"This is absolutely the baddest idea ever!", McQueen thought. Not that Doc wasn't good at racing anymore, he was amazing! But he didn't have the regular training like Ryan and Lightning had. So the change for Doc to win was like... Very low. Lightning knew that and he paced up and down nervously as Doc sat down in the red car.

50 laps. At at Piston Cupe race this was nothing. And the tyres woould get through it easily, but Lightning had a bad feeling about all this. It should be him in the car. He should be racing and rescue his friends.

Himself and Sally sat on the stands and watching the beginning of the race. Both cars speeded up straight away. It was good that Doc raced Lightning's car. If he would've used his own car, the old Hudson Hornet, he would've had no change whatsoever. At the first 15 laps both cars had slightly the same speed. They overtook each other on a regular basis but soon, Ryan's dark blue cars was first. Lighting bit his lip. He knew Doc made the deal that they always could go, no matter who won... But he also remebered his fist phone call from Ryan and he sounded very ruthless. Sally noticed his nervousness and took his hand. They smildes at each other but Lightning's smile didn't reach the eyes. He worried about his coach.

Doc drifted through the curves and forced more speed out of the car. He smiled. The new stock cars were so much better. He only once drove Lightning's car but back then it wasn't a real race. Not that this was a real race, more like a competition, but Doc kinda enjoyed it. He hoped Ryan would see reason and forget about his revenge. Doc took the next curve and thought of Ryan's uncle. He remebered. It was an accident and Doc himself didn't even notice. He felt guilty and visited him at the hospital. But his contender never forgave him. For him, it was all Doc's fault. No wonder the kid was so upset. He didn't wanna know what his uncle told him. Doc concentrated on the track again. And then in the last three laps it happened. Doc saw Ryan struggling. After a precised view he saw that the left back tyre had bursted. Images flashed across his mind. He saw him again on the television. Ryan's uncle crashed on the last 10 laps. He slipped over the pavement and suddenly his car spinned around himself. And Doc sae himaelf again. The crash that ended his racing career.

Ryan suddenly lost his balance on the track and his car swerved over the asphalt. Doc used this tiny change and put his feed on the gas. He passed Ryan, took the curve and drove over the finish line. He stopped McQueen's car and watched out for Ryan. Doc sighed in relive when he saw Ryan didn't crash. The blue car had stopped, right before the final curve. Steam came from his bursted tyre. Doc got out of his car and ran to the young racer. Luckily he wasn't injured. With a stumble, Ryan got out of his car. His face was scared and filled with disbelief. He looked at Doc and stumbled. "I... You, this never happened before!" He ran a hand through his hair. In this moment, Sally and McQueen joined them. "Are you guys okay?", Lightning exclaimed. Doc nodded. "We are. We just need a tow truck. You didn't bring Mater, did you?"

An hour later, a modern truck towed the blue racing car off the track. Ryan's truck driver loaded the car into the semi.

Lighting was happy everything went kinda well without any dangerous event. He looked at Doc. "Congrats Doc. You're the winner." The old man mustered him. "Of a very unfair race."

"Win is win. We have our peace now, that's all what matters.", Lightning shrugged.

Doc smirked. "Even accepting this whole disaster was very dumb, kid. Too risky. Sometimes you're acting very immature."

"'Sometimes acting very immature.'", Lightning imitated his coach with a high-pitched voice and rolled his eyes. Sally chuckled. Doc pretened like he felt offened, but he couldn't hide his smirk.

After a short talk with his truck driver, Ryan turned to the three friends, a contritely look on his face. "I never thought that would happen to me. It was exactly like the accident of my uncle. I can't belive it." He shook his head and crossed his arms. Then he looked at Doc. "I am sorry. I know my uncle gave you all the fault, but... I know now how fast those things can happen. Even if it never happened too me before, I realised now that I had much luck in the past and I think I... I am sorry. What I did to you, that I kidnapped you." He turned to McQueen.

"And I am sorry for you Lightning as well. Blackmailing you that was... So stupid. I am truly sorry. All I saw was the next win and the revenge for my uncle. That was not fair. I had blinders. I... I don't know how to compensate for that." He looked really downcast and suddenly Lightning felt empathy. He smiled. Ryan did some really bad things. And kidnapping his friends wasn't funny at all. He could've told the cops but he decided against that. And now the whole mess cleared up. Ryan was just looking for revenge. And the first one who catched his eye was Lightning, his worst contender on the racing track. So Ryan used him as a trigger to blow off his steam.

"You can do me a favour.", Lightning smiled. Ryan sighed in relief. "Everything you want."

"You let us go and refrain from winning the Piston Cup next month. On your free will."

Ryan gasped in horror but he pulled himself together. "That's a really harsh favour. But okay..." He sighed. "I think that is at least something I can do to atone all this."

"Thank you", Lightning said and smiled at his contender.

Just a short info:

The 'Immature scene' is not from me. I've found it on tumblr.