The Podracers shoot forward with a high-pitched scream. Anakin's engine floods and coughs - then dies. All the other Podracers except one swerve around him and disappear down the track. The slave boy struggles to get his racer started. The announcer reports, "And they're off!" The second announcer corrects him, "Oh...wait. Anakin Skywalker has stalled." Padme and Obi-Wan are very disappointed. In the stands, Cliegg Lars puts his arm around a very worried Shmi while Owen sits next to them. Finally, Anakin's engines ignite. He zooms away after the receding pack of competitors, leaving one quadra-Pod racer still trying to get started. The two-headed ANNOUNCER describes the race as it progresses.
"And there goes Skywalker... He'll be hard pressed to catch up with the leaders today."
The Podracers fly across the desert. Sebolba is running neck and neck with another alien. They round the first turn in the track, side by side. Sebulba drives his Pod into his rival, forcing him into the wall of a large rock formation, which makes him crash in a spectacular display of fire and smoke. Anakin is much faster than the back-end stragglers and passes them easily. One of the drivers won't let him by, so he tries to pass him on one side and is cut off. He then tries to pass him on the other side and is once again cut off. As they come up on a cliff drop-off, Anakin backs off, then guns it as the driver goes over the cliff. Anakin accelerates so fast that he sails right over the top of the next driver and speeds away.
Four Tusken Raiders perched above the race course fire their rifles at the Pods racing in the canyon below them. One shot ricochets off the back of Anakin's Pod. One of the announcers amkes a report, "Looks like a few Tusken Riaders have camped out on the canyon dune turn." The crowd watches the progress of the race on small, hand-held view screens. "Where's Anakin?," Shmi asks. Anakin is powering around corners and over hills and cliffs, passing other racers right and left. Sebulba is in the lead. He is being challenged by another racer in a black pod. Sebulba slows a little, and as the black pod pulls alongside, he opens a side vent on the racer's engine and the exhaust starts to cut through the alien's engine. The blast cuts along the engine until finally it explodes. Sebulba deftly veers away. Anakin works his way through a dense mass of racers as they zoom over a dune sea, kicking up dust. His Pod shakes violently as he goes over a jump. One of the Podracers catches one of his engines in the sand, and the whole thing explodes as well.
Obi-Wan sits quietly, meditating. Padme and Shmi separately search the landscape for any sign of the racers. The sound of quadra-pod engines start just as the racers come around the corner. Sebulba enters the arena, closely followed by all the other racers. "Here is Sebulba in record tie," an announcer sounds off. Anakin pulls up, which elicits a smile from Padme. The crowd stands and yells as the Podracers scream off into the distance. "It looks like Skywalker is moving up through the field," the second announcer continues as he gains on the pack. A driver is getting close to Sebulba, who purposely breaks a small part off his Pod, sending it into his engine, causing him to veer into Anakin. He holds fast on the controls but soon learns the impact unhooked one of the main straps on Anakin's engines that links to the Pod. Anakin struggles to keep control of the little Pod as it whips about wildly. As the Pod swings near the broken engine strap, Anakin grabs for it but soon learns he cannot reach it. He barely manages to dodge another pod as he veers around the track. "Come on!," Anakin shouts angrily and stretches his hand out. The strap seemingly pauses in mid-air for a moment, then snaps back into Anakin's palm. Anakin stares in disbelief and quickly hooks it back in place and regains control of his pod.
Sebulba cuts the engine of a driver with his side exhaust, and the racer crashes with a cloud of dust. A third racer flies into the cloud of dust and crashes into the downed pod. Anakin rounds a corner and heads into the cloud of smoke. He hits a part of one of the engines but regains control. "We're at the start of the third and final lap, Sebulba is in the lead, closely followed by Skywalker...," the announcer tells the audience. Anakin finally catches up with Sebulba, and runs neck and neck over the rough terrain. The lights in the tower indicate that this is the third and last lap. Sebulba uses his side exhaust port to try to cut through Anakin's engines. He manages to avoid having his engine disabled but is forced off course.
"Skywalker is forced onto the service ramp!"
On a tight corner, Anakin dives to the inside and takes the lead. Sebulba is furious. He stays right on Anakin's tail, crowding him and pushing him through the turns. Sebulba pushes Anakin harder, and the young boy has a difficult time keeping control. One of the parts on Anakin's engines begins to shake loose. Anakin sees it and switches over to an auxiliary system. While he is trying to accomplish this maneuver, Sebulba veers toward Anakin and bangs into his Pod. The young boy struggles to maintain control as the steering rods on the two pods become hooked together. Sebulba laughs at Anakin. As they head for the final stretch, Anakin fights to unlock the steering rods by trying to pull away. The strain on the steering rod is tremendous. Suddenly, Anakin's steering arm breaks, and his pod starts spinning. The release of tension sends Sebulba into an ancient statue. One engine explodes, then the other. Sebulba skids through the fire-balls, blackened, but unhurt. He slides to a smoking stop, gets out of his racer, and throws what's left of a shifter arm on the ground. Suddenly he realizes his pants are on fire, and he struggles to put them out. Anakin flies through the explosion as the crowd stands, cherring. Anakin races over the finish line, the winner.