Hey Everyone! I'm back with chapter 4. Hopefully this one will be a little longer than the previous chapter. And now, the moment we've all been waiting for. The rest of the story will now deal with Christmas. I'm so excited to continue writing this story and I'm really looking forward to hearing what you guys think of it. Anyway, enjoy.

A few weeks had gone by and Strip and his crew were getting busy each week. It felt like more weeks had gone by than before, but Strip was determined to head home in time. He had already missed Thanksgiving, and he wasn't about to miss Christmas. He knew he had his family back home waiting for him.

Up in North Carolina, the first snowflakes had made their way onto the ground. Lynda was in her bedroom, glancing out her window. The sight was beautiful and she always remembered how Cal loved to play in it when he was little. She was about to get up from her bed when her cell phone rang. It was Strip.

"Hello?"

"Hey Lyn. It's me. I just wanted to call and see how you were doing."

"I'm alright. The first snowflakes are falling, so I've been watching them. How's things down in Florida?"

"Everything is alright. I'm just tired. Everyone just wants to be home for the holidays now. I can't believe Christmas is soon, and I still have a lot to do."

"Listen, just do your best. I've only expect you to try, nothing else. That's all I want. I don't want you to be constantly rushing just to be home. You still need energy for the start of the racing season."

"You're right- I'm sorry Lyn. But I have to go. I'm about to get ready for another practice session. This is the second one in a week we're having one. I'll try and call you later. Alright?"

"Alright. Be safe. I love you."

"Love you too."

Strip hung up and began to make his way toward the pits. His crew members had just finished setting him up for the practice session. While they had been setting up, he had used that time to call Lynda. He had felt bad about not being there for Thanksgiving, and he was determined to make it home in time for Christmas so he could spend some alone time with her. He settled into position, then waited for the all clear signal from the race officials. As soon as the green flag waved, he floored it. Strip's crew chief watched on his computer screen, while the rest of the team observed through monitors of their own. Things seemed to be alright, until..

"Roger! I need to come to the pits! Immediately!"

"What's wrong?"

"My rear tire went down! It's going flat. I'm coming in."

"Alright. We're on standby for you." Roger called. Immediately, the entire pit crew began to assemble near the front of their pit area, with Luke holding the drill to change Strip's tires. And just as Strip pulled into the pits, the pit crew began their respective positions. Everyone stayed silent as they did their tasks. Once they had finished changing their racer's tires, he sped off immediately.

Suddenly, Roger's radio came on. Apparently, Strip had exceeded the speed limit for pit row, and the officials had flagged him for review. Roger had just finished speaking to one of the officials when Tex came from the Dinoco VIP suite. Clearly he wasn't impressed.

"What happened out there?" he hissed under his breath.

"Sorry sir, but I think we're having some difficulties a little. Strip needs to come back into the pits. It looks like the officials are looking into the pit stop we made." Roger replied, as he glanced at the monitors.

"And we'll probably get a five grid spot penalty as well." Tex sighed. "Alright. Just do the best you can. Clearly we need some more practice with pit stops and I'm not very happy about that."

"Yes sir. I'll make sure that this doesn't happen again." Roger said, as he glanced at his boss.

"For yours and everyone else's sake it better not." Tex replied, and with that he headed back up to his position.

Sadly, Tex's predictions had been proved to be true. Strip was forced to come back down into the pits and do another pit stop after the officials caught him speeding. Not only had this caused him to drop down several spots, but the officials had slapped him with a five grid spot penalty, along with a penalty for speeding down the pits the first time. Tex was the first one to know and immediately ordered everyone to the Dinoco trailer for a brief meeting as soon as the practice session was done.

It was late and everyone was tired. They just wanted to be home with their families and relax. After all, they would still have time to take care of things once the holidays would be over. However, this wasn't the case. Tex slammed the door of the Dinoco trailer aggressively with his tire.

"What happened out there?!" He shouted angrily. "We rarely get five grid sport penalties and a speeding penalty! What happened?!"

"I thought I was speeding at the right limit. I didn't realize I went pass it." Strip sighed agitatedly. He just wanted to be home with Lynda and the rest of his family. Already he had missed Thanksgiving and it seemed he was about to miss Christmas. He knew how Lynda would respond if he told her he wouldn't be home in time. But he also knew what would happen if he ever tried to argue with Tex. Strip just stayed silent and waited for his sponsor's response.

Tex just sighed. He knew he wouldn't get a straight answer through Strip if it was just a constant argument. "Listen, I know all of you want to be home for Christmas. I do as well. But I also want our team to be the very best when the racing season starts up again. Many teams were competitive against us, but if we work just as hard as everyone else, we might still have a chance at winning the championship. Let's try to focus more a little. The sooner we do that, the sooner we can all leave and spend some time with our families."

"That should've happened a while ago after the last race." Strip whispered to himself. Tex cleared his throat to get everyone's attention as small murmurs began to fill the trailer.

"Alright. Let's get some shut eye. Tomorrow will be another busy day."

"Yes sir." Everyone replied as they packed up for the night."

"Very well. Goodnight."

"Night."

Tex closed the trailer door and everyone began to talk. Roger pulled Strip to the side for a last minute conversation. They were both tired and exhausted, and Strip wanted to have some time alone so this way he could call Lynda.

"I think we should go over my notes first thing tomorrow. And get up a little earlier. This way we have a less chance of making any mistakes that'll keep us here longer than we want."

"You're right. I just don't know what to tell Lyn. She'll be upset if I tell her I won't make it home. I missed Thanksgiving. I don't want to miss Christmas either."

"I know Weathers. I know. We just have to do what we can for now. And we will take care of it tomorrow." Roger replied as he packed up his notes and left the trailer.

Strip stayed where he was for a while and sighed. He then settled down with some pillows and blankets and pulled out his phone. He called Lynda.

Hey everyone. I'm so sorry about the update delay. I know I promised I'd wait a while so this way I would have some time to post the rest of the story before Christmas. It looks like that'll still happen. I'll just try and write as much as I can within the next few days I still have left. I just got busy for a while and I was tired and had other things to take care of. But, here's the next chapter. I hope you like it. And please feel free to leave reviews. I'm so happy whenever I get them. And I'll see you for the next chapter.