"Hey, Corsa boy," came a voice, "If you want, come crash at mine tonight, and we can talk about getting you your first race!"

Fred had drove up. Noah felt his redcoat flush a touch redder.

"Sorry, interrupting anything?" grinned the yellow Lada.

"No, no," Noah said airily, front wheels spinning as he fought to contain his embarrassment, "Yeah, cone sounds good. Sorry."

"That's cool" said the Barracuda, "Gotta meet Boost in five minutes anyway." With a growl from his stub exhaust, the muscle car reversed and headed off. Noah nervously followed Fred back down the high street.

"Fancy taking a drive?" Fred asked.

"Ok," replied the Nova.

With a rasp from his side exhausts, the Lada began to pick up speed. Noah nervously followed his friendly teacher. He could see the varous entry stickers plastered over his rear window.

"If you ever want to talk," grinned Fred, "You can."

"What do you mean?" asked Noah.

"I could see the way he was looking at you."

"Who?"

"That Plymouth! He couldn't take his eyes off you. I'd bet my lugnuts that he fancies you."

Noah screeched to a halt. No. Had it been that obvious?

"You're gonna ask if I have a problem, aren't ya?" asked Fred.

"Well, I er.." choked the Nova.

"Well I don't!" Fred smirked, "Guess who I'm dating?"

"Who?" asked Noah.

"You know Chick?"

"Who?" Noah asked again. Who was that? Oh yeah, the green Buick Regal. "No way!"

Fred nodded in earnest.

"Wouldn't that, like, I dunno, make things bad between you and Lightning, rival team and all that?"

"Lightning doesn't care!" Fred said, "Chick got kicked into line when he was stripped of his Piston Cup when he wrecked The King. Not half as arrogant as he used to be. He's charming really. Doesn't race the Piston cup anymore, he actually occasionally races in the unlimited class in the same championship as me. Camshaft Cup, Pre-1990 sedans. I taught him how to corner."

By now the two cars had arrived at a building near the out-of-town impount lot. This building looked recently refurbished and bore the 'Rust-Eze' logo.

"You live at the HQ?" asked Noah.

"Yeah, share with Mack and Lightning," Fred said, "Anyway, if you want Snot Rod to notice you, you need to drop hints. Chick and I had our first kiss after his first race."

"Do you not live with him?" asked Noah.

"He's not ready for that yet," Fred said, "Only you and Lightning know about it, he wants to keep it secret. There's a lot of angry race fans who still hate him for his stunt on the King."

The Lada led the Nova into the back garages of the HQ. Fred's garage was easy to spot. There were several trophies and news articles about him on display. One read 'McQUEENS SPONSOR A WINNER!'. Intrigued, Noah took a look.

Sears Point race report, February 2007. By Kori Turbowitz.

Seems Lightning McQueen has been tutoring his own sponsorship! The opening round of the Camshaft Cup for Pre-1990 sedans was blitzkreiged by newcomer Fred, a 1985 Lada Riva originating from Russia and the United Kingdom. However we were intrigued by a certain familiarity about this Soveit-built buzzbox. Silver bolt stickers on the front wings, running #95, and sponsorship by Rust-Eze. We can exclusively reveal that Fred was actually a member of the Rust=Eze Medicated Bumper Ointment Racing Team sponsor prior to making his competition debut and now races under McQueen's colours as the second car. Whilst he lacks the outright speed and grunt to beat the best of the Piston Cup, Fred took the sprint and feature rounds of today's event by ten seconds, showing superb drifting and cornering techniques.

"It was my first professional race and it was a bit daunting," stated Fred, who runs on Organic-spec fuel only available from Radiator Springs, "Especially when you've got the legend of Lightning McQueen to live up to. I know what its like to come from nothing, so all 'm doing is making the best of what I've got."

On making a required personal appearance post-race to the sponsorship, as stated in his contract, Fred found addressing his former brethren difficult.

"Many of them now think I've got too big for my tyres, but I think it is just jealousy to be honest.I haven't forgotten my roots and am grateful to them for paying out extra sponsorship. Without them, I wouldn't have made it."

The Camshaft Cup has never been won by a rookie before, and Fred is already tipped to be the hot favourite to win this year's championship.

The article was accompanied by a photo of Fred crossing the finish line. Fred also had trophies for various hillclimbs and class wins, all accumulated over the past few months. He also had an award for first place in a local drifting competition. Fred was definitely a force to be rckoned with! Not bad for a starstruck, rusty old Soviet tin can! Above this article was a photo graph of Fred and Lightning together on a track, obviouly a publicity shot.