It's been a while, so here's the next chapter. If you've read Driven to Win, it's hardly a surprise.

Chapter 11- Florida 500 (Part 1)

I was practically holding my breath for the first fifty laps or so. Hardly anybody spoke, so they all must've been feeling the same way I was. Sure, every now and then, someone would whoop or yell out, "GO, MCQUEEN!", but for the most part, we were silent. This was the most important race Lightning had ever run. If he lost, he never got to do this again.

Luckily, Smokey, an experienced, calm and wise crew chief, was there to help him. As Smokey guided him through the pack, I glanced up at him from where I was standing, next to his platform and leaning up against it. Smokey belongs up there, I told myself. I don't. I never did. See how well everything's going?

Also, luckily, Lightning didn't seem to be doing too badly. He'd climbed up to seventeenth place. I was getting more excited and more nervous as time went by. Don't get too excited, though, I had to remind myself several times. It's still early days. Besides, as Lightning pointed out to Smokey, he had to go all the way. I was confident that he could do it, but I wasn't sure if he would do it. You never know what can happen in a race. Especially not that race…

"Cruz, what are you doing here?"

I jumped as Mr. Sterling's voice spoke behind me.

"Oh!" Cruz exclaimed. "Mr. Sterling! I- I was just-"

"I'd like you to head back to the training centre right away", he cut her off.

"Oh! But why?" Cruz wondered.

"You can't go!" I wailed, horrified.

"I need you to get Kurt up to speed for the race next weekend", Mr. Sterling informed her. "Um... Wait, not Kurt. He's the bug guy, right? The other one. Ronald! Yes!"

"But I wanna stay and watch!" Cruz protested.

"That's not gonna happen, Cruz. Now, go!" Mr. Sterling ordered.

"But- but- but..." Cruz stammered. "Mr. McQueen still has a chance-"

"JUST GO DO YOUR JOB!" Mr. Sterling shouted, making me jump once again.

Cruz replied with a quiet, "Yes, sir", knowing she had no choice. Then she led me aside.

"It's not fair!" I blurted out dramatically. "You don't even like your job!"

"I know, but I gotta do it", Cruz pointed out.

"This has been an awesome two weeks!" I began, kind of embarrassed. "I'll never forget you, Cruz. You were my first best friend."

"I'll never forget you either", she responded. "It's been an incredible two weeks for me too and you were my first best friend. Tell Mr. McQueen I say thank you. And thank you too."

That made me smile, even though I was getting upset. This was the first and only true friend I'd ever had. Now, I wasn't sure if I would ever see her was just my luck too; whenever I met people I actually liked (which was quite rare), it was never long before I had to say goodbye to them. "My pleasure. And I'll tell him."

"Thanks." She started to go, but I stopped her.

"Will I ever see you again?" I wondered out loud. I really hoped so; even if Lightning lost, it would've been nice to know something good came out of those two weeks.

"I- I don't know", Cruz stammered. "I- I hope so. I mean, if you're ever in North Carolina..."

I nodded. "Absolutely. And if you're ever in Arizona..."

"Yeah..."

"Hold on!" I cried. "I'll give you my phone number... Does anybody have a pen and paper?"

Unfortunately, that's when I felt a push from behind me. It was Mr. Sterling. "All right. You, whatever your name is, stop distracting Cruz!" he scolded me. "She's got a job to do."

"I'm going! I'm just saying goodbye to my friend!" Cruz defended me.

"I'm not paying you to make friends, Cruz", Mr. Sterling snapped. "I'm paying you to train young racers to be better racers and fit our brand. Now, go! And don't make me tell you again!" That was when I decided that I just straight up didn't like Mr. Sterling.

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir." Cruz drove off and I felt a lump form in my throat.

"And take off that spoiler and those racing tyres!" Mr. Sterling called after her. "You look ridiculous! You are a trainer, remember? Not a racer!"

I couldn't help groaning in disgust. First of all, I didn't want Cruz to go, but I knew better than to protest. Second of all, what did Mr. Sterling know about racing? Nothing, I decided. He hadn't understood why Lightning didn't want to retire and now, he was telling Cruz she wasn't a racer. Maybe if he'd accompanied us over the last few days, he'd realise that Cruz was a racer. She just needed a chance.

I was distracted from my thoughts by Mater's voice. "You okay, Fudge?"

I sighed, fighting tears. "Yeah…" I answered. "I mean, I've been better, but I'll be okay."

"Come here." Luigi hugged me.

I hugged him back. "She was my best friend! I've never had a best friend before! And I don't know if I'll ever see her again!"

"Yeah, well, that's life, I'm afraid", Sarge pointed out sympathetically, but matter-of-factly. "Sometimes, it's hard to say goodbye, but you just gotta do it."

I knew that was true, but it didn't make me feel any better.

Sammy rubbed my shoulder. "It's gonna be okay."

Before we could dwell on it any further, there was the sound of squealing brakes.

"Wreck in two!" Smokey radioed to Lightning from behind me. "Wreck in turn two! Go low, go low!"

I glanced back at the track and there were several cars slamming into each other. I looked out for that flash of red, praying that he wouldn't crash. That wouldn't help him win this deal with Mr. Sterling. I watched my brother narrowly avoid crashing into other cars as the yellow flag came out. My heart pounded. The wreck itself hadn't been all that bad, but I did have a flashback to seeing Lightning slamming into the asphalt hard.

"Kid?" Smokey radioed. "You okay?" There was a pause as Lightning spoke to Smokey. "Never mind that now-" Lightning cut Smokey off and once he'd spoken, he turned to the rest of us. "We need to get Cruz back here now!"

Guido and Luigi started to help Lightning get onto that. How, I don't know.

"Fudge, go meet her at the gates!" Smokey instructed me. Cruz didn't have a pass; she'd come in the trailer, so she hadn't needed one to get in.

"Roger that!" I took off as if I'd been fired out of a gun.

I sprinted through the grounds, panting and ignoring the pain in my knees. I gotta find Cruz! I told myself. I gotta find Cruz! I didn't know why and I didn't stop to wonder; I just had to find her. I skidded to a halt when I saw a flash of yellow at Entrance A113. The security car was refusing to let her in without a pit pass.

"She's with me!" I jumped in, showing the guard my pit pass.

So, he let her through and after some brief excitement and some hugging, we headed off back to the pits as quickly as we could.

"Did Mr. McQueen say why he wanted me back?" Cruz wanted to know.

"Nope, but we'll find out in a sec."

Boy, were we in for a surprise!

Now, a lot of you have asked Cruz and me whether or not we knew what happened next was going to happen. As you may have guessed, the answer is no. You may know what's about to happen, but at the time, Cruz and I were just as blindsided as anybody else.

"Okay, I'm here!" Cruz announced as she pulled up and I slid off her roof.

"What's going on?" she and I asked at the same time.

I don't think anybody else knew, but that was when Lightning came into the pits as all the other racers were doing. However, as Guido and Fillmore rushed forward to set him up with tyres and fuel respectively, he backed away from them.

"No, not me!" Lightning shouted, to everyone's confusion, but before any of us had time to question him, he gestured to Cruz. "Her!"

All of us gasped, facing the yellow car. We were all shocked, but I think Cruz was the most shocked.

"What?"

"Cruz!" I squealed excitedly, hugging her. I was happy for her; that was for sure and so, I feel kind of bad for admitting this, but… I was a little jealous too. I would give anything to get my shot!

"What is she doing back here?" Mr. Sterling demanded.

Lightning ignored him. "Come on, guys! Get her set up! Quickly!"

"Why didn't you say so?" I wondered.

So, we did. Guido and Luigi took care of the tyres. Fillmore started loading her up with fuel. I popped Cruz's hood to see if her engine was fit for racing. Then I checked tyres, oil pressure and everything else I could think of. She seemed good to go once she had tyres, fuel and one other thing…

"Hey, Ramone!" I heard Lightning shout. "Got your paints?!"

I heard him reply with, "You know I do!"

I couldn't help chuckling a little as I worked; Ramone never went anywhere without his paints.

The whole time, Cruz was asking things like, "Wait! What's happening?! What are you doing?!" Finally, when she uttered, "Mr. McQueen?", he explained things to her.

"Today's the day, Cruz! You're getting your shot!"

"What?!" Cruz shrieked.

"I started this race and you're gonna finish it."

"What?" Mr. Sterling piped up. "She'll damage the brand! She's just a trainer!"

"No, she's a racer", Lightning corrected him. "Just took me a while to see it."

That was when there was another big twist in this race.

"I can't do this!" Cruz exclaimed. "I can't!" Then she gasped. "Not on my own! I… I need a rider!"

I felt sorry for Cruz. I knew that wasn't going to happen. I didn't think Sammy should be racing while she's pregnant and I wasn't allowed to race.

So, I was surprised and puzzled when Lightning informed Cruz, "I think that can be arranged."

I turned around. "What are you-" I began, only to stop when Lightning gave me this weird look: a creepy smile with a raised eye frame.

Normally, I don't pick up on things like that (and if I do, I play dumb in fear of looking like an idiot if I'm wrong), but this time, I knew and I couldn't play dumb. "What?! No! I… I can't!" I know I said I would've given anything to race, but I was caught off guard and nervous.

"You can and you will!" Lightning insisted, thrusting my magnets and headset at me. "Now, get those magnets on!"

"Yes, sir", I muttered. At least I think that's what I said.

Before I knew what was happening, I was having my necklace removed (so, it wouldn't get caught on anything) and I was suited up in my magnets and a helmet. I barely acknowledged it and I could barely hear Mr. Sterling shout, "I can't believe you're letting that glorified intern race too!" All I could think was that this was apparently real. I was really going to race. I had a flashback to being a four-year-old girl, dreaming of being a racer. This was not at all how or when I'd always envisioned my career starting. It was exciting and nerve wracking at the same time.

"That can't be legal!" I heard Mr. Sterling protest.

Smokey, who had been famous back in the day for bending the rules, jumped in. "The rules only say the number has to be out there. Doesn't say who has to wear it."

"No, you can't do that-" Mr. Sterling began before Mater pulled him back with his tow hook. I could vaguely hear the tow truck rambling away.

"Yeah, I got my fishin' flaps, got my church flaps, my goin' out to eat flaps… I even got me some weddin' flaps just in case."

All the while, Mr. Sterling was ranting about how we couldn't do that and ordering Mater out of his way. Still, Mater wouldn't budge.

I wasn't really listening, though. I was more worried about something else. "I don't feel right about taking this race away from you…" I wanted to race, but I just wasn't sure about it.

"Fudge, you told me in the trailer that no matter what happened in this race, you'd be happy as long as I was happy", Lightning reminded me. "Well, this is what would make me happy. Besides, you've spent the last two weeks trying so hard to make Cruz and me happy and, well, I think it's time you did something to make yourself happy."

I wasn't convinced; Lightning loved racing! I knew he wanted Cruz and me to get our shot, but I wouldn't have thought that he would be so willing to give up racing. Although, I didn't say that. Instead, I voiced a new fear. "But what if I get hurt again?!"

Luckily, Lightning knew just what to say. "Look, I wanna take care of you and I promise I always will as much as I can, but if you really wanna race, that's a risk you're just gonna have to take. You're a racer too, Fudge-O! But for a long time, I ignored that. Too long. You deserve to get your shot as much as Cruz does!"

Well, that made me feel a little better about things. Not much, but a little.

"Come on, guys!" Lightning urged. "We gotta get 'em out there! Let's go!"

We didn't have much time. The rest of the racers were lining up at the starting line, ready to restart the race. If Cruz and I were going to race, we were going to have to get out there now.

"Tyres, check!" Luigi reported.

"Fuel, check!" Fillmore shouted.

I felt a set of tyres check my helmet before Sally called out, "Fudge is ready to go!"

"Ramone?!" Lightning requested.

Ramone dropped his airbrush. "Uh... Best I could do in the time frame, boss." He reversed back to reveal that Cruz had her name, the word RUST-EZE and the number 95 blazing across her sides. She looked epic!

"That looks awesome!" I couldn't help exclaiming. Cruz looked like a real racer. Maybe now, she would start to think of herself as one.

"Yeah!" Lightning was equally impressed. "That'll work… Come here, Fudge-O." He lowered his hood a little and I climbed onto it. Then I almost fell as I climbed from his hood to Cruz's roof.

"Well, I'm off to a great start aren't I?!" I joked, hoping it would help me relax a little (it didn't).

"Why are you doing this?" Cruz voiced my thoughts. "You said it yourself: This might be your last chance."

"Which makes it my last chance to give you and Fudge your first chance, Cruz", he pointed out. "And this time, I want you to take it."

Oh, my gosh! This was huge! Nothing like this had ever happened in Piston Cup history! This was the biggest thing that had ever happened to me! (Well, it felt like it at the time, anyway.) Were we going to take it? How could we take it?! This was Lightning's last chance! But this would be our only chance! How could we not take it? I didn't know what to do. I can only assume Cruz felt the same way.

My panicked thoughts were interrupted by Smokey. "They gotta beat that pace car out!"

Yes. There was the pace car. We had to go now; if we were going at all. I still didn't know what we should do, but I knew we had to decide fast.

"No, no, no! You can't do that!" I heard Mr, Sterling yell again.

"Now or never!" Smokey urged us.

This was so exciting and nerve wracking! I had only a second to choose! This was everything I'd ever wanted… but should I?

"Come on!" Sammy shouted. "We don't want you to miss out and end up regretting it."

Lightning looked at us. "What do you say?"

Cruz looked up at me. "Fudge?" she asked nervously.

In that moment, I knew what to do. And if I wasn't going to do it for me, then I was going to do it for Cruz. Was I scared? No way! I was terrified! But so was Cruz. At least we could be terrified together. Besides, even though I still didn't know if I could do this, what I did know was, like with meeting my dad, that I most definitely did not want to spend the rest of my life wondering what would've happened.

I took a deep breath. "Let's do it and have no regrets!" I announced, already thinking that I might end up regretting it.

"I was hoping you'd say that!" Cruz informed me. "Because I don't wanna do this without you!" She took off in the direction of the track so fast she took me by surprise.

"Whoa! Hey!" Lightning hollered after us. "Thirty-five mile per hour pit speed!"

"I knew that!" Cruz shouted back.

"Me too!" I added.

As we left the pits, my family shouted out words of encouragement that made me feel a little better.

"GO, FUDGIE!" Luigi squealed.

"(Good luck, my baby girl!)" Guido called.

"Go, Fudge!" Sammy cheered. "Go, Cruz!"

"Come on, Cruz! Come on, Fudge! You show 'em what you got!" Lightning encouraged us.

"This is it", I whispered.

"No regrets!" Cruz chimed in as she narrowly made it out before the pace car.

The second we were on the track, I felt all eyes on us. The crowd murmured to themselves and each other, unsure of what was going on. Well, that made a quarter of a million of us. I could even see River, Louise and Junior. They looked just as surprised as anybody, but I think they were happy for us.

"Wow…" I couldn't help whispering as I looked around.

I'd raced before. I've even raced on Piston Cup tracks (and even Grand Prix tracks!) before, but this was different. I'd only ever really raced on those tracks with Lightning and about three or four of his closest friends. Those times, the racers would just be doing warm-laps, so there wasn't a huge crowd, if any. There wouldn't be anybody expecting much of me. Besides, I was a ten-year-old girl then, just having fun. Now, I was sixteen and competing in my first professional race. The standards were much higher.

"This is real!" I commented to myself. "This is happening!"

"We got this!" Cruz tried to assure me- and probably, herself. "You and me. We got this."

That was when the green flag was waved and our race began. As you can see, Cruz and I had barely had time to wrap our heads around the fact that we were racing. Let alone prepare. I felt like I was about to sit a huge test I hadn't studied for. So, I think you can forgive us for not getting off to the best start. Like how scared we were when everyone else's engines revved at once.

"Holy crap!" I shrieked as Cruz yelped.

We were kind of in shock, so that's why Cruz was going so slow and that's why I was just sprawled out with my head down, looking like a sack of potatoes.

"Cruz, what are you doin'?" Smokey radioed. "Come on! Pick it up! Gotta go faster! And Fudge, what are you doin'? What kind of position is that?! Lift your head up! You ain't gonna see anything with your head down like that!"

"Oh, yeah." I lifted my head up, straightened my back and bent my knees a little, cursing my stupidity. I didn't like the way Smokey was critiquing me. I knew it was his job to help me, but his tone sounded a little too harsh for my liking.

"That's better!" Smokey informed me in a tone that said, You should've known that all along! (Which I did.) "Now, Cruz, pick it up!" There was some talking from Lightning I couldn't decipher coming from the radio, to which Smokey replied with, "What? No!" More talking from Lightning. "Uh… Frances Beltline? The School Bus of Death is after you." The pickup truck sounded so confused.

It took a second for it to click in Cruz's mind, but once she understood, she picked up her speed. We had the speed, but Cruz was riding too tight.

"Okay, that was different", I heard Smokey remark before he critiqued me again. "Fudge, I haven't heard you say anything yet. Come on! You gotta talk to Cruz! Help her!"

"I know! I'm just nervous!" I was so afraid of getting things wrong that I ended up doing the one thing a rider crew chief should never ever do: nothing.

Since I was nervous, Smokey gave me the best advice ever. He told me (and you might wanna write this down!), "Yeah, well, don't be!"

"Yeah, that helps!" I shot back. That's just about the last thing you should tell someone who's nervous!

Lightning's voice came through on the radio again.

"I gotta be!" Smokey argued to whatever he was saying. "She ain't gonna learn if I'm too gentle on her."

Lightning replied and then we heard Smokey again. "Cruz, you're looking too tight now! Come on! Loosen up!... What? No!... Uh… Cruz? You are a... fluffy cloud?"

"Oh! Right! Too tight! I am a fluffy cloud, I am a fluffy cloud…" Cruz chanted, allowing her to relax and speed up even more. Now, we had a less tense ride.

I was chanting along too, hoping I would relax, but nothing seemed to be working. I couldn't do this!

But I knew I had to try.

"Okay, Cruz, what I need you to do is-"

"Oh, my gosh! Look how far ahead those racers are!" a panicked Cruz exclaimed abruptly. "We'll never catch them! Look at Storm! We're never going to beat him!"

"That's what I'm trying to talk to you about!" I told her, trying to remain calm for her sake. "You should-"

But Cruz kept right on screaming, "I can't do this! What was I thinking?! I can't do this! I just can't!" I was regretting this already.

"Fudge, Cruz, you're not listening to each other", Smokey informed us. "Come on now. This job is all about communication… The what?... Uh... Fudge? You have the Voice Trophy?"

"Right!" I realised. It was my turn to take control and help Cruz. "Cruz, I need you to listen to me. We'll worry about Storm later in the race. Let's just try and overtake everyone else right now. We shouldn't overexert ourselves chasing down Storm so early into the race."

Cruz nodded. "Got it!"

Now, we had communication.

Unfortunately, at that moment, just as we were coming out of a turn, Cruz was nearing the wall. If she didn't move, she would crash.

"But right now, aren't you getting a little bit too close to the-" I started to warn her.

"Whoa!" Cruz exclaimed, narrowly avoiding the wall and losing control. She skidded across the track, unable to drive in a straight line.

"Anticipate your turns! Cruz, Fudge, get your heads in the race!" Smokey yelled. I could hear Lightning's voice again. I knew he'd been telling Smokey what to say because Smokey doesn't know anything about School Buses of Death or fluffy clouds or voice trophies. Evidently, that was when he decided that enough was enough. "No! I ain't sayin' that! You tell her!"

I was glad he did that; Lightning's talking and Smokey's confusion was more than a little distracting. I don't think that's the main reason we were doing so badly, but it certainly wasn't helping matters.

So, Lightning got on the radio and boy were we happy. "All right, Cruz, Fudge, the beach. I need you to think of the beach!"

"Mr. McQueen?!" Cruz exclaimed.

"Lightning?!" I added.

Yes. There he was. He was wearing the headset and I felt better instantly. Lightning had been teaching me about racing for over ten years. If anybody could help me now, it was him.

"Yeah, yeah, it's me", he confirmed. "Remember the beach."

"Oh! Uh... Pick a line!" Cruz understood. "Stick to it! Got it!"

Once Cruz had done that, she and I rose out of last place. We had a long way to go, but finally, we were making progress.

"All right, Fudge", Lightning began, "I haven't heard you say a word either. Smokey's right. Your job is all about communication. You gotta talk to Cruz in order to help her. Come on. You're so good when you do it for me."

"I know! I'm just nervous!" I cried. "If I'd have known I was gonna be doing this, I would've listened to the Get Psyched Mix on the way here. And I wouldn't have eaten that second hot dog at lunchtime."

"What are you nervous about?" Lightning wanted to know.

"Lots of things", I babbled. "I'm scared of screwing this up and getting hurt again! If I get this wrong, I'll be letting Cruz down and if I get hurt, I'll have to go through all the pain and surgeries again and I-"

"Okay, okay! Listen to me, Fudge-O!" Lightning cut me off. "It's okay. I probably understand better than anyone what you've been through. I'm not surprised that you're afraid, but you know, life is like racing on the track. Sometimes, it's gonna throw you off the car's roof- break both your legs, smash your pelvis, maybe even break your heart."

"I hope you're going somewhere with this." So far, this wasn't any better than Smokey telling me not to be nervous.

"But sometimes", Lightning went on, "it's gonna give you a Piston Cup. Come on! You're from Radiator Springs! Born and raised! You can be tough! You exposed Miles Axlerod and his Allinol scandal! You walked again when the doctors said you wouldn't!"

Well, that was true. "I did do that, didn't I." It was a statement, not a question.

"Damn right you did!" Lightning confirmed. "So, you get your ass back on that car and you ride. You hear me, Brittney Angel Rossi-Topolino? Ride! Ride! Cruz is gonna look after you and so am I. You'll be fine. Float like a Cadillac..."

I grinned. "Sting like a Beemer!" Everything will be fine. I just gotta trust Cruz. Like how I trusted Junior on the midnight run. And now, Cruz and I had the most important thing of all: an encouraging, supportive crew chief on our wavelength. We could do this!

"Okay", I began, my confidence rising gradually. "I don't think there's really anything we need to watch out for. I mean, there's the obvious tyre marbles and the other cars... I'll be sure to let you know if that changes at all."

Lightning laughed. "Thanks, Fudge-O! All right! Not too bad!"

"This is nothing like the simulator!" Cruz commented nervously.

"You're right", I agreed. "This is real racing!" Cruz didn't need the simulators anymore. She was a real racer now. And no simulator could ever replace a real track.

"Got every tool you need!" Lightning assured Cruz. "Now, remember Thomasville!"

"Thomasville?" Cruz echoed.

"Yeah, sneak through the window!" Lightning and I instructed her simultaneously.

"Sneak through the window?" Cruz repeated.

I waited for a moment, sure Cruz would understand.

Then I asked her, "You know what to do, don't you?"

"I sure do!" With a grin, she gunned it and weaved through the gaps between the racers.

"Okay!" I encouraged her. "There's a gap between those two ra- Yep. You got it!"

I didn't need to do much. Cruz figured it out on her own, but I gave her encouragement and I was starting to feel pretty good.

I noticed that Cruz seemed to respond well to not just my words, but my presence as well. That was when I thought of something: I'd always assumed that when I became a racer, I'd be signed on by Rusty and Dusty the second I was old enough (I mean, they'd always promised me they'd have a place for me when I was ready) and I'd race with Lightning. However, even though Lightning let me race with him and help him, he didn't really need my help. Some racers worked better solo, some worked better with rider crew chiefs and some just rode with a human crew chief just until they got their confidence up, leaving some humans bouncing directly from one inexperienced rookie to another. Lightning- and any of his friends, who let me race with them, except maybe Cal- worked better solo. So, that's when I realised that while I had enjoyed racing with Lightning, I was much better off racing professionally with Cruz. She needed a rider much more than he did.

"Try moving half a lane", Lightning suggested. "Half a lane!"

"Got it!" Cruz confirmed, following his advice.

"Who's Elaine?" I kidded, thinking that might keep me relaxed.

"All right. Watch that lap car. He's gonna go high", Lightning warned us. "Go low, go low!"

"Yeah, there's an opening right in front of us!" I observed and Cruz took it. She was quick to take another one as well.

"Nice job! You are smoking these guys!" Lightning complimented us. "Now, watch the tyre marbles along turn three! Keep your tyres clean!"

"Okay!" Cruz responded.

"Bump coming up on the inside!" Lightning cautioned. "Careful you don't go airborne."

"Now?"

"Yes, now!"

I arched my back a little more and kept my head straight and my knees bent. Cruz and I went over the bump easily.

"Watch out by the wall; it's a little slick there!" Lightning cautioned as we neared the wall. "Watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it!"

I thought for sure we would hit it. I raised my right leg, so it wouldn't get crushed. Luckily, Cruz's back end just clipped the wall. That was it.

"You have hit a wall!" Lightning teased, imitating the simulator as Cruz straightened herself out. "You have hit a wall!"

"Ha-ha!" Cruz shot back sarcastically. "Just being aggressive!"

"Yeah, you're a frickin' comedian, aren't you, Lightning?!" I remarked.

He laughed."I'd say I'm pretty funny, yes!"

"Well, at least we're not on fire yet!" I taunted.

"Seriously, though, you didn't get your leg trapped, did you, Fudge?" he questioned worriedly.

"Nope! I managed to move out of the way in time! Guess you're not the only one who's improved on their reflexes!"

"Guess being chased by the Evil Goose of Thomasville taught you a thing or two, huh?!"

"Uh, I'm not okay!" Cruz piped up. "My spoiler! It got detached when I hit the wall!"

I took a quick peek backwards and I saw two screws from Cruz's spoiler had gone.

Obviously, I couldn't see Lightning's face, but I could tell from his voice that he was frowning. "All right. I hate to have to do this now, but if you come into the pits, then we can-"

I remembered what Smokey had taught me about thinking on my feet and I discovered Violet, my special wrench, and some screws in my jacket pocket. "No need! I got it!"

I turned around on all fours, making sure I kept my magnets attached. Smokey also taught me to learn from previous mistakes, so I was doing that now, even if I couldn't remember making that mistake. I felt Cruz slow down.

"Be careful, Fudge!" she and Lightning cautioned in unison.

It wasn't easy holding down Cruz's spoiler. It also wasn't easy keeping those screws in the right place. They almost fell out and onto the track.

"Dammit!" It was only by lightning fast reflexes and pure luck that I was able to catch them.

"Fudge?" Lightning ventured. "What's going on?"

"Just give me a sec!" My hand was starting to hurt from holding the screws in place. I had to make sure they didn't slide out onto the track. I turned the wrench just right to get the screws in the perfect position.

"Done!" I announced as I finished tightening them and crept around slowly on all fours. "That feel okay, Cruz?"

"Hey!" Cruz exclaimed, impressed. "That feels good!"

"Fudge, that was unbelievable!" Lightning exclaimed.

"Way to go, Fudge!" Smokey hollered.

"Well done, my baby!" Luigi shouted.

"That was awesome!" Sammy declared. "Unorthodox, but impressive!"

I felt my face go red as a proud, but embarrassed smile spread across my face. "Thanks!"

They weren't the only ones amazed either. I could hear the crowd cheering and whistling. That's when I started to think maybe I belonged on the track.

Maybe.

So, that's it for this chapter!

So, I thought I would explain rider crew chiefs a little more; it makes sense that some would only need one for the beginning. If they were really a thing, I honestly think Cruz would work better with one.

Anyway, please review!