Monday 30th April
With two weeks until the next race, all the way over in Colorado, the drivers were taking their time to enjoy what the city of Sioux Falls had to offer them, especially since they would be leaving earlier than usual. Frieda, Pig Pen and Schroeder went out to enjoy the scenery, taking a walk around the nearby Covell Lake.
Meanwhile, Roy had invited Charlie Brown, Linus, and Morag to a local café in the south end of town. The four of them gathered around a table, eating lunch while waiting for Roy to talk.
"So, Roy, you learn anything?" Morag asked, taking a sip of coffee.
"Well, I haven't received any names as of yet, but Frank has confirmed to me that the press, by and large, are indeed serving the interests of the organisers."
"As we suspected." Charlie Brown replied.
"They are asked not to bring the series into disrepute for the benefit of the stakeholders." Roy added.
"Stakeholders?" Morag asked. "You sure?"
"Yes, apparently there are interested parties from outside the company that hold sway over them."
"Like investors and such?" Charlie Brown asked.
"Possibly." Roy responded. "Which would explain why they'd have a shell company to store everyone's money."
"And their general dishonesty." Linus complained. "What happened at Watkins Glen proved the press are prepared to ignore anything to keep the show going."
"Hold it." Morag interrupted. "You guys must remember that most of the free press act like hungry wolves. They will jump at anything they can get their hands on. It's clear from what Linus is saying that the press are being restrained."
"That's what I was saying." Linus replied. "We know that for a fact now. All that remains is who's in charge, and what they are planning."
"Agreed. I will get my dad to look into it further. Good luck at the next race." Roy finished his tea and left, leaving the three of them sitting at the table.
"What are they planning?" Charlie Brown asked. "I mean, I know there's a lot of money involved, but if they picked us specifically, there's got to be more to it than that."
"I'm sure we'll find out soon enough." Morag replied, as she finished her coffee. "I trust Roy." Charlie Brown and Linus nodded in agreement, as they also drank, before the three of them left the café, and returned to their hotel.
Thursday 3rd May
As promised, the teams did depart early for Colorado. The top ten party bus left at 7am, as did Marcie, Five, Violet, Franklin and José in the Cherokee Jeep, and Thibault in the Volkswagen Touareg. The others, consisting of Charlie Brown, Rerun, Pierre and Harold Angel in a Renault Megane, Sally, Eudora, Franklin and Patty Swanson in the Polestar's Volvo XC90, all left about 15 minutes later.
Most of the racers slept for much of the journey, which took about 12 hours to get to. Once they were there, they all went to a nearby hotel, where they ate and then slept for the night. The press and mechanics and crew took until Saturday to haul all of their stuff across two states, but the track was ready and waiting on Sunday for the next week's race.
Monday 7th May
Having spent the past couple of days exercising and training for the race ahead, the drivers took it upon themselves to enjoy the sunshine and shade in the heat of the Colorado sun. The paddock was warm, and Roy was busily walking around the paddock, looking for a story. The garages were quiet, with several days before the drivers were due to practice, so Roy went further into the paddock, looking for the motorhomes. Most of them were quiet, and closed. 10:30am was the time most teams were holding team meetings, and they weren't to let anyone in for the time being, so Roy walked on has he watched the disapproving faces of security guards posted at every door.
The heat of the sun was getting to Roy. Frank had told him to stay hydrated, and he had, but the beaming rays were relentless, and Roy desperately needed some shade. The nearest shadow he could find cast itself over the back of the Team Sky motorhome so that's where he went. Roy rested against the wall as he drank from a bottle of water. As he leant, he became aware of noise coming from the other side.
"That's enough from you, Thibault!" he heard a distant shout. "All season you've done nothing but complain, and what do we get from you? NOTHING!
"What do you expect me to do? I'm just a kid!" he heard Thibault retort.
"So? That doesn't stop Joe, or any of the other racers. I can replace you easily, you know that!"
'This is golden.' Roy feverishly noted down the conversation on his notepad.
"You didn't answer my question!" Thibault answered back.
"I expect you to be scoring points! And if you aren't within sight of Joe's points haul in three races, you'll be out of the team for good. Understand?!"
"Could you be more specific?" Thibault asked.
"7 points! 3 races! Or you're gone! Now get out of my sight, before I change my mind."
"Yes, sir." Roy's expression deflated as he heard Thibault give a defeated sigh. He finished his note taking just as the sound of the motorhome's front door clumsily clattering open emanated from behind him. Roy quickly got up to avoid him, but Thibault walked round to the back and caught sight of him anyway.
"How long have you been there?" he asked, as Roy froze to the spot. "It's an honest question."
"I was just sitting in the shade." Roy diverted.
"Sure you were. I don't care if you heard anything." Thibault replied, as he shuffled closer.
"You don't?"
"I'm not sure you've noticed, but the manager isn't exactly a good person." Thibault inferred.
"You can talk." Roy scoffed.
"I can too. When the girls whoop your butt every week, you kinda start to respect them. Begrudgingly, i admit, since it goes against everything I was taught." Thibault replied. "Let's walk." And they did, out into the paddock, away from the prying ears of the garage, Roy noticed.
"Alright, what is it about the manager you wanted to say? You know what I heard, but if we're clear out here there's definitely something else.
"He has, uh, behavioural issues. Worse than mine." Thibault told him.
"Specifically?" Roy asked.
"Well, for starters, the day after the Glen race, his wife drove us to Michigan with a black eye, and we haven't seen her since."
"I see." Roy made a note of it. "That sounds like a matter for the…"
"I doubt they'd consider me a reliable source. Forget it." Thibault interrupted. "It won't result in anything. The sport's bosses probably already know."
"But why would the All American Motorsport Federation accept him if they knew that?" Roy asked.
"That's your job, not mine." Thibault shrugged his shoulders and walked away, leaving Roy standing gormlessly in the middle of the paddock. Realising where he was standing, he looked at his notes and walked to a nearby plastic table, complete with parasol, where his father was sitting.
"You look like you could use an ice cream." Frank said, handing him a strawberry 1-scoop on a cone.
"Yeah, thanks." Roy sat down and shoved his notepad over to Frank, who read it as carefully as he could.
"You've been busy. Are these notes verbatim?" Frank asked.
"Of course." Roy asked, as he began to eat his ice cream.
"Interesting." Frank read on to the bottom of the page. "Mind if I keep hold of this?"
"Sure you can, I'm done for today." Roy sighed. Frank left him alone to finish his ice cream, for now it his turn to do some digging.
"Get back to the hotel before 6, alright?" Frank told him.
"I will." Roy replied. He sat back his chair, admiring the blue sky over the track, and all of the bustle in the paddock below it. He was so absorbed by it that he didn't notice Charlie Brown approach him.
"Hey Roy." He chirped.
"What? Oh hi Charlie Brown." Roy turned to look at him, surprised.
"You had a good day so far?" Charlie Brown asked.
"Yep. Dad's gone to do some digging."
"I see. Mind if I sit down?"
"I don't see why not." Roy replied.
"You find anything?" Charlie Brown asked as he sat down.
"Thibault received an ultimatum from his boss. I heard from the other side of the walls."
"Heh, rumour was there was shouting last week too." Charlie Brown recalled. "How is Thibault taking it?"
"I dunno. He seems to have matured a bit, though I can't tell if the dirt he says he has on the manager is real or him just being a lying snake."
"Must be why your father took the notebook this time." Charlie Brown responded, noticing Roy was twiddling his thumbs.
Roy sighed. "I hope this thing works."
"Me too. Even if they miss the rumour, they'll definitely jump on the other story, which hopefully will let Frank do some more digging." Charlie Brown elaborated, before getting up.
"You going?" Roy asked.
"Yeah, team will want me back for the afternoon. See you around." And Charlie Brown left.
Roy continued to potter around the paddock, like any tourist would, until the end of the day, where he returned to the hotel in time for 6pm.
Thursday 10th May
Once again, another 5 drivers were called to be interviewed at the press conference. These 5 were: Pierre, Harold Angel, Violette, Frieda, and Violet.
I: Pierre, every race this season you're either right at the front or languishing at the back. How do you plan on improving your consistency?
Pierre: Simple. Stay at the front.
I: Harold Angel, you too have been frequently outshone by your teammate, how do you plan on recovering your season?
Harold Angel: I'd need to improve my qualifying, that seems to be my most major weak spot.
I: Violette, you managed to scrabble a couple of points from South Dakota, do you think you can do the same thing again here?
Violette: Well, we hope to do better. It would be nice if one of our team managed to get on the podium today. But of course we won't know what we have until we got until we go out on track."
I: Frieda, your consistent performances have put you just 1 point off the championship lead. What can you do to ensure you take the lead this weekend?"
Frieda: Score points, and finish ahead of him.
I: Violet, you were the innocent party in a three-car accident last time around, do you think you'll get a fairer shot this time around?
Violet: "I expect Five won't be locking his brakes again on this oval, so yes is your answer." she jibed.
I: Thank you.
Saturday 12th May
With the morning practice over, and qualifying just around the corner, everyone was eagerly waiting for qualifying to begin, and eventually it did. Franklin was the first to go out, setting a lap time of 0:26.701, which was swiftly beaten by Patty Swanson, who set a time of 0:26.611. Morag then set an unusually poor time of 0:26.990, which put her last for the time being, before Sally went fastest with a 0:26.441. Linus then set a 0:26.722, before Peppermint Patty put herself second with a time of 0:26.541, shuffling back into third when Rerun set a time of 0:26.511.
Frieda then took the top spot with a 0.26.440, one thousandth of a second faster than Sally's time. Five set a time of 0:26.724, just behind Linus, before Schroeder set a time of 0:26.463, which put him just behind Frieda and Sally. Harold Angel then snuck ahead of Franklin with a time of 0:26.694, before Thibault seta 0:26.685, and Marcie went 4th with a 0:26.470. Lucy set a time of 0:26.776, before Pierre set a time of 0:26.957, just ahead of Morag. Violette set a time of 0:29.381, her time seemingly compromised by damage, not that anyone could tell what it was.
Shermy, having found some good fortune, set a time of 0:26.470, identical to Marcie's, before his teammate Violet set a time of 0:26.793, putting her just behind Lucy. José Peterson set a time of 0:26.863, before Pig Pen put himself 6th with a 0:26.502. Eudora was not far behind him with a 0:26.559, before Cormac set a 0:27.048 to go second from last, and Charlie Brown set the final lap-time of the day, a 0:26.420, which put him on pole.
At the end of the session, the grid order was as follows…
1st Charlie Brown [Renault] 0:26.420 2nd Frieda Rich [Bonn] 0:26.440
3rd Sally Brown [Polestar] 0:26.441 4th Schroeder E. Schroeder [Bonn] 0:26.463
5th Marcie Johnson [Cherokee] 0:26.470 6th Shermy Plepler [Zontec] 0:26.470
7th Pig Pen [Armstrong] 0:26.502 8th Rerun Van Pelt [Renault] 0:26.511
9th Patricia Reichardt [Honda] 0:26.541 10th Eudora Elm [Polestar] 0:26.559
11th Patricia Swanson [ACE] 0:26.611 12th Thibault Rhodes [Sky] 0:26.685
13th Harold Angel [Isdera] 0:26.694 14th Franklin Armstrong [Armstrong] 0:26.701
15th Linus Van Pelt [Vittoria] 0:26.722 16th 555 95472 [Cherokee] 0:26.724
17th Joe Agate [Sky] 0:26.725 18th Lucy Van Pelt [Honda] 0:26.776
19th Violet Gray [Zontec] 0:26.793 20th José Peterson [Daihatsu] 0:26.863
21st Pierre Fermier [Vittoria] 0:26.957 22nd Morag McMurdo [Isdera] 0:26.990
23rd Cormac O'Connor [Daihatsu] 0:27.048 24th Violette Honfleur [ACE] 0:29.381
After Qualifying was over, those in the top 3 were interviewed.
I: Charlie Brown, this is your third pole of the season, what are your chances, do you feel, of becoming the first repeat winner this season?
Charlie Brown: I hope so, though I'm sure Frieda will make it very difficult for me.
I: Frieda, as the only other driver with multiple pole positions, do you agree with Charlie Brown's assertions?
Frieda: Of course. Another race win would be ideal for the championship battle with Pig Pen, and the others. I'm glad Charlie Brown sees me as a force to be reckoned with.
I: Sally, you've scored a handful of points this season. Given your position, what are your targets for this race?
Sally: I'm hoping for a podium. (She leans back, away from the microphone)
I: Thank you.
Championship Leader Pig Pen was also interviewed.
I: Pig Pen, from 6th, do you think you can keep hold of the Championship lead this race?
Pig Pen: I doubt it, but I do think I'll still be in the hunt.
I: Thank you.
Sunday 13th May – Race Day in Colorado
There was plenty of hubbub as the cars assembled on the grid in the lead up to the race, with fans and the press eagerly awaiting the prospect of seeing so many championship challengers battle it out. Charlie Brown sat on pole, waiting patiently for the announcer to speak while he mentally prepared himself for the race. Eventually, as the crowd began to quiet, the announcer spoke
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Start your Engines!" Charlie Brown did so, as did everyone else. The pace car led them around the track for the formation lap.
"As the pace car leads them round, the drivers will have to face 100 laps of the oval here at Pike's Peak International Raceway, as the car pulls into the pits, the Colorado Spindycar Supertour Open is Go!"
Charlie Brown led into the first corner, with every one following behind him, although Shermy took a little more time getting up to speed, being passed by Pig-Pen. Frieda took the lead on lap 8, before Linus passed Franklin a lap later, and by lap 10, Morag had made 4 places, up to 18th. Rerun passed Shermy on lap 15, whilst Marcie and Pig Pen were locked in a battle for 5th position. Violette was far at the back, drifting away behind the pack, and effectively running her own race in last place.
Harold Angel passed Thibault on lap 19, and started to catch up to Patty Swanson, who was struggling to keep up with Eudora. On the approach to the pit-lane, Patty's engine had a blowout. Quickly, she pulled into the pits, her car spilling oil over the pit-lane, and thankfully, not the track. Morag managed to get past a troublesome Joe Agate 4 laps later, in a daring move on the outside he hadn't covered for. Peppermint Patty then overtook Shermy on lap 29, his pace just not matching that of the others. Rerun joined the three-way battle for 5th on lap 31, which was still being tightly contested, and it would continue for several laps.
On lap 36, however, the leading group was getting close enough to lap the slow moving car of Violette, who was still struggling with a car problem. Frieda swung out to Violette's inside, and made a move to pass her, but she was too focused on Charlie Brown's car appearing in her other rear view mirror, and she swayed left to let him through. Unfortunately, she collided with Frieda, sending both of their cars spinning off into the infield, whilst Charlie Brown had to swerve right to avoid the two of them, dropping him into 6th. The steering of Frieda's car was too damaged to continue, as her right front wheel was bent inwards, so she retired from the race, as did Violette. The race was brought under yellow flags whilst the stricken cars of Frieda and Violette were cleared.
When the race restarted, on lap 44, the racers were eager to get underway. Marcie, now in third, struggled to keep Pig Pen and Rerun behind her, whilst at the front, Sally suddenly found herself in the lead, with Schroeder casually sitting behind in second. Morag got past Five on lap 51, finally able to go at full speed. Eudora got past Shermy 3 laps later, whilst Thibault stayed close behind Harold Angel as he waited to make a move.
Pig Pen passed Marcie on lap 60, finally breaking into third, with Rerun passing Marcie a lap later. Schroeder was beginning to close up behind Sally too, passing her and taking the lead on lap 72. Thibault took another few laps to close up to Harold Angel and pass him, to move into 10th place which, critically for him, meant scoring a point. Rerun passed Pig Pen on lap 89, before Morag passed Franklin on lap 93. Linus also got past Harold Angel two laps before the chequered flag.
"And Schroeder wins in Colorado! Sally Brown is second, and Rerun Van Pelt is third! Pig Pen was 4th, Marcie is 5th, Charlie Brown is 6th, Peppermint Patty is 7th, Eudora finished in 8th, Shermy 9th and Thibault scores his first point of the season in 10th!
Linus was 11th, with Harold Angel 12th, Morag 13th, Franklin 14th, Five 15th, Joe Agate 16th, Lucy 17th, Violet 18th, José Peterson 19th, Pierre 20th, and Cormac finished 21st.
In the Championship, the standings are as follows…
1st Pig Pen [Armstrong] 72pts 2nd Schroeder E. Schroeder [Bonn] 68pts
3rd Marcie Johnson [Cherokee] 65pts 4th Frieda Rich [Bonn] 59pts
5th Patricia Reichardt [Honda] 59pts 6th Rerun Van Pelt [Renault] 56pts
7th Charlie Brown [Renault] 56pts 8th Linus Van Pelt [Vittoria] 54pts
9th Morag McMurdo [Isdera] 48pts 10th Eudora Elm [Polestar] 40pts
11th Sally Brown [Polestar] 36pts 12th Pierre Fermier [Vittoria] 33pts
13th Franklin Armstrong [Armstrong] 30pts 14th Lucy Van Pelt [Honda] 29pts
15th Patty Swanson [ACE] 20pts 16th José Peterson [Daihatsu] 16pts
17th Violette Honfleur [ACE] 15pts 18th Joe Agate [Sky] 14pts
19th Harold Angel [Isdera] 12pts 20th Violet Gray [Zontec] 10pts
21st Shermy Plepler [Zontec] 8pts 22nd Cormac O'Connor [Daihatsu] 5pts
23rd 555 95472 [Cherokee] 2pts 24th Thibault Rhodes [Sky] 1pt 25th Mimi Sonatelli [Armstrong] 0pts
Schroeder parked his car on victory road, as he received bountiful applause for his win. He smiled softly, and waved, before heading up to the podium. In the waiting room, the three of them congratulated each other on a good race, before heading out onto the podium in front of the adoring crowd.
The three of them stood and waited whilst the three American flags unfurled and the American anthem played. The German anthem played after the American had finished. Afterwards, the drivers picked up their trophies and celebrated, before drinking their milk and heading off into the pressroom, where the interviewers had some questions.
I: Schroeder, of all the people who could possibly have won a second time today, I doubt many would have expected it to be you. How did you do it?
Schroeder: A mixture of luck and good racing. I'm glad to be in the hunt for the championship again.
I: Sally, just like your team mate before you, you finished on the podium with a second place. How important is that for the team?
Sally: Very important. I'm not far behind her (Eudora) in the championship now, and we are close to the other front-running teams.
I: Rerun, you've caught up to Charlie Brown in the standings. Do you think the team will treat you equally to Charlie Brown in future?
Rerun: Are you saying it isn't? I think the way they're doing it now is working for us, and I don't expect it to change, as long as we keep getting results.
I: Thank you.
Championship Leader Pig Pen was also interviewed in the paddock.
I: Pig Pen, you said yesterday you weren't expecting to lead the championship after today. How good does it feel to be proven wrong?
Pig Pen: Good question. It does feel good when things turn out better than expected. That said, I hope to still be competitive at the next race.
I: Thank you.
As the day sunk into night, the drivers returned to their hotel and went to sleep, ready for the next day ahead.
