 450s this year. I’m Zeke Hill. I’ll be coaching these three knuckleheads.”
Coop shook his hand. “Coop.”
“Yeah. I know. I sure need your help. I do not have the capacity to take Nate on. He’s all yours.”
“I hope I can help.”
“Me too.” A bearded man wearing a BikeMax polo shirt extended his hand. “With Bryce Nickel moving up to 450s there’s going to be a lot of competition there, but the 250s are still no joke.”
Coop hadn’t seen anything about the two racers moving up, but he wasn’t as connected to this series as he was to Arenacross, which was why he still wasn’t sure he was a good fit.
Johnny smacked the bearded man’s shoulder. “This is Gavin Peri, by the way. Nice to introduce yourself, for shits-sakes.”
“Shush, you.” He kissed Johnny on the top of the head. “But he’s right. Gavin Peri. I’m glad you’re here.”
“I’m not so sure I’m the right person for this. I’m not—”
