Daddy's Cup Lyrics - The Dirty South - Drive By Truckers

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 

Number three 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 number two 

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 number one 

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