Daddy’s Cup

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 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