Monday 26th November
Even when the final race of the season was scheduled to be in Hawaii, the plan was always that the drivers and teams would take a flight. All the drivers headed to Monterey Airport to board a flight at 10am to Columbus, Ohio, before taking a regular bus to the track. This included Violet, whose wrist had now fully healed, thank goodness, as well as Roy, who was tagging along for the ride.
It was around 6pm by the time the drivers arrived at the circuit, and Roy wasted no time in finding another place to hold a discussion. Despite the lack of chairs in the paddock, he found a place in the stands and waited while Morag and co looked for him. Eventually the three of them found him standing and waving, and headed to the stands themselves.
"You could have told us where you were going." Morag commented as the three drivers joined Roy in the stands.
"I take it we're discussing what Wilcox said in that press conference, right?" Linus asked.
"Yeah." Roy replied as they all sat down.
"She seemed to confirm Roy's assumption that they would show them around Cape Canaveral." Charlie Brown began.
"She did. However, as we've previously discussed, Matheson wouldn't go to the trouble of kidnapping two people if the end result was that innocuous." Morag pointed out. "I think Linus' theory is much more likely, especially since she made the point to stress it was an access all areas tour."
"Which would include the rocket." Linus surmised.
"Exactly." Morag agreed. "Now the remaining questions we have are why, and what are we going to do about it?"
"Well I think I have a reason as to why, but it's a stupid one." Roy suggested.
"Go on, let's hear it." Morag sighed.
"Well, firstly, no one's ever sent a child into space, for obvious reasons, and secondly, I have a feeling that Matheson is tired of NASA having its limelight stolen by SpaceX and other private enterprises and maybe trying to prove a point to try and make NASA relevant again." Roy explained.
"So are you suggesting that he is doing this without the approval of the board?" Morag asked.
"Well, I'm not sure. He must have some allies if he has the power to kidnap me and get away with it." Roy replied.
"True." Charlie Brown replied.
"As for what we do about it, I have no objections to going to space." Linus interjected.
"I have some reservations, but I think we can agree that regardless of who wins, the three of us are going to Cape Canaveral regardless to see what's going on." Morag suggested.
"Agreed." The three of them responded.
"Good, we'll see you then, and may the best man win." Morag replied, as they all got up and went their separate ways.
On Tuesday, the Teams, motorhomes, cars and the press all arrived at the circuit via plane.
Thursday 29th November – Pre Race Press Conference
As it was the last race of the season, instead of the usual rigmarole of interviewing 5 random drivers, the press specifically asked to interview each of the 7 drivers with a chance to win the drivers' championship. These were: Morag, Charlie Brown, Marcie, Linus Van Pelt, Peppermint Patty, Frieda and Schroeder.
I: Morag, going into the last round, you hold the championship lead, so your task is simply to beat the other contenders, correct?
Morag: that's basically it, although there are specific cases where I can afford to lose by a certain amount to say, someone like Schroeder for example, so as long as I'm in the points I only have to worry about the people close to me.
I: Charlie Brown, you're currently 1 point behind Morag. To win, you need to finish ahead of her and hope the people behind you don't gain on you by 7 points or more. Can you achieve that?
Charlie Brown: Oh, definitely, but I think qualifying is going to be the biggest challenge for us this weekend. Last week, Linus and I started way down the field, and we were limited in what we could achieve, so I hope it doesn't go as badly this time.
I: Marcie, you sit 8 points behind Morag in the championship. To win, you need at least a 6th place, but preferably a win, and even then, only if Charlie Brown or Morag don't come higher than 3rd. it's not impossible, but it will be difficult, do you think?
Marcie: At this stage, yeah, it's a bit daunting, but I think the picture will be much clearer after qualifying. We'll know who has the best chance to take the most points then.
I: Linus, you sit in the same position as Marcie going into this round. What is your strategy going into this weekend?
Linus: That would be a secret. Our strategy is to win, of course. How we go about it will be seen in due course, but don't count me out of the championship fight just yet.
I: Peppermint Patty, you sit with 201 points, ten behind Morag. You need at least 5th place, or to win without Morag or Charlie Brown finishing second. You have a slightly more difficult path to the top. Do you think you can win?
Peppermint Patty: I think so, although it will depend on how the others do. Some people have a better chance of getting it than I do, but I will do my best to make sure I win the title.
I: Frieda, you sit 15 points behind Morag. You need at least a third place, or a win without either Morag or Charlie Brown finishing 4th or higher, yours is significantly more uphill than the others by comparison. How likely is it that you will win this?
Frieda: We'll see after qualifying, I think.
I: Schroeder, as the last of the championship challengers, you are 22 points behind Morag. To win, you need to win the race, and hope that neither Charlie Brown or Morag finish higher than 9th, nor that Linus or Marcie finish higher than 5th, nor Peppermint Patty 4th, or Frieda 2nd. How do you see yourself winning the championship?
Schroeder: Quite frankly, I can't guarantee anything other than my own position, so we'll see what happens if indeed I do win the race.
I: Thank you.
Saturday 1st December.
It was a brisk morning at Mid-Ohio, and not surprisingly for this time of year, it had rained overnight, and it was still damp by the time morning practice had begun. Many of the drivers struggled, with grip levels similar to what they were to when they were at Watkin's Glen, so a lot of them had excursions onto the grass, and few could get a truly representative lap time in. By the time qualifying started, the track had dried quite a bit, but there were still a few damp patches offline.
It was an open secret that teams who went out later tended to perform better, so to prevent any arguments between the teams regarding the drivers' championship, the AAMF decided the drivers would proceed with qualifying in reverse Championship Order.
As such, Shermy was the first to go out and set a time, a 1:07.881, which Cormac couldn't keep up with, as he set a time of 1:08.660. Joe Agate was unable to get a mistake free lap, eventually setting a time of 1:14.182. Violet made a welcome return, setting a decent time of 1:08.718, and Violette set a better time of 1:08.273, while Mimi also struggled, setting a 1:10.407.
Pierre was next out on track, setting a 1:06.615 to go fastest, before Sally went out and set a slow time of 1:10.661, and José Peterson went second with a 1:07.022. Lucy Van Pelt was next to go out, posting a time of 1:08.964 before slipping off on her third lap, brushing the wall at turn 6 and losing her rear wing.
Once that was cleared up, Thibault set a time of 1:12.709, before Harold Angel beat Pierre's time to go fastest with a 1:06.611. Patty then set a time of 1:08.389 to go just behind her team mate. After that Franklin set a time of 1:07.706 before losing his rear wing in the wall at turn 12 on his final lap.
After that it was Rerun's turn, setting a blistering time of 1:05.356 to go fastest, an entire second faster than anyone else. Eudora Elm could only set a time of 1:09.363 in response, whilst Pig Pen set a competitive time of 1:06.811, and Schroeder set a time of 1:08.373.
Frieda used her renowned smooth driving skills to set a much needed time of 1:06.546 in an error free session for her, before Peppermint Patty went 5th for the moment with a 1:06.765. Linus then set a 1:06.339, which Marcie surpassed with a 1:05.600. Charlie Brown put his car 5th with a 1:06.584 before Morag closed off the session with a 1:07.315.
At the end of qualifying, the grid order looked like this…
1st Rerun Van Pelt [Renault] 1:05.356 2nd Marcie Johnson [Cherokee] 1:05.600
3rd Linus Van Pelt [Vittoria] 1:06.339 4th Frieda Rich [Bonn] 1:06.546
5th Charlie Brown [Renault] 1:06.584 6th Harold Angel [Isdera] 1:06.611
7th Pierre Fermier [Vittoria] 1:06.619 8th Patricia Reichardt [Honda] 1:06.765
9th Pig Pen [Armstrong] 1:06.811 10th José Peterson [Daihatsu] 1:07.022
11th Morag McMurdo [Isdera] 1:07.315 12th Franklin Armstrong [Armstrong] 1:07.706
13th Shermy Plepler [Zontec] 1:07.881 14th Violette Honfleur [ACE] 1:08.273
15th Schroeder E. Schroeder [Bonn] 1:08.373 16th Patricia Swanson [ACE] 1:08.389
17th Cormac O'Connor [Daihatsu] 1:08.660 18th Violet Gray [Zontec] 1:08.718
19th Lucy Van Pelt [Honda] 1:08.964 20th Eudora Elm [Polestar] 1:09.363
21st Mimi Sonatelli [Cherokee] 1:10.407 22nd Sally Brown [Polestar] 1:10.661
23rd Thibault Rhodes [Sky] 1:12.709 24th Joe Agate [Sky] 1:14.182
After the session was over the top three drivers were interviewed.
I: Rerun, having struggled for several races now, you are now finally sitting at the sharp end of the grid. What are your plans for this race?
Rerun: Well, I hope to win. Whether I'm needed to let Charlie Brown through or not we'll have to see, but I'm feeling confident.
I: Marcie, you appear to be in the best position to win this championship go into the race. Do you agree with that sentiment?
Marcie: I do realise we are in a good position, but that doesn't mean it won't be a difficult race, especially with Linus just behind me.
I: Linus, you have an equally good chance of winning the championship tomorrow. Who are you keeping a close eye on as you head into the race?
Linus: Well, obviously, my main target is to beat Marcie, if I can do that, I should be able to win the championship, provided that Charlie Brown doesn't get past Frieda.
I: Thank you.
Championship Leader Morag was also interviewed.
I: Morag, despite your lead in the championship, I doubt it would be easy winning it starting in 11th place…
Morag: It's looking like a very uphill task at the moment. If I manage to get ahead of Charlie Brown though, things may get interesting.
I: Thank you.
That evening, some of the drivers returned to the hotel a lot more tense than usual, which was expected since this was the last race, and a number of people had a championship to win.
Sunday 2nd December – Race Day in Ohio
Rerun sat on pole seemingly a lot calmer than the people behind him. They had a lot more to fight for and that tension continued to build as the announcer relayed his spiel for the final time.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!"
Rerun did so, as did everyone else. The drivers were led around for the formation lap by the pace car, as the announcer continued to speak.
"For the final race of the season, the drivers will have to face 50 laps of the difficult Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Who will win the race, and the championship? Find out, as the pace car pulls into the pits, and the Ohio Spindycar Supertour Open is GO!"
Rerun got a good start, as Marcie and Linus squabble for second place going into the first corner, with Marcie coming out in front. Schroeder was able to get past Violette into turn 2, whilst Thibault had overtaken Sally before the end of the first lap. Linus successfully got a head of Marcie at turn 2 the following lap, while Shermy was next to fall behind Schroeder at turn 3, and on lap 4 Morag moved into the points, passing José coming out of the final corner.
On lap 6, Marcie retook 2nd place from Linus at turn 3, while Rerun was scurrying off into the distance. Frieda was slowly catching up to the both of them, and Eudora managed to pass Lucy at turn 11 at the end of lap 7. On lap 9, Frieda overtook Linus on the back straight coming out of turn 2, and 2 laps later, Morag snuck past Pig Pen into 9th.
Schroeder overtook Franklin on lap 13, who appeared to be struggling to keep the car going, the Chevrolet engine in that Armstrong car beginning to sound quite sick. Inevitably, at the end of lap 14, Franklin's engine began emitting smoke, and he had to pull into the pits and retire the car.
On lap 16, Peppermint Patty lined up a pass on Pierre, and made it stick as she out braked him into turn 11. This was quickly followed by Morag who took the opportunity to pass him at turn 4 on the following lap. On lap 20, Frieda took second place from Marcie, going round the outside of turn 12 to take the inside line into turn 13.
Harold Angel soon found that his tyres were now in the optimum operating window, and he pressed onto the back of Charlie Brown, and meanwhile, on lap 22, Eudora passed Violet into turn 1, before making a move on Cormac later on in the lap. On lap 25, Harold Angel managed to pass Charlie Brown into turn 2.
Charlie Brown quickly overtook him back in the same place a lap later while Peppermint Patty took and overtook the pair of them going into turn 3. Harold Angel then passed Charlie Brown again round the outside of turn 4. On lap 28, Pig Pen got past Pierre at turn 11 to take 9th place, and Thibault passed Mimi and Lucy before the end of lap 30.
On lap 32, Linus overtook Marcie again, into turn 4 this time, whilst Schroeder passed José on the following lap. Pig Pen then made a banzai move under braking past Morag on lap 35.
Peppermint Patty briefly passed Marcie on lap 37, before she took it back the lap after and chased after Linus. Schroeder snuck into 10th place on lap 40, passing Pierre into turn 1, before Eudora fought her way past Patty Swanson on lap 41. Marcie repassed Linus on lap 44, while Harold Angel chased down Peppermint Patty.
Morag repeated the same banzai move Pig Pen had done on lap 46, while in front of her, Harold Angel passed Peppermint Patty into turn 5 with 3 laps to go. José Peterson then passed Pierre on lap 48 and Thibault passed Violet on the final lap, as Rerun rounded the final turn…
"And Rerun wins the final round in Ohio! Frieda finishes in second, and Marcie finishes in third! Linus is 4th, with Harold Angel 5th, Peppermint Patty 6th, Charlie Brown is 7th, Morag is 8th, Pig Pen is 9th, and Schroeder is 10th, meaning that Marcie Johnson has WON the Drivers' Championship!
José Peterson was 11th, with Pierre 12th, Shermy 13th, Violette 14th, Eudora 15th, Patty Swanson 16th, Cormac 17th, Thibault 18th, Violet 19th, Lucy 20th, Mimi 21st, Sally 22nd, and Joe Agate in 23rd, whit Franklin failing to finish.
With the last race of the season over, this is how the final standings stood.
1st Marcie Johnson [Cherokee] 218pts 2nd Charlie Brown [Renault] 216pts
3rd Morag McMurdo [Isdera] 215pts 4th Linus Van Pelt [Vittoria] 215pts
5th Frieda Rich [Bonn] 214pts 6th Patricia Reichardt [Honda] 209pts
7th Schroeder E. Schroeder [Bonn] 190pts 8th Pig Pen [Armstrong] 174pts
9th Eudora Elm [Polestar] 168pts 10th Rerun Van Pelt [Renault] 116pts
11th Franklin Armstrong [Armstrong] 87pts 12th Harold Angel [Isdera] 81pts
13th Patty Swanson [ACE] 75pts 14th Thibault Rhodes [Sky] 69pts
15th Lucy Van Pelt [Honda] 69pts 16th José Peterson [Daihatsu] 62pts
17th Sally Brown [Polestar] 61pts 18th Pierre Fermier [Vittoria] 41pts
19th Roy Tripps [Zontec/Sky] 26pts 20th Mimi Sonatelli [Cherokee/Sky] 26pts
21st Violette Honfleur [ACE] 23pts 22nd Violet Gray [Zontec] 22pts
23rd Joe Agate [Sky] 15pts 24th Cormac O'Connor [Daihatsu] 14pts
25th Shermy Plepler [Zontec] 13pts 26th 555 95472 [Cherokee/Zontec] 6pts
Rerun parked his car on victory road and held his arms aloft in celebration, running over to members of his team. But this paled in comparison to the celebrations of Cherokee team, who were swarming the fence and reaching out as Marcie ran to hi five the lot of them, jumping up and down and hollering at the top of their voices. Marcie was too tired to join in fully, so when it was time to go up to the podium, she followed the other two and drank some water.
In the waiting room, Frieda and Rerun congratulated her on winning the Championship, while she in turn congratulated him on his race win, before heading out onto the podium.
The three of them stood silently as the American anthem played, and the three American flags were raised. The French anthem then played after the American anthem finished. After that the 3 drivers took their trophies, drank their milk and waved in front of the crowd. Rerun and Marcie looked especially happy as they all went to their post-race interviews.
I: First of all, Rerun, congratulations on your second win of the season. This may be a bit late to ask, but do you think you've impressed your team this year?
Rerun: Well, obviously not as much as Charlie Brown, but I think I've done a good job.
I: Frieda, despite your valiant efforts, you missed out on winning the championship by only 4 points. Do you regret not scoring more at points earlier on in the season?
Frieda: Not really. Everyone's had some run of bad luck at some point in the season, but Marcie's made the most of it.
I: Lastly, Marcie, your third place has won you the driver's championship. Congratulations.
Marcie: Thank you. I'm still a bit lost for words actually. I didn't think I was actually going to win it. I know I worked hard, especially over the last few races, but I'm very happy that all of it has paid off. I'd like to thank everyone at the team who helped me get this far, as well as my friends and family. I will be looking forward to a well-earned rest.
I: Thank you.
Down in the paddock, Charlie Brown, 2nd in the Championship, was also interviewed.
I: 2 points in it, yet you couldn't do it on the day. Do you regret not finishing higher?
Charlie Brown: I'm not too bothered, anymore. Not everything is about winning, as I've learned many times in my life. I'm actually surprised I got this high if I'm honest. Anyway, I'm happy for Marcie that she's won, and I do hope to get some rest as well, like a lot of drivers, I'm sure.
I: Thank you.
That night, the Cherokee team held a huge party, with everyone at the team, and a few guests attending. Marcie had invited her best friend, Peppermint Patty along, while some of the sport's bosses had mingled with sponsors and other adults, who were all happily eating party food and drinking champagne. Marcie stayed up until midnight, before heading back to the hotel exhausted, with Peppermint Patty helping her walk. (Patty suspected Marcie might have drank from the wrong glass.)
The day after, the drivers returned home to their families, happy to have some free time now that the season was over, and to move on with their lives. Marcie received a letter in the mail saying she would be invited for a tour on December 28th, which she made a note of on her calendar.