Monday 9th July

Morning broke, and the drivers got up begrudgingly, compelled by obligation to move on. Harold Angel, Roy, and Linus chose not to take the party bus that morning, preferring to wait until they were sure Morag and Joe Agate would be alright. Thibault and Mimi chose to wait as well, as did Shermy, Charlie Brown and Pierre. The of the rest of the drivers, Sally, Eudora, Cormac, Five and Schroeder left in the team Cherokee Jeep, while Lucy, Peppermint Patty, Franklin and Violette left in the Team Honda's Civic.

Those who remained spent the day discussing what to do.

"We should hold a discussion on whether to race next week." Charlie Brown spoke as the group sat around a table overlooking the medical canter.

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea." Linus added. "We did the same when Pig Pen got hurt, so it's only fair, especially when we're going to another oval."

"The Oval." Roy piped up.

"Exactly. There's just as much chance of a monster crash there as there was here, and we should think twice before racing again. I propose we hold the meeting on Wednesday."

"Agreed." Harold Angel spoke. "Hopefully everything will have settled down by then."

The discussion branched onto other topics, and Roy took the opportunity to takes some notes down, which Charlie Brown eventually noticed.

"What are you writing there, Roy?" he asked.

"Oh. I'm writing an in depth article about the race weekend, and what is was like to drive in it."

"Sounds interesting."

"That's what I thought. Hopefully it should keep the press and public happy enough to let Frank do some more digging."

"Uh huh." Charlie Brown nodded.

"Like the crash wouldn't keep them hooked." Linus replied cynically.

Meanwhile, in the Medical center, Morag and Joe Agate were being checked over once more.

"Your bruises seem to be healing normally." The doctor said to Morag.

"They still hurt a bunch, but I admit it's not as bad as it used to be." Morag replied. "Are you going to allow visitors yet?"

"I doubt there's still anyone here that wants to see you. They should have moved on to the next race by now." The nurse replied from nearby.

"You'd be surprised." Morag replied. the Nurse, slightly unsure of herself, took it upon herself to prove herself right, and walked out of the front door. To her surprise she saw the group of 8 drivers huddled around a table.

"You're still here?" she asked in amazement.

"Of course." Charlie Brown replied with a grin. "Why wouldn't we wait? Some things are more important than motor racing, you know."

"You might as well come in then." The nurse gave in. The eight clamoured around the front door of the medical center waiting to be let in.

"Alright, guys, one at a time." a doctor pleaded. All 8 of them walked calmly in to the room where Morag and Joe Agate were recovering, and Morag's face lit up when she saw that Charlie Brown, Linus and Roy, and her teammate had waited for her. Morag reached for a hug, and Charlie Brown reciprocated, trying not to touch her painfully bruised back. Morag appreciated the gesture and began to draw away from the hug.

"Are you getting released from hospital today?" Roy asked.

"I should be. I'm getting better, and I can move. I can't really bend down, but I can walk and I think I can run." Morag. "I'll get another check up on Friday to see if I'm fit to race or not."

"And how are you doing, Joe?" Thibault asked.

"My Back still hurts, but I heard I'll have some extra time to recover. Damn stewards." Joe Agate grumbled.

"Hey. I watched it live, and that crash was entirely your fault." Thibault asserted.

"Since when did you get soft?" Joe Agate complained.

"I know we're bullies by nature, Joe, but you can't bully people off the road when the stakes are this high. You could have very easily killed yourself out there. And Morag too." Thibault explained firmly.

"My wheel was inches from hitting Violette's head." Pierre added.

"Not to mention the debris that could have flown into our faces." Charlie Brown took over. "The pair of you were very lucky yesterday. All of us were. You should pay more attention, Joe Agate, or you'll find yourself watching Mimi from the sidelines a lot more than just the once.

"Buzz off!" Joe Agate retorted angrily.

"Fine. Morag, we'll be waiting outside when the doctor lets you leave, okay?"

"Alright." Morag replied, as the gaggle of drivers left. Morag scowled silently at Joe Agate as he rested. It was about an hour before the doctor came in and discharged the pair of them. They walked out to find the 8 drivers ready to greet them, before they returned to their hotel for another night.

On Tuesday, other than Joe Agate, Thibault and Mimi, who left for Indy in the team's Volkswagen Touareg, the other drivers went to Indianapolis along with the team personnel, the cars and the motorhomes.

On Wednesday evening, at 7pm, Roy, Morag and the rest of those who had stayed called the other drivers for a meeting, at the Isdera motorhome. 25 drivers were in attendance, with Joe Agate choosing not to attend. Roy was the first to speak.

"Now then, you may be wondering why we've called you here. In light of the 8-car accident at last week's race in Illinois, those of us who stayed behind thought it would be a good idea to allow the drivers to decide whether to race here or not, in the interests of our own safety." Roy began.

"Some of you may be feeling a little apprehensive, and some of you might be raring to go, but if we do race, it should be because we agreed to, not because we are compelled by sponsors, or the AAMF, or anyone else." Morag added. "Now, with that in mind, all of those in favour of racing on Sunday, raise their hand. Five was the first to raise his hand, followed by Peppermint Patty, the other Patty, Violet, Cormac, Eudora, Lucy, Thibault, Rerun, José, Mimi, Pig Pen, Franklin, and Frieda. Morag counted up the votes.

"And those against?" Violette, Roy, Shermy, Pierre, Linus, Charlie Brown, Morag, Sally, Harold Angel, Schroeder, and Marcie all raised their hands, and Morag counted those votes as well.

"Alright. By a vote of 14-11, we agree to race at Indianapolis on Sunday. This meeting is now adjourned." Morag announced.

The drivers all returned to their teams, and then to their hotels to rest for the night.

Thursday 12th July – Pre-Race Press conference.

As usual, a selection of 5 drivers were picked to be interviewed by the press. These drivers were: Schroeder, Lucy, José, Eudora, and Franklin.

I: Schroeder, you haven't scored any points since your podium in New Mexico. Is your piano playing causing a downturn in form?

Schroeder: I wouldn't worry about it too much. I'm still high up in the championship, and I'm sure I'll do better here.

I: Lucy, Peppermint Patty seems to have had the edge over you all season. How do you intend to prove doubters like us wrong?

Lucy: By doing better than her, of course. Last race was a bit embarrassing for me, I'll admit, but I will do better here.

I: José, a decent, but somewhat fortuitous result last time, do you think you can repeat that result here?

José: sure I can. I've gotten podiums before. I don't see why I can't do that here.

I: Eudora, you haven't scored any points since you were in Colorado. How essential is it that you score points here?

Eudora: it would be great if I scored points here, of course. However I don't believe my seat would be under threat anytime soon. My team are happy with me and Sally and I are both close to each other in the championship.

I: Franklin, you were caught up in the accident last weekend. Do you think anything could have been done to avoid it?

Franklin: are you talking about me and my driving, or the race in general? Because there are a lot of things the organisers could do, like listening to the drivers concerns, and not pretending everything is alright when it clearly isn't. Shermy sprained his ankle in Kansas, and we still don't know if Morag will be fit to race this weekend. We will continue to race, but the governing body needs a change of attitude before some gets seriously hurt, or worse, killed.

I: Thank you.

Friday rolled around, which meant Morag was anxiously waiting for a doctor to give her the all clear. She hadn't quite fully healed, but she wasn't going to let a little bit of back pain stop her. Roy was very busy, trying to observe what the sport's organisers were up to, and who they were meeting, as well as drafting the in depth article he was working on. He sat himself on a table outside the steward's office, and spent his day alternating between the two. He kept notes as multiple men in suits entered and left the building. It was all going smoothly until Mandy Wilcox left the building and approached him.

"What's that you're doing Roy? Shouldn't you be preparing for the race?" she asked, voice puckering through her thick lipstick.

Roy closed his notebook and looked upwards, recoiling a little as he saw her. "Well," he gulped, "I'm writing an article for my local paper about my experiences last week. I don't expect to be racing this weekend. Shermy's back to full strength and Morag expects to get the all clear from the doctor today.

"Okay. And what's in that little notebook of yours?" she asked.

"Notes for the article, and other bits of writing I do." Roy replied.

"May I see it?"

"No. they're my notes. I'm not going to let you see them, just like you'd never let me use your phone, not that I'd ever ask." Roy gave a firm rebuttal, before putting the notebook in his pocket. "Now please leave me in peace."

"Alright, have it your way." Mandy Wilcox walked off in a huff and re-entered the building. Roy got up and left too, figuring it would be safer to write somewhere else. He returned to Morag's garage, where she was smiling happily.

"You seem pleased with yourself." Roy commented.

"I got cleared to race." Morag replied.

"Good." Roy sighed in relief. "I dread to think how I would have done without you as a reference point."

"I know. So how has your day been so far?"

"I've got about half of the article done, and I also took some notes on the people meeting the bigwigs. Wilcox almost rumbled me though."

"Sssssugar, Honey, Ice, Tea." Morag remarked, trying desperately not to swear. "You have to be more careful than that."

"She didn't see my notebook, I can assure you." Roy replied.

"No, but she definitely thinks you're suspicious."

"Maybe, but when she first saw me, she assumed I would be racing, because I did last week." Roy explained.

"Really?"

"Yeah." And he told her the whole conversation.

"Bloody hell. They really don't give a damn about us, do they?" Morag responded.

"Of course not. We're just pawns to them."

"For what purpose?" Morag alluded.

"That's what we must find out." Roy replied.

"Yep. We should analyse and discuss what we have next week, and when the summer break rolls around, we can jump into the rabbit hole, so to speak." Morag suggested.

"I'm with you, but we should be careful." Roy agreed.

"Aye." Morag replied.

The two of them kept chatting, until Linus and Charlie Brown joined them, where Roy and Morag both talked about their day, and their next move. The gang split up and went back to their respective garages, and Roy returned to his father, who took the notepad and promised to identify the businessmen based on Roy's thankfully detailed description.

Roy rested easier, now that his friends were doing better, and his work was now in the hands of someone more qualified than him.

Saturday 14th July

Practice transpired similarly to the way it did in Illinois, with the drivers getting to grips with the track but still not attempting any qualifying runs, which would prove to be interesting when qualifying finally got underway. Morag was the first out on track, setting a time of 0:43.869, which Pig Pen failed to beat as he set a time of 0:43.893. Violette then put herself between the two of them with a time of 0:43.877.

Linus struggled with the car, and only set a time of 0:44.016, before Mimi went to the top of the timesheets with a time of 0:43.837. Eudora was disappointingly slow, setting a 0:44.258, whilst her teammate Sally was significantly quicker, posting a time of 0:43.842.

Pierre was set a time of 0:43.948, ahead of his teammate, before Harold Angel wowed everyone with a time of 0:43.693, an entire tenth faster than anyone else had set.

Rerun was not even close to him, setting a 0:43.899 to go behind Pig Pen. Marcie fared better, slotting into 2nd place for the time being, with a 0:43.809. Thibault, on his return for Team Sky, set a very competitive 0:43.777, whilst Shermy, having recovered from his accident in Kansas, was a fraction behind him, setting a 0:43.784.

Violet was out to prove she was the best in the Zontec team, however, and did so by setting a 0:43.725, the closest anyone had or would get to Harold Angel. Lucy, much like her brothers, struggled to get to grips with the track, setting a time of 0:44.275, before Franklin put in a time of 0:43.853.

Cormac set the slowest time, a 0:44.589, whilst Schroeder and Frieda put in better times of 0:43.762 and 0:43.838, respectively. Championship Leader Charlie Brown was competitive, with a time of 0:43.747, and Patty Swanson set a 0:43.817. José Peterson had a harder time, setting a 0:44.236, before Five set a time of 0:43.817, identical to Patty, before Peppermint Patty set the final time of the day, a 0:43.742.

At the end of qualifying, the grid order looked like this…

1st Harold Angel [Isdera] 0:43.693 2nd Violet Gray [Zontec] 0:43:725

3rd Patricia Reichardt [Honda] 0:43.742 4th Charlie Brown [Renault] 0:43.747

5th Schroeder E. Schroeder [Bonn] 0:43.762 6th Thibault Rhodes [Sky] 0:43.777

7th Shermy Plepler [Zontec] 0:43.784 8th Marcie Johnson [Cherokee] 0:43.809

9th Patricia Swanson [ACE] 0:43.817 10th 555 95472 [Cherokee] 0:43.817

11th Mimi Sonatelli [Sky] 0:43.837 12th Frieda Rich [Bonn] 0:43.838

13th Sally Brown [Polestar] 0:43.842 14th Franklin Armstrong [Armstrong] 0:43.853

15th Morag McMurdo [Isdera] 0:43.869 16th Violette Honfleur [ACE] 0:43.877

17th Pig Pen [Armstrong] 0:43.893 18th Rerun Van Pelt [Renault] 0:43.899

19th Pierre Fermier [Vittoria] 0:43.948 20th Linus Van Pelt [Vittoria] 0:44.016

21st José Peterson [Daihatsu] 0:44.236 22nd Eudora Elm [Polestar] 0:44.258

23rd Lucy Van Pelt [Honda] 0:44.275 24th Cormac O'Connor [Daihatsu] 0:44.589

After the session was over, the top three qualifiers were interviewed in the pressroom.

I: Harold Angel, a welcome surprise to see you on pole today, how did you find the extra speed?

Harold Angel: I don't really know, I just drove as fast as possible. Must have been a perfect lap.

I: Violet, you and your teammate have shown a much needed turn of speed here? Would you say you two are on the up and up?

Violet: You could say that. We scored a lot of points in Illinois, and we look like scoring a few points here too.

I: Peppermint Patty, of the main championship contenders, you and Charlie Brown are the only ones at the front, would you say you stand a chance of closing the gap tomorrow?

Peppermint Patty: Of course. Not to be overconfident, but I think I stand a pretty good chance of winning here.

I: Thank you.

Championship Leader Charlie Brown was also interviewed, down in the paddock.

I: Charlie Brown, with so many of your rivals struggling today, surely you must be feeling confident of keeping your championship lead tomorrow?

Charlie Brown: Who knows what will happen tomorrow. Morag got taken out from the lead last week, so there's no reason I won't befall some bad luck tomorrow. We'll just have to wait and see.

I: Thank you.

In the evening, the drivers returned to their hotel and slept, ready for the race tomorrow.

Sunday 15th July – Race Day at Indianapolis

Harold Angel sat on pole position slightly apprehensive. His pole lap had come as a surprise to him as well as the rest of the paddock, and with the team's success today resting almost entirely on his shoulders, the wait for the announcer was more unbearable than ever, but eventually, it happened.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Start your engines!"

Harold Angel did so, as did everyone else. The pace car led all the drivers round on the formation lap, while the announcer spoke.

"200 miles. 80 laps. 24 drivers. Will Harold Angel be able to convert pole into a victory, or will the challengers behind him take the win. Find out, as the pace car pulls into the pits, and the Indiana Spindycar Supertour Open is Go!"

Harold Angel got a good start, but Violet was caught napping, getting overtaken into turn 1 by both Peppermint Patty and Charlie Brown. Linus also got a good start, overtaking his teammate Pierre by turn 3.

By the end of lap 8, Morag had passed Franklin, and Pig Pen had passed Violette. On lap 11, Linus squeezed past Rerun at turn 2, while further ahead, Five fell behind Mimi. Peppermint Patty spent the next few laps closing in on the lead, and had overtaken Harold Angel by lap 18.

On lap 23, Marcie got past Shermy, while Morag overtook Sally on the pit straight a couple of laps later. Franklin let Pig Pen through on lap 26, and Linus then moved his way past Violette on the following lap. Frieda overtook Five as well on lap 32, and Pierre had fallen behind José by lap 36.

Given that this race was at least 50 miles longer than any other race they'd run this season, there was a necessity for the drivers to stop for new tyres.

Patty Swanson was the first to pit for tyres on lap 37, with the others pitting between laps 38-43. The positions were largely unchanged. However, Schroeder had fallen to 10th after the mechanics were slow taking off his front right tyre, while a slick pit stop from Team Sky allowed Thibault to leapfrog Violet. Linus had also leapfrogged both Pig Pen and franklin in the pits too.

Rerun was the first to make use of his new tires, passing Violette into turn 4, on lap 44. Marcie, however, was enjoying them even more passing both Violet and Thibault on laps 49 and 57, respectively.

Shermy was not able to make use of his tyres for very long, falling behind both Patty Swanson and Mimi on lap 60 after going to the high side at turn 2. Charlie Brown had spent most of the stint catching up to Harold Angel, and he too passed him on lap 63. Morag passed Five two laps later, whilst on the same lap, Rerun muscled past Franklin, and José Peterson got past Violette.

On lap 68, Eudora, running second from last, brushed the wall lightly on the exit of turn two, causing her tyre to puncture. Eudora was forced to pull into the pits and retire after cruising onto pit road, out of the way of the other cars. Two laps later, her team mate Sally was overtaken by Linus.

Late in the race, Patty Swanson's tyres began to age, over the final ten laps, she was passed, first by Mimi, then by Schroeder and Frieda, who had passed Shermy on lap 71. Morag passed Shermy as well on the final lap, but at the front, the cars were already finishing.

"And Peppermint Patty wins at Indianapolis! Charlie Brown finishes second, and Harold Angel ends up in third! Marcie is 4th, Thibault makes a great return in 5th, Violet is 6th, Mimi scores her first points in 7th, Schroeder is 8th, Frida is 9th, and Patty Swanson rounds out the top ten!

Shermy was 11th, with Morag 12th, Five 13th, Linus 14th, Sally 15th, Pig Pen 16th, Rerun 17th, Franklin 18th, José Peterson 19th, Violette 20th, Pierre 21st, Lucy 22nd, and Cormac 23rd, with Eudora filing to finish.

In the Championship, the standings are as follows…

1st Charlie Brown [Renault] 134pts 2nd Patricia Reichardt [Honda] 127pts

3rd Marcie Johnson [Cherokee] 116pts 4th Linus Van Pelt [Vittoria] 114pts

5th Morag McMurdo [Isdera] 113pts 6th Schroeder E. Schroeder [Bonn] 92pts

7th Frieda Rich [Bonn] 92pts 8th Pig Pen [Armstrong] 82pts

9th Rerun Van Pelt [Renault] 78pts 10th Lucy Van Pelt [Honda] 54pts

11th Patty Swanson [ACE] 53pts 12th José Peterson [Daihatsu] 52pts

13th Harold Angel [Isdera] 49pts 14th Sally Brown [Polestar] 43pts

15th Franklin Armstrong [Armstrong] 42pts 16th Pierre Fermier [Vittoria] 41pts

17th Eudora Elm [Polestar] 40pts 18th Violet Gray [Zontec] 22pts

19th Violette Honfleur [ACE] 15pts 20th Joe Agate [Sky] 15pts

21st Thibault Rhodes [Sky] 11pts 22nd Roy Tripps [Zontec] 8pts

23rd Shermy Plepler [Zontec] 8pts 24th Mimi Sonatelli [Armstrong/Sky] 6pts

25th Cormac O'Connor [Daihatsu] 5pts 26th 555 95472 [Cherokee] 2pts

Peppermint Patty parked her car on Victory Road and got out of the car, raising both her fists in the air in celebration, before going over and high fiving the mechanics. The three podium finishers then walked up to the podium. In the waiting room, the three drivers congratulated each other on a good race, before walking out onto the podium.

The three of them stood and waited while the American anthem played and the American and British (for Harold Angel) flags unfurled. The Japanese anthem played after the American anthem finished. After that, they received their trophies, drank their milk, and waved to the crowd, before heading off into the pressroom, where the interviewers had some questions.

I: Peppermint Patty, congratulations on your third win of the season. Your championship hopes must be pretty good now, I presume?

Peppermint Patty: Yeah. We're not far behind Charlie Brown now, but I think the other contenders will come back stronger next race, so I'll have to keep this up.

I: Charlie Brown, you appear to be the favourite to win the championship at the moment. Do you agree with this?

Charlie Brown: I'm happy to hear that, but I do feel I've been a bit lucky recently. It remains to be seen whether I can make the best of tougher circumstances as and when they appear.

I: Harold Angel, third place for you, you must feel pretty proud of your performance this weekend.

Harold Angel: Yeah. This is my best result, and the team is very happy to see I can score points when Morag is unable to.

I: Thank you.

Marcie, who is now 3rd in the championship, was interviewed in the paddock.

I: Marcie, a sterling drive from 8th on the grid to 4th in the race. How important was that result do you think?

Marcie: Oh, very. Without it, we'd be at risk of falling out of the championship battle like a lot of other drivers have done. We're still 17 points behind Charles, so we've got a lot to work on.

I: Thank you.

After an evening of celebration, the drivers returned to their hotels and rested for the night.