My cell phone woke me up the next morning, and it took a couple rings for me to find it.
“Hello?”
“Um, I’m looking for a Toni?” the woman on the other end asked, sounding not sure what to do.
“The male one or the female one?”
“Excuse me?”
“Do you want me, or my father?”
“Um, I think it was your father I spoke to, to get this number, so I guess it’s you miss.”
“Ok, you got me, so what can I do for you?”
“Ok, um..... this is Jessica Zimkin. I got your dad’s number from Kahline Verville.”
I started to think about the time I worked for Kahline in Arizona as a mechanic for her sprint car team, and how I was also there as the crew chief for the midget race car for a young driver she was the driving coach for. I left when the boy’s father took a swing at me in a drunken rage one night. He drug me out of the guest room I was using in their house and as I was trying to wake up, he started to berate me in the shop about how I was in bed and the car’s front end wasn’t back in yet. I tried to tell him that all I had left to do was bleed the brakes, and check the ride heights. That was when he took a swing at me, mumbling something about me being just another fat college boy who was too big for his britches. He always acted funny toward me after he learned I had my Bachlors Degree in Motorsports Engineering. I ducked his punch, causing him to fall face first on the floor, and out cold. I packed up and drove over to Kalines that night and slept there. The next day, Breck denied ever doing that and told me I did a good job, keeping the car running right for his boy. I of course told Kahline that I was done working for him, and I would be leaving to go back home after her last race that weekend. She told me as she dropped me off at the airport that I could use her as a reference any time, and that if she could have afforded to pay me the difference of what Breck was, she’d have kept me on as HER mechanic.
“How is Kahline doing these days?”
“She’s doing well. It seems she’s getting ready to step out of the car and put some kid from Arizona in.”
“You must mean Brendan. Yeah, good kid. Father’s an asshole, but the kid has a good head on his shoulders. So what can I do for you Jessica?”
“Um, Kahline and I met at the World of Outlaw’s race at Manzanita, in Phoenix. I told her I wanted to find a good mechanic from Central New York, I’m from Cato myself and believe in keeping it local. So she told me about Pat Trepasso, and gave me the number she had for him. I guess that would be your dad too?”
I didn’t know how I should approach this. I could just tell her about the accident, or I could just make something up, and hope she goes away. The truth is always the best policy. Then it dawned on me who she might be.
“Are you the same Jessica Zimkin that joined Pi Nu at Alfred this past spring?
“Um... yeah?”
“You know my wife then. Britt Stephens.”
“Oh my god! You’re the Toni she was talking about? Wait a minute, didn’t you used to be a guy?”
“Yes. I used to be the guy you are looking for.” to which I was met with dead silence on the other end. “Jessica? Are you still there?”
“You’re the guy who got into that toxic waste over at the “U” right?”
“Yes. So what can I do for you?”
“Well, you... er... that is to say Pat... came highly recommended by Kahline.”
“I’m still the same brain I was when I was with her, and I still turn wrenches for a living Jessica. So what is it you want to ask?”
“I’m looking for a mechanic that can take me to the next level, and I know you have Cup experience. I want you to come work for my team for the remaining Outlaw season.”
“Wow, I’m honored, but I’ll have to talk this over with my wife and see what she says.”
“Is Bunny there right now?”
“Honey, wake up. Jessica Zimkin is on the phone.” I shook Brit and handed her the phone, as I got up to pee. I came back just as Brit was ending the call and telling Jessica I’d call her later.
“She really wants you as her mechanic bad dear.”
“Yeah, but I’m not sure how I’d like working for my wife’s ex, and I can’t throw away what I have with this company. I mean, they are giving us both full health, dental, and eye coverage. Plus the pay is great, and who can pass on 15 days off a month?”
“You didn’t hear what Jessica and her dad are offering.”
“Oh? What did she say?”
“$60000 for the rest of the year, and you can re-negotiate, at the end of the season. Plus they’ll pay all the travel, and food on the road. They’ll give you a car to use while you’re with them, and you get to call all the shots with the car.”
I just looked at her for a moment, trying to take all this in. I could tell she was excited for me to do this, but I was still uneasy about making such a big change. I know we don’t need the money, but I like working at the mill. Who am I kidding I really miss the track more then anything besides when I’m away from Brit.
“What about you hun? Did she say what I should do about you? I mean, come on Brit. The Outlaws run 200 races a season, plus there’s the Nationals and the winter Australia Tour. I can’t be away from you for that long.”
“She said I can go with you. So you and I will be living and working together just like we would be if I joined you at the mill in the engineering department.”
I looked into her eyes and could tell she was excited about seeing the country and I knew she was a race fan already. So I hugged her and asked her to call Jessica back and tell her she has her girls, then I called Kahline.
“Hello?”
“Kahline, so nice to talk to you again.”
“Who is this.”
“Um, you got a couple minutes?”
“Quit playing around. Did Alan (her husband) put you up to this?”
“You knew me as Pat Trepasso. I now go by Toni.”
I told her about the accident and how I had changed. She didn’t believe me, so it told her about the time I helped her clean her shop and as we were pulling the motor mounts off one of her engines I found that all 6 mounting bosses on the block were broke. She finally believed me since she’d never even told Alan about that incident. I told her about the call from Jessica and how she’d offered me a job. She asked me if I was going to be at the Nationals in Iowa, and I told her that was going to be the first race with Jessica’s team. (Talk about trial by fire.) I asked her how things were going with Brendan and if Breck was still and asshole. She told me that Melissa left, and took the kids. She then told me that they had moved in to her house and that next season Brendan would be racing her car around Arizona to get the seat time and then the next year they were going to try to run with the “Outlaws.”
“That’s cool. We’ll have to get together at the Nationals. I’d love to see Melissa and the kids again.”
“I’m sure we can set something up. I’ll see you in the pits, and they’ll be with us for that race, so just stop by.”
“Ok, I will. Oh, and thanks for setting me up with this deal.”
“It’s all good. You’re a good mechanic, and who knows, maybe I’ll hire you away when we start racing Brendan. He always got along good with you.”
“We’ll see. I’ll let you go. See you in Iowa.”
Our plane landed in Iowa and we were met at the baggage claim area by Jessica and an older man she introduced as Tom, her dad. Tom shook my hand as Jess and Brit hugged. We collected our bags and followed them out to the SUV they had rented for us. We made small talk as we drove to the hotel.
“You look nothing like the picture Kahline showed me Toni.”
“Yeah, I get that a lot. When we get to the hotel I can show you the photo’s from the hospital right after the accident. So what do we have planned for the rest of the day? You mentioned something about sponsors yesterday?”
“Oh yeah, we just signed with Gillette for their ‘Lady Gillette” brand, and they want to meet my new crew chief. I hope you have something nice for dinner tonight.”
“Um, not really. I was expecting to just go to the track and work on the car. How formal do I need for tonight? We should have time to hit a mall right?”
“Sure. Just business casual. Nothing formal. I’m wearing a skirt suit I have, if that helps.”
“Ok, then we’ll just pick something up quick and go back to the hotel and freshen up a bit. ok?”
We pulled into the mall and did what Brit calls ‘Commando Shopping’, where you get in, get exactly what you need, and then get the hell out of there before you start to look for things you don’t. We drove to the hotel, and unpacked for our week long stay for the upcoming ‘Nationals.’ I showed Jess and her dad the photo book from the hospital and they just looked awe struck at all I’ve been thru. I told them that I am still the same person on the inside, just with different packaging on the out. Brit took this time to comment that she liked the knew body work better then the old design. (Can’t blame her for trying to get into the automotive theme, right?)
We women met the sponsors for dinner, Tom had to go see the engine builder about some new tricks for the upcoming weekend. We ladies were dressed like three mafia hit-women. All three of us had on pin striped suit jackets and matching skirts. Erica, the lady from Gillette couldn’t believe I had the experience I had in racing, so I just told her that I’ve been at this game since I was just 4 years old. I wasn’t that good a driver but I knew how to make a car go fast, so I became a mechanic. (I didn’t bother to tell her about the accident or that I’d won a couple track championships as a driver before I started to work for some professional teams.) She told us that she wanted to sign Jessica to a 5 year deal, and that they wanted to try to do something with the ‘young guns’ campaign they were using in NASCAR. We all agreed that this was a big opportunity for both their company and Jessica. We had made arraignments for Erica and a couple of the other exec’s from Gillette to watch the Nationals from the top of the hauler. She shook our hands and told us she’d see us at the track the next day for the press conference.
Media day at the Nationals is like a 3 ring circus. Photographers and reporters everywhere you look. Before the press conference Erica has set up I had a chance to find Kahline. She was in her hauler and watching a movie with Melissa, Brendan, and his sister Braden. I knocked on the door and she just looked at me for a moment before realizing who I was.
“Pat?”
“It’s Toni now, but yes, it’s me.”
She hugged me and brought me into the lounge. Melissa introduced herself and I just started to laugh, and ask her how Buddy, Dotty, and Pugsly, (their dogs) were doing. She looked at Kahline and gave her the “WTF” look. Kahline asked her why she didn’t recognize me, then told her who I was.
“Pat?”
“I go by Toni now, but yeah, it’s me.”
Braiden was the first to speak, saying there was no way I was the same burly guy who used to let her do dives off my shoulders in their pool. So I pulled out my now well traveled photo book from the hospital, and handed it to Melissa. I told her that some of the photos might not be suitable for the kids. She and Kahline looked thru the book and just kept looking at the photos then back at me, then back at the photo’s. When they finally finished the book she told Braden that I was in fact the same person who had stayed at their house while I worked on Brendan’s race cars. Then Brendan who’d been just staring at me, finally spoke up.
“There is no way you’re Pat.”
“Ok, then how about this. If you check the engine on that R/C car I sold you, you’ll find a small dab of epoxy on the bottom of the block.”
He pulled the car out of his bag, and pulled the motor out then just looked back at me as if to ask how I knew.
“Remember I told you when I sold it to you that there was a hole in the block, and that if the epoxy didn’t hold to have Alan weld the hole shut?”
He just looked at me and finally it sank in that I wasn’t screwing with him. Then he started looking at me like I would have looked at me if I were a 15 year old boy.
“Cut that out young man, I’m a married woman.”
I passed around a photo of Brit and my wedding. We all just talked and caught up on what’s been going on since I’d left. I told Melissa I was sorry to hear she and Breck broke up, and that if she needed anything to let me know. I looked at the clock and saw I had to get to the press conference, and asked them to come with me. So we all made our way to the press tent.
We met Erin for the press conference, and they announced that Jessica was the new face of Gillette. She then pointed out that I was her new crew chief, noting that I had spent some time in the Cup, and in other forms of racing. That was when all hell broke loose. There were flash bulbs going off everywhere. It seems that everyone wanted to be the first to interview the first woman driver, and crew chief combo in motorsports history. We just pushed our way thru the crowd to the waiting hauler in the infield, and tried to catch our breath, as Jessica and I sat down over a soda.
“Can you believe all that Toni?”
“I thought it would be bad, but I never thought we’d get swamped like this. Damn! Everyone wants to talk to us now. We need to get your mind right for the race though. You have a qualifying heat tonight, and I want to get you into Saturday’s show tonight. None of this farting around with having to run Thursday and Friday, just wearing out equipment. Let me go see if I can find someone who will give us a fare shake on this.”
She just nodded as I went back out to the sea of reporters trying to all talk to me at once. I looked at a young woman in the crowd and realized she was Leila from back home. I motioned for her to follow me, and I lead her into the lounge where Jess, and Brit had started playing video games.
“Leila, I promised you the first crack at a story if I ever did anything note worthy, well this is your shot. I know you’ll tell it like it is. You know Jessica, and Tom, her dad. This is my wife Brittany.”
The look on her face was classic. I guess she hasn’t met too many same sex couples before but she seemed cool about it. She pulled out her note pad and started firing questions at us all. She wanted to know where Jess, and Tom had found me? Where I was from? How long had I been in racing? Was it true I used to work in the Cup? What plans we had for the future? The she got a bit personal. How Brit and I met? How long had we been married? I let Brit answer those, since I was not being sure what she was comfortable talking about. She then started asking about my change. I told her I’d rather not talk about that at this time, but I’d call her when I was ready. We talked with Leila for over an hour. Then Tom told me we’d better get the car ready for qualifying. I called the office and asked if they could send security down to clear the crowd so we could do our job with the car, and they sent down half the Knoxville Police to help us.
Before we unloaded the car, Tom and I took a lap in the utility cart they used to push the car around the pits with. The one thing I noticed was all the standing water on the track, and I remembered watching on the weather channel that the area had gotten a lot of rain leading up to the race. When we unloaded the car I asked Tom what shocks and springs were in the car, and where they last ran. I decided to put a stiffer right rear spring on the car to loosen it up, as well as other changes to help with the sticky track we had to work with tonight, (gotta love dirt racing.)
Jessica was starting on the outside of the front row for her heat race, via a pill draw earlier in the day. We had some real heavy hitters in our heat. The series point leader, the defending race champ, and the all time leader in wins for the series, as well as 2 Cup drivers that were making one race starts for the Nationals. I just told Jess to drive her race, and forget who was on the track with her.
When the green flag flew, she shot thru the first turn like a rocket. I had guessed right on the setup and she obviously liked the way it felt. She pulled away from the rest of the field and put a lap on both the Cup drivers before the 10 laps were over. She pulled into the pits and the reporters started to swarm again. Thankfully the cops did their job and we could clean the mud off the car to get it ready for the nights feature race, a 30 lap event with the top 3 qualifying for the 50 lap Nationals on Saturday.
I snuck away and watched as the rest of the heat races ran. My hunch from that lap with Tom was looking to be right. There was so much water in the track, the track was getting stickier as the night wore on. I caught Kahline just before she strapped in for her heat and told her what I’d seen. She made a quick change and ended up winning her heat as well. By virtue of Jess having the quickest heat, and Kahline having the second fastest, they both started on the front row of the 30 lap feature. I had one extra trick up my sleeve, knowing Kahline was more experienced then Jess was. I put a slightly lower gear in the car to help get off the corner better, and it worked.
Jess to an early lead, with Kahline in second, but a couple lengths back, and losing ground little by little every lap. I was amazed that the race went all 30 laps without a caution, (not a usual occurrence for a dirt race, let alone a qualifying race for the Nationals.) Jess ended up lapping the whole field, except Kahline, who finished second, a half a lap back. It made me feel good to know that the two women who helped me get here, were both safely in the show for Saturday night.
The next couple days were a blur as we did interviews and photo shoots for the sponsor and track. When the race finally came around Saturday night, I was happy it was almost over. The track looked just like it did Wednesday, and I set up the car with what I thought would work well over the next 50 laps. I told Jess that if the track starts to dry out to just raise her wing and it would be ok.
They did the traditional 4 wide parade lap with Jess and Kahline right next to each other. I was a nervous wreck. I always am when I work on someone else’s car. I know if I drive I can have a say in what happens up until the checkered flag falls. But when I work on someone else’s car, it’s out of my hands as soon as they get in that car. I’d know in 50 short laps if I’d guessed right with the setup for tonight.
The pace car pulled off and the green came out with the ground shaking as 30 cars with 900 horsepower each roared to full song. My girls put some good distance on the rest of the field when the first caution came out 5 laps in. Someone had been too excited and spun out causing a pile up that took out half the field. They got the race back underway, and again Jess and Kahline put a sizeable lead on the rest of the field. They quickly got into lap traffic and started picking them off one at a time. I was watching Kahline and it looked as if she was either toying with Jessica, or just couldn’t pass her without hitting her and possibly taking them both out of the race. As the laps wound down they had lapped the entire field together, so as long as they didn’t crash it would be the first all woman 1, 2 finish in sprint car history. Kahline made one last run as they came to the checkered flag, and Jess just held her off. If I’d thought it was a media circus before, was I in for a shock. With Jessica becoming the first woman to win the Nationals, and me the first female crew chief to win the nationals, we were sure to be in for a lot of people wanting face time.
They interviewed Kahline and she told the reporter from ‘SPEED’ that the worst mistake she ever made was letting me go as her mechanic. I just smiled at her and the reporter turned to me, asking if it was true.
“Yeah, I used to work for that old broad... “ I just laughed. “No seriously, I loved working with Kahline, she taught me everything I know about sprint cars, and I wouldn’t be here today without her help. Hell, she’s the one who hooked Jess and I up.”
The reporter asked Jess if it was true and she explained how she met Kahline in Phoenix, and was given my name. She then thanked Kahline for hooking us up together, then the obligatory sponsor plugs. We stayed for some more pictures and then went back to load up the trailer, when a man I’d seen somewhere before came up to us and started to talk to Jessica. I helped Tom finish strapping the car down, as it dawned on me the man Jess was talking to was Richard Childress, the NASCAR team owner.
“Was that who I think it was Jess?”
“If you mean Richard Childress, then yes it was Toni.”
“What did he want?”
“He wants to offer me a test with his Busch team.” she giggled as she tried to remain calm about it all.
“Congratulations, I’m sure you’ll do fine as a stock car driver. I mean, hell if Jeff, Tony, and Kasey can do it, why not you?”
“You sound as if this is all over for us Toni?”
“Well you won’t need me around once you make it to that level.”
“You don’t get it. THIS is the reason I hired you as my crew chief. YOU’VE been there. You’ve been in NASCAR. You know how it works. You’re not going anywhere. I won my first Nationals because of you, and I’ll win my first Cup because of you too.”
I didn’t know what to say. She wanted me to stay with her for the whole ride, and I was ready to see how the better half lived since I’ve worked for the smaller shops before. Now I’d get to see how a real NASCAR team does it.
We showed up at Irwindale speedway in southern California for Jess’ test. They had already fit the seat and placed the peddles right for her in the car. I started to get a bit nervous when Kevin Harvick showed up. They were going to do some follow and chase once she got used to the heavier car. Everyone was a bit surprised at how quickly she adapted to the much heavier stock car, but I reminded Kevin that she cut her racing teeth back home racing big block modified’s before climbing into sprint cars. We brought her in for some fresh tires and to tell her what was going to happen. She was to follow Kevin for 10 laps then he would pull over and then follow her for 10 more. She was right on his bumper from the drop of the flag. She actually bumped and tapped him for the entire ten lap period. When it was her turn to lead, she pulled away from him and kept adding to the distance. You could tell from the attitude of his car that he was driving his ass off to catch her, but just flat out couldn’t. On the other hand she looked like she was out for a Sunday drive. She actually waved to me a couple times. We brought her back in and Kevin bee-lined it for Childress, grinning ear to ear as he spoke to his car owner, pointing to Jess as he did.
Needless to say, she passed her test with flying colors, and after a quick talk with Erin from Gillette, they agreed to sign on with RCR for the remainder of this season and all of next. Jess still had another trick up her sleeve. She told Richard that she’d only drive if I were her crew chief. He surprised me when he didn’t hesitate in saying yes.
We raced the final 8 races on the NASCAR Grand National West tour, and earned enough points to qualify for the All-Star shootout that pits the top drivers from the Busch East and the Grand National West against each other. I had the motor tuned just right for the thin California air, and Jess took fast time, putting her on the pole. However, they do a dice roll to see how many cars get inverted for the start. She rolled a 6 and we were going to go off from the outside of row number 3. I was pacing like a caged tiger when the green flew, but I relaxed when Jess made a nice pass for the lead on lap 20 of 150. A caution came out on lap 80, and I brought her in for some gas and two right side tires. (That’s all they’ll let you change in that series.) We left the pit in third place and she again made quick work of the two cars in front of her. My only heart attack happened when two lap cars spun right as she was trying to pass them. She somehow avoided them and when the green flew again she sailed to an easy win, by almost half a lap over second place. Richard was amped, he told us that he wanted to put us in a couple Busch races to finish the season.
We found success early and often as we won at our first race at Wisconsin. Then backed it up at Phoenix, and Miami. No rookie had ever won their first three starts before and everyone wanted a piece of both of us. Lucky for me I had Brit to keep me grounded, and Jess had her dad. As the season ended we had won 5 times in our first 10 starts and with 3 straight against the best in the Busch series, and that All-Star shoot out win. We were both on cloud 9, until we got word that Richard wanted to see both of us. It’s usually not a good thing when both a driver and a crew chief are called into the owner’s office at the same time.
Richard informed both of us that he was going to be expanding to 4 cars in the Cup the following season and Jess was going to drive it, with me staying on as her crew chief. We ended up wining Daytona, and the Brickyard, with Jess becoming the first woman to win either race, and the first EVER at Indy. We nabbed some consistent top 10 finishes and leading the points after leaving the July Daytona race, history held true, (the point leader after that race has gone on to win the Cup for the past 20 years,) and we brought Richard his 7th Cup.
“... and that’s really how it happened DW.”
“Now Toni, there is a lot of talk in the garage, some say you used to be a man, and others say you’re gay. What do you say about these rumors?”
“I say let them talk. Why is it that when a woman is successful in a field that is considered a male dominated one, they immediately start to be a target for the rumor mill? Yes, I am a lesbian, and I love my life partner, but I don’t know where people get off thinking that a person’s sexual orientation should have anything to do with how well they do their job. Let them think what they want. My results speak for themself.”
“Thank your for sharing your extraordinary rise to the top of a mostly male industry with us Toni. That all the time we have for this week, join us next week when we’ll talk to The King Richard Petty. I’m DW, saying BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITY! LET’S GO RACING!”
To be continued...
