Your Boys Done Good

by Julian Spivey
James Hicks wasn’t my grandfather, but he may as well have been. I knew him better than two of my grandfathers and liked him a helluva lot more than my other one. I honestly don’t know what James did for his career, he was done with that by the time I knew him. The only things I did know were he was a soldier and a survivor shot down in a plane by Nazis in World War II and he was a bootlegger, and that one may not even be true. James probably told a lot of stories that weren’t true. It helped to build a myth. He always seemed like a man’s man, even though he was old, skinny and always seemingly frail when I knew him. He could have been John Wayne for all I knew when he was younger, except for that fact he actually served.
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Even though he was closer with my brothers, whom he babysat when they were little, I always had a few things in common with James. We were both fans of NASCAR, country music and Western movies. It was NASCAR where we truly bonded. If he indeed had been a bootlegger it explains his love for the sport that grew out of illegally running whiskey across the South in hotrods fast enough to outrun the local authorities. He was a Dale Earnhardt fan. That wasn’t a surprise at all. Of course, James Hicks would like a driver known as “The Intimidator,” who could shake a driver in front of him so much he’d have to think about pulling over to let him pass or else fear being wrecked. I started watching NASCAR full-time shortly after Earnhardt’s death on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, though I’d caught races from time-to-time previously. My favorite driver quickly became Jeff Gordon, the best driver of that era. Gordon was the driver Earnhardt fans loved to hate. Like many fans within Earnhardt Nation, James’ allegiances on the racetrack quickly shifted to Dale’s young son Dale Earnhardt Jr. The two drivers shared a name and a passion for racecar driving, but honestly not much else. But, the name and fact he was a racecar driver was enough for James and millions of others.

Him being an Earnhardt fan and myself being a Gordon fan meant we had us a little rivalry between us. This 70-something man and a teenager poking fun at each over about car racers driving around in ovals. Around this time there was an up-and-comer in the Busch Series, kind of NASCAR’s minor leagues, named Martin Truex Jr., who competed for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Chance 2 Motorsports team. Truex Jr. would win the Busch Series championship with this team in back-to-back seasons in 2004 and 2005 and looked like he’d be a future star in the Cup Series. Being talented and affiliated with Dale Jr., Truex quickly became a favorite of James’ too.

Truex Jr. would soon become Dale Jr.’s teammate at Dale Earnhardt Incorporated, the team Dale Sr. had created. He would win his first race in his second season in the Cup Series at Dover. But, the following years would be a struggle for both Dale Jr. and Truex Jr. Dale Earnhardt Jr. would soon move to Hendrick Motorsports, where he’d finish his career a decade later. He would struggle off and on during this decade, but the highlights included his second Daytona 500 victory in 2014. Truex Jr. would go to Michael Waltrip Racing where he would continue to struggle. He would only win one race at MWR and after eight full seasons in the sport’s premier series had only two wins. He had been a major disappointment and it looked like his career could potentially over.

James and I would enjoy giving each other hell over NASCAR during the brief period he lived in Arkansas, but he would eventually move back to Florida and I probably only saw him a few more times during his life. He died in either 2011 or 2012, according to my brother Jon. At that point neither of his favorite drivers had won a race in multiple seasons. I don’t even know if James kept up with NASCAR in his final years. The sport had changed so much, and many longtime fans had found it to be too much and had left it behind. Even some younger fans like myself had found it hard to adapt. I wonder what James would think of the current sport with its stage racing, 16-team playoffs, elimination rounds and a winner-take-all championship race that could see a dominant driver lose the championship to someone much less worthy?

After the 2013 season Truex Jr. would find his way to the single car team of Furniture Row Racing, which had had little success prior to him joining the team. But, they soon would be affiliated with the powerhouse of Joe Gibbs Racing and had hoped things would turn around. I’m not sure anybody knew just how much things would indeed change.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. would have his two best seasons in a decade in 2014 and 2015 combining for seven victories. It seemed like he was having the most fun of his career. Unfortunately, the next season concussion issues would derail it. He wouldn’t win again.

Truex Jr.’s career which seemed like it could’ve been over had gotten a rebirth at Furniture Row. He would win his third career race in 2015 and things had certainly begun to click for that team and for Truex and his crew chief Cole Pearn. They would pretty much dominate the Cup Series the next two seasons. In 2016, Truex would win four races. His team dominated the mile-and-a-half tracks that frequented the NASCAR schedule. In 2017, the team was the most consistent all-season long. Truex and Furniture Row Racing really hit it off with the new points format with bonus points for winning race stages. He would enter the final race on Sunday with a series high seven wins.

My favorite driver Jeff Gordon retired in 2015. He left the sport as one of its five greatest of all-time and four championships. I think James would have told me, “the kid done good,” had he been around. He would’ve certainly thrown in, “but not as good as Dale.” Earnhardt Sr. having one three more championships than Gordon. I, of course, would’ve responded with how the changes to NASCAR’s point standings had cost Gordon potentially three more titles.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had announced his retirement from NASCAR about a quarter into the season and it kind of surprised people, but then again, the concussions had taken a toll on his life and he wanted to enjoy a life after racing with his new bride Amy. The two are set to have a daughter next May. Still it would be a huge hit to NASCAR to have its most popular driver retire right on the heels of champions Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart. Earnhardt Jr. had never won the championship in the Cup Series many expected from him, but his resume of 26 Cup wins and two Daytona 500s isn’t shabby. More importantly his humble attitude and graciousness meant more to the sport than a championship could’ve. Dale Jr. had gone from a kid when James and I had our little rivalry to a man that I grew to respect and root for on a weekly basis. There simply hasn’t been a better ambassador for NASCAR. I think James would be proud.

The championship race on Sunday would be Dale Jr.’s final race.

In the three previous seasons of this playoff format it took winning the final race for the champion to be crowned. Truex Jr. had been the best driver and his team had been the best team all season long, but the title race is now a crapshoot and all three of his competitors – Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski - had won championships before and Busch and Harvick had done so in this format.

It would be a hard-fought race the entire day on Sunday with every one of the four championship eligible drivers leading the championship at one point. At the end of the race it became a dogfight between Truex and Busch. Truex had the lead, but it looked at one point like Busch had the faster car and might find a way to pass Truex to win the race and the championship. That never happened. Truex won his eighth race of the season, more races than he had won in his career coming into the year, and the championship just four years after it looked like he wouldn’t even continue in the sport. It was a feel-good story for many.

I don’t know where James is now, but wherever he is I hope he had the opportunity to see what his guys had become on Sunday in the final race of the NASCAR season. I wish I could pat him on the back and tell him “your boys done good.” 

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