Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me, and I have nothing whatsoever to do with the V8 Supercars, although I have altered some of the driver's names to make them fit into the Cars world. The altered names also belong to me.

Chapter 6

Promptly at nine o'clock the following morning, Lightning arrived at the Triple Eight team headquarters. Leyland had pretty much ordered him to not come before then, just in case the sedative hadn't quite warn off. Plus, Craig and Jamie were doing radio interviews that morning, so training had been cancelled.

Upon entering the building, Lightning found Leyland talking to a V8 Supercars official. They came over to him.

"Good morning, Lightning," Leyland said. "How does the speed limiter feel this morning?"

"It's a bit stiff and sore, but nothing I can't handle."

"Good. We can give you a mild painkiller if need be."

"I think I'll be okay," Lightning smiled.

"You haven't had any breakfast this morning, have you?"

"No. You told me not to last night."

"Yes. Well, unfortunately, you'll have to undergo some unpleasantness today. Namely, having your fuel changed over, which is why I ordered you not to have any breakfast."

Lightning cringed. He'd had to undergo that procedure when he first became a race car, and Leyland was right. It was incredibly unpleasant.

With much reluctance, Lightning went with Leyland and the official up to the training room. Dr Andrews was waiting for them.

"I'll leave you three alone," Leyland said. "Watching fuel changes always makes me feel sick."

"How do you think I feel?" Lightning retorted.

"Which is why I never became a race car." And Leyland left.

"Come over here, please, Lightning," Dr Andrews instructed. He was parked beside a large tarpaulin that was on the floor to protect the carpet. Lightning drove over to it, and he parked himself on it.

"Do I have to undergo this?" Lightning whimpered.

"I'm afraid so," the V8 official answered. "Don't worry. It won't hurt."

"Just be prepared for me to throw up," Lightning sighed.

"Lucky I've got a strong tank," the official muttered.

Lightning gasped and shuddered as Dr Andrews forced a long plastic tube down into his tank. He then groaned loudly when Dr Andrews began siphoning off his fuel. There was silence for a few minutes, save for the sound of Lightning's fuel pouring into a large plastic jerry-can. The Lightning groaned again.

"I'm going to be sick," he whispered.

Since Dr Andrews was busy holding the tube still, the official placed a plastic try in front of Lightning. Lightning retched for a moment, before finally hurling a small amount of oil and fuel into the tray.

"At least you were honest about not having any breakfast this morning," the official sighed.

"Can I have a drink, please?" Lightning asked, trembling slightly.

At Dr Andrews' nod, the official placed a can of oil in front of Lightning. The race car took a small sip, and immediately retched again.

"I'm almost done," Dr Andrews announced.

Sure enough, the fuel has ceased gushing from Lightning's tank, and now it was barely a trickle. A moment later, Dr Andrews removed the tube.

"Can you get up onto the rolling road for me, please?" he asked Lightning.

"What for?"

"To flush what's left of the fuel out of your engine. Just run it slowly, or leave it idling if you don't think you can manage movement."

"I can't move," Lightning told him pitifully. "I'll collapse if I do."

"I take it you're not used to being starved, right?"

"It's only happened to me twice. I think jetlag's making this time worse."

"Okay. Just stay there then, but put your engine on idle."

Lightning complied. Within five minutes, Lightning's engine sputtered to a stop. He had no fuel left whatsoever. At the official's approving nod, Dr Andrews placed a fuel nozzle inside Lightning's tank. Lightning began to relax as he felt his tank filling up again. But then he shuddered.

"Urgh! That fuel tastes horrible! It's so bitter!"

"You'll get used to it," the official assured him.

Lightning cast him his I-don't-believe-you look.

"Turn you engine on again," Dr Andrews instructed.

Lightning did so. It took him two attempts to turn it over, but when it did, Lightning was relieved to find that it sounded and felt normal.

Once Lightning's tank was full, Dr Andrews removed the fuel nozzle. "There you go, Lightning. You can return to the hotel now if you're feeling well enough. Or would you like me to escort you?"

"I'd prefer an escort, thanks. Just in case I feel sick again."

"No problem. I'll just let Leyland know. You'd better get plenty of rest today and tonight. We've got a seven o'clock flight in the morning."

"Great!" Lightning muttered to himself.

…

Early the following morning, Lightning found himself aboard another Qantas flight, only this time it was flying south towards the city of Melbourne. Leyland, Craig, Jamie, Dr Andrews, JJ, Dutto, Mater, Sally and the rest of the Redbulldozer Racing team was also on the flight. Together, they took up nearly a third of the entire economy section. Lightning was seated beside Craig, with Mater and Sally behind him. He'd spent most of the trip trying to learn some Australian slang and phrases from Craig.

"So, what does Qantas mean?" Lightning asked.

"It's actually an acronym for Queensland And Northern Territory Ariel Service," Craig explained.

"How come when I flew out here, Leyland let me fly first class, but now we're in economy?"

"We always fly economy on a domestic trip, but when we fly overseas, we either go first or business class."

"Oh." Lightning glanced down at the list of Australian words and phrases he'd written out that he wanted explained. "What's a Jackaroo and Jillaroo?"

"Australian cowboys and cowgirls."

Lightning nodded. "A station?"

"Either a railway station, cop shop or what you'd call a cattle ranch."

"Cop shop?"

"Police station."

"Wow! You Australians have got some really weird names for things!"

"So do you Americans. It took me years to work out what a sorority is."

At that moment, the intercom came on, and a female voice spoke through it. "Good morning ladies and gentlecars. This is your captain speaking. We'll be landing in Melbourne shortly. Current local temperature is eleven degrees and the weather is overcast..."

"ELEVEN DEGREES?" Mater shrieked.

"Celsius!" the entire Redbulldozer team, including Lightning, reminded him in unison.

Then made everyone inside the cabin burst out laughing. Poor Mater sheepishly tried to hide.

"Ah! Poor Mater!" Lightning chuckled to Craig. "I really shouldn't laugh, but that was funny!"

"Even so, eleven degrees is quite cold," Jamie interjected. "I hope my anti-freeze is topped up."

"It is," Dr Andrews assured him without looking up from his book.

"I've arranged for Red to meet us at the airport," Leyland told Lightning, Jamie and Craig. "He'll collect you from the tarmac so you don't have to battle through the fans."

Sure enough, Red was waiting for them when the plane landed about twenty minutes later. Leyland escorted Lightning, Craig and Jamie off the plane and over to where Red was parked with the trailers. Glancing up at the terminal windows, Lightning could see a small crowd of fans pressed up against the glass. Then he followed Craig and Jamie inside the trailers. They took up the front trailer, closest to Red, leaving Lightning with the back section.

"I'll see you three at the track," Leyland said. He pressed a button, and the rear trailer's ramp closed.

Red started his engine, and he drove out of the airport, hauling his heavy load. Lightning glanced around at the interior of the conjoined trailers. Just like everything else associated with Triple Eight, it was perfectly spotless and tidy. There was a large LED TV in each section, and large windows that let plenty of light into the trailer, but prevented anyone from seeing inside. Lightning switched on his TV, and he started flicking through the channels.

"If you're looking for the Piston Cup, it's only on, on Monday mornings between about six and eight-thirty on channel eleven," Jamie told him. "But they only show the highlights."

Frowning, Lightning switched the TV off. He then settled down for the journey to Sandown International Raceway, which was just twenty-five kilometres south-east of Melbourne's CBD.

About forty minutes later, Red parked alongside a number of other trucks at the racetrack, and he lowered the ramp. Fed up with being cooped up inside for so long, Lightning fairly flew out of the trailer. Unfortunately, he didn't quite look at where he was going, and he almost landed on top of Leyland!

"Whoops! Sorry!" Lightning quickly apologised. He could hear Jamie and Craig sniggering behind him.

"Running over the boss! Not a good start, Speedster," Craig chuckled.

Leyland shook himself. "Something tells me you're keen to hit the racetrack. Well, I'm afraid you'll have to wait until after our track drive today. Go and grab yourselves some lunch, and then we'll meet in our pit in fifteen minutes."

"Where are Sally and Mater?" Lightning asked.

"Settling down in the hotel," Leyland answered before driving off.

Lightning turned to Jamie and Craig. "What's a track drive?"

"You'll find out," Jamie grinned.

Just under fifteen minutes later, Lightning entered the Redbulldozer Racing pit, which was right at the far end of pit row. Leyland was there, of course, as was most of the pit crew. Jamie was talking to Dutto and another race car Lightning was yet to meet. There was no sign of Craig.

One of the pit crew members, the elusive Jeremy Moore, better known as JJ, drove over to Lightning. They'd finally met that morning at the airport. Like the rest of the team, he seemed like a nice guy.

"Okay, Lightning. As Craig's co-racer, you'll be working very closely with me from now on. You'd better understand here and now that during a race, I'm in charge of Craig's side of the team, unless Dutto or Leyland overrule me."

"I get that," Lightning smiled. "Just don't confuse me. I lost a race once when my crew chief became confused."

"Are we all here now?" Leyland asked, shouting so as to be heard above all the noise.

"We're only missing Craig," JJ answered.

"No, you're not," Craig said, appearing behind Leyland. "Sorry, I was talking to James."

"Traitor!" Jamie muttered.

Leyland sighed. "Let's go!"

The whole team drove out of pit row and onto the racetrack, moving slowly. Looking around, Lightning saw other teams driving slowly around the track too, and he realised what a track drive was.

Jamie and his friend drove closer to Lightning. "Lightning, this is my friend and co-racer, Paul Drivewell."

"It's nice to finally meet you, Lightning," Paul smiled. "I'm looking forward to racing against you."

"But…we're on the same team," Lightning pointed out.

"We may be on the same team," Jamie interjected, "but we just as competitive as any other team on the track. Leyland sometimes has to interfere whenever Craig and I find ourselves racing against each other."

"Did I hear my name mentioned?" Craig teased as he also drove up alongside Lightning. He looked at the American racer seriously. "How's your speed limiter settling in?"

"It doesn't bother me now," Lightning told him honestly.

"That's good. We all have to have speed limiters. Makes the playing field an even one. Even so, we still try to find as much speed as we can possibly get. That's something I've been struggling with lately."

"What did Jamie mean before when he called you a traitor?"

"James Courtney is a good friend of mine. We go back a long way to my early years of racing. Unfortunately, we're on rival teams, but we still enjoy a good chat. But whatever you do, DO NOT talk to any of the Ford racers. The Nissan and Mercedes-Benz racers aren't too bad, but they're no competition against us."

"I don't get it."

"Here in Australia, it's always 'mate against mate' and 'state against state'," Jamie explained. "But the biggest rivalry is that of Holden verses Ford. You're lucky you're with us, and not with those cheap Fordsters."

"Fordsters?"

"Just a nickname I just invented for them," Jamie said with a wink.

"Come over here, you four!" Leyland called as they arrived at the first corner. It was a sharp, almost ninety-degree left-hand turn. "Where do you think the racing line is on this corner?"

Lightning and Paul hung back as Craig and Jamie studied the tarmac carefully. Leyland raised his left eyelid at Lightning.

"Would you like to try and make an educated guess, Lightning?"

"I've never raced on a track like this before," Lightning confessed.

"I'd still like you to try."

Lightning also studied the track closely. At a distance, he'd easily be able to see the racing line, but it was difficult to see it when he was so close to it. Then he saw it. The tell-tale grooves in the tarmac from countless tyres running over it were right next to the apex. Lightning pointed to it.

"Here," he said.

"Well done," Leyland praised. "You'll have to be careful not to cut the corner too tightly though. And be careful not to over-correct when you come out of it. I know for a fact that sharp corners like this are the downfall of some Piston Cup racers. You get so used to driving in smooth curves that you forget how to turn. Right. Let's move onto the next corner. The racing line for this one won't be so easy to find…"

…

After the track drive session was over, Lightning joined the rest of the co-racers in pit row for their one and only practice session. Since the regular V8 racers were not allowed to practice until the qualifying round tomorrow, they'd all returned to their respective hotels.

Lightning eyed the other co-racers with a competitive eye. He didn't know any of them, and because of that, he didn't know any of their strengths or weaknesses. Seeing JJ indicating to him by holding up his headset, Lightning switched on his radio. JJ's voice came over it.

"Radio check. Can you hear me, Lightning?"

"Loud and clear, JJ."

"Good. They're sending our team out first. Paul will go first, and then you. I want you to stay behind Paul and follow his racing lines exactly. I'll monitor you from here."

"Okay."

Minutes later, Lightning followed Paul out onto the track. The rest of the co-racers for the other teams fell into line behind them. Paul quickly accelerated up the straight, and Lightning went with him.

At the last second, Paul braked for the first corner. He decelerated so fast, Lightning almost ran up the back off him! He had to cut sharply to the right to avoid a collision.

"Concentrate, Speedster," JJ said over the radio.

"Sorry. I wasn't prepared for that."

"Well, you should've been prepared. You need to learn to 'expect the unexpected'. Besides, this isn't a race. You don't need to be that close to Paul, so just curb your enthusiasm."

Lightning sheepishly backed off a bit. He made it around the rest of the track without further incident. One of the Ford Performance Racing co-racers locked up and went skidding off the track into the grass, completely humiliating himself.

After completing the warm up lap, Paul accelerated up to racing speed. Not quite feeling comfortable with the track yet, Lightning retained his current pace, staying off the racing line whenever someone wanted to overtake him. After a few more laps, JJ got on the radio again.

"You need to start pushing yourself, Lightning. I don't care if you skid off the track. Just get up to racing speed!"

Grimacing, Lightning accelerated up the straight. Braking as late as he dared, he made it safely around the first corner, albeit with a lot of tail slide.

"That was good, Lightning!" JJ said encouragingly. "Keep it up! I know it looks scary, but tail slides are perfectly normal on our tracks."

Grinning, and feeling much more optimistic, Lightning began to settle into a rhythm.

About an hour later, the practice session came to an end. Lightning felt exhausted when he drove into pit row. He wouldn't touch the track again until race day on Sunday. But he was happy with what he'd done that afternoon. He felt comfortable with the track, and he was pretty sure he'd be okay on race day.

Leyland, Dutto and JJ were studying the stats intently when Lightning and Paul entered the pit shed. They looked over at the co-racers.

"You both did well today," Leyland said. "However, Lightning, we could see that you were a bit nervous at first. You can't allow yourself to get nervous like that. It distracts you from focussing, and that's when you make mistakes. Ask Jamie about his 2010 crash in practice at the Gold Coast six-hundred when you get back to the hotel. I'll also need you two to be here no later than seven o'clock tomorrow morning. Sorry you won't get a sleep-in, but channel seven want to do an interview with you two, Craig and Jamie. I think that's about all for now. Goodnight, and I'll see you bright and early in the morning."