Monday 8th October
Charlie Brown had told Linus that Morag and co were okay as soon as he heard the news. By the time the top ten left on the party bus, rumours were beginning to swirl in the drivers' minds as to what happened. Charlie Brown kept it quiet from everyone else, and he told everyone else on the party bus to not make anything up and to let Morag explain herself. Behind them were, Five, Mimi, Patty, Rerun and Pierre in the Jeep Cherokee, Thibault and Joe in the Team Sky Volkswagen, Cormac, José, Shermy and Pig Pen were in the Team Daihatsu Terios, and Sally, Violet and Schroeder shared the Polestar team's Volvo XC90.
The journey lasted for several hours, with the party bus arriving at the track at 6pm, as scheduled. Charlie Brown and Linus immediately hopped off the bus and headed for the paddock. Waiting at a plastic table were Morag and Roy, looking as calm as ever.
"Glad you could join us." Morag welcomed.
"I should say the same myself. You had me worried." Charlie Brown replied, as he and Linus sat down.
"Yeah. It was quite the ordeal." Roy replied.
"Care to explain it to us in more detail? Linus replied. Morag gave them the whole story.
"Good thing you managed to find him." Linus replied. "Did you get any closer to solving the mystery?"
"Well, my dad's staying behind at the police station to give evidence, but he did tell us that the NASA guy's name was Daryl Matheson." Roy answered.
"We'll have to wait for a while to find out whether he has anything more, but it's a step."
"Does that mean the police will be going after him too?" Charlie Brown asked.
"Word is that the kidnappers are refusing to talk." Roy replied. "For now the police have their hands tied (So they say). And even if they did bring him in, I'm sure Matheson would deny any involvement." Roy sighed.
"Maybe instead of waiting for them to slip, we take the initiative and let them think we've solved it already." Linus suggested.
"What do you mean?" Morag asked.
"I mean. If NASA is involved, then it has to be space related. So if we start with that, maybe we can come up with a working theory we can put to them." Linus continued.
"Like a tabloid rumour?" Morag asked.
"Well, it is what we do best." Roy perked up.
"Okay, that's a plan. We'll all have to agree on what the theory is though." Morag stood up, placing her hands on the table.
"We should all have some ideas by the time we meet at Talladega." Linus replied.
"Cool. We'll talk about this again then." Charlie Brown replied, as they both left Morag and Roy to think.
All of them left for the hotel in the evening and slept. On Tuesday, the teams, cars, and the press arrived, and the motorhomes were set up. Later that evening, it was announced that Five was to be dropped from the Cherokee team, with Mimi being signed on a two race contract.
Thursday 11th October- Pre Race Press Conference.
As always, 5 drivers were picked at random to speak in front of the press. These five were: Franklin, Joe Agate, Morag, Eudora, and Lucy Van Pelt.
I: Franklin, you've been having a decent run of form over the past few races. Do you see yourself getting a win in the near future?
Franklin: That would be nice, but we'll have to wait and see. If I can get a good grid position, we might be in for a chance.
I: Joe Agate, you on the other hand, haven't scored a point since round 12 in Kansas. Are your team getting concerned about your pace?
Joe Agate: Well, if they are, I haven't heard anything about it.
I: Morag, welcome back. Do you feel ready to return to action, after the events that led to you pulling out of the race at Darlington?
Morag: I'm doing much better thank you. I will be doing my best to keep my championship hopes alive, and hopefully take the lead.
I: Eudora, another podium last time out, you're also enjoying a fine run of form. Do you think you can go one better this weekend?
Eudora: Absolutely. Nothing's stopping me.
Joe Agate: Apart from us.
I: And… Lucy, you've had some decent results over the season, but we're yet to see the sort of pace to challenge your eminent No. 2 status in the team. Will you be subject to team orders once you are mathematically unable to win the championship?
Lucy: Bold of you to assume I've already lost. We haven't had that conversation yet, obviously. I would've held my horses if I were you.
I: Thank you.
Down in the paddock, Roy was chasing the bigger story unfolding, and had found Five sitting outside the garage of his former team.
"Hi Roy." Five spoke with a dreary monotone.
"What's up?" Roy asked.
"You know the answer to that." Five replied bitterly.
"Mimi took your seat, I know. Do you know what the terms of her contract are?"
"I think they're the same as mine. Score 4 points in 2 races. I guess if she can't do that, I'd get my seat back, which is something to look forward to, I guess. You done?"
"Quite." Roy replied, as he got up and dashed off to put pen to paper.
Saturday 13th October
Practice was very much welcomed at Nashville Superspeedway, with Morag spending some time getting reacquainted with the car after her misadventures last time out. Charlie Brown felt a lot more at ease also, compared to the previous round. Before long, however, it was time for Qualifying.
Shermy was the first to go out, setting a benchmark of 0:26.598, which was narrowly beaten by both Mimi and Cormac, who set times of 0:26.594 and 0:26.596 respectively. Thibault then set a very competitive time of 0:26.467, before Linus set an uncharacteristically slow time of 0:26.601.
José Peterson set a fast time of 0:26.485, which Lucy managed to beat by a margin of 0.005 of a second, before Sally Brown set a slow, error strewn lap-time of 0:26.680. Rerun then set a decent time of 0:26.553, which Frieda promptly beat with a 0:26.551.
Morag then set a blistering tie of 0:26.424 to go fastest, while Franklin couldn't keep up and only set a time of 0:26.643. Marcie fared little better, only setting a 0:26.614. Pierre was the surprise of the day, setting a very fast time of 0:26.422, fastest for the time being. That was, until Eudora set the timing screens alight with a 0:26.392, a whole three hundreths faster.
Harold Angel set a reasonably competitive 0:26.495, and Pig Pen initially had set a time of 0:26.455, but it was revealed he'd cut into the infield at turn 2, so he was forced to stick with his previous time of 0:26.583, behind Rerun.
Joe Agate struggled, setting a poor time of 0:26.996, but Schroeder was flying, setting a time of 0:26.433 to go 4th, with Peppermint Patty just behind him with a time of 0:26.445. Violette set a rather average time of 0:26.547, while Patty Swanson also struggled, setting a 0:26.605. Charlie Brown set and incredibly fast lap time of 0:26.418 to put himself second, before Violet ended proceedings with a 0:26.570.
At the end of qualifying, the grid order looked like this…
1st Eudora Elm [Polestar] 0:26.392 2nd Charlie Brown [Renault] 0:26.418
3rd Pierre Fermier [Vittoria] 0:26.422 4th Morag McMurdo [Isdera] 0:26.424
5th Schroeder E. Schroeder [Bonn] 0:26.433 6th Patricia Reichardt [Honda] 0:26.445
7th Thibault Rhodes [Sky] 0:26.467 8th Lucy Van Pelt [Honda] 0:26.480
9th José Peterson [Daihatsu] 0:26.485 10th Harold Angel [Isdera] 0:26.495
11th Violette Honfleur [ACE] 0:26.547 12th Frieda Rich [Bonn] 0:26.551
13th Rerun Van Pelt [Renault] 0:26.553 14th Violet Gray [Zontec] 0:26.570
15th Pig Pen [Armstrong] 0:26.583 16th Mimi Sonatelli [Cherokee] 0:26.594
17th Cormac O'Connor [Daihatsu] 0:26.596 18th Shermy Plepler [Zontec] 0:26.598
19th Linus Van Pelt [Vittoria] 0:26.601 20th Patricia Swanson [ACE] 0:26.605
21st Marcie Johnson [Cherokee] 0:26.614 22nd Franklin Armstrong [Armtrong] 0:26.643
23rd Sally Brown [Polestar] 0:26.680 24th Joe Agate [Sky] 0:26.996
After Qualifying, the top three on the grid were interviewed.
I: Eudora, you said you could go one better this weekend, and this is the perfect way to start doing that, don't you think?
Eudora: Oh, yeah, absolutely. I hope to be able to keep everyone behind so I can achieve my first win.
I: Charlie Brown, your nearest rival, Linus, is far down the grid. Do you see yourself grasping your championship chances more firmly tomorrow?
Charlie Brown: I might, but there are a lot of people behind me who want to close the gap, so I'll have to be at my best.
I: Pierre, this is your best qualifying in a long time, do you think you can get a good haul of points tomorrow?
Pierre: I think so, I might even beat my team-mate (he chuckles).
I: Thank you.
Down in the paddock, Charlie Brown's nearest rival, Linus was also interviewed.
I: Linus, you start 19th tomorrow. Are you worried about slipping further behind Charlie Brown in the championship?
Linus: worst case scenario, is that he wins and I get nothing, which means I'd need 2 races out of the 5 after this to catch up, so it wouldn't be the end of the world.
I: Thank you.
Night fell in Nashville, and everyone rested and cleared their minds ready for the race the following day.
Sunday 14th October
Eudora felt a mixture of excitement and nerves as she sat in her car on pole position. She'd been high up the grid before, put pole carried a special significance to it in a way she wasn't familiar with. Not that it would matter for very long, as the announcer began to speak for the 21st time.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Start your Engines!"
Eudora did so as did everyone else. The pace car led the cars round as they all peeled off the grid and round the first corner.
"When the race begins, the cars will have to face 99 laps and duke it out to find a winner. And as the pace car pulls into the pits, the Tennessee Spindycar Supertour Open is Go!"
Eudora, made a good start, as did Charlie Brown and Pierre. Peppermint Patty managed to nab 5th from Schroeder going into the first turn, while behind her, Frieda snatched a place off Violette and Linus got ahead of Shermy before the end of the lap. On lap 3, Morag managed to get past Pierre up the inside of turn 2, into third place, where she began chasing down Charlie Brown. On lap 6, Pig Pen overtook Violet into turn 1, and Marcie had overtaken Patty Swanson before the end of lap 7.
By lap 10, Eudora had begun to pull out a small lead, whilst Charlie Brown and Morag bickered for second. Pierre was not far ahead of Peppermint Patty, and Linus managed to get past Cormac, with Marcie passing Shermy on lap 12. On lap 16, Peppermint Patty managed to get ahead of Pierre, with Rerun getting past Violette a lap later. On lap 19 Frieda snuck past Harold Angel, while on lap 21, Mimi overtook Violet. Linus then passed Violet on lap 23. Pierre was then passed by Schroeder on lap 26, and Marcie overtook Cormac on lap 28.
On lap 30, Charlie Brown and Morag were still fighting over second, allowing Eudora to build her lead. Pig Pen found a way past Violette on lap 31, and Patty Swanson overtook Shermy on lap 35. Three laps later, Pierre was overtaken by Thibault, before Mimi passed Violette on lap 42. Franklin got past Shermy on lap 44, before Pierre lost another place to Lucy on lap 47.
On lap 51, Pierre had to correct a slide and slowed on the back straight. José, who was right behind him, was caught unawares and hit the back of him, sending Pierre spinning off into the infield, colliding with the inside barriers at around 60 mph, having slowed down considerably. José had considerable damage to the front wing, some of which had come off and damaged his suspension, forcing him to pull in and retire the car.
The Pace car was brought out to clear up the wreckage, which eradicated Eudora's hard earned lead, but by lap 55, the track was clear and the cars began racing again. Eudora got a good restart as Charlie Brown and Morag continued to fight, while behind them, Linus managed to get past Violette. A couple of laps later, Pig Pen managed to pass Rerun into 10th place.
On lap 60, Morag finally managed stay ahead of Charlie Brown, having made several attempts to pass him. Eudora was further down the road than she had hoped, but the hardest part was over, in her mind. Frieda managed to get past Lucy into turn 2 on lap 63, before Marcie passed Violet on lap 66, and on lap 68, Schroeder managed to retake 4th from Peppermint Patty.
4 laps later, Linus passed Mimi to move up into 12th, with Marcie moving up into 14th on lap 74. On lap 78, Schroeder managed to catch up to the back of Charlie Brown, and managed to pass him after 3 laps of fighting. Morag was trying to do the same with Eudora, but much like Charlie Brown, constant fighting had worn down her tyres, and now she was fighting to keep up. Further down the field, Marcie managed to pass Mimi on lap 84, and Patty Swanson got past Cormac on lap 87.
On lap 90, Linus, while he was in 12th place, suffered a gearbox failure while on the back straight. Linus managed to reach the pits, where they promptly retired the car. The race continued unabated, with Eudora enjoying a healthy lead. On lap 92, Harold Angel managed to pass Lucy to take 8th place, while Franklin overtook Cormac on lap 97. Schroeder had been looking for the chance to overtake Morag in the final laps, but the opportunity never appeared and he settled for third as they rounded the final corner.
"And Eudora Elm wins in Tennessee!" Morag is 2nd, with Schroeder finishing in third! Charlie Brown was 4th, with Peppermint Patty 5th, Thibault in a fine 6th, Frieda in 7th, Harold Angel in 8th, Lucy in 9th, and Pig Pen rounding out the top ten! Rerun finished 11th, with Marcie 12th, Mimi in 13th, Violette 14th, Violet 15th, Patty Swanson 16th, Cormac was 17th, Franklin was 18th, with Shermy in 19th, Sally in 20th, and Joe Agate in 21st. Linus, José, and Pierre all failed to finish."
After the race, the standings looked like this…
1st Charlie Brown [Renault] 194pts 2nd Morag McMurdo [Isdera] 185pts
3rd Schroeder E. Schroeder [Bonn] 183pts 4th Linus Van Pelt [Vittoria] 175pts
5th Patricia Reichardt [Honda] 172pts 6th Marcie Johnson [Cherokee] 164pts
7th Frieda Rich [Bonn] 152pts 8th Pig Pen [Armstrong] 123pts
9th Eudora Elm [Polestar] 110pts 10th Rerun Van Pelt [Renault] 91pts
11th Patty Swanson [ACE] 75pts 12th Franklin Armstrong [Armstrong] 72pts
13th Lucy Van Pelt [Honda] 69pts 14th Harold Angel [Isdera] 69pts
15th Sally Brown [Polestar] 61pts 16th José Peterson [Daihatsu] 52pts
17th Pierre Fermier [Vittoria] 41pts 18th Thibault Rhodes [Sky] 32pts
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
Eudora parked her car on victory road and leaped into the air in joy as she got out of the car, and ran towards her team, high fiving and patting everyone on the back. Before heading upstairs to the podium. In the waiting room, the top three congratulated each other, with Eudora smiling from ear to ear, before they all headed out onto the podium.
The three stood quietly as the American anthem played and the American and British flags unfurled. The Swedish anthem played after the American one finished. The drivers received their trophies and drank their milk, before celebrating, Eudora especially, who was whooping and hollering in excitement, until it was time for the post-race interviews.
I: Eudora, finally, after weeks of good results, you've finally made it to the top step of the podium. How does it feel?
Eudora: It feels great, honestly. I've been close to winning but I don't think I'm going to feel as good as this for a very long time.
I: Morag, you fought hard this weekend, and despite missing the previous round, you're only 9 points behind Charlie Brown in the championship. Are you happy with your performance today?
Morag: Yeah, I'm pretty pleased with what I managed to do. It was a tough race, but Eudora was a deserving winner.
I: Schroeder, you also find yourself in a strong position in the championship. Do you think you have what it takes to win the entire thing?
Schroeder: Of course I do, though we'll have to see what happens over the next 5 races.
I: Thank you.
Championship leader Charlie Brown was also interviewed.
I: so, Charlie Brown, 4th today. Are you still confident in your lead in the championship?
Charlie Brown: I wouldn't be too worried. As long as I can finish consistently in the points, I think I will still win overall.
I: Thank you.
Evening turned to night in Tennessee, and most of the drivers and team personnel went to bed, save for the Polestar team and Eudora, who celebrated well into the night.
