Author's Note: Hello Everyone! I'm so sorry I haven't been active in writing. Lately I've been wanting to improve on my artwork a lot so that's been mainly taking up my time. But I'm back and now I'm trying to improve on my writing since I've been away from it. So, this story is about how Team Dinoco spends their time on the track, qualifying for races, etc. Mainly I wanted to do this because I wanted to go into more detail and come up with some ways the team operates. I wish Pixar did more screen time for the team and talk a little bit more about it, since it gets a lot of attention, but sadly they didn't. Which is okay cause now I get to share my ideas with you all. Hope you enjoy it! Also feel free to give feedback and your thoughts of the story! Anyway, let's get started!

Also another quick note, I'll be starting this from the Dinoco 400 when it's the three way tie and once I end it with the tie breaker race in California, I'll be filling in events, such as Strip's nephew, Cal, becoming the new racer and so forth.

Motor Speedway of The South

Located in Nashville, Tennessee, a large dome-shaped stadium was filled with 60,000 fans. Glowing lights were shining brightly as 36 Piston Cup racers thundered across the track. The most common racers out of the entire group were Strip "The King" Weathers, who was a 7 time Piston Cup Champion, 2nd place runner up Chick Hicks, and rookie sensation Lightning McQueen. However, Strip was the main car receiving the most attention from the media and press members. It was his final season in the Piston Cup, and the well known veteran was ready to call it a journey completed. He had been racing in Dinoco for so many years, he had lost track of time. His sponsor, Tex Dinoco, who was the team's owner and talent scout, had always considered him to be Dinoco's Golden Boy, not mentioning that he had broken many speed records in his early years, to later on receiving his first championship, and finally receiving his seventh career championship win. He had come so far and had made many accomplishments that he thought would never happen. But, he was able to do it, and he wouldn't have been able to accomplish anything if it weren't for Tex, and his wife, Lynda, supporting him throughout his journey. Tex had created a successful racer. That was a fact, and the oil tycoon had guided him through every step of the way, which always resulted in a successful outcome.

In the Dinoco VIP stands, Tex and Lynda were watching the action unfolding from the track. Lynda was cheering for her husband, as he sped along the asphalt.

"Come on honey! You can do it." Lynda called out. Beside her, Tex watched in silence for a few minutes as he glanced through binoculars he had on standby. Eventually, he began cheering for The King himself.

"Come on King! You can do it! Make us proud!" Tex shouted.

On the track, Strip continued to keep up the process he had started at the beginning of the race. As he turned into turn 2, a huge wreck occurred. Chick Hicks had purposely rammed one of the other racers, Winford Bradford Rutherford, into the wall, causing a chain reaction in the process. Strip sighed, as the strategy he had been working on for the past week, would not work out anymore. His crew chief, Roger Wheeler, came onto his radio.

"Hey King, everyone else is going to pit, so we're going to as well. Once the pace car comes out, you'll be able to go into the pits. We'll do four tires and a full tank of fuel for our pit stop."

"I got you." Strip replied. He kept his eyes straight ahead as he waited for the signal to come. Once the pace car did a lap around the track, he was able to go into the pits. Everyone else had taken a pit stop, all except for Lightning. Strip slightly rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe that Lightning wasn't going to take a pit stop at all. It was always important to take a pit stop when the tire pressure was going down. If no pit stop was done, then the tire would blow out and the driver would end up hitting the wall, or even cause a chain reaction.

Once Strip's pit stop was done and over with, his crew chief gave the usual order to go ahead. Eventually, Lightning had arrived into the pits, but had only taken fuel. His pit crew screamed at him for denying a fresh set of tires. Strip just shook his front with disapproval.

"Who does this guy think he is?" Strip asked himself. "You need tires, not just fuel. Ugh, this guy is already on my nerves."

Realizing that his driver wasn't paying attention, Roger adjusted his headset and called out to Strip.

"Hey, Weathers! You need to keep your eyes focused on the track! Don't worry about Hicks and Lightning. They're just trying to get your attention and pull your tail pipe. Keep doing what you've been doing all night long."

Strip nodded, determination filling up inside of him. The green flag quickly rose into the air, signaling all the racers to continue racing. Chick had started in the middle of the pack along with Strip, while Lightning had taken the lead.

As the white flag waved to signal the final lap of the race, Roger immediately screamed into his headset, ordering Strip to give in all his energy. Lightning was far ahead of the pack. But eventually, his tire blew out, causing him to swerve all over. He could see that The King and Chick were closing in on him. As he tried to drive normally, another tire blew out. Now only left with two tires, Lightning tries to approach the finish line, but eventually Strip and Chick had managed to join him. All three of them had crossed the finish line. Darrell Cartrip and Bob Cutlass were commenting on the scene below, as all the fans screamed and shouted.

"I don't believe it! It looks like a three way tie!" Bob commented.

"What a blast that was! Woohoo!" Darrell shouted.

"And we don't even know who won!" Bob added.

At the Piston Cup Camera Footage hauler, the officials browsed through the cameras at different angles to determine if it was a three way tie. Strip had decided to head over to the Dinoco tent. His sponsor, pit crew, crew chief, and Lynda were all there waiting for him.

"Hey, you did the best you could. You'll have another shot if the officials determine the race is a three way tie." Tex replied, as he gave his long time racer a nudge on the fender.

"I'm pretty sure it is a three way tie, but it makes sense for the officials to confirm it. They want to make sure it's fair." Strip replied. He settled down to drink a can of Dinoco fuel.

An hour had passed before the speakers in the stadium came on. The officials were going to announce the results of the race.

"Ladies and gentle cars, we have officially concluded our results."

"You'd better head over to the stage. The press members will want to take a photoshoot of you, Hicks, and Lightning." Tex replied.

Strip sighed and slightly rolled his eyes. He didn't want to compete against two racers who were arrogant. But, in racing, there were no options. You had to deal with arrogant racers, even if it meant competing against them in a three way tie. Strip headed over to the stage, where the backdrop had already been torn. Lightning had gotten there before him and Chick. Immediately, confetti canons exploded as the crowd cheered, along with press members snapping photos.

The announcer continued speaking through the stadium as the crowd remained silent. "Piston cup officials have confirmed that the race was a tie. The race between the three leaders will take place in California in one week. Coverage will be live from the Los Angeles International Speedway.

Once the announcement was completed, the racers returned to their designated spots. Strip headed back to the Dinoco tent, where he found his pit crew packing up their equipment. He knew the team would have to be at their very best if they wanted to win the Piston Cup, and beat Chick and Lightning.

"I had everyone start packing up now." Tex said, as he emerged from the team's garages. "We're going to hit the road at 10 AM tomorrow so this way we can make time for practice sessions. I'm sure you and Lynda will want to spend some time alone as well, so it's best if we get there early.

"Good. That'll work."

"Excellent. Head to your trailer to get some rest. We'll see you tomorrow." And with that, Tex drove away. Strip headed to his trailer. He couldn't believe retirement was close, although he wished it was the end. He really didn't want to do another race. But, he had no choice. The sooner he finished the race, the sooner he could hang up his lightyears. Strip had managed to fall asleep, as memories of his early racing days began to overfill him.

Hey! I'm so sorry about my long absence as I have already said, but I hope your looking forward to reading one of my stories. I know I have another one that isn't done yet, so I'll be working on that soon. But just wanted to get a start on this one. Hope you like it.