OK, OK, OK. I can hear the griping now. I've been working the entire summer. For that I say…I'm sorry. Money for college is a BIT more important than having the time, energy and desire to write. BTW, I have nothing against Jimmy Spencer; he just fit the mold I was looking for.
Ch. 4 – Reactions
It was the beginning of November. The racing season was coming to a close. ESPN's auto racing show was the favorite of Graydon Creed. He loved NASCAR with a deep passion. Jimmy Spencer was the epitome of what the Friends of Humanity envisioned in their fight against mutants: ruthless, unforgiving, and never forgetting. Creed loved this time of year. New teams were being announced for the upcoming season, and this season was no exception.
"Hello everyone, I'm John Kernan and this is RPMtonite." Creed quietly sat down in front of the TV with a cup of coffee. He had a long day as the leader of the FOH: business decisions, where to distribute funding and, his favorite of all, heckling mutants. He pulled up the newspaper and listened to the headlines. "The NASCAR Winston Cup Series will have a new breed of competitors next season. And I mean that quite literally." Creed's eyes poke up and he sips his java. "In Westchester, New York, Professor Charles Xavier announced the formation of X-Motorsports. The entire team will be comprised of mutants." At this, Creed spit out the coffee in his mouth all over his big screen. "They will bear the number 63 in the Winston Cup series, but will run the final Busch Series races at Homestead, Florida."
"I believe this is beneficial to prove to anti-mutant sects that mutants can be quite beneficial to humanity." Professor Charles Xavier, the owner of X-Motorsports. "I support these mutants, and I hope the public will support them as well." Kernan's voice returned. "The driver will be a man by the name of Scott Summers. He may be inexperienced in a Winston Cup stock car, but of all the teams that have been formed for next season, the X-Motorsports has logged more miles than any other team on the testing front. Summers has also thrown into all kinds of cars in the lower ranks of NASCAR including a few starts in the Modified series, Slim Jim All-Pro series and the Busch North race at New Hampshire."
"I know I'm a rookie at this series. I hope to earn the respect of these Winston Cup drivers." Summers spoke to the media. The shot returned to Kernan as Creed growled…a lot like Wolverine or Sabertooth. The shot returned to John Kernan at the ESPN Studios in Charlotte, NC. "The primary sponsor will be Stark Industries. We talked to a few teams today about the arrival of this new mutant team. Here's what they had to say."
(Elliott Sadler, 3 career Winston Cup wins) "I think this is great for NASCAR and for mutants. I mean, NASCAR has been pushing for minorities to enter this sport, whether more women or racial minorities. Now, with the arrival of mutants, maybe this will bring other minorities into the sport."
(Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR Winston Cup Points Leader leaving Rockingham) "Well, this is certainly a big victory for NASCAR. They've been pushin' for minorities for years. This maybe a good thing…or it may be a bad thing. I say, just give 'em a chance to race, and let their performance on the track speak for itself."
(Jeff
Gordon, 5-Time Winston Cup Champion, Defending Race Winner at Homestead and
Defending Champion) "I like what Junior said. I don't care if they are blue with purple polka dots. They still deserve a chance to race like any
normal human being. We'll let their
performance speak for itself. Give 'em
a year and lets see how well they do in the points."
(Jimmy Spencer, 4th
Place finish at Rockingham) "I don't
like the fact that some super human is coming in to take over our sport. Other minorities, like blacks an' women,
sure…let's let them race. But these
freaks of nature will have some advantage over us. NASCAR has to hit them with some restrictions. They physically have some advantages, and
personally that scares the *bleep* out of me. They better not get anywhere near me or I'll bump their *bleep.*"
(Mike Helton, President of NASCAR) "For many years, we have been attempting to gain the support of minorities and encourage them to join in our racing. This includes the likes of African-Americans, Hispanics, women or other racial minorities. Within the last ten years or so, we've learned of a new minority, the mutant. We are proud to see them form a team and will be racing against some of the best stock car drivers in the world." With that, Creed threw his coffee cup at the TV screen, which blew up. He yelled at the top of his lungs.
"I'VE GOT TO GO TO WORK NOW!" He got on the phone and called the council of the FOH into emergency session.
The last of the media left as they team started to clean up the new shop, just on the other side of the mansion on Grey Mulkin Lane. Xavier smiled.
"I think that went over quite well." Wolverine just growled.
"We'll see…" Cable and Forge walked over to the car and pushed it back to the shop. Then, themselves and the other fabricators loaded up the Busch cars into the temporary hauler. Wolverine loaded up, and was gone driving to I-95 headed southbound for sunny Homestead, Florida.
Their reception they received when they arrived was some staring, but mostly smiles on the faces of the fans that were there, the NASCAR Busch Series Officials and the Busch Series competitors. Randy LaJoie, a Busch Series veteran came over to their hauler once they unloaded and wished them the best of luck. Kevin Harvick, a former Busch Series champion talked to Scott in private. When Scott came back to the rest of the team, he was carrying a small good luck charm, in the form of an engraved "In Memory of Dale Earnhardt, The Intimidator" on it from when Kevin made his first Winston Cup start at Rockingham a few years back, after Dale's death at Daytona. The rest of the team got the car out and unpacked all their gear to go racing.
Thursday morning came, the time for Busch qualifying. Although Scott Riggs, the Busch series points leader, had been fast, all eyes were on the 64 car of Scott Summers. They wanted to see what a mutant could do. Forge and Kitty were examining all the aspects of the car, while Gambit conversed with the media. Scott and Jean were next to the car, waiting the time for him to get in the car and go on his qualifying run, while Rogue and Colossus checked the fluid level and tire pressure. They were near the middle of the qualifying order. The day was a bright sunny, warm one for November. The speeds were higher than in final practice, but the X-Men felt that Scott and the car could get them into the field.
Right before Scott got in the car, Xavier came over to talk to him. Remy and Forge also joined and they formed a sort of circle.
"Scott, I wish you the best of luck out there. Don't go out there and be a superman, but just get us into the race. We are preparing for next year." Xavier shook his hand and his eyes began to water. "This may be the way my dream can become reality…" Forge spoke up next.
"We got the car set to go fast and just a tick loose. This engine's got loads of horsepower and it's pretty bulletproof, so you can give her all she's worth." Then he nudged Cyclops in the chest. "And don't tear her up unless you wanna build another one. If you tear it up now, you've got to deal with your son." They all chuckled at that one. Finally Remy extended his hand.
"Scott, Gambit wish you de best of luck. Jus' be smooth." Cyke shook his hand, then climbed into the car. Gambit secured the seat belts while Scott strapped up his helmet. The engine turned over and the car roared to life. Gambit put on his headset to hear Scott comment, "Wow. This baby's ready to roll." Cyclops took off when he was told to go, and slowly brought the car up to speed. Cyke said nothing as he piloted the 64 Stark Industries Chevy around the 1.5-mile oval. As he entered turn 1 on his second lap, the speed flashed on the giant message board. "155.171." Gambit hooted and called Cyke to return to the pit lane. They didn't need that second lap. It would be next to near impossible for anyone to beat that time.
As Cyke exited the car, the TNT sports reporters were all over him. Cyke managed to tell them the car was great and he owed it to the crew. As qualifying went on, it turned out that Riggs was the only drive who could even come close to Scott's time, but still a full mile per hour short. The entire team celebrated…
The next day, a NASCAR official met them at the X-Motorsports trailer. Gambit, Xavier and Scott took the walk over to the blue trailer of the director of the Busch Series. When they returned, they looked extremely displeased. They said nothing, but called the team together in the lounge in the hauler. Logan looked quite agitated.
"What's goin' on? Anything these babies can do ta help?" SNIKT! Logan popped out his claws. Cyclops got upset.
"Put those away Logan! We aren't dealing with Magneto or Apocalypse here." Logan just growled as Xavier explained what the NASCAR officials told them. Xavier made direct eye contact with Forge.
"Well…uh…" It was the first time any of them had seen Xavier at a loss for words. "It appears that in post qualifying inspection, they found an illegal part." Forge jumped to his feet.
"That's a lie! I didn't put anything illegal in that engine! It's exactly to specs!" Xavier put his hand up.
"I believe it was more of mutant prejudice." He stopped, and they all just looked at each other. "But…" he continued, "the good news is that we are still in the field. Just, we have to start from the 43rd position." Xavier looked at Forge. "They want us to replace the engine and we can go racing. How's the backup engine?" He shook his head.
"It'll work, just plan on shaving off a little speed. We should be fine though." He motioned to the car team to pull out the backup engine before they got to practice out on the track.
Creed was waiting outside the Busch Series hauler for some of the officials to exit. When a group came out, one came over to Creed. Creed was boiling over with anger.
"Are they out of the field?" The official looked at his feet.
"I did the best that I could. They are starting 43rd. I couldn't get them disqualified." Creed was upset, but knew that was the best he could do. "Where's my payment Creed?" Opening his hand in front of Creed. Creed took out the money, stripped a few bills out and handed it to the official. Now, the official was mad.
"Why'd you do that?"
"They aren't out of the field. You didn't hold up your end of the deal." He walked away. Creed muttered under his breath, "A friend of ours will smear them…" He disappeared into the garage area.
Saturday, they rolled the car out to the starting grid. Cyclops fired up the car, and off they rolled onto the 1.5-mile track. The 6 degrees of banking in the corners make Homestead-Miami Speedway one of the trickiest tracks to race on. Scott knew this would be a test of his physical and mental energies. He checked his belts and gauges as the field proceeded under slow speed before the race began. Scott checked his radio gear to insure his radio was working.
"Rachel you on the air?"
"10-4 there dad." Cyke controlled his tongue. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea using her as my spotter.
"This is Peter, Cyclops. I'm only on to tell you how far we have to go before the next fuel stop."
"Roger Pete. Gambit, you on yet?"
"Been waitin' mon ami after all dese jokers. Remember now Cyke dat Benny Parsons from TNT Sports is gonna interview ya in a moment."
"Roger that. I'll be waiting." A few moments later…
"Scott Summers, this is Benny Parsons from TNT Sports. Ya read me?" Scott took a deep breath, then answered.
"Loud and clear Benny."
"How's the car feeling?"
"It felt pretty good in the last practice. We think we can come through the field. Our engine builder builds these things bulletproof, and he told me to use that car up, don't save anything for after the race."
"Speaking of your engine, how do you feel about the taking the pole position away from you because of illegal parts in the engine?"
"I don't know about that because our engine builder builds them within the legal limits of the rulebook. I'll let our owner distinguish that."
"Well, Scott I wish you luck."
"Thanks BP." Scott tightened his belts as he came off Turn 4. The pace car peeled off the track, and Scott Riggs let the Busch Series field down to the green flag…
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