Julie and her friend Amanda were so excited about the fact that they had hot passes for the day of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Practice, and the Busch race afterwards. Julie's uncle Tom was working at the track this year, and managed to snag a couple of extra passes. Julie was eternally grateful. Her uncle was more than happy to do it, since he knew what a huge fan Julie was of NASCAR, and in particular, Jeff Gordon.

The two women huddled by the fence that separated the garage area from pit road. They giggled excitedly as they watched all of the commotion by the people in bright team uniforms as they prepared everything for the final practice session until the race. Excitement and anticipation sizzled in the air. Julie could hardly believe she was there and so close to all of the action.

As the first set of cars rumbled to life and sped out on the track, Julie and Amanda both covered their ears. Watching the racecars on TV had not prepared them for how loud the cars really were. Julie smiled and watched as another set of cars made their way onto pit road to start practice. She was happy because Jeff Gordon's car was in that line of cars, and she couldn't wait to see how fast he was. She'd been waiting since they opened the track for him to get his first win at Chicagoland Speedway, and she just knew this was his year.

A screech and the sound of grinding metal shocked both Julie and Amanda, making them both jump. Their eyes scanned the track to see one of the cars sliding towards the infield after spinning out and hitting the wall.

"Ooooh," Julie said while Amanda gasped.

The crash, by a rookie, brought practice to a grinding halt as safety teams and workers cleaned up the mess the car left behind. Julie was a bit upset at the fact the practice was stopped, but she understood why. She was disappointed, until she realized that the drivers, who were waiting to practice, began emerging from their cars.

Julie's eyes zeroed in on the #24 DuPont Chevrolet of Jeff's, and sure enough, he pulled himself from the car in one fluid motion. The sight of him coming out of the car, removing his helmet, running a hand through his hair, leaning against the car, and then putting on his pit cap, made her legs turn to jelly. Amanda noticed Julie's excitement and tugged on her arm.

"What?" Julie asked her friend.

"I bet they'll be signing autographs while they wait," Amanda said excitedly.

"No way," Julie said, but then she noticed quite a few of the drivers coming towards the fences towards the fans. She whispered, "I'll be damned."

Amanda saw Kasey Kahne, who was her favorite driver, and immediately joined a throng of women to get his autograph. Julie scanned pit road, and saw Jeff Gordon, talking to a reporter at the moment. He was way too popular, and there was probably no chance of her ever getting to close enough to even get his autograph. People were practically climbing the fence near where his racecar was, screaming his name. Julie didn't really want to be part of the screaming crowd, since she figured it probably annoyed the hell out of Jeff. Oh well, she was still close enough to watch him as he finished with the reporter and then went and leaned against the pit wall, arms folded across his chest.

Julie sighed in admiration of him. Even looking bored and annoyed, the man made her heart flutter in her chest. She was so busy admiring him, she screamed when she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders. Spinning around, she saw her uncle standing there, smiling at her.

"You scared me, Uncle Tom," she said with a laugh.

"I see you mooning over pretty boy over there," he chuckled.

"Yeah, he's so damn hot," she said and then blushed. She didn't mean to say something so crass in front of her uncle.

"How come you aren't over there with the rest of his adoring fans?"

"I don't want to be a part of that crowd. They all look like a bunch of idiots," she snorted.

"Well, how would you like to actually go on pit road and meet him?"

"What?"

"I got to meet Jeff's jack man, real nice guy, and I could take you over there so you could meet Jeff."

Julie felt her heart pop into her throat at the idea. Could she honestly get to go meet her ultimate fantasy?

"Are you serious?"

"As a heart attack," he uncle joked and then laughed.

Julie swallowed the huge lump in her throat, and then nodded. Amanda was still busy waiting for Kasey Kahne's autograph, so Uncle Tom escorted Julie towards pit road, showing both of their credentials as they waltzed through the gates. Julie's heart hammered hard in her chest, as they walked closer and closer to the blue and red Chevrolet, and the man standing not too far behind it. The closer they got, the more her palms started to sweat, and her mouth went dry.

Just a few feet from where he was standing, another thing happened that caused Julie to almost lose it. Her legs immediately turned to jelly as Jeff stared off into space, then his eyes started to close, and he brought one cupped hand up cover his mouth and nose. She halted, and Uncle Tom stared at her and pulled on her arm. She stopped and watched as Jeff's body was wracked with a couple of spasms. She was still too far away to hear, but she knew just from watching him that he'd just sneezed. It made her too weak to walk any further. It was one thing to meet him, which made her nervous enough. It was a completely different story to meet him and also witness his sneezes up close.

"Come on Julie, they won't be cleaning the track up all day," her uncle teased.

"I-I can't m-meet him," she stammered, unable to move, even though her uncle was tugging on her arm, trying to pull her forward.

"Yes, you can. Come on now," he urged.

Looking like a mindless zombie, Julie followed her uncle. In her mind, she hoped that his sneezes were just a fluke, and that he wouldn't sneeze in front of her again. Her prayers didn't work, because just as they were rounding the nose of the racecar, she heard two more of his sneezes.

"Uhhh-chisshuuu! Issshhuu!"

Julie wanted to just melt all over the pavement. Hot, racecar driver Jeff Gordon, also had the most amazing sneezes she'd ever heard. It didn't help that she had a particular weakness for male sneezes, and had heard quite a few really nice ones thanks to the Internet. Gosh, she was going to be in some serious trouble if he kept sneezing like that.

As they approached him, his arms were once again crossed, and he just stared. He didn't seem to notice them approach, and made no move until Uncle Tom cleared his throat. Then Jeff slowly turned his head and looked at Julie and her uncle. Julie forced herself to smile, which took every ounce of courage she had. In response, Jeff's mouth curved into a huge grin, as he straightened up and looked her up and down appreciatively. Julie knew she was no slouch, and generally got quite a bit of attention from men, but Jeff's roving glances made her face turn beet red. She flipped her long, brown hair back and tried like hell to re-gain her composure in front of him.

"Hi there," Jeff said casually.

"Hi there, Mr. Gordon-" Uncle Tom began, but Jeff cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"Please, the name is Jeff."

"Right, Jeff. This is my niece, Julie, and she's a huge fan of yours."

Julie once again felt the heat in her cheeks as Jeff continued to smile and take all of her in with his eyes. I can't bear this anymore, she said to herself.

"Julie, it's so nice to meh..." Jeff broke off, a pained look on his face. Julie's stomach clenched and wound up into knots as she watched Jeff's eyelids begin to close, and heard his breath start to hitch. Jeff sniffed loudly, opened his eyes, and continued, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Julie couldn't breathe, let alone speak. She not only got to meet the man of her dreams, she heard and saw him sneeze, and she got to experience all of his pre-sneeze glory up close. Her mouth was definitely open, jaw slack, she could feel it. Jeff tilted his head to one side, eyeing her. Then he crooked his index finger and softly touched her chin, pushing her mouth closed. As if she weren't embarrassed enough, now she felt like a complete idiot.

Jeff was laughing softly, along with Uncle Tom, and Julie was really feeling self-conscious about her reaction, when Jeff suddenly turned his head to the right, raised his right hand and shielded his face as he

sneezed."Heh-kiisshhhhuuu!"

Julie was just about wet her pants.

"Hutt-shhuuuu!"

Her mouth dropped open again as Jeff continued sneezing, and Julie lost count of how many times the poor guy sneezed. When he was finished, he dropped his hand, sniffled, and looked at Julie and her uncle with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Pardon me," he said.

"B-bless you," Julie managed to spit out.

"Thanks," he said, still grinning.

"Looks like it's gonna take awhile for them to clean up that mess," Uncle Tom commented. Julie was glad the conversation wouldn't be centered around Jeff's sneezing. She would really get embarrassed if he started talking about his own sneezing with her, and she was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to handle that.

"Don't remind me," Jeff grumbled and then walked back to his spot on the wall.

Julie and her uncle exchanged puzzled looks. It seemed that Jeff was in no mood to meet a fan, so they turned and were about to walk away when Jeff called out, "Hey Julie!"

Julie spun around, and Jeff was waving her towards him with his hand. She pointed towards her chest and mouthed the word, "ME?" Jeff nodded and kept waving at her.

"I think he wants to talk to you some more, darlin'," Uncle Tom said and laughed.

Julie was dumbfounded. Uncle Tome pushed her towards where Jeff stood, and then hurriedly excused himself to get back to work. Julie hesitantly walked forward until she was just a couple of feet away from Jeff.

"You can come closer, I don't bite, you know?"

Julie had to laugh, she couldn't help it. His remark made him seem almost human, even though he was a racing superstar.

"You have a wonderful laugh, Julie," he commented as he patted the spot on the wall next to him.

Hesitantly, Julie walked closer and then leaned against the wall next to him. He continued to smile, and Julie felt like her face was never going to be it's normal color. Her tongue seemed to be caught in her throat, and she had no clue what to say next to the man sitting beside her.

Luckily, there wasn't much talking from him either, so Julie tried to relax. Jeff turned his body around once to check out what kind of progress they were making on the track. Then he turned back towards her and once again, folded his arms across his chest.

With a burst of courage, Julie sad, "So, what do you normally do when stuff like this happens?"

Jeff gave her a sidelong glance and a half smile.

"Pretty much what I'm doing right now," he said with a sigh. "I'd love to go over and sign autographs, but there are so many people over there, I may not get to all of them."

Julie had figured he was just one of those pampered stars, and didn't want to lower himself to sign autographs. Instead, he was worried about disappointing someone. That made Julie's heart melt right in her chest.

"So, you just sit here and wait?"

"Yep."

"Kind of boring, huh?" she asked. Immediately, he grinned and wined at her. Julie blushed again.

"I was bored, until you showed up," he said. Then he halted, and another sneezy expression passed over his face.

This time, Julie was powerless, since she was sitting right next to, practically touching him. He turned his head forward, hunched his shoulders, and covered his face with both hands as he began to sneeze.

"Hahhh-tttssshhhooo! Chhhiiisssshhhhhuuuu! Ahhh...ahhhh....issshhhhuuuu!"

Julie stared in awe. He seemed to be done, so she quietly said, "My goodness, bless you."

"Thanks," he said with a sniff. "Not only am I bored, but my allergies are really bothering me today. There seems to be something in the air around here that keeps making me sneeze."

Julie kept her mouth shut. She knew the hot and humid July weather could be bad for lots of people with allergies

"So, Julie, how old are you?" Jeff said, changing the subject, thankfully.

"Twenty five," she said, and then her brain seemed to shut off again.

"Wow, you look a lot younger than that. I was afraid you might not even be legal," he said, laughing again.

Julie had heard that from a lot of guys. Was Jeff flirting with her? He seemed to be from her experience.

Jeff glanced back at the track again, and the pace car was out making sure the track was clear to drive again. Julie followed his gaze, and realized from the look on his face how anxious he was to get out there and drive. She liked him before, but in that moment, she respected him and the fact the he truly loved what he did for a living.

"I bet you guys will be out there in a few minutes," she said softly.

"Yeah, probably," he agreed with a killer smile.

"I should go find my uncle and my friend," Julie said, and made a move to stand up, when Jeff caught her arm in his grasp.

"Do you have to leave so quickly?"

"Well, yes, they're probably waiting for me," she said, stunned by his behavior.

"I was hoping you'd still be here when I was all done with practice. I'd like to get to know you some more."

Julie was dazed. She didn't know what to do or say. Just then, Jeff's grip loosened on her arm, and he made a motion with his right arm. Julie watched his body prepare to sneeze again, and she wanted nothing more than to take him back to his motor coach and jump all over him.

"Hahh-eeshuuu! Uhhhhh....ahhh...chisshhhooo!"

"Bless you, Jeff," Julie said, her voice cracking slightly. She not only adored this man, but she was enthralled with his sneezes.

"Thanks," he whispered. "Please stay. You can go over to the garage area and wait for me. Then when I'm all done, we can have some time to talk."

With his piercing blue-gray eyes pleading with her, Julie couldn't resist. She pulled out her cell phone and called Amanda. As she waited for her friend to answer, things started to pick up on pit road in anticipation of practice heading underway again.

"Yeah?" Amanda practically yelled into her phone.

"Manda, this is Julie!"

"Yeah? What's up girl?"

"You're not gonna believe this," Julie started, and saw Jeff rubbing at his nose and smiling at her. "I'm going to stay in the pits and hang out with Jeff Gordon."

"No friggin' way!" Amanda screamed.

"Yes, so I guess you'll have to go on without me today. Is that okay?"

"Okay? That's totally awesome! You go for it girl! You better call me later, and let me know what happens!"

"I will, bye girl!"

Julie flipped her phone closed, just as Jeff stood up and grabbed her by the hand.

"I'm glad you decided to stay," he said huskily, pulling her close to his body.

The heat between them radiated and swirled around her, making he dizzy.

"At least, I don't think I'm going to be bored any more this weekend here in Chicago," he said, voice deepening. Then he tightened his grip on her arm momentarily, as he turned to his left, and belted out three, uncovered sneezes. Julie almost did pass out then, but quickly forced herself to remain standing.

"Um, bless you again, Jeff," she said with a small smile.

"I guess I'd better take something if I'm gonna keep sneezing all weekend. I wouldn't want to scare you off or anything," he joked.

"A few sneezes won't scare me off," she said, face on fire with heat and embarrassment. He had no idea that it was part of the reason she agreed to hang out with him.

Jeff's crew chief informed him he needed to get in the car, because practice would resume soon. Jeff told his crew chief to please escort Julie to the garage area to wait for him. Before putting on his helmet, Jeff winked at her, and treated her to one last, luscious sneeze. Julie mouthed a "bless you" to him, and then followed one of the crew guys over to the garage area. As she waited for practice to be over, she wondered how she would be able to convince Jeff not to take any of his medicine. That would certainly make things very interesting if he didn't.