Monday 12th March 2018
In the morning, everyone was up and ready to make the trip to New Hampshire Motor speedway. Five, Cormac, Rerun, Shermy and Jose left in the Cherokee Jeep at 11:00 am. Peppermint Patty, Sally Brown and Lucy van Pelt left in the Honda Civic team car at 11:30. Joe Agate and Thibault had flown in the team sky jet at 2pm. Frieda, Violette, Violet, and Patty all took The Opel Astra at 11:45. The top ten Party bus, as before, left at noon.
Charlie Brown spotted Morag on the party bus. Charlie Brown got straight to the point.
"Marcie tells me you also found it weird, that we were all invited to do this thing." He began.
"Yeah, that's right." Morag replied. "It's very strange." "I don't think anyone would do this sort of thing, like host an entire motorsports championship, without asking for something in return."
"Like money?" Charlie Brown asked.
"No I think there's something else."
"Do you think there is some ulterior motive?" Charlie Brown asked.
"Yes. I think so. I need to find out more about the owners. Sunday 25th, I'll be at the Glen. Meet me there 10am sharp and I'll tell you what I know." Charlie Brown and Morag continued to talk about regular championship related things until the Party bus arrived at New Hampshire Motor speedway at 5pm. Everyone else except for Joe Agate and Thibault had arrived there about an hour beforehand. Joe Agate and Thibault arrived at the track at 6pm, slightly less happy than they looked the previous week.
On Tuesday 13th the teams, the cars, the crew, and the motorhomes with them, arrived.
Thursday 15th Press Conference.
On Thursday morning, five seemingly random drivers were chosen to participate in a press conference with reporters. These drivers were, Lucy Van Pelt, Five 95472, Frieda Rich, Harold Angel and Sally Brown.
I: Lucy, you and your teammate didn't have such a good race last time out. How do you plan to rectify that?"
Lucy: "We need to be faster in qualifying. This is an oval, and we had good pace at Delaware, so we'll see how this one pans out."
I: Five, whilst you've been hanging in the midfield, your teammate is 5th in the championship. Are you worried at the difference in speed between you and your teammate?
Five: Well, like I always do, I will try my best this weekend, and we'll see if that's enough to produce results.
I: Frieda, you came close to scoring points last time out. Do you think you can score some this weekend?
Frieda: Yeah I hope to score points today. Schroeder proved that this car is capable of scoring points, so I hope to be in the top 10 this time around.
I: Harold Angel, you scored a good haul of points last time. How happy are you with the car?"
Harold Angel: oh, I'm very pleased. Isdera have brought a fast set of wheels for me to race on. And I think we as a team have proven we are frontrunners for the championship.
I: Sally, you had a good race in Delaware, but not such a good race last time out. Do you think you can regain that form?
Sally: sure I can. I didn't qualify too well at Lime Rock Park, but I'm going all out on Saturday, don't you worry.
I: Thank you.
Saturday 17th March
After practice had finished at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, everyone was anxiously waiting for qualifying to start, and sure enough, it did, with Cormac O'Connor being the first to set a lap time. He set a benchmark of 0:27.002. This was instantly beaten by Charlie Brown, who set a 0:26.682. Frieda then went fastest with a 0:26.507, before Schroeder slotted into second with a 0:26.508. Morag then went third with a 0:26.646. Pierre Fermier then set a time of 0:27.032 to put him 6th and last. Jose Peterson then went 5th with a 0:26.842, before Franklin took that 5th with a 0:26.715. Thibault then impressed himself by setting a 0:26.885, before his teammate, Joe Agate, beat his time with a 0:26.722.
Marcie then set a 0:26.624 to go third, before Patty Swanson set a 0:26.930. Sally failed to set a clean lap time, leaving her with a 0:32.979, putting her thirteenth and last. She was followed by Linus, who set a 0:26.634. Violet Gray unexpectedly went third with a 0:26.521, before Pig Pen took third from her with a 0:26.512. Eudora then set a 0:27.156, putting her second from last. Lucy Van Pelt set a respectable 0:26.780, before Harold Angel set an even more respectable 0:26.721. Rerun Van Pelt went 5th with a 0:26.601. Championship Leader Peppermint Patty hit the wall on lap 3, but she had set a time of 0:26.772 beforehand. Violette Honfleur then set a blistering 0:26.632, before Five set a 0:26.954 and Shermy set a 0:26.975. at the end of Qualifying the grid looked like this…
1st Frieda Rich [Bonn] 0:26.507 2nd Schroeder E. Schroeder [Bonn] 0:26.508
3rd Pig Pen [Armstrong Racing] 0:26.512 4th Violet Gray [Zontec] 0:26.521
5th Rerun Van Pelt [Renault] 0:26.601 6th Marcie Johnson [Cherokee] 0:26.624
7th Violette Honfleur [ACE Racing Co] 0:26.632 8th Linus Van Pelt [Vittoria] 0:26.634
9th Morag McMurdo [Isdera] 0:26.646 10th Charlie Brown [Renault] 0:26.682
11th Franklin Armstrong [Armstrong] 0:26.715 12th Harold Angel [Isdera] 0:26.721
13th Joe Agate [Team Sky] 0:26.722 14th Patricia Reichardt [Honda] 0:26.772
15th Lucy Van Pelt [Honda] 0:26.780 16th Jose Peterson [Daihatsu] 0:26.842
17th Thibault Rhodes [Sky] 0:26.885 18th Patricia Swanson [ACE Racing Co] 0:26.930
19th 555 95472 [Cherokee] 0:26.954 20th Shermy Plepler [Zontec] 0:26.975
21st Cormac O'Connor [Daihatsu] 0:27.002 22nd Pierre Fermier [Vittoria] 0:27.032
23rd Eudora Elm [Polestar] 0:27.156 24th Sally Brown [Polestar] 0:32.979
After Qualifying, the top three Qualifiers were interviewed.
I: Frieda, you told us on Thursday, you said you "hoped to be in the top 10 this time", how close to that do you feel you are, now that you are on pole position.
Frieda: Very close. I will try my best to keep them two (pointing at Schroeder and Pig Pen) behind me.
I: Schroeder, given that your team has a front row lockout, will there be any team orders to ensure a 1-2?
Schroeder: (leans in towards the microphone) no.
I: Pig-pen, this is your second third place start in a row, how confident do you feel about taking the championship lead?
Pig-pen: Well, sure. I'm only 5 points behind Peppermint Patty, so I'm in quite an ideal position.
I: Thank you.
Championship Leader Peppermint Patty was also interviewed.
I: Peppermint Patty, another qualifying outside the top ten. How do you intend to keep your championship lead?
Peppermint Patty: Well I'll have to try my best won't I. Pass people and try to score points.
I: Thank you.
Sunday 18th September – Race Day in New Hampshire
As the cars made the grid, Frieda lined up on pole, hoping to join the winner's circle. As the mechanics and the VIP's left the oval, the announcer's voice was heard.
Announcer: Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!
Frieda did so, as did everyone else.
Announcer: as the pace car takes them around the track for the last time, they will have 101 laps to find out who is the fastest. And as the cars approach the starting line, the New Hampshire Spindycar Supertour Open is Go!
Frieda got a decent start, but Schroeder got a better one, and Schroeder overtook her at the first corner. The cars then followed in line behind them. A lot of drivers played it safe, not really attempting to make any careless moves, as cars like Violet's and Rerun's struggled to hold position. There was a squabble for second between Frieda and Pigpen, which eventually became a three way battle for the lead. By lap 50, Violet had fallen from 4th to 8th and Rerun had fallen from 6th on lap 1 down to 9th by the midway point. Peppermint Patty had battled her way into 11th, but she was still outside the points. Lucy had eclipsed Joe Agate and Jose Peterson to move up into 14th whilst Shermy and Cormac had drifted to the back of the field, Cormac retiring on lap 63 with an engine issue.
On lap 75, Violet passed Rerun to take P8, and the leaders had not changed position. The three frontrunners traded the lead for the remaining laps with Frieda and Pig-Pen holding the lead for several laps each, before ultimately finishing with Schroeder ahead as it was before.
"And Schroeder E. Schroeder wins in New Hampshire! Frieda Rich is 2nd, Pig Pen is 3rd, Marcie Johnson is 4th, Linus Van Pelt is 5th, Morag McMurdo is 6th, Charlie Brown is 7th, Violet Gray scores her first points in 8th, Rerun Van Pelt is 9th and Violette Honfleur rounds out the top 10.
Patricia Reichardt was 11th, with Harold Angel 12th, Lucy Van Pelt 13th, Franklin Armstrong 14th, Jose Peterson 15th, Joe Agate 16th, Patty Swanson in 17th, Thibault Rhodes 18th, Sally Brown 19th, Eudora Elm 20th, 555 95472 was 21st, Pierre Fermier was 22nd, and Shermy Plepler was 23rd.
In the Championship, the Standings are as follows…
1st Pig Pen [Armstrong] 35pts 2nd Schroeder E. Schroeder [Bonn] 31pts
3rd Marcie Johnson [Cherokee] 30pts 4th Morag McMurdo [Isdera] 27pts
5th Patricia Reichardt [Honda] 25pts 6th Pierre Fermier [Vittoria] 25pts
7th Frieda Rich [Bonn] 18pts 8th Linus Van Pelt [Vittoria] 16pts
9th Franklin Armstrong [Armstrong] 15pts 10th Jose Peterson [Daihatsu] 15pts
11th Rerun Van Pelt [Renault] 14pts 12th Lucy Van Pelt [Honda] 10pts
13th Eudora Elm [Polestar] 10pts 14th Harold Angel [Isdera] 8pts
15th Charlie Brown [Renault] 8pts 16th Sally Brown [Polestar] 6pts
17th Patty Swanson [ACE] 4pts 18th Violet Gray [Zontec] 4pts
19th Violette Honfleur [ACE] 1pt 20th Cormac O'Connor [Daihatsu] 1pt
21st Joe Agate [Sky] 0pts 22nd 555 95472 [Cherokee] 0pts
23rd Thibault Rhodes [Sky] 0pts 24th Shermy Plepler [Zontec] 0pts
Schroeder parked his car on Victory Road and walked up to the podium. In the waiting room, Schroeder congratulated Frieda on her 2nd Place and they both chatted with Pigpen, before walking out onto the podium. Everyone stood still and silent whilst the American anthem played and the 3 American flags unfurled. The German anthem played after the American one finished. After that, the competitors drank their milk and went off to the pressroom.
In the pressroom, the interviewer had a few questions for them.
I: Schroeder, you took the lead at the start. How important was that, do you think, for the win?"
"I don't really think it was that important, really. The three of us all led towards the end, so really it was the last overtake that won it."
I: Frieda, you took pole yesterday, 2nd place today. Are you happy with your result?
"I'm definitely pleased. I helped the team score a 1-2 today, and scored my first points of the season. Before you ask, I did go all out for the win, but obviously, Schroeder won out in the end.
I: Pigpen, your first podium of the season, how does it feel to be the current championship leader?
"I'm very pleased. I wasn't expecting to be so competitive so early on. But thanks to the team, were beating all of the established marques, and we hope to stay at the top."
Down in the paddock, Marcie Johnson was also interviewed.
I: Marcie, you finished strongly today, and you're now 3rd in the championship. Do you think you can take the lead next race?"
"I'm only 5 points behind Pig Pen, so it shouldn't be too hard, as long as I keep scoring."
The drivers went back to their hotel and went to sleep, ready for the next morning.
