Daddy’s Cup

Well, 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'd put me on his lap when he'd drive and I'd take the wheel
He'd say "What do you think about that son? How does she feel?
You just wait till 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 and 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 that night
He'd tell me what each driver was doing wrong and what each one did right
He could always pick the winner 'fore they ever took a curve
#3 might have the car but 43 has got the nerve

But before I turned 18, daddy said "Now pretty soon
You'll be old enough to race but 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 and you gotta work and buy your own"

The first one I bought was a Mustang #2
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 about the same
I 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 #1
You gotta know when it's all over, you did the best you coulda done
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
Till they put me in the ground or Daddy's name is on that cup