Monday 24th September

The drivers all got up early to go to the track one last time. The party bus would be leaving at 9am on the dot, as it would be a long journey to Darlington, South Carolina, and once everyone had arrived, it promptly left. Following it were Thibault and Joe Agate in the Team Sky Volkswagen Touareg, Sally, Eudora, Violette and Pierre in the Polestar team's Volvo XC90, Lucy, Shermy, Rerun, and Harold Angel in the Honda Civic, and Cormac, José, Violet and Patty Swanson in the Daihatsu Terios. On the Party bus, Charlie Brown, Linus and Morag sat near the front, and began to chat.

"Hi guys."

"Hi, Morag." Charlie Brown replied, as he sat down.

"The Championship looks a lot closer now, doesn't it?" Linus began.

"Definitely, though I think we can expect less chaos in South Carolina." Morag supposed.

"Let's hope so." Charlie Brown replied. "Are you meeting with Roy this week?"

"Yes. Hopefully we'll find out who this NASA guy is."

"I see. Let me know if you need any help with anything." Charlie Brown replied.

"I will." Morag promised.

The journey took around 10 hours, and the drivers arrived at the circuit at around 7pm, before having dinner, and heading to a nearby hotel, where they slept while they waited for the teams to arrive.

On the following day, the teams, their kit, the cars, and the press, along with Roy and Frank, arrived at the track.

Thursday 27th September

Yet again, 5 drivers were chosen at random to participate in the Pre-Race Press Conference, where the press would have some questions. These 5 drivers were: Sally, Five, Patty Swanson, Cormac, and Morag.

I: Sally, you were one of many drivers who struggled in last week's wet race, do you think you'll be able to do better here?

Sally: Well, it'll be dry at least, so we'll do better on that front, but I agree that last week was one to forget.

I: Five, despite your 9th place in Florida, rumour has it you may be losing your seat before this race. Is this true?

Five: I'm not at liberty to say. I have been trying my best to negotiate with the team, but progress hasn't been made yet. Hopefully I will keep hold of it until the end of the season, but they see that as a hard bargain.

I: Patty, Last week was one to forget for your team, wasn't it?

Patty: yeah. We had a terrible time in qualifying and the race felt even worse, and I was happy just to get it over the line if I'm being honest with you. Hopefully we'll do better here.

I: Cormac, like Five, you have been languishing at the bottom of the standings, do you believe your seat is under threat?

Cormac: No. whilst my teammate has scored some good finishes on occasion, it's not as big a difference as Five and Marcie have.

I: Morag, you drove a storming race last time out. Do you see yourself as capable of the same feat again this week?

Morag: with any luck I'll be closer to the front of the grid than last time, but if a situation like last week's came up, I could definitely do it again.

I: Thank you.

Friday 28th September

Roy spent the morning waiting for Morag at a table near his favourite hot dog stand. Normally he'd be sitting down, happily munching while he waited for Morag to arrive, but today, the line for the hot dog van was unusually long, and Roy was forced to stand in line.

This did make the meeting place rather easy to find, and Roy figured that Morag would find out where he is, and sure enough, when he spotted her in the far distance, he gave her a wave. Morag waved back and kept walking until she noticed something strange.

Roy felt a pair of hands grab on to him and lifting him off the ground.

"Hey! Put me down!" Roy shouted, turning round to face them and recoiling in fear when it wasn't someone he knew.

"You're going in the car, sonny." The nameless man said to him coldly, hoisting him over his shoulders.

"Help!" Roy cried, wriggling and flapping around in a feeble attempt to wring himself from his assailant's grasp. The cries went unnoticed by the crowd around him, assuming he was a kid who got in trouble with his parents.

Morag saw what was happening and ran at full pelt in a hurried panic, swearing repeatedly as she tried to keep within sight of Roy. Navigating her way through the line of spectators, as well as some supporters of the parents' protest, she witnessed them disappear round a corner into a nearby car park. She caught up to them just as Roy was being bundled into a waiting car, engine ticking over. She considered her options, and chose to stay out of sight, taking a moment to look at the car and furiously scribbling down its make and number plate, just as it drove away.

As the car passed out of sight, Morag scrambled her brain to try and work out what to do next. For a moment, it looked like she was zoning out, but then she started looking around, and headed straight for a payphone.

Morag punched in the numbers 9-1-1 and waited for a response. Truthfully, she had absolutely no faith that the police would actually do anything, but she had to at least try.

"Hello? Police please." Morag spoke. "I'm here to report a kidnapping." There was a brief pause.

"The child's name is Roy Tripps. I saw him get taken by two white men, wearing black clothes. I couldn't get close to them, but I did see them put him in a silver Jaguar, number plate XE3 48T6, my current location is the Darlington Raceway, South Carolina"

"Okay. We'll see what we can do." Replied the call handler of the other side. Morag hung on for a minute, but thanks to the fact that the payphone was old, murky and disused, a frayed wire in the phone booth started sparking and the line went dead. Morag plonked the receiver back onto the hook in frustration and walked away gruffly.

Charlie Brown happened to be walking nearby, having bought himself an iced banana smoothie. When he saw Morag looking down, he rushed over to her too see what was up.

"Morag!"

"What? Oh, didn't see you there Charlie Brown." she jolted in surprise.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Roy was kidnapped."

"Kidnapped!? Oh, Good Grief!" Charlie Brown exclaimed. "We should call the Police!" he shouted.

"I did!" Morag shouted back. "Not that they'll do anything, when they find out who's responsible." She added cynically.

"Did you tell Frank?" Charlie Brown asked.

"I haven't seen him. I'll see if we can contact him, but..." Morag replied.

"You think he may have been taken too." Charlie Brown finished. "Let's go." Morag and Charlie Brown hurried to the Renault Garage and congregated around the phone.

"Do you know his number?" Charlie Brown asked.

"Yes, let me just put it in." Morag punched in the numbers while Charlie Brown held the phone, listening to the dial tone, for what seemed like an eternity.

"Anything?"

"Not yet." Charlie Brown replied. A little while later, he got his answer.

*The number you are trying to reach is currently unavailable, please leave a message after the beep.*

"Nothing." Charlie Brown replied grimly.

"Damn it." Morag swore.

"What are we going to do?" Charlie Brown asked.

"Well, I did prepare something for this, but I'd hoped I wouldn't need it." Morag answered.

"What do you mean?"

"The camera I gave to Roy has a GPS signal inside it. It might take me a while, but I think I can work out where they're being held." Morag explained.

"Don't tell me you're going to go after them!" Charlie Brown said urgently.

"Well I can't in good conscience race while my friend is in mortal danger, can I? Morag responded.

"But I'm worried you might get into danger yourself!" Charlie Brown reasoned.

"As if we aren't already doing that every week." Morag replied.

"…Fair point." Charlie Brown remarked, a lot more calmly. "Do you want any help?"

"No. if you skip the race too, people will get suspicious. I have to do this alone. If anyone asks, tell them I have a family emergency."

"Ok. You have my word." Charlie Brown promised. "Good Luck. Promise me you'll come back safely." He held out his hand, and Morag shook it, before the two of them parted ways.

Charlie Brown headed to the Isdera garage, smoothie in hand, to tell them the news. Arriving at the garage, their team principal looked upon him sternly.

"This isn't your garage." The principal began.

"I know. Morag asked me to tell you that she has a family emergency, so she won't be racing this weekend."

"Why didn't she tell us?" he asked.

"It was urgent. She had to leave immediately." Charlie Brown replied quickly.

"I see. Well, thank you for telling us. If she decides to change her mind I'm sure she'll return, but I will make the necessary preparations. You wouldn't happen to be wanting to drive for us, would you?"

"Oh, no. I'm happy where I am." Charlie Brown chuckled.

"Alright then." The team principal replied, as Charlie Brown returned to his garage to begin focusing on his race like Morag said to do.

Within a few hours, the news had caught on, and Linus was surprised to see the newsreader on the TV in his team's motorhome.

"On DRSC News tonight, prolific Minnesota sports reporter Frank Tripps and his son Roy have both been reported missing. Police were contacted at around 11am this morning, but have so far made no progress in locating the pair's whereabouts. They were last seen in the paddock of Darlington Raceway, where the at-times controversial Spindycar series is being held this week. In related news, Morag McMurdo has pulled out of the race, due to a family emergency, and is set to be replaced by reserve driver Mimi Sonatelli. More at 11."

"Hmm." Linus worked his brain as he turned the volume down. "Morag's gone after him, I bet."

Five was also watching the same broadcast, and this led to an amusing conversation in the Cherokee garage.

"Five, I've already said to you, you didn't hold up your end of the contract, so you won't be racing this weekend." His team principal told him.

"Who are you going to replace him with?" Five asked.

"Mimi, we think." He answered.

"But I just watched the news, and apparently she's replacing Morag." Five explained

"What happened to Morag?"

"Family emergency, the news said." Five answered.

"Ok, then we'll replace you with Roy." His boss replied.

"But Roy's gone missing! The news says the police are looking for him, but I wouldn't count on it."

"I don't believe you, but I'll look it up. If you're right, you'll have another race to fulfill the terms of your contract, got it?

"Yes, thank you, boss." Five gave away a slight smirk, before finishing his prep for the race and going back to the hotel to sleep, as did the other drivers.

Saturday 29th September

Charlie Brown slept uneasily, beset with worry about Morag's welfare, praying she would bring Roy back, and not get hurt in the process. His lack of sleep was evident during the practice session, where he was distinctly off the pace, and his team were frantically trying to work out what was wrong before the qualifying session eventually began.

Cormac was the first out on track, setting a benchmark of 0:29.487. This was swiftly beaten by Harold Angel, who set a time of 0:28.644. Rerun was slower than both, setting a 0:30.254, before Violette went fastest for the time being with a 0:28.461.

Violette set a respectable time of 0:28.799, which Joe Agate snuck past with a time of 0:28.788. Pig Pen ruined his tyres on his out lap, and he only set a time of 0:30.440, before Five set a time of 0:29.295.

Charlie Brown's worries did not slow him down significantly, much to the relief of his team, as he set a time of 0:28.549, followed by Lucy, who set a time identical to that of Violet, a 0:28.799. Linus then set a time of 0:28.581, just behind his main rival. José Peterson set a time of 0:29.126, a little ahead of his teammate, whilst Sally Brown set a 0:29.605.

Marcie Johnson set an okay time of 0:28.740, before Mimi, standing in for Morag, set a blistering time of 0:28.285, which Peppermint Patty then surpassed with a time of 0:28.176. Schroeder was right with them, setting a time of 0:28.337. Frieda set a good time of 0:28.555, with Franklin just behind her with a 0:28.565. Shermy Plepler set a poor time of 0:29.004, whilst Thibault set a worse time of 0:31.361, having sustained damage to his floor in practice.

Eudora set a pretty quick time of 0:28.498, whilst Pierre set a 0:29.211, and Patty Swanson closed off the session with a 0:28.491. At the end of qualifying the grid order looked like this…

1st Patricia Reichardt [Honda] 0:28.176 2nd Mimi Sonatelli [Isdera] 0:28.285

3rd Schroeder E. Schroeder [Bonn] 0:28.337 4th Violette Honfleur [ACE] 0:28.461

5th Patricia Swanson [ACE] 0:28.491 6th Eudora Elm [Polestar] 0:28.498

7th Charlie Brown [Renault] 0:28.549 8th Frieda Rich [Bonn] 0:28.555

9th Franklin Armstrong [Armstrong] 0:28.565 10th Linus Van Pelt [Vittoria] 0:28.581

11th Harold Angel [Isdera] 0:28.644 12th Marcie Johnson [Cherokee] 0:28.740

13th Joe Agate [Sky] 0:28.788 14th Violet Gray [Zontec] 0:28.799

15th Lucy Van Pelt [Honda] 0:28.799 16th Shermy Plepler [Zontec] 0:29.004

17th José Peterson [Daihatsu] 0:29.126 18th Pierre Fermier [Vittoria] 0:29.211

19th 555 95472 [Cherokee] 0:29.295 20th Cormac O'Connor [Daihatsu] 0:29.487

21st Sally Brown [Polestar] 0:29.605 22nd Rerun Van Pelt [Renault] 0:30.254

23rd Pig Pen [Armstrong] 0:30.440 24th Thibault Rhodes [Sky] 0:31.361

After Qualifying, the top three qualifiers were interviewed.

I: Peppermint Patty, this is your 2nd pole of the season, do you think you can emulate the result you had last time you were on pole?

Peppermint Patty: For sure, I think I can definitely win this race. Schroeder might challenge me, but I think I can keep him behind.

I: Mimi, you've been in several different cars this year, is this the best one you've driven?

Mimi: Definitely, I may have struggled in some cars, but in this, as you can see, I can bring results.

I: Schroeder, you're ahead of you main challengers for the championship. Do you think you can extend your lead tomorrow?

Schroeder: I think so. I think a win is possible, so we might be favourites by next week, here's hoping.

I: Thank you.

Schroeder's nearest challenger, Charlie Brown was also interviewed.

I: So, you start 7th tomorrow. People have said you're not fully focused this weekend, is this true?

Charlie Brown: I'm in a competitive position, so what these people are saying is completely wrong. I can get a good result tomorrow, regardless of how many things are happening around me.

I: Thank you.

Charlie Brown walked back into his garage. "It's what Morag wanted me to do." He muttered under his breath. That evening, the drivers went back to their hotel, where they slept, in anticipation for the race. Charlie Brown was again worried. He knew Morag was the sort would throw herself into danger if it meant getting someone else out of it. It was an admirable trait to have, but that did nothing to settle his nerves as he tucked in for another uncomfortable night.

Sunday 30th September

Peppermint Patty sat on the grid with a steely focus. She had already won 3 races this season, and was looking for a fourth. Charlie Brown looked oddly relaxed, sitting in P7. Waking up, he looked like a bag of nerves with even baggier eyes, but right now, he was calm, focused, and ready, as the announcer was heard over the speakers.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines!"

Peppermint Patty did so, as did everyone else. The cars rolled away from the line as the pace car lead them around the track.

"As the cars form up, the drivers will face 97 laps of the track in a battle for the ages. Will Peppermint Patty win her 4th race, or will Mimi bring a win home from her deputy duties? Find out as we go Green in Darlington!"

Peppermint Patty made a great start, as did Schroeder, who made an opportunistic move past Mimi into the first turn. Five also passed Pierre before the end of the first lap. By the end of lap 3, the three front runners had pulled a gap to Patty Swanson and Violette, and Eudora was right behind them, passing them on laps 4 and 5, respectively. Linus managed to overtake Franklin on lap 7, while Joe Agate fell behind Violet on lap 9.

On lap 12, Schroeder was running comfortably in 2nd place when his car started leaking oil on the inside of the main straight. Schroeder pulled off as soon as he could, but behind him, Mimi hit the oil, and spun across the straight. She was lucky not to hit anyone, and with her skill, she managed to swing it round so the rear of the car scraped along the inside wall horizontally. The car came to a halt with the back of it heavily damaged, but Mimi got out without any injuries.

The race was red flagged while the wreckage was cleared and the oil was cleaned up. The pace car then led the cars round to restart the race and it resumed on lap 12. Violette got away sluggishly, being leapfrogged by both her teammate, and Charlie Brown, whilst further down the field, José Peterson overtook Shermy on lap 14.

On lap 17, Marcie made her way past Harold Angel, while on lap 20, Frieda made her way past Violette. Five overtook Shermy on lap 21, while on lap 23, Pig Pen got ahead of Rerun, and then ahead of Sally the lap after.

On lap 26, Charlie Brown overtook Patty Swanson into the first corner, and on lap 30, Linus got past Violette. Cormac then made his way past Pierre on lap 32, before Rerun passed Sally a lap later. Frieda passed Patty Swanson on lap 34, and chased after Charlie Brown.

On lap 37, Patty Swanson hit trouble. Her car's gearbox failed as she headed down the back straight and she found herself trundling to a halt down the pitlane.

Violette, meanwhile, was doing a sterling job of keeping Franklin behind, and Marcie spent the next couple of laps catching up to the both of them.

On lap 44, Cormac made up another place, as Shermy continued to fall behind, and Thibault passed Sally two laps later.

On lap 48 Eudora passed Peppermint Patty and took the lead, while at the back, Shermy continued to fall behind, being passed by Pig Pen on lap 50, followed by Rerun on lap 53, and Thibault on lap 55.

A lap later, Joe Agate lost another position to Lucy, whilst Marcie overtook Franklin on lap 59. Five, in a brave move around the outside of turn one, overtook José Peterson to take 13th on lap 64, and behind them, Pig Pen overtook Cormac on lap 66. Five also passed Joe Agate on lap 68, before Rerun got passed Cormac on lap 71, while just in front of him, Pig Pen passed Pierre a lap later.

Peppermint Patty retook the lead on lap 75, with 22 laps to go. Rerun passed Pierre on lap 77, before Thibault passed Cormac on lap 83. José Peterson got past Joe Agate on lap 87, and Pig Pen did the same on lap 91. Lucy made a late challenge to try and take 10th place from Violet, and against the expectations of many, she succeeded on lap 95, and held on to it for the last two laps of the race, as her teammate crossed the line in 1st.

"And Peppermint Patty wins in South Carolina! Eudora is second, with Charlie Brown in 3rd! Frieda is 4th, Linus is 5th, Violette is 6th, Marcie is 7th, Franklin is 8th, Harold Angel is 9th, and Lucy Van Pelt rounds out the top 10! Violet finished 11th, with Five 12th, José Peterson 13th, Pig Pen 14th, Joe Agate 15th, Rerun 16th, Pierre 17th, Thibault 18th, Cormac 19th, Shermy 20th, and Sally in 21st. Mimi, Schroeder and Patty Swanson all failed to finish.

After the race, the standings looked like this…

1st Charlie Brown [Renault] 182pts 2nd Linus Van Pelt [Vittoria] 175pts

3rd Schroeder E. Schroeder [Bonn] 168pts 4th Morag McMurdo [Isdera] 167pts

5th Marcie Johnson [Cherokee] 164pts 6th Patricia Reichardt [Honda] 162pts

7th Frieda Rich [Bonn] 146pts 8th Pig Pen [Armstrong] 122pts

9th Rerun Van Pelt [Renault] 91pts 10th Eudora Elm [Polestar] 85pts

11th Patty Swanson [ACE] 75pts 12th Franklin Armstrong [Armstrong] 72pts

13th Lucy Van Pelt [Honda] 67pts 14th Harold Angel [Isdera] 65pts

15th Sally Brown [Polestar] 61pts 16th José Peterson [Daihatsu] 52pts

17th Pierre Fermier [Vittoria] 41pts 18th Thibault Rhodes [Sky] 24pts

19th Violette Honfleur [ACE] 23pts 20th Violet Gray [Zontec] 22pts

21st Joe Agate [Sky] 15pts 22nd Shermy Plepler [Zontec] 13pts

23rd Roy Tripps [Zontec] 8pts 24th Cormac O'Connor [Daihatsu] 8pts

25th Mimi Sonatelli [Armstrong/Sky] 6pts 26th 555 95472 [Cherokee] 6pts

Peppermint Patty parked her car on victory road and fist-pumped the air in celebration. Her mechanics clapped, and she quickly headed off up towards the podium, followed by Eudora and Charlie Brown. In the waiting room, the three congratulated each other and Charlie Brown yawned, rubbing his eyes, before the three headed out onto the podium.

The three stood silently as the American anthem played and the three American flags unfurled. The Japanese anthem then played after the American one finished. Afterwards the three of them received their trophies, drank their milk, and waved to the crowd, before they headed off into the pressroom, where the interviewers had some questions.

I: Peppermint Patty, great win for you, your 4th of the season. Does this put you in a good position for the Championship fight?

Peppermint Patty: Well, my position is a lot better, but I'm still a bit behind Charlie Brown, though I'm sure I can catch up to him with 6 races to go.

I: Eudora, another good result from you, and with your consistency, you look like you'll be 9th in the championship before long. Would you be happy with that?

Eudora: Of course. A race win still eludes us, but the higher up we finish, the happier we will be.

I: Charlie Brown, judging by the look on your face, it appears to have been a tough weekend for you. Do you think you will be back stronger next time around?

Charlie Brown: Good grief, I hope so. (He thinks for a few moments) I need to score as many points as I can if I'm to win the championship.

I: Thank you.

Charlie Brown's nearest rival, Linus was also interviewed in the paddock.

I: Linus, another 5th place, and still within close reach of the championship. Are you happy with today's result?

Linus: I guess so, but there's always room for improvement, especially as we come to the final few races of the season.

I: Thank you.

That evening the drivers went back to their hotels while their teams packed up. Charlie Brown gave up on trying to sleep, and prayed from the very bottom of his heart that Morag and Roy would return alive and well, as he lay on his bed, almost sick with worry.