Daddy's Cup

Before I could walk, I had a wrench in my hand

I was my Mama's little angel and my Daddy's second chance

He went end over end the first year he went pro

Lost part of his eyesight and he couldn't race no more

But he never lost his touch when he got underneath the hood

He knew how to make them run and 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 would 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 into the 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 before they ever took a curve

#3 might have the car but 43 has got the nerve

Before I turned 18 Daddy said "Now pretty soon

You'll be old enough to drive but I'll 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 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 welded up the doors

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"

It ain't about the money or even being #1

You gotta know when it's all over you did the best you could've 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 race 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 now 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's on that cup