Monday 30th July
Morning broke quickly, as the sun beamed down on the Missouri tarmac, the party bus was there, waiting to take the top ten finishers to Kentucky Speedway. At around 10 am, the party bus left, with the other drivers having to use their teams help to get there. Frieda, Franklin and Violette travelled to Kentucky in the Opel Astra, while Peppermint Patty, Lucy, José and Harold Angel took the Honda Civic. Joe Agate travelled alone in the Volkswagen Touareg, whilst Five, Linus, Pierre, and Violet took the Team Cherokee Jeep, and Sally and Eudora taking the Polestar team's Volvo XC90.
On the party bus, Charlie Brown and Morag sat next to each other and discussed their situation.
"So, anything new since the meeting?" Charlie Brown asked.
"I have an inkling of who the 4th man might be. I'm going to see Frank on Friday to try and ascertain who the others are, and then we can use the summer break to try and get to the bottom of this.
"I see. If you need me to do anything, don't hesitate to ask." Charlie Brown replied.
"I will. Just keep an eye on them, and on Roy. If the bosses work out he or his dad is doing digging for us, I'm not sure what would happen."
"Okay. I'll make sure he doesn't get into trouble."
The two of them finished their conversation and looked out ahead of them at the freeway the bus was hurtling along. The bus took 6 and a half hours to reach its destination, with the other drivers arriving not so long after, after which the drivers went to their hotel.
On Tuesday 31st, the teams, cars and the press arrived at the circuit.
Thursday 2nd August –Pre Race Press conference
Like last time, 5 drivers were picked, seemingly at random to be interviewed by the press. These drivers were: Lucy, Violet, Eudora, Pierre, and Shermy.
I: Lucy, after 15 rounds, you sit 11th in the table with 54 points, 73 behind your teammate. Would it be fair to say she's beating you comprehensively at the moment?
Lucy: I'd say she gets a lot luckier than me. I can definitely beat her. I just don't sometimes.
I: Violet, so far, the highest position your team has attained this season is 6th place. Do you aim to finish higher here?
Violet: of course, although that will take a lot of skill, and maybe some luck too. We haven't had the best package at times, but we certainly can get results.
I: Eudora, you haven't scored any points since Colorado, and your team hasn't scored in the last 4 races. Is there a serious problem with the car's performance?
Eudora: The car is generally reliable. As for what's making it slow, I have no idea. We seem to really struggle during qualifying, but hopefully we can fix that here.
I: Pierre, that win in Connecticut seems like a long time ago, doesn't it? You've only had 3 points finishes this year. Surely you must be itching to have another here?
Pierre: Of course, I want to score points here. I thought I would do well in Missouri, but you all saw what happened in qualifying. Hopefully I won't make those same mistakes here.
I: Shermy, recently you've been qualifying decently, but your race pace leaves a lot to be desired. How do you plan to stop losing positions during races?
Shermy: make my car as wide as possible? I'm not sure what the best option is. Recently we've been setting up the car specifically for qualifying, which seems to work better than before, but that does hurt us in the races a bit. We'll see if I can keep people behind here, but this is an oval.
I: Thank you.
Friday 3rd August
Charlie Brown was hanging around the paddock, looking for Roy. It had been a while since he had spoken to him, and after what Morag said on the bus, he decided he should at least have a chat with him. He found Roy at a hot dog stand near the steward's office.
"You back here again?" Charlie Brown called out.
"No. I just like the hot dogs." Roy replied. "I'm looking for a story this week. I'll go back to digging later. Is there something wrong?
"I don't know. Morag seemed worried about you on the bus." Charlie Brown explained.
"Did she now? What about?" Roy asked.
"She wanted me to keep an eye on you." Charlie Brown.
"Is she afraid I'll walk into danger or something?" Roy asked, slightly concerned.
"Possibly, but that might depend on how careful you are."
"I see." Roy replied. "I'll have to think of something."
"I guess. But at least we have time." Charlie Brown sighed hopefully.
"Yeah." Roy responded. "Good luck this weekend!" and Roy left, hot dog in hand, and searched for a story.
Meanwhile, Morag was sitting at a table elsewhere in the paddock, having a conversation with Roy's father, Frank.
"Roy told us about the digging he did earlier." Morag began.
"Oh, he did? Do you have any questions?" Frank asked.
"Do you know who any of those people are? I can hazard a guess at the fourth, but the other three I can't pinpoint.
"Person 4 is an ex-basketball player, and currently works as a Nike brand ambassador. I don't see him as suspicious in any way."
"Good, that gives me less work to do." Morag replied. What about the other three?
"Person 1, I think, is a businessman of some kind. I'm not too sure about Person 2, or person 3." Frank replied.
"One of them has a Ferrari, the other wears a NASA lapel pin. That might help us." Morag pointed out."
"It will, but the investigating is my job, I don't want you wasting your holiday digging a hole you might not get out of." He warned.
"If I find anything better to do, I promise I'll do that instead." Morag cheaply responded.
The two of them finished their conversation and parted ways.
Roy, however was busy looking for a story. Walking down the paddock he decided to walk to the Cherokee garage to see if there was anything there. On his way there, he noticed a large, balding man dressed in a suit with a red tie walking towards him.
"What are you looking at?" the man asked irritably.
"Oh, nothing." Roy apologised and turned his face away, before ambling past him and continuing on his way.
Arriving at the garage, he was just in time to hear the team principal having a few stern words with Five.
"Now, we've given you plenty of time to catch up with Marcie, but as it stands, your teammate is leading the championship, and you are stone dead last. We need a faster driver. We are letting you stay, but on one condition." Roy heard the manager say through the wall.
"And what would that be?" Roy asked worriedly.
"You will have to double your current points tally every two races, from 2 to 4 to 8 to 16 and so on, otherwise we will have to find someone faster.
"Yes, ma'am." Five painfully agreed.
"Nice." Roy finished noting down the conversation in his notebook and dashed off to find his father, who was waiting for him at a pop-up café.
"So, did you find anything?" Frank asked.
"Yeah. Five has an ultimatum from his team."
"Oh I see." Frank replied, taking a look at his notebook. "I'm not surprised. The fact they bookend the standings makes him look embarrassing. What's this?" he pointed at a separate set of notes.
"Oh, a man with a red tie walked past me earlier. He looked a bit intimidating, so I took a note of it."
"Hmm." Frank replied. "Thanks anyway. You did good today, now how about we get some ice cream?"
"That sounds good." Roy replied, before going with his father to find an ice cream truck.
Saturday 4th August
Practice went by without any drama on a glorious sunny day in Kentucky, and before long qualifying was due to start.
Harold Angel was the first to go out, setting a time of 0:26.486, a time that both Schroeder and Five failed to beat, setting times of 0:26.751 and 0:26.586 respectively. Violette then put herself ahead of Schroeder with a time of 0:26.629 and Marcie set the same time as her team mate, a 0:26.586.
Shermy impressed with a time of 0:26.533, before Frieda filed behind him with a time of 0:26.549. Cormac set a time of 0:26.616, and Morag snuck ahead of Shermy with a time of 0:26.532.
Linus set a time identical to that of the leader Harold Angel, a 0:26.486, but as he set his time after Harold Angel, he placed behind him. His team mate Pierre was a stark contrast, putting himself last for the time being with a time of 0:26.921.
Patty Swanson continued her fine run of form, going fastest with a time of 0:26.484, and Rerun could only muster a 0:26.570 in response. Franklin was also impressive, setting a 0:26.508, before Joe Agate set a time of 0:26.562.
Charlie Brown put himself second fastest with a time of 0:26.485, before Eudora qualified near the back with a time of 0:26.619. Violet squeaked ahead of Five and Marcie with a time of 0:26.582, before Pig Pen set a fast time of 0:26.496. Peppermint Patty was also quick with a 0:26.526, before her team mate Lucy set a time of 0:26.717, just next to Schroeder, where she felt she belonged. José Peterson qualified last with a time of 0:27.234, whilst Thibault set a quick time of 0:26.497 and Sally Brown ended the session with the fastest time, a 0:26.462.
At the end of the qualifying session, the grid order looked like this…
1st Sally Brown [Polestar] 0:26.462 2nd Patricia Swanson [ACE] 0:26.484
3rd Charlie Brown [Renault] 0:26.485 4th Harold Angel [Isdera] 0:26.486
5th Linus Van Pelt [Vittoria] 0:26.486 6th Pig Pen [Armstrong] 0:26.496
7th Thibault Rhodes [Sky] 0:26.497 8th Franklin Armstrong [Armstrong] 0:26.508
9th Patricia Reichardt [Honda] 0:26.526 10th Morag McMurdo [Isdera] 0:26.532
11th Shermy Plepler [Zontec] 0:26.533 12th Frieda Rich [Bonn] 0:26.549
13th Rerun Van Pelt [Renault] 0:26.570 14th Violet Gray [Zontec] 0:26.582
15th 555 95472 [Cherokee] 0:26.586 16th Marcie Johnson [Cherokee] 0:26.586
17th Cormac O'Connor [Daihatsu] 0:26.616 18th Joe Agate [Sky] 0:26.562 (PENALTY)
19th Eudora Elm [Polestar] 0:26.619 20th Violette Honfleur [ACE] 0:26.629
21st Lucy Van Pelt [Honda] 0:26.717 22nd Schroeder E. Schroeder [Bonn] 0:26.751
23rd Pierre Fermier [Vittoria] 0:26.921 24th José Peterson [Daihatsu] 0:27.234
After qualifying was over, the top three were interviewed in the pressroom.
I: Sally, a surprise pole position from you. Do you think you have what it takes to win tomorrow?
Sally: sure, as long as my brother is nice to me.
*Charlie Brown rolls his eyes*
I: Patty, another strong qualifying from you. You seem to have the hang of this car, am I correct.
Patty: I'm on top form at the moment, and we seem to be able to set the car up just right. I hope we can get ourselves another podium.
I: Charlie Brown, another strong finish on the cards makes it seem you will take the championship lead back after tomorrow. How do you feel about this?
Charlie Brown: I'm feeling pretty confident. Hopefully I can win tomorrow, but I'm sure to face some challenges.
I: Thank you.
Championship leader Marcie was also interviewed in the paddock.
I: so, Marcie, what went wrong?
Marcie: I'm not sure. You'd think after 16 races we'd be able to consistently set the car up properly for an oval but here we are, both setting identical times in the midfield.
I: thank you, and good luck tomorrow.
Marcie: I'll need it.
Afterwards, as the day dragged into night, the drivers returned to their hotel and slept, in preparation for the race tomorrow.
Sunday 5th August – Race Day in Kentucky
Sally Brown sat in her car on pole position, waiting for the race to begin. The nerves began to build. She was starting to understand just how her brother felt during the countless times he had the chance to win, both here and when he played baseball. But that thought could wait, as with barely enough time to settled down and focus, the announcer spoke.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines!"
Sally did so, as did everyone else. The pace car began leading the cars round on the formation laps.
"As the pace car leads, the drivers will have to face 95 gruelling laps of the Kentucky Speedway. Can Sally hold on for a shock win, or will the chasing pack take it for themselves? Find out! As the pace car pulls into the pits, the Kentucky Spindycar Supertour Open is Go!"
Sally rocketed away into the lead, and Patty was caught napping, which Charlie Brown took full advantage of, overtaking her into the first corner, while the rest of the pack filed in behind her. Five dutifully let his teammate through before the end of the lap. Frieda scythed past Shermy on lap 4, before Marcie got past Violet a lap later, with Five following past in her slipstream. Lucy's car shut down with an electrical failure on lap 9, forcing her to retire the car.
By lap 10, Schroeder had overtaken Violette, Eudora, and Joe Agate, and was closing in on Cormac, passing him on lap 13. Linus overtook Harold Angel on lap 15, whilst, Charlie Brown took the lead from his sister two laps later. His teammate Rerun overtook Shermy on lap 20, before Schroeder overtook Violet on lap 24.
Not to be out done, Sally took the lead back again on lap 25, whilst Linus began to close in on Patty Swanson. Marcie overtook Shermy on lap 29, with Five following a lap later, trying to learn from his teammate. José Peterson made a pass on Pierre on lap 35, and Shermy was overtaken once again, this time by Schroeder, on lap 36.
Morag passed Peppermint Patty on lap 38, and by lap 42, Frieda had caught up to the back of her, they battled hard for the next few laps, but on lap 46, they banged wheels on the main straight and Frieda was pitched into the infield, the car barrel rolling in the air once as it hit the dirt, before landing upright and skidding to a halt. Peppermint Patty slowed and parked her terminally damaged car at the nearest Marshals post. Frieda, looking visibly shaken, crept gingerly out of her car, and limped to a waiting medical car, which took her to the medical center for a check-up.
The race was brought under yellows and the pace car was brought out so the marshals could clear the wreckage. On lap 51, the race was underway again. Sally was again quick to start, but Charlie Brown was faster, taking the lead into the first turn. Linus took third place from Patty Swanson on lap 54, and Violet overtook Shermy on lap 57.
Sally took the lead back once again on lap 61, whilst further back, Pig Pen closed in on and then passed Harold Angel to take 5th place on lap 65. Linus then spent the next few laps closing in on Charlie Brown, eventually passing him on lap 73.
On lap 77, Rerun's front right tyre developed a puncture on the back straight and Rerun, wary of the possibility of it delaminating and causing a crash, parked his car on the nearest bit of infield.
A few laps later, Morag passed Franklin to take 8th spot on lap 84. Meanwhile, on lap 89, Linus was closing in on Sally, and she could see his car in her mirrors as they approached the final five laps. Linus continued to close, passing Sally for the lead on lap 93. Harold Angel had a scary moment coming out of the final turn on the final lap, but recovered the slide, at the expense of two positions, while the cars ahead finished the race in front of him.
"And Linus Van Pelt Wins in Kentucky! Sally Brown is second, with Charlie Brown in Third! Patty Swanson is 4th, with Pig Pen 5th, Thibault 6th, Morag 7th, Harold Angel 8th, Franklin 9th, and Marcie rounding out the top ten! Five was 11th, with Schroeder 12th, Violet 13th, Shermy 14th, Cormac 15th, Joe Agate 16th, Eudora 17th, Violette 18th, José Peterson 19th, and Pierre last of the finishers in 20th. Rerun, Peppermint Patty, Frieda, and Lucy all failed to finish.
After the race, the championship standings are as follows…
1st Charlie Brown [Renault] 155pts 2nd Marcie Johnson [Cherokee] 142pts
3rd Linus Van Pelt [Vittoria] 139pts 4th Morag McMurdo [Isdera] 134pts
5th Patricia Reichardt [Honda] 127pts 6th Schroeder E. Schroeder [Bonn] 110pts
7th Pig Pen [Armstrong] 100pts 8th Frieda Rich [Bonn] 92pts
9th Rerun Van Pelt [Renault] 90pts 10th Patty Swanson [ACE] 75pts
11th Sally Brown [Polestar] 61pts 12th Lucy Van Pelt [Honda] 54pts
13th Harold Angel [Isdera] 53pts 14th José Peterson [Daihatsu] 52pts
15th Franklin Armstrong [Armstrong] 44pts 16th Pierre Fermier [Vittoria] 41pts
17th Eudora Elm [Polestar] 40pts 18th Thibault Rhodes [Sky] 23pts
19th Violet Gray [Zontec] 22pts 20th Violette Honfleur [ACE] 15pts
21st Joe Agate [Sky] 15pts 22nd Shermy Plepler [Zontec] 9pts
23rd Roy Tripps [Zontec] 8pts 24th Cormac O'Connor [Daihatsu] 7pts
25th Mimi Sonatelli [Armstrong/Sky] 6pts 26th 555 95472 [Cherokee] 2pts
Linus parked his car on victory road and held his arms aloft in celebration, as the crowd cheered. Sally celebrated as well, and Charlie Brown looked pretty pleased with himself, too, as they headed up towards the podium. In the waiting room, the two siblings congratulated Linus on a great race, while he extended his compliments to the both of them, which Sally was pretty pleased about.
The three of them went out onto the podium, and the raucous crowd fell silent as the American anthem played. The Italian anthem played after the American one finished. After that, the drivers received their trophies, drank their milk and received cheers from the crowd before heading off into the pressroom, where the interviewers naturally had some questions.
I: Linus, 5th yesterday, a win today. How do you feel after such a hard fought victory?
Linus: I'm pretty tired, actually. But I'm glad I won, it's good to be back at the front after struggling for a couple of races. I still have a lot of ground to catch up in the championship, though.
I: Sally, a good result for you, were you disappointed that you were unable to win?
Sally: I did my best, and I'm proud that I managed to keep my big brother behind me. I fought hard today, but Linus was just the better driver today.
I: Charlie Brown, you have a comfortable championship lead going into the summer break. Will you spend some time to relax?
Charlie Brown: Yeah, I guess. I'll be ready to race for the next round in North Carolina, so don't worry about that, but I will want to get some rest before then.
I: Thank you.
Marcie, 2nd place in the championship, was also interviewed down in the paddock.
I: Marcie, a hard race today, do you think you did a good job out there?
Marcie: We did the best we could. 16th to 10th is no mean feat, but we now a long way behind Charlie Brown. I'm thankful that I'm second in the championship still, but we have a lot of work to do.
I: Thank you.
Later, in the evening, Frieda was released from the medical center, apparently only suffering a few bruises during the crash. The rest of the drivers went back to their hotel to sleep for the night, pondering how they would spend the summer break.
