They met when he was known
as hell on wheels in Carolina
Like a shadow moving
through the southern pines
She was 17 years old,
he ran shining a flathead Ford
in the summer of 1959.
By the time the 60s ended,
he was known across the country.
From dirt tracks to Daytona,
he was king.
She was right there by his side
as the years went racing by
And when the baby came
you know they had everything
Every night he calls her name
through the smoke and the flames
Whispered in that soft southern drawl
And she knows how it feels
to have her hands on the wheel
She wakes up right before
she hits the wall
Last week their son turned 21
at a hundred miles an hour
On a little track somewhere in Tennessee
He called to say he missed her
Wished she could have been there
But he understood why she couldn't be
But the sound of his voice
Takes her back to Talladega
Memories come rushing like a flood
There's nothing she could say
that would matter anyway
Cause she knows he's
got running in his blood
Every night he calls her name
through the smoke and the flames
Whispered in that soft southern drawl
Now she knows how it feels
to have her hands on the wheel
Just before she hits the wall