#monster jam

The stadium was loud, and not in the way Carson was used to. It was all dirt and shouting, and honestly, it made certain (not naming specifics!) races look like child’s play. This was a big deal, and it made him slightly upset that this was the only one he was able to go to this year.

The Monster Jam World Finals. 

He had some overpriced nachos and a lemonade in a souvenir cup. Even if the chips were stale, he paid for them, and he was going to suffer. He settled into his seat as all of the trucks came out one by one. 

The crowd cheered whenever their favourite truck passed by until it came down to the last two. Title rivals for the last two years. The experienced veteran and the newbie sensation. The iconic, Grave Digger and the prodigy, Speed Drive. 

Speed Drive was Carson’s favourite, and it wasn’t just because the car was racing-themed. It’s because of who drove it. Carson never shied away from admitting his celebrity crush was on Y/n L/n, despite a lot of fans not knowing who she was. What they really didn't know was just how deep his “crush” went.

As soon as Speed Drive came to a stop, coincidentally, right in front of Carson’s section (not really, he got this spot specifically), he joined in with the rest of the crowd as they cheered. All of the drivers climbed out and stood by their trucks to wave. When Y/n emerged in her black and white checkered race suit, she jumped on top of her tyre, waving around a flag.

He jumped up to cheer for her as the camera swept around the stadium. Carson wasn’t really paying attention until he caught himself of the screen out of the corner of his eye. He looked around before making eye contact with the camera a bit away from him before waving and smiling sheepishly at them. 

They lost interest in him pretty quickly as all of the drivers got back into their trucks to start the head-to-head match-ups..Carson sat back down as he watched some of the trucks go, but honestly, he only really cared about Speed Drive.

Speed Drive had already qualified for the second round, and she was scheduled to go against Vandetta. She easily beat Vandetta and went against Digatron in the semi-finals. This one was closer. As if Carson expected anything different, Speed Drive advanced, and it was another showdown between Speed Drive and Grave Digger.

Carson watched with bated breath as the two were basically neck and neck through the whole round, and it came down to a photo finish. The times were 19.003 and 19.135, with Speed Drive narrowly on top. Carson, along with the rest of the section, jumped up to cheer before someone tapped Carson’s shoulder. He turned and was met with a camera and a dude holding a microphone..

“Do my eyes deceive me, or do we have NASCAR’s own Carson Hocevar in our stands?” The announcer said, walking over to his seat between the rounds.

“Yeah, I like trucks. What else can I say?” He chuckled as he shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, welcome to Monster Jam, buddy. Who are you supporting?”

“Oh, Speed Drive all the way,” He answered immediately. “She’d probably kill me if I rooted for anyone else.”

Carson’s words got drowned out as the screen switched over to down in the dirt with Kasey and Y/n, and the crowd started screaming. The camera showed her jumping out of her truck and taking a mic from Kasey as confetti was swirling around.

“Not like you needed the points since you’ve already wrapped up the skills championship, but how does all the support motivate you?” Kasey asked before gesturing for the screen to split and show Carson. “You even have Carson Hocevar in the crowd, cheering for you.”

“Yeah, he better. If I find out he’s cheering for Tyler, I’m going to root for Stenhouse next season,” She chuckled, looking out into the crowd, almost like she could point him out. Honestly, she probably could have, given his height. “It’s his first jam, so I had to put on a good show for him, you know how it goes. I gotta spoil him somehow.”

“Did you hook him up with seats in your section?”

“Like I would let him sit anywhere else,” She teased. “Put him back on the mic. What skill do you wanna see?”

“Do a flip!” Carson cheered into the mic, and everyone around him started screaming in agreement.

“You’re lucky I was already gonna put that in my freestyle,” She sighed, but still had a fond smile on her lips.

“You should do a doughnut, too,” Carson said, “I don’t know what you’re supposed to do in these, but I know driving in circles is an option.”

“I guess I can do that,” She nodded with a smile. “I’ll do you proud. Well, I’ll do all of you proud, but him specifically.”

“Why him specifically?” Kasey asked.

“Someone’s gotta be the breadwinner here, and no offence, Cars, your All-Star race win was great and all, but try one that could get you into the playoffs next time. Thanks, love you.”

Kasey blinked as the screens turned off and Y/n turned to walk away. Apparently, the microphones were still on. “Wait a minute! ‘Love you?’ He’s your husband?! I thought you said your husband was some guy you picked off the street, not a NASCAR driver!”

”I did, I found him on marketplace,” Y/n joked as she leaned against her tyre. “He came for free with this random toy I bought.”

”Wait, actually?”

”No,” Y/n sighed with a smile, walking over to her. “That would be a funny story, though, but no. I was buying a new golf cart, and he was buying a truck. Two different sails in the McDonald's parking lot. Ended up helping him tow the truck to the truck, and he gave me a free pass to be in his pit box. Haven’t let him go since.”

”You are kidding me,” Kasey scoffed out, not believing one minute of the story.

”Ok, you’re right. I’m done teasing now,” Y/n relented finally, “I met him at the Berlin track back when I still thought I was going to race normal-sized cars.”

“That sounds more accurate.”

“Yeah, we bonded over laughing at this one guy who ran the weirdest line at Berlin. Turns out this guy knew what he was doing.”

Kasey let her go prepare because it was time for the big finale - the freestyle. All she had to do was beat Grave Digger; he was the only one who could have taken over her championship lead. He scored an 8.6 after one of his moves didn’t land right, so Y/n saw her chance.

The lights dropped as Speed Drive pulled out last for freestyle, and Carson could barely watch it. Still, he peeked through his hand the entire time. 

She blasted straight across the dirt towards the first big jump ramp, soaring above the line of crushed cars as the crowd erupted. She wasted no time before heading into another ramp sideways and landing a backflip. She flowed straight into a long skid across some of the cars before attempting another jump. 

This was what scared Carson as he watched the ramp itself collapse as soon as her truck reached the peak of it.

She easily steadied her truck, and instead of reattempting a jump, she revved her engine up before waiting for the song to build up. She hit a different ramp sideways to go into a bicycle jump-turned sidewall doughnut that also somehow went up onto one wheel spin. The truck flipped onto its roof, but she had enough momentum to land back on all fours. 

In the last five seconds, she floored it over to the section Carson was in. She was barely dropping out of the truck when the cameras caught him vaulting over he barrier. Security couldn’t even keep up.

”Well, folks, clearly Carson couldn’t wait to join the party,” Kasey chuckled into the microphone as the camera zoomed in on Y/n taking her helmet off while Carson ran up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and spun her around in the air as the scores came in - 9.452. “And it’s official! Speed Drive had done it again! Y/n L/n is now a two-time Monster Jam World Finals Champion!”

Carson didn’t say anything, hiding his face in her shoulder as she pumped her fists in the air as confetti fell from the ceiling. When he finally did set her down, she turned in his arms and immediately pulled him into a heated kiss. The crowd, once again, erupted in cheers as they screamed a combination of her name, his name, and the Speed Drive theme song that was still playing in the background.

She pulled back, breathless, just looking at him for a second as everything around them drowned out for a second. She ran her fingers through his hair before softly adding, “You didn’t have to come down here, y’know.”

”Yeah,” He admitted with a shrug, “but you earned this, and I needed the view up close.”

”You are such a sap,” She chuckled, pulling him back in. Some of the other truck drivers had come out at this point, and one of them, specifically (def not Tyler), started wolf-whistling at them. A couple of other guys joined in at a certain point, so they pulled apart slightly. Their lips still touched as she whispered, “I think they want us to stop.”

“Well, they’re just gonna have to get over themselves because I wanna celebrate my breadwinner,” He said definitively before pulling her back in, leaving no room for arguments.

~~~~~