Lyra 'Lightning' McQueen, the rookie sensation and one of the very few female racers to ever make it into the Piston Cup Final since the tournament began back in 1949. When the season had begun she hadn't been on anyone's radar, she was simply an unknown who many including her other competitors and the press, had assumed would burn out quickly and remain at the bottom of the standings. But then came her first race, which also happened to be her first win and then suddenly people started to take an interest in her. For the next several months Lyra continued to make her presence know, always coming in the top 5 of any of the races that she was in and racking up the points. And now here she was, with the Piston Cup just in reach; all she needed to do now was win one final race and it would be hers. The dream that she had held since childhood and never faltered from was about to finally come true.

"I am speed. I was born for speed." Lyra told her reflection residing in the small mirror attached to one of the walls in her trailer, her home away from home. Because of the vast distances that had to be travelled between races as well as the sponsor events that she attended the trailer had to be large enough to haul around her race car, Lightning, and not much else. It wasn't a large trailer in fact most people would call it cramped but Lyra didn't think of it that way, instead she found it cosy filled with all the comforts of home that she would need while on the road. True many of her competitors had nicer and spacious trailers that came with more desirable benefits like sound systems, flat screen TVs and functioning toilets but Lyra was happy with what she had. What need did she have for a TV when she was able to travel with her trusty car that she had owned since she was 19 and worked on meticulously since, plus her trailer had WIFI so she doubted she would watch a TV even if there was one in her trailer.

"One race. One winner. Forty two losers and I will not be one of them." Lyra continued her pep talk as she stepped away from her mirror and made her way over to a single coat hook which held her racing jacket. The jacket had been a gift from her sponsors, the Rust-Eze brothers or as Lyra liked to think of them, the best sponsors that a girl could wish for. The jacket was made out of leather and coloured in the exact same shade of red as Lightning's paint job. The jacket also housed a few patches with her number, lucky 95 covering her left breast, right shoulder and also the top half of the back of the jacket, with the bottom half being taken up by her sponsor's logo.

Rusty and Dusty Rust-Eze were some of the greatest people that Lyra had ever met and every day she was thankful that they had chosen her to be their spokesperson. Without them Lyra never would have been given her big break and even though their company wasn't as big as some of the others that sponsored racers such as Hostile Takeover Bank or Dinoco they still went above and beyond for her. They were like a pair of cool uncles that you only saw during the holidays that would bring you the coolest presents that your parents would never buy you no matter how much you begged or pleaded.

"Lightning you ready to go?" Mack asked, the sudden appearance of his voice breaking the silence inside the trailer. Mack was Lyra's driver, in charge of making sure that both she and Lightning made it to each and every one of their scheduled races on time and in one piece. On the long trips to and from the different race tracks Lyra and Mack were often alone, with only the occasional call from either Mack's family (his wife and son), Harv (Lyra's agent) or Rusty and Dusty being the only other interaction that the two of them would have. Because of this the two had stuck up a unique friendship that had only blossomed as more time went on between them only having each other for company. In the beginning it had been quite awkward, with Lyra and Mack hardly speaking a word to each other throughout entire trips. But then one day Mack had caught Lyra humming one of his favourite songs to drive to and their friendship was born, ever since that day whenever they travelled together the two would keep each other company, talking and singing along to playlists that they had made throughout most of their drives.

"You know it Mack." Lyra called out as she looked into the mirror one last time, giving herself a quick once over before turning once again towards the trailer's ramp. As she began to make her way to the entrance Lyra picked up her helmet which shared the same colouring as Lightning and her jacket and tucked it underneath her arm. As the shutters began to open and the light from the stadium began to pierce its way through Lyra took a moment to give herself one final piece of encouragement before the biggest race of her life began.

"Faster than fast. Quicker than quick. I am lightning."

As Lyra began to make her slow descent down the dimly lit trailer's ramp she found herself being blinded momentarily by the combined brightness of the stadium's lights and the countless cameras all flashing at once to take a photo of her appearance; the paparazzi had camped outside of her trailer once again. Now Lyra hadn't entered into the business ignorant, racing was considered to be one of the most popular and successful sports in the world, and anyone who managed to make their way to the top and make a name for themselves in the racing world was constantly hounded by the press; she just wished that they wouldn't hide in the bushes outside of her apartment building whenever she was home.

Just like with her rivals Lyra had been ignored by the press when she had first stepped onto the scene. Even when she won the very first race of the season hardly anyone took notice of her, with her name simply been quickly dropped in newspapers and articles and constant comments of how it was simply a fluke and that she would never do it again repeated everywhere. But Lyra soon showed them all how wrong they were, winning races and racking up so many points that they could no longer ignore her, especially now seeing as she had been dubbed the 'Rookie Sensation'.

"LIGHTNING! LIGHTNING! LIGHTNING!" The stadium cheered when Lyra finally came into view, her face plastered on the large TV screen housed in the centre of the track before also being cast on every other screen in the stadium, everyone was watching her. They could see her small stature, standing at just 5'4 Lyra was one of the shortest racers of the season, with only two others, both female being shorter than her. They could see the way her short multicoloured layered hairdo blew gently in the wind. Now normally Lyra's hair was dyed one colour, a deep garnet that was just a few shades lighter than Lightning's paint job. However, because of all the extra hours she had been putting into hitting the practice track in preparation for the final race Lyra hadn't had any time spare to re-dye her hair, meaning that her walnut roots had begun to show. She had considered going for a brighter red to match Lightning perfectly but after thinking about it with her suit and helmet already matching the paint job she decided against it, there was no such thing as too much red in Lyra's eyes however sometimes a different shade of it was needed. And finally the crowd could see her eyes, a deep green filled to the brim with determination and hope. It had been a long road full of obstacles to get to the Piston Cup and now that Lyra was here she was going to give the race everything she had; all her work and everything that she had sacrificed would be worth it as long as she got to stand on that podium at the end.

When her feet finally left the metal ramp of her trailer and reached the tarmac Lyra knew that it was time to stop standing still and do something that would get the crowd, especially her fans excited. Lyra had a catchphrase that she had come up with when she was a child that she had never forgotten, and even though it was slightly silly and made absolutely no sense Lyra still stuck with it till this day. It worked better when she was inside Lightning though, for she had installed a small lightning bolt shaped light over his left front wheel that she would turn on just by pushing a button on her dashboard. Whenever she was being recorded inside of Lightning be it for an interview or advert she would simply flip the switch and make it shine in time to when she spoke. However, just like now she was not always with Lightning, and so instead of shining a light she would throw up a peace sign, you couldn't make the shape of a lightning bolt with your hands after all and Lyra would know she had been trying for years.

"Ka-Chow."


It seemed as though an eternity had passed before Lyra and the rest of the racers were summoned onto the track, with most of them actually having time to do a pre-race interview beforehand. Unlike her competitors however Lyra had decided to skip out on the press and instead spent her time sitting in the pits with her crew going over Lightning one final time to make sure that he was in tip-top shape for the race. However that ended up taking only 10 minutes of the 30 minute 'eternity', so Lyra was left on her own with nothing to do but pace and stew as she waited for the call to come in.

'Why worry, worrying's not like me.' Lyra thought to herself as she gripped Lightning's steering tighter to try and calm down her nerves. She had made it, she was a competitor of the Piston Cup Final and she couldn't let her fears get the best of her right before the race started. She needed to stay in the right state of mind or else her driving would pay the price and so would she. The title, the place in the history books and the glory relied on her winning this final race and she was not about to let the tight pain in her stomach or the feelings of dread and failure she was experiencing get the better of her.

Lyra's thoughts were interrupted however when a loud siren suddenly sounded out, echoing around the entire stadium as a warning to both the spectators and the drivers that the race would begin in one minutes time and to get ready. At the same time a countdown began to play on the jumbo TV screen, with every second the excitement inside the stadium and that of the spectators at home began to raise. As the seconds began to trickle by the fear and worry that had built inside of Lyra faded away until it was mostly an inconvenience rather than a discomfort, although Lyra was fairly sure that the feeling would be gone completely after she had something else to focus on; such as trying to make it to first place.

"10! 9! 8!" The crowd shouted as the countdown neared completion and the first light appeared above the track to signal to the racers.

Ready!

Set!

GO!


"Welcome back to the Dinoco 400. I'm Bob Cutlass here with my good friend Darrell Cartrip. And we're currently midway through what may be a historic day for racing folks." Bob addressed the audience from his seat as he unbuttoned his grey suit jacket, the heat from the lights and machinery finally getting to him after nearly three hours on the air. Bob Cutlass was a renowned sports announcer, often considered to be one of the best in the business. With an excellent resume under his belt that ranged from commentating on monster truck rallies to three Olympic games Bob certainly had a mixed and well-experienced background. However, commentating on each race of the Piston Cup was by far his most famous role, from the beginning of the season to the final race Bob would be reporting on the Racing Sports Network; alongside one of his best friends Darrell Cartrip.

"Bob my blood pressures through the roof right now, if this gets any more exciting they're going to have to tow me out of the booth." Darrell told him as he shifted slightly in his seat. Darrell Cartrip was the definition of a southern gentleman, minus the fancy suit and cane. As a previous Piston Cup champion Darrell was the perfect co-host for anyone to have for the season; in fact he had been the co-host of the show for several seasons. Darrell was Bob's parallel in every way. While Bob was well dressed in an expensive three-piece suit Darrell dressed down in a blue Hawaiian shirt covered in flames that would hardly put a dent in most people's savings. Unlike Bob's sophisticated well-mannered play-by-plays Darrell was the humorous type, adding in jokes and personality to his commentary. Also, Darrell had years of experience behind the wheel actually racing unlike Bob, who had never driven a race care in his life.

"Right you are Darrell. Three racers are currently tied for the season points lead as we head into the final race. And the winner of this race Darrell will win the championship title and the prestigious Piston Cup." Bob told the audience as the image on the screen behind them began to project live footage of the race, specifically footage of the current top 3 racers as they made their way around the track. "Does 'The King', Strip Weathers, have one more victory in him before retirement?"

"He's been Dinoco's golden boy for years! Can he win them one last Piston Cup?" Darrell replied as the screen changed once again to a zoomed in image of 'The King' live from the track while several smaller videos of stock footage played down the side. Strip Weathers was the sweetheart of the racing world, a devoted husband and father who never let his career affect his home life; there was no other driver in any league kinder then 'The King' and everybody knew it. Strip however was no longer a young man and had finally reached the point in his life where he wanted to slow down a little and spend more time with his family. With a career lasting almost 15 years and the title of most wins ever in all of Piston Cup history with 7 championships under his belt the odds of winning one last time before he began his retirement were looking good.

"And, as always, in the second-place spot we find Chick Hicks. He's been chasing 'The King's' tail fin his entire career." Just like before the scene changed to a close up of Chick Hicks, a professional runner-up. Chick had started racing the same year as Strip and ever since then had been in his shadow, even in the first few years when Strip never made it to the Piston Cup Final; Chick had always ended up coming in a lower position. The biggest difference between the two rivals however were their personalities. Unlike Strip who was a gentleman in every way Chick was a brash, rude, arrogant and self-centred man who cared about only two things, winning and landing the Dinoco sponsorship.

"Chick thought this was his year, Bob. His chance to finally emerge from 'The King's shadow. But the last thing he expected was Lightning McQueen!" Suddenly the images of Chick Hicks were replaced by a lightning bolt striking the middle of the screen with the name Lightning McQueen written in the middle. Ever since Lyra had let it slip during a press conference that she had named her car after an old nickname of hers the media had decided that that would be the name they would call her by, probably because Lightning McQueen sounded so much cooler than plain old Lyra. In fact, the name had so much impact that all her official merchandise used Lightning instead of her own name.

"You know, I don't think anybody expected this. The rookie sensation came into the season unknown. But everyone knows her now." The images changed one final time just like it had done with her rivals, showing a zoomed-in video of Lyra's current position on the track; 3rd place right behind Chick Hicks. Unlike her rivals however Lyra had never been in a Piston Cup Final so the studio had been unable to play any previous footage alongside the live image of her car, instead the video's playing down the side were either 360 shots of her sitting on top of Lightning that were used for her profile on the Piston Cup website or footage from one of her commercials for Rust-Eze.

"Will she be the first rookie to win a Piston Cup and perhaps land Dinoco?" Darrel asked, voicing everyone's burning question over this year's championship. 'The King' and Chick had years of experience on their side, unlike Lyra who was still in her first year of professional racing. But Lyra had her headstrong nature and aggressive attitude to racing that had resulted in her landing a position in the final in the first place on her side and she had no plans to change her attitude anytime soon.

"The legend, the runner-up, and the rookie! Three racers, one champion!"


Back down on the track things had begun to heat up between the contestants as they neared the 200th lap mark. Lyra had been steadily climbing up the leaderboard since the race had started, passing by her competition almost effortlessly as she made her way from her starting position of 12th place to 3rd. In front of her 'The King' still held the coveted lead, however right on his tail was none other than Chick Hicks, a recurring image in 'The King's' rearview mirror throughout his entire career. Passing 'The King' would be one of the hardest things that Lyra had done in her limited career she was sure of it; the man didn't have 7 Piston Cup wins to his name for nothing after all.

Passing by Chick Hicks on the other hand wouldn't be as challenging as going against 'The King', true he had never actually come first to 'The King' but he was still more of a threat then people gave him credit for; after he was good enough to be a runner-up in most of his races and you didn't continuously do that for nearly 15 years unless you were good.

As the three of them came off a turn Lyra began to notice that everything was coming into place for her to finally make her move and go up a position. Strip had driven to the outside of the track followed immediately by Chick who was trying to use the opening as an opportunity to speed past Strip so that he could gain first place. However whenever Chick attempted to move and use the opening 'The King' would drift to his left slightly, blocking Chick's attempts to pass him. The pair continued this little dance as they moved further into the inside of the track as another turn came into reach, unknowingly giving Lyra everything she needed to finally put her plan into action to claim first place for herself.

Because Chick was so distracted trying to finally pass 'The King' and appear 1st on the leaderboard for the first time in his life he hadn't noticed Lyra begin to make her move behind him. As Chick and Strip entered into the turn the pair drove in sync, moving into the inside of the track and leaving plenty of space between them, creating an opening to both of their right sides with more than enough room for someone to drive past; in this case that person being Lyra. Putting her foot down hard on the gas pedal Lyra began to accelerate until she was right beside Chick's car, a smile on her face for finally managing to pass him and also as a friendly hello towards Chick.

Chick didn't see her smile that way however, nor the small innocent wave that she had given him as she passed by; not that Chick could really see her that well through his safety mesh. Lyra had been a pain in Chick's side all season, his hate for her almost reaching almost the same level as his hatred for Strip; even though they had never raced against each other before today. The reason for his detest and unadulterated loathing for Lyra was because Chick had been expecting this season to finally be his. After years of coming 2nd and 3rd this was his last chance to beat Strip before he retired, one last opportunity to finally have 'The King' look up at him on the winning podium instead of the other way around.

But then Lyra 'Lightning' McQueen had entered the season and put all his plans at risk. She was as quick and fierce as her namesake on the track, moving up the leaderboard at an alarming rate until she was tied with both him and Strip pointwise. She should have been knocked out of the season in the beginning along with the rest of the rookies to fade into obscurity, yet here she was about to knock him down to 3rd place, but she wouldn't hold the honour of 2nd for long if Chick had any say in the matter.

As soon as Lyra drifted in front of him Chick hit the gas like he never had before to catch up, moving behind her until he was right next to Lyra's back bumper. It was then that Chick pounced, using the side of his own car to hit Lyra's back left tire, leading to Lyra losing control of Lightning altogether unable to do anything as she swerved across the track until she finally came to a stop on a patch of grass right in front of the camping site. After giving her very encouraging fans a wave and a small smile Lyra put her foot down and began to slowly make her way off the grassy patch as the rest of the competition drove past her, leaving Lyra in last place.


As another 'would be champion' began to tail him Chick decided to take a quick glance into his left side mirror, seeing within it the long line of racers speeding behind him, but most importantly he saw that Lightning McQueen had managed to re-enter the tack. Chick had hoped that he had managed to knock her out of the competition altogether when he had caused her to lose control of her car, thinking that she would have ended up crashing into the barrier or that her car had flipped over but that sadly appeared to not be the case. Instead Lightning was now in last place however Chick knew that she wouldn't be there for long, the girl clearly had skills to climb her way back up the leader board or else she wouldn't have made it to the finals in the first place. The bigger question was could she managed to once again become a danger for Chick's chance at the cup.

After taking another quick glance into his mirror and seeing Lightning re-join the end of the long line of cars behind him Chick had his answer, he couldn't take the risk of her working her way up back to 3rd, not when they still had over 200 laps to go.

"Dinoco is all mine." Chick told himself as he sharply steered his 1979 Shyster Cremlin into the racer next to him, number 64 Winford Bardford Rutherford or as he was more commonly called by his fellow racers 'The Professor'. Just like what had happened before with Lighting Winford's car was sent flying out of control, only instead of having a patch of grass waiting for him like Lyra had, Winford was sent crashing into the outside barrier, sending a domino effect down the line of racers. Number 92 Murray Clutchburn ended up crashing headfirst into the side of Winford's car, the resulting force of the collision sending Murray flying backwards into a multitude of the other competitors; who all in turn were either sent backwards like Murray or sent flying down to the inside of the track.

"Get through that McQueen." Chick chucked before accelerating forward after 'The King'. Because of the limited space between each of the racers there was no time for anyone to break before they found themselves crashing into the vehicle in front of them, resulting in a disastrous storm of cars and smoke to form on the track that only grew. As more cars entered into the smoke it became much harder to manoeuvre around those who had already crashed, some who entered the smoke immediately collided with another diver while others managed to make it through some of the blockade only to have a car suddenly veer towards them and smash into their side.

"Trouble on turn three!"


'Just breathe.' Lyra told herself as she accelerated into the storm of smoke, like a warrior charging into battle. As the accident took on more casualties Lyra had to make one of the hardest decisions of her life, run away and live to try again for the Piston Cup next year or attempt to make her way through what could only be described as an angry sea of smoke and cars with hardly any visibility. She could have simply turned around or shifted into reverse like many of the other racers had but Lyra knew if she took that route then the race was over for her, she'd never make her way back to the top of the leaderboard if she ran away. But if she managed to make her way through the crash in one piece then Lyra would move back to her previous position of 3rd as if she had never been knocked down in the first place, getting there however would be the ultimate challenge. Every turn and use of her pedals had to be exactly right or that was it game over and she would have to wait until next year, and that was only if she made it out of the crash unharmed.

There wasn't a moment's rest in the storm, every second was spent observing the track for new obstacles that seemed to appear out of nowhere. It was total mayhem with some unbelievable sights that Lyra would have never believed if she hadn't seen them with her own eyes. While most of the cars were constantly crashing into each other or whatever came in their way, there were some in questionable positions that had Lyra wondering how they had ended up that way in the first place. The most mind-boggling was the two cars that were stacked on top of each other, number 123 'Todd Marcus' and number 52 'Claude Scruggs'; with number 52 on top of 123 upside down. It was a miracle in itself that Clause hadn't been flung off the top of Todd's roof as the two speed away further into the smoke ahead of her.

As Lyra reached the eye of the storm after dodging multiple other racers everything changed, and not for the better. There right in the middle of the track were Todd and Claude though this time they were stationary and no longer a balancing duo. She didn't know what had happened that finally allowed Claude to dislodge from Todd's roof, but Lyra hoped that it hadn't put either of the racers in danger. As she looked past them however Lyra began to feel a wave of dread pool in her stomach as she saw her worst nightmare come to life, there was no way around them. Any visibility that she had on what lie past the pair was limited, but one thing was clear by the blurred looking paint jobs that she could just manage to make out, the road ahead was laid with so many crashed vehicles that she wouldn't be able to manoeuvre around them.

As Lyra got closer an idea struck her that was so stupid that she nearly bashed her head on her steering wheel to punish herself for even coming up with it. Todd and Claude's cars appeared to look similar to a ramp and seeing as there was no way around them, she should use their situation to her advantage and go over both them and the cars ahead of her. It was such a stupid plan that it couldn't possibly work, but she was out of ideas. If she speed around the pair she would crash immediately in the sea of cars that awaited beyond the smoke, but if she remained where she was that she would most likely end up being smashed into by one of the many cars still out of control. She didn't have a choice, she had to give her stupid most likely impossible plan a chance.

As she accelerated forward Lyra said a small prayer for herself and for Todd and Claude, praying that she would make it out of this stupid plan alive and in one piece and that she didn't harm either of the drivers as she used them as a ramp. It was as if time itself had slowed down just for that moment as Lightning was launched off the undercarriage of number 52 and sent flying into the air, much higher that Lyra had anticipated. As Lightning continued to ascend higher Lyra took a quick peek at the crashed cars below, she had been right there wasn't enough room between any of the cars for her to manoeuvre around if she hadn't taken this chance she was have crashed the second she passed Todd and Claude.

Suddenly as Lyra flew out of the cloud of smoke she was met by a bombardment of camera flashes, all taking pictures of her stupid plan. If she wasn't currently living the moment Lyra would have never believed that she had managed to fling herself and Lightning so far, just like many other wouldn't tomorrow when they saw the clip on the news and YouTube. But all things must come to an end and as Lightning began to descend back down to the track time began to start up again. And in the blink of an eye, Lyra was back on the ground and heading toward the starting line once again.


"Look at that McQueen made it through!" Darrel shouted, a slight bounce in his step as he watched the young racer land safely back on the tarmac, her sudden reappearance surprising everyone in the stadium. No one had been able to make out anything that was happening inside of the smoke cloud, or at least they hadn't until McQueen had appeared once again, unharmed and literally flying above the crash much to the surprise of everyone watching, It was unbelievable, in fact in all the years that he had under his belt both on the track racing and off the track commentating Darrel couldn't remember a more memorable moment. Lyra McQueen was certainly something else there was no denying that, not after they had all seen her perform the impossible; he would have to interview her later on and ask her how she managed to pull off such a stunt.

"A spectacular move by Lightning McQueen." Bob spoke with enthusiasm as he turned away from the large window to face the direction of the cameras, unable to hide his emotions. Just like Darrel Bob had been thoroughly impressed by McQueen's display on the track and could hardly control himself when she came back into view nearly 15 feet in the air with no one having any idea how she got up there. The crowd had gone just as wild as both him and Darrel, chanting her name from the moment she reappeared and not stopping until she had long passed the starting line.

"While everyone else heads into the pits McQueen stays out to take the lead." Bob told the viewers, watching what was happening back down on the track on one of the many screens that were set up behind the cameras. On the biggest screen which was used to house the current footage that was being broadcast both around the stadium and at home Bob could see Lyra pull up behind the yellow safety car that had come out onto the track. The rookie sensation certainly had a chance at the title now more than ever, all she had to do was remain in first place for another 200 laps and she would have her first championship title.

Back down in the pits, an air of sadness loomed as a number of racers were carted off either too injured to continue racing or no longer having a car that they could safely drive. The crash that Chick had caused had taken out 11 racers from the final, 5 from their injuries and 6 from their cars being beat up. Luckily no one was in critical condition with the worst of the injuries being both a broken leg and a broken arm.

While the pit crews were rushing about changing tires and refilling engines Chick was taking things leisurely, bragging to his crew about the disaster he had created on the track and how McQueen was likely out of the race. In Chick's mind, he had created a whole scenario on how he imagined things had gone down in the crash for McQueen. He imagined her spiralling out of control and hitting another racer before being hit again and again by more cars until her precious 'Lightning' was broken and destroyed until it was unfixable. If that was really how it all went down than Chick would have given nearly anything to have seen it.

"Mcqueen made it through. She's not pitting." And just like that, with those few words from his crew chief, Chick's fantasy was broken and he was brought back into reality.

"Come on! Get me out there! Let's go! Get me back out there! Come on!"


It was rather awkward for Lyra sitting inside Lightning with only her own thoughts to keep her company for over 300 laps. She used to have a crew chief, in fact, she had had 3 since the season had started. All polite gentleman who would speak words of encouragement and advice into her ear as she raced around the track, but none of them ever lasted very long, her agent Harv made sure of that. He would come up with an excuse not long after each of her different crew chiefs had been hired, that they were lying on their resume or that they weren't doing their job as good as they should have and so he had to fire them; even though Lyra found each of them to do a wonderful job. But Harv would have none of it, 'Only the best for you,' he would tell her before going on about something else as a means to distract her, and so Lyra had been left without a crew chief at the most important race of her life.

Though it was a horrible thing to say, thanks to the crash Lyra had finally been able to move into first place and hold on to her position for nearly 200 laps as well as hold a substantial lead over the other racers. Both 'The King' and Chick had been caught up down at the pits after all the other racers had seen her stay out to take the lead, with Chick actually ending up right down at the bottom when he finally managed to leave his pit, in nearly the same position that she had held after he sent her off the track. But that had been hours ago when the race had gone into a restart. Now as they neared the final lap both Strip and Chick had moved up the leaderboard until they were in 2nd and 3rd respectively, although Lyra still had a huge lead on all the other racers.

As Lyra passed the starting line a white flag was waved above her head signalling to her and everyone in the stadium that it was the final lap. Lyra could hardly contain the excitement that she felt, wanting to jump up and down and scream in joy all at the same time. In a few seconds, her dream which she had held onto since she was a child and never faltered from would come true. Her years spent training and the sacrifices she had made along the way would all be worth it when she passed the finish line.

"Checkered flag, here I come!" Lyra told herself as she entered the final turn, the finishing line within her grasp. Suddenly everything came crashing down as one of Lightning's back tyres burst, sending him out of control. Lyra couldn't believe it, she had been driving on the same set of tyres for nearly 200 laps and this was when they decided to go, when she was about to achieve her dream; couldn't they have waited until she had passed the finish line.

When it came to racing Lyra had tunnel vision, with her only goal being to past the finish line in a relatively top position, preferably 1st. And because of this she often made stupid mistakes that she would kick herself for actually doing when the races were finished and she was away from everyone else. In this instance, not listening to any of her pit crew about changing her tyres during any of the times that she had gone into the pits. Instead, she kept telling them to just refill her gas so that none of the other racers had the chance to catch up on her incredible lead. Perhaps if she had had a crew chief she wouldn't have ended up in this position.

With less than a hundred feet to go Lyra was struggling to control Lightning, who was now down two tyres in total; his front left tyre having burst when she had finished the final turn. It was a nightmare trying to keep him straight, constantly turning her wheels so that he wouldn't continue to veer in all directions. It was even worse when his first tire had blown, sending both of them skidding across the track so fast that Lyra though he was going to topple over. But the worst thing about Lightning's tyres bursting wasn't how limited a control Lyra now had over him, but how much it had decreased his speed. Lightning was now going so slow that both 'The King' and Chick were catching up on her despite the large lead she originally had. The more she looked into her rearview mirror to check on their positions the more Lyra wanted to rip it off as she saw them getting closer.

As both Strip and Chick passed the final turn and accelerated towards her tears began to fall down Lyra's cheeks. She had failed, she knew she had there was no question about it. She was moving less than a mile an hour and Strip and Chick were moving at over 60. Her stupidity had caused this if she had listened to her pit crew or had even the smallest amount of common sense in her Lyra would most likely have won. To think a few moments ago she was on top of the world and now Lyra felt as if she had been dragged along the track by Lighting for 400 laps.

And in an instant, it was over. 'The King' and Chick passed alongside her as she finally reached the finish lines in what appeared to be milliseconds apart. As the crowd cheered louder than they had done all night Lyra just kept moving slowly along the track, lost in her own thoughts, not caring as she heard them call her name. Lyra just sat inside Lightning, her face soaked with her tears as she clutched onto his steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles had gone white.

She had lost.