Correct answer to the quiz question is... June 16th! Well done, guys!

There are two reasons I made Fudge quit as crew chief. One, it seemed fitting. Two, it explains why Smokey's crew chief in canon.

Here we go! We're at the Florida 500! I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 31- To the Future

"Welcome to racing's greatest day!" Bob Cutlass announced. "We're beachside at the Florida International Speedway to kick off a new season of Piston Cup racing. It's the Florida 500."

"Forty-three cars and a quarter million fans await today's intense contest of strategy, skill, but most of all, speed", Darrell Cartrip added. "This crowd is in for one great day of racing."


While there were a quarter of a million excited fans packed into the speedway, there were millions more people around the country also tuning in. Red, Sheriff and Lizzie were watching anxiously from Radiator Springs. Miss Fritter and the gang from Thunder Hollow had also gathered in their hometown bar to watch the race. Then there were the rest of the residents from Radiator Springs, who had shown up to the race and were going to be watching it, equally anxious as the ones back home.


"I'm Bob Cutlass", the announcer continued, "joined as always by my broadcasting partner, Darrell Cartrip and stats sensation, Natalie Certain."

"I've never seen the numbers line up for Storm like they do today, Bob", Natalie proclaimed. "Storm should be ninety-six point eight per cent unstoppable!"

"Well, don't overlook Lightning McQueen", Darrell Cartrip chimed in.


"WHIPPLEFILTER!" Miss Fritter hollered, sending everyone in the bar into an excited frenzy.


"We've heard stories of the unusual way McQueen trained to get here", Bob Cutlass went on. "Now, the question is: Did it work?"


"Oh, I hope so!" Fudge murmured to herself nervously at Bob's words. There were butterflies in her stomach. No matter what happened, she could definitely say that she had thoroughly enjoyed the last two weeks; she just hoped they'd been worth it.

Lightning was still in his trailer, going through the usual pre-race ritual. Fudge was in the pits with Cruz, Luigi, Guido, Mater, Sally, Sarge, Fillmore, Ramone and Sammy.


"Hi, guys!" she'd exclaimed happily a few minutes earlier when she, Luigi, Guido and Cruz entered the pits, catching sight of her family from back home. She was carrying a box of tissues from her toiletry bag, believing that she and the others would need them either way.

"Hey, Fudge!" they had returned the greeting, sounding equally happy to see her.

"Who's this?" Sally had asked, nodding at Cruz.

"I'm Cruz Ramirez", the yellow car had introduced herself. "I'm Mr. McQueen's trainer."

"And my new best friend", Fudge had added, smiling at Cruz, who returned the gesture.

"So, what's this we hear about you guys endin' up in a demolition derby, man?" Fillmore had questioned.

"Funny story!" Fudge had laughed. Maybe their misadventure at Thunder Hollow Speedway hadn't been funny at the time, but it was definitely funny now.

Fudge and Cruz had recounted the crazy two weeks they'd had to the rest of the Radiator Springs residents, who had laughed and exclaimed things like, "Stickers destroyed the simulator?!" and, "We'll have to meet this Herman." Fudge's description of the evil goose that had terrorised her had been especially funny. It felt good to laugh. All of them, even those who'd stayed behind in Radiator Springs, were aware of the deal Lightning made with Sterling and the stakes of this race.

The moment they were done, Fudge's phone had rung and she was quick to fish it out of her pocket and answer it.

"Yellow!" she cried. "Hi, Sammy!... You are?... Awesome! Where are you?... Entrance A113?... Yeah. Great! I'll be right there!" She hung up.

"What's going on?" Sarge had wanted to know.

"Sammy and Doc's old crew chief are here", Fudge had explained. "I gotta go meet them down at security to get them in."

"Doc's old crew chief?" Ramone had repeated while everyone else looked equally surprised.

"Yep", Fudge had confirmed. "And he's Lightning's new crew chief too."

"New crew chief?" nearly everyone had echoed in surprise and confusion.

"What about you?" Mater had quizzed Fudge.

"I'll tell you later", she had responded, not feeling like explaining again. "You can meet the new guy in a sec. I'll be right back." With that, she left the pits.

Luckily, she didn't have to explain; Luigi, Guido and Cruz explained for her while she was gone.


She had run off to the security gate, outside of which she met her half-sister and her friend.

"Hi, guys!" she had greeted them.

"Fudge!" Sammy had exclaimed. She enveloped Fudge in a hug as if it had been years since they'd last seen each other rather than hours.

"I'm so glad you guys came!" Fudge had proclaimed, hugging both of them.

"You kidding?" Smokey had laughed, hugging Fudge back. "We wouldn't have missed this for the world!" He paused and added, "River, Junior and Lou got tickets outside. They'll be watchin' from the stands." He waved towards them.

Fudge nodded happily. "Cool... Well, then, let's go!" Fudge had flashed her pit pass at the security guard and added, "They're with me", nodding at the Thomasville residents.

The car had nodded. "Go ahead."

So, the three of them made their way into the grounds, full of nerves and excitement.

"Sammy, why don't you come with me?" the sixteen-year-old had suggested, taking the twenty-seven-year-old woman by the hand. "Smokey, I think Lightning wanted to talk to you before the race. He should be in his trailer." She thought it would look better if Lightning asked him to be the crew chief.

Sammy and Smokey had both agreed to Fudge's plan. So, they all went off and that was how they got to this point.


Meanwhile, Lightning was still in his trailer, trying to get himself psyched up for the race, which was next to impossible.

"Speed", he whispered to himself with his eyes closed. "I... am... speed?"

He opened his eyes. He knew he had to accept the fact that that just wasn't true anymore. He wasn't speed. Jackson Storm was speed. There was just no way he could win this race.

Slumping on his tyres, he was distracted, as usual, by Mack banging on his trailer door.

"Hey, boss!" the truck called. "They're, uh, calling the racers to the track!"

Lightning took several deep breaths. He didn't really want to race. In fact, he felt like he'd rather just go home and throw up. Yet, if he wanted to save his career, he had no choice. He was racing. He was racing like he'd never raced before. If this really was his last race, he wanted to make it a good one.

Reluctantly, Lightning rolled out of the trailer to make his way into the pits. Before he could go anywhere, though, he found Smokey outside the trailer waiting for him.

"Fudge said you wanted to talk to me", were the words Smokey used to greet him.

Lightning took a deep breath. "Yeah... I know this is gonna sound weird, but Fudge just quit as my crew chief. I got this big race and no crew chief. I was wondering if you-"

The pickup truck smiled. "Say no more, kid", he cut in. "I'm happy to do it. In fact, I'd be honoured to do it for Hud's boy. I can't leave 'im without a crew chief in an important race like this."

Lightning smiled and sighed in sheer relief. "Thanks, Smokey! I can't do this on my own!"

"Just out of curiosity, why did Fudge quit?" Smokey couldn't understand why a crew chief would just give up on their racer at such a critical time.

Lightning shrugged. "Who knows?" Even though Fudge had explained her reasons to him, he didn't understand it either.

"Uh... Boss?" Mack piped up. "You better get to the pits."

McQueen took another deep breath. "Yeah." He looked to his new crew chief.

"Go ahead, kid", Smokey instructed him. "I'll be there soon. Last thing you need is me makin' you nervous."

Lightning remembered Doc saying that. He'd been even more nervous thinking he didn't have a crew chief than he would've been by Doc or Smokey's presence. However, he didn't really feel like telling Smokey that. He had enough to worry about as it was.

"All right", he agreed. He gave Smokey the headset. "I'm trusting you with this." After a moment of consideration, he added, "But could you do me a favour?" He handed Smokey a second headset. "Could you give this to Fudge? Tell her to put it on if she changes her mind. I'd love to have two great crew chiefs in this race. I need all the help I can get."

Smokey smiled. "I'll be sure to. Now, what are you still doin' here? Go get ready for the race!"


So, Lightning went. On his way past, he ran into his old friend, Jeff Gorvette, a retired racer, who was being interviewed.

"Oh, hey, McQueen!" Jeff called out, stopping what he was doing when he noticed his friend. "Win one for us old guys!"

Lightning gave a weak laugh. "Will do, Jeff."

So, Jeff went back to business and Lightning approached his pits where he heard a familiar voice call out, "Hey there, buddy!"

Lightning gave a small smile. The last few weeks and even months had been hard on him, so he was glad to see his best friend and his girlfriend. "Hey, guys!"

"Stickers!" a familiar baby blue Porsche greeted him.

"Hey, Sal", Lightning returned the greeting halfheartedly.

"You okay?" she questioned worriedly.

"Yeah, yeah, absolutely", Lightning assured her, although he didn't sound okay at all.

"Listen", Sally began, "you're gonna do great today. And no matter what happens... I'm gonna move on to the next rookie and forget I ever knew you!"

She gave a little laugh, which made Lightning let one out too.

"I'm glad you're here", he informed her sincerely. Right now, she was just the person he needed to see. Whenever he was going through a tough time, Sally could always make him feel more at ease.

Unfortunately, though, their moment was cut short when they saw what Jackson Storm was up to.

"Wow!" he exclaimed, getting an eyeful of Cruz, who still had Storm's name and decals duct taped to her sides and bumper. "Nice costume! C'mere; let's get a picture! It's so great to meet my number one fan!"

Cruz sighed and turned to Fudge, who was standing right beside her. "I guess I should've taken this off back in Thomasville!"

"You know", Storm continued, eyeing Fudge's 95 getup, "your costume's a cute look too. Too bad it went out of style years ago."

"Well, it's making a comeback!" Fudge retorted. She was surprised and impressed that she managed to come up with a half decent retort. Normally, she was at Cal Weathers level at this kind of thing.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, sweetheart", Storm replied in a slimy tone. "And I see you're not making a comeback. What happened to being the old timer's crew chief?"

"I'm not doing that anymore", Fudge explained.

"Why? Did you already get your assisting the elderly badge?" the current Piston Cup champion taunted, grabbing Fudge's wrist. "Come on, girl! What do you say you get with a real racer?! You could work for me!" It was obvious that he wasn't interested in Fudge at all; his sole intention was upsetting her and winding her up.

"No!" Fudge cried, trying to jerk her hand away from him, but he was stronger than her and kept pulling.

"You sure about that?"

"Don't touch me!" the human girl yelled, still fighting.

"Hey! She said no, Storm!" Cruz came to her rescue, sounding kind of timid. "Why don't you leave her alone?"

"Why? Are you jealous?" He was still talking in that slimy tone as he came closer to Cruz, still holding onto Fudge.

Sally scoffed. "What a jerk!"

Lightning rolled forward to intervene. "She's not a fan, Storm!" he set him straight, looking to Cruz. Then he nodded at Fudge. "And if you talk to my sister- or any woman- like that or lay one tyre on her again, I will punch your goddamn lights out! That is no way to treat a lady! Is that understood?!"

"Oh! Hey there, champ!" Storm spoke in a mock friendly voice and as if he hadn't even seen Lightning until he spoke. He dropped Fudge's hand smoothly while the human girl looked like she wanted to puke. "I heard you're selling mud flaps after today. Is that true? Hey!" he added, beginning to drive off. "You put me down for the first case, okay?"

Lightning looked to Fudge and Cruz. "You girls okay?" he questioned, concerned.

Fudge nodded uncertainly. Now, she was more angry than scared. Cruz nodded too.

"Someone needs to teach that moron a good lesson!" Lightning growled angrily.

"Yeah, let's hope he gets one today!" Fudge agreed hopefully, looking at Lightning.

"I wouldn't count on it, Fudge", he responded with a sad smile.

"If not, then I'll do it!" Sammy vowed, rolling up the sleeves of her denim jacket. She, like everyone else in the pits, had witnessed the whole thing.

"Where's Smokey?" Fudge wondered, looking around. She was both genuinely curious and eager to change the subject.

"He should be here in a sec."

"Did you ask him?"

"Yeah. He said he's happy to do it."

"All right..." There was a little part of Fudge that hoped he'd turned down the offer. She still wanted to be the crew chief, but she knew that was for the best if he took the job.

"Do what?" Sammy wondered.

"Smokey's Lightning's crew chief now", Fudge explained.

Sammy raised an eyebrow in confusion, but didn't say anything.


At that moment, the announcement came, informing the racers it was their last call to get to the track.

"This is it!" Fudge whispered anxiously, hugging Lightning.

Lightning took a deep breath. "All right. This is it", he murmured, more to himself than anybody else. This was what his career- his fate- had come down to. After giving and receiving good luck kisses to and from both Sally and Fudge, he instructed his friends out loud, "Wish me luck." His voice was shaky and not nearly as confident as he'd normally be saying that.

"Good luck!" everyone called as Lightning left. Normally, Sally would tell him, "You don't need it!" But this time, she didn't. Things were serious this time.

"Give 'em hell, McQueen!" Sammy added.

"Oh, my God!" Fudge breathed, watching him go. "I'm so nervous for him!"

"Hey." Sammy put her arm around her sister. "If anyone can do this, it's McQueen."

Fudge smiled, knowing she was right. "I know. Thanks, Sammy."

Still, her heart was moving at Jackson Storm's top speed as Lightning rolled off.


When he was gone, two more people showed up in his pits. The first one was Sterling and he looked all business; so much, in fact, that Fudge was kind of afraid of him. For the first ten minutes, he was on the phone, insisting that some racer be ready for a race the next weekend and something about "Mr. McQueen's photo shoot Monday morning." As if he'd already lost the race.

The second new arrival was a much more welcome one.

"Smokey!" Fudge exclaimed. "Just in time!"

"Fudge, I wanna talk to you before the race!" he informed her.

"All right..." she agreed as Smokey led her aside.

"I spoke to McQueen", the pickup truck began. "I'm happy to take the job as crew chief. I just wanna know you're sure about this."

Fudge nodded sincerely without a moment of hesitation. "Absolutely. I think it's the best decision."

"Well, McQueen wanted me to give you this." Smokey gave the sixteen-year-old her headset. "Said to tell you to put it on if you change your mind. We can do it together."

"I won't change my mind", Fudge insisted, taking it anyway. "I'm sure about my decision."

Smokey nodded and put his headset on.


At the back of the pack, Lightning was more nervous than he'd ever been in a race. All he could think was, This is it, this is it, this is it! It's all come down to this! The only things that calmed his nerves a little (not even much!) were knowing his friends were in the pits, cheering him on and two little girls in the stands- a red car named Maddy McGear and dark-haired human girl named Summer Freeman- could still be heard cheering for him.

"LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHTNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!" they screamed. "LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHTNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING MCQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!"

Fudge, having heard, smiled. At least some fans had stuck by him. She kept smiling when, after some difficulty, she managed to pick out Louise, River and Junior amongst the crowd.

Then Fudge's smile faltered. Not only was there so much at stake, but she felt weird not wearing a headset (which she'd stuffed into her pocket) or being perched up on the crew chief platform. She kind of missed it and her heart ached, but she had to remind herself that this was the right thing to do. Smokey was the right person for the job, not her.

"Hey, Lightning!" Sterling greeted him over the headset.

"Hey, Mr. Sterling", Lightning responded.

"To the future, eh, champ?"

"Yeah", Lightning agreed halfheartedly. "To the future."

"Hey", a new voice came through the radio.

Lightning looked to find Smokey getting up onto the crew chief platform. He wasn't Doc or Fudge, but seeing him up there and hearing his voice made the race car feel a little better.

"Just focus on what you're here to do, kid!"

Lightning couldn't help smiling a little. "Thanks, Smokey."

"Now, go make Hud proud!"

All of a sudden, Lightning was full of newfound determination. "You got it!"

At that moment, the green flag was waved.

"Boogity, boogity, boogity!" Darrell Cartrip yelled as the forty-three race cars were off and away. "Let's go racin'!"

"GO, MCQUEEN!" Mater hollered.

"Here we go!" Fudge whispered nervously. "Here we go!"

I felt like it would be a good idea to leave it there. This chapter was originally a little bit shorter, but I added some more stuff in yesterday like the scene where Lightning asks Smokey to be his crew chief.

The line where Lightning would "rather go home and throw up" came from the audio commentary. That's actually how they said Lightning felt. Aww!

I'm pretty excited about the next chapter, considering it's one of my favourite parts of the movie. I hope you're all excited too!

Please review and finally... the quiz question! This one may be a little harder...

In Life Could Be a Dream, Fudge was supposed to move to an orphanage on her sixth birthday. Where was the orphanage?