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 29

Leyland, Dutto, and JJ were busy ensuring Jamie and Paul's switch was clean, so none of them actually saw Lighting's crash with the wall. Hearing Lightning's pained voice over the radio, JJ looked up at the screens just in time to see a replay of it.

"Oh, goodness!" he whispered under his breath. Then, speaking into his headset, he said, "Lightning? Are you still able to drive?"

"Yeah, yeah. I-I think so. But my side really hurts!"

"Okay, ease up for now. I'll just concur with race control before they decide to black flag you."

Craig drove up beside him. "Black flag who?"

JJ ignored him as he flicked a switch. "Control? Do we need to bring McQueen in?"

"Negative," came the reply. "We can't see any significant external damage, and he isn't bleeding any oil. We'll keep an eye on him though, but for now he can keep racing."

"Copy that." JJ flicked the switch back. "Lightning? Race control are happy for you to continue. Do you think you can?"

"Yes."

Since Lightning sounded confident, JJ decided to leave it at that. He glanced at Leyland and Dutto.

"What happened?" Leyland asked.

"Lightning side-swiped the wall. He's in pain, but he's still able to race."

Leyland frowned with concern. Glancing up at the screens, he saw Lightning accelerating down the home straight. He didn't look like he'd been badly too hurt, but the expression on his face was clearly one of pain. He turned to Dutto.

"Get Dr Andrews in here, quick!" he ordered.

Dutto sent one of the pit crew members off to fetch Dr Andrews. The team doctor was quick to arrive. When he did, JJ filled him in on the situation.

"Can you give him a painkiller?" JJ asked.

"I'm afraid not, because they're all illegal for racers. The reason they're illegal is because the main side effect is drowsiness."

"I see," Leyland frowned. "Then, there's nothing we can do to ease his pain?"

"I'm afraid not."

Leyland nodded. "Can you stay here to keep an eye on him?"

"Of course!"

Out on the track, Lightning continued racing. He was still in the lead, but his side was throbbing painfully. All he had to do was complete each lap cleanly and stay in the lead. That was not an easy task in the best circumstances, and it was even hard now that he was injured.

"How many more compulsory laps do I need to do?" he asked JJ feebly.

"Twenty. You're minimum compulsory laps is thirty-four."

"Oh."

"Do you want to come in?"

"No. I'll keep going."

"Uh… Reynolds just went into the wall. We've got another safety car."

"Do you want me to pit?" Lightning asked.

"Hang on. Dutto? Does Lightning still have priority?" There was a pause, and then JJ replied to Lightning's question. "Yes. Come in. We'll do a full pit stop including brake pads. That should give you a chance to catch your breath."

"Copy that." And Lightning peeled off into pit lane.

As soon as Lightning reached the Redbulldozer pit, the pit crew leapt into action. They set about refuelling him, and changing his tyres and brakes pads. Lightning closed his eyes for a moment. He was hot, sore and tired. Dutto and JJ exchanged anxious glances.

"You've got nineteen more laps, Lightning," Dutto told him. "You can do it."

Dr Andrews was taking a quick look at Lightning's injured side. He returned inside the pit shed shortly before Lightning took off again.

"How bad is it?" Leyland asked him quietly.

"I can't see much from the outside, but I'd like to do some scans and x-rays after the race."

"What do you think it is?"

"Look, I'd rather just wait until I've done the scans and x-rays before I say anything."

Lightning continued racing, but the pain in his side was becoming steadily worse. "JJ?" he called. "I-I don't think I can keep going. I feel like I did at Bathurst."

"Five more laps, and then we'll bring you in," JJ promised.

Narrowing his eyes, Lightning prepared himself for one last effort. He accelerated again, going as fast as he safely could around the tight street circuit.

"Come on!" he whispered to himself. "Speed! I am speed!"

The five laps passed quickly. JJ was worried though. He didn't want to bring Lightning in without a safety car, or they could lose the significant lead Lightning had given them. Luckily, just as JJ was about to call Lightning in to the pits, one of the racers, David Wall, collided with the wall. The safety car was promptly sent out.

"Come in, Lightning! Now!" JJ ordered.

Lightning was only too happy to comply, and he was glad to swap over with Craig.

"You did great, Speedster!" Craig shouted as he raced out onto the track.

Exhausted, Lightning collapsed onto his chassis. "Do I really have to do this again tomorrow?" he moaned.

Dr Andrews gently nudged him back onto his wheels. "Now you understand why the V8 Supercars don't race every single weekend the way they do in the Piston Cup. It takes a lot out of you, doesn't it?"

"Mmm… I'm beginning to realise that."

"Come on. Let's get you cooled down, and then I need to take some x-rays and scans of your side."

"Hmm…" Dr Andrews frowned as he examined Lightning's x-rays and scans about an hour later, inside the first aid room. The track doctor was there too, also examining the x-rays and scans.

"How bad is it?" Lightning asked with a small sigh.

"Well, I'll be honest. It's not good." Dr Andrews turned to face Lightning. "You have a hairline fracture in one of your anti-roll bars."

"What does that mean?"

"One of your anti-roll bars has a crack in it. From the looks of it, I'd say that the crack has been developing slowly over the last couple of months. You're lucky it hasn't broken all the way through, but it will if you take one more big hit on your right-hand side. You took a big hit during Bathurst, didn't you?"

Lightning nodded. "And two weeks before that, Jimmy slammed me into the wall during that race I did back home."

"That must have been when it first started. You racers never cease to amaze me. Most cars would've been in absolute agony after a crash like that."

"You need to be tough to be a racer," Lightning smiled. "How long will it take to heal?"

"Minimum, three months."

"Three months?" Lightning exclaimed, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"I'm afraid so." Dr Andrews looked sadly at Lightning. "I'm really sorry, but you can't risk racing during that time. A full break will take even longer to heal."

"I understand." Lightning sighed with frustration. "What about the Enduro Cup?"

"I'll talk to Leyland. I'm sure he'll understand. Bottom line is, you won't be racing tomorrow. But before I go, we'd better give you a painkiller. Your side will start hurting more once the adrenalin leaves your system."

The track doctor was already preparing the painkiller. Lightning sighed. Once he'd been given that painkiller, he wouldn't be allowed to race again until it had left his system, which could take as long as seventy-two hours. Dr Andrews was right. There was no way he'd be able to race again tomorrow, even though he wanted to. It was very disappointing, but Lightning knew, deep down, that he couldn't take the rick. Dr Andrews watched as the track doctor administered the painkiller into Lightning's tank.

Shortly afterwards, Dr Andrews left Lightning alone with the track doctor. Moving slowly over to the TV, Lightning settled down to watch the rest of the race. He was relieved to see how well Craig was doing.

Poor Craig, Lightning thought. He's going to be devastated when I tell him.

Only eight years earlier, Lightning would've been fighting to get back out onto the track as soon as possible. But now that he was older and wiser, he knew that it wasn't worth trying.

Craig ended up winning the race, with Jamie and Paul coming in sixth place. Lightning was quickly ushered upstairs, to the room behind the podium. Craig gave him a friendly nudge.

"Hey. Dr Andrews told us about your fracture. Tough break."

"Yeah," Lightning chuckled, fully understanding Craig's joke. "Look, I'm really sorry."

"It's not your fault. Leyland's already trying to find another co-racer for me to race with tomorrow."

Lightning immediately felt sick in his tank. He was going to be replaced, just like that. But he wasn't surprised. He knew it would happen. Leyland didn't have a choice.

Outside, Lightning heard the third and second place winners being announced. Craig gently nudged his fender again.

"Hey. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Just…thinking…"

The announcer's voice rang out again. "Representing the Triple Eight Race Engineering Team to accept the team trophy, Team Manager and Chief Engineer, Mark Dutton!"

The crowd cheered as Dutto drove out onto the podium.

"And now for our winners of race thirty-one, Craig Louds and Lightning McQueen!"

The two racers drove out onto the podium. Lightning smiled when he saw the huge crowd down below them. He could easily see the Redbulldozer team, and his friends from Radiator Springs in the crowd. Mater was swinging his tow hook wildly through the air. Lightning couldn't help grinning at his quirky best friend. Lightning and Craig were then presented with their trophies.

Afterwards, Lightning went to see Leyland privately.

"Leyland, I…I hope I haven't let you down or anything…"

"Quite the contrary, Lightning," Leyland assured him. "You've surpassed my expectations, and I'm very satisfied with your efforts."

"Sorry I can't race for you tomorrow."

"Lightning, please stop apologising! These things just happen, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"Did you find a replacement for me?"

"Yes. But just between us, he's nowhere near as talented as you are. Still, if Craig wins the Enduro Cup tomorrow, the three of you will get your names on it. In some ways, we're lucky it was you who was injured and not Craig. You see, if Craig had injured himself, that would've been it. But under V8 Supercar rules, we can replace the co-racer if need be, without penalty. Everyone else will have to qualify again tomorrow, so it'll be an even playing field. It's just a shame that you won't be there to start the race for us."

"Yeah. Look, I'm really sorry-."

Leyland's wheel flew straight at Lightning's mouth. "If you say you're sorry one more time, I'll make you share a room with Dutto tonight! And trust me, you don't want that! Dutto could out-snore a fog horn any day! Or rather, any night!"

Leyland lowered his tyre as Lightning chuckled. "Actually, I was thinking of heading home early tomorrow morning. I need to face this inquiry and, most importantly, give my side time to heal."

"Yeah. We'll really miss you though. Maybe we should gather the team together for dinner somewhere, as a way of thanking you?"

"That's a nice offer, Leyland, but I'd rather just slip away quietly, please. The painkiller is starting to kick in, and I don't feel up to having a late night. Besides, the team needs to have plenty of rest. It's a big day for them tomorrow."

"You're always thinking about everyone else, aren't you? That's why everyone likes you. Please, at least say goodbye to everyone before you go. That's the least you can do."

"I will," Lightning promised. "You've all been so amazing and helpful, and I can't thank you enough for that. I'd love to come back here again one day soon to race."

"Hmm… I think I could arrange that… Maybe…"

"Well, anyway. I'd better go and let my friends know, so we can book our flight. Thanks again, Leyland. For everything."

"You're welcome, Lightning. Take care."

"You too." Lightning reluctantly drove away from Leyland, dialling a number into his phone as he went. After five rings, the person on the other end answered.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" a sleepy voice grumbled.

"Harv. It's me. Listen, I'm coming home a day earlier than planned."