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