新闻 - 2 Collisions, A Young Fan, and a Change of Heart

2 Collisions, A Young Fan, and a Change of Heart

New Hampshire wasn't the fairy tale ending Wheeler fans had hoped for. But the show was still spectacular. Two mid-race collisions pushed the young Rage driver down to 13th after he'd seen as high as 3rd. Among the chaos, all of the drivers Wheeler named as his favorite rivals fell down the field or fell victim to DNFs, except the eventual 2nd place finisher, Ray Striver.

Despite the collisions, Wheeler managed 6 overtakes in the final 30 laps around the Magic Mile, clawing his way up to 7th, making his final overtake as he passed under the white flag. After the race, Wheeler opened up his garage area to infield fans, who piled in by the hundreds to get a chance to speak with Wheeler.

As the crowd dwindled, Wheeler spent an unusual amount of time with a young man, who had approached him in tears along with his father. Wheeler seemed to console the young fan, and once they finally parted, he walked straight to Jason Anderson who stood by watching all of his interactions. Here's what Jason recorded.

Wheeler: Jason, you have a minute?

Anderson: I'm already recording, man. What's up?

Wheeler: 7th place. Well in the 4 times I've run here, that's my 2nd best result. I guess I can't really complain about the day.

Anderson: It was a good race. How were the fans?

Wheeler: Well there was a mixed bag of "we'll miss you" and "good luck" and various other things. But then there was the one kid at the end. I'm sure you saw. He came over bawling his eyes out. Apparently his dad had just told him he wouldn't be able to watch me drive here anymore, and the kid just lost it. So he managed to talk security into getting his son into the garage area to see me, and I didn't know what to do.

Anderson: That can be tough. What'd you say to calm him down?

Wheeler: Well I tried to tell him that I'd probably be back in some other kind of car. You know, pro stocks, or some kind of modified open wheels.. Didn't matter. He said that all he wanted to do when he grew up was drive a Rage car like me, specifically he said he wanted to drive mine. He was afraid that if I gave up racing, Rage would go away and he wouldn't be able to drive my car.

Andreson: What does that mean to you?

Wheeler: Well it means that if I leave now, I'll be turning my back on my own goal. The goal I said yesterday when we spoke, was to add my name to the list of American greats at this track. I may not be on the list on the commentator booths, or the newspapers, yet. But I sure as hell made an impression on that kid. He wants to be me? That's more than I could ever ask.

Anderson: So what do you plan to do about that?

Wheeler: Well first off, I told him that next time I'm here in Loudon, I would help him drive a lap or two in my machine.

Anderson: Next time. So there's a next time?

Wheeler: That's second. I intend to continue racing with Rage indefinitely. I will be back here, and I will continue to come back here until I'm on the top step. The way I reacted to a series of nonsensical events was cowardly and selfish. I will continue to battle through the issues. I will be hiring driving coaches and engineers to improve myself and my machine, and the next time we speak at this track I will be standing on the podium.

With that, Wheeler walked back toward his trailer, and an eavesdropping fan shouted "He's coming back!" A big cheer from the leftover crowd, a wave from Wheeler as he entered his trailer, and all seems back to normal in the Wheeler camp.