Chapter 4: Sonic Speed.

The day had arrived at long last for the biggest race of the year, the Daytona 500!

In a garage stall, Team Sonic was outlining their pre-race strategy.

"With us being sent to the rear, we need a strategy to help us go to the front". Said Tails.

"How about we draft together and push ourselves to the front?" Said Sonic before biting into a chilidog.

"Great!" said everyone.

Meanwhile, on a certain racing forum, an interesting comment chain was going on.

Daniel Posted: (11:50 Am)

Go Gordon!

David Posted: (11:50 AM)

This might sound crazy but…

I've heard some people saying that Chase Elliott is actually Sonic The Hedgehog in disguise, and that Ryan Blaney is Tails, Brian Scott is Amy, Ty Dillon is Knuckles, and James Buscher is Sticks. What stuff are these people on?

Hinch5 Posted (11:51 AM)

Well, I have heard people talking about a portal opening up by the NASCAR headquarters about a month ago, but those people are probably wrong. I mean seriously, Sonic The Hedgehog in NASCAR? Sounds like the stuff of some dumb fan-fiction.

Racefangurl posted (11:51 AM)

I wonder how Team Can't Touch This will fare after Zach Buckner mysteriously vanished. The Hapster, Double A, My Son, Eazy-B, and DJ Craze are all great drivers, but how will the team's new owner, Jody Ridley, affect its performance?

MAR Posted (11:52 AM)

It would be weird if

Sonic was in nascar because

He's a video game character.

Back at the track…

Soon after, at noon, the familiar opening notes of the NFL theme signaled the beginning of FOX's race coverage.

"Welcome to the Daytona International Speedway for the first race of the year, the Daytona 500!" Mike Joy said, introducing the millions of viewers across the world to the race.

"Over 100,000 fans have gathered here to watch 43 of NASCAR's finest race 200 laps for the win, and many more watching on TV or the Internet."

"Hello everyone, Mike Joy here. Alongside me, we have 4 time champion Darrell Waltrip. Now, joining me with him would be Zach Buckner, until he… mysteriously disappeared.

Meanwhile in Sonic land:

"So, what's it gonna be today, Grandaddy-E? asked Zach Buckner.

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Screamed Eggman.

Back on Earth…

"So, instead, joining me and Waltrip is former NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon!"

"Thanks Mike. Now, I think the main story of this race is the rookie class of 2016. Ever since I started driving, I have never seen a rookie class so expansive and with so much potential. Chase Elliott, in fact, is driving for my old number 24!" Said Jeff

"Ryan Blaney, Brian Scott, and Ty Dillon also have competitive rides. James Buscher is driving for an upstart team, but I think He'll do well."

"Thanks Jeff." said Darrell. "Now, there have been lots of rumors over the past month that the entire rookie class are actually characters from the Sonic The Hedgehog games! How stupid is that!"

"Well, I've heard some crazy things on the internet, but this is just ridiculous." said Mike.

"Anyway, I think that Chase Elliott is definitely my pick to win the race." said Darrell

Meanwhile on a racing forum

racefangurl posted: (12:05 PM)

That's impossible! Darrell Waltrip just said that Chase Elliott would win. Who does he think he is? Rookies don't win NASCAR races. Open wheel, that's a different story.

Back at daytona, The pre-race show rambled on for about an hour, consisting of lots of talk about topics like Danica Patrick's awesomeness even though she was demoted to the uber bad Team Xtreme.

All the while, Sonic and friends were getting ready for the race.

During driver introductions, suspisions continued to arise as "Chase Elliott" was introduced with the song "Escape From The City", "Ryan Blaney" was introduced with "Gotta Go Fast", "Brian Scott" was introduced with "Green Hill Zone" , "Ty Dillon" Was introduced with the Sonic Boom theme, and "James Buscher" was introduced with the AOSTH theme.

And the suspicions continued to rise when Sonic made some questionable pre-race comments when interviewed by Matt Yocum.

"One of our rookies for this year is with Matt Yocum." said Mike Joy.

"Thanks Mike, i'm standing with Chase Elliott, who this year is the new driver for Hendrick Motorsports number 24 after Jeff Gordon retired. I know you started from the back, but do you think that you are capable of winning?" asked Matt

"My car is great and all, but I'm not happy with these fire suits. They makes my arms look blue, and my arms aren't blue." said "Chase"

"Well alright then. Interesting words from Chase Elliott." Said Matt Yocum, before leaving with a puzzled look on his face.

Finally, it was time for the national anthem, done by Tim Storms. He belted out a string of negative first octave notes, but everyone applauded because they were too drunk to know what was going on.

Soon after, the command was given.

"And now, for the most famous words in motorsports, please welcome, assistant manager of the 17th branch of Bank Of America in Wisconsin, John Gorman!"

A couple of people applauded.

"Drivers, start your engines." he said in a flat monotone voice.

Everyone applauded.

Sonic and friends got in their cars, put on their tinted helmets to hide their face, and rolled off with everyone else.

The front row for the race consisted of defending Sprint Cup champion Joey Logano and 6 time champion Jimmie Johnson. For the first time since 2012, said front row had no rumors of rigging.

Finally, at long last, Darrell Waltrip said "BOOGITY BOOGITY! Lets go racing in 2016!" kicking off the race which no one knew at the time would change not only NASCAR, but the entire world, forever.

At the start of the race, the field mostly consisted of one big pack with some stragglers in the back. The front was a dogfight between numerous drivers, including Kurt and Kyle Busch, Brian Vickers, a surprising Josh Wise, Carl Edwards, and Austin Dillon.

Meanwhile, Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, and Sticks were currentlly not together, running as stragglers in the back after 50 laps after having lost the draft at lap 40. However, they soon started their strategy. During a round of green flag stops, Team Sonic came to pit road together, with all 5 changing tires and fuel. They all had decently quick stops, as Sonic got away in 13.6 seconds, Tails in 13.4, Amy leading the charge with a 13.1 second stop, Knuckles in 13.7, and Sticks in 13.5. Once they exited pit road, they got into a line of cars, with Amy in front, then Tails, Sticks, Sonic, and Knuckles in that order. At this point, they were almost a lap down in 36th-40th place, and were in danger of getting lapped. Thankfully, a caution came out on lap 56 for a crash involving Michael McDowell, J.J Yeley, and A.J Allmendinger. The caution allowed Sonic and crew to stay on the lead lap, and were now right with the lead pack.

When the green dropped, Sonic and crew quickly went single file, with Tails now leading Amy, Sonic, Sticks, and Knuckles, who were in 33rd-37th place. Running at the tail end of the pack, It didn't look good for their victory hopes, but they soon managed to form an outside line and slowly went through the field. By lap 71, they were in 21st-25th place.

Meanwhile. Kevin Harvick was the class of the field, leading much of the next 60 laps. Sonic and Co. were lagging back in 20th-25th place. They needed a miracle if they wanted to work their way into contention.

They got one.

On lap 134, Kyle Larson, leading the outside charge, was closing on Kevin Harvick. Harvick tried to move up to the high side to block Larson, but Larson was already alongside. The two cars touched, starting a massive 20 car pileup that sent Ricky Stenhouse Jr. flying through the air. Sonic and Co. were behind the accident and managed to take the lead.

One certain person wasn't happy with this.

Everyday NASCAR posted: (3:15 PM)

Why is everyone making such a big deal out of this? It's obvious that the Illuminati rigged this race to have an all rookie top 5 as part of their master plan! Wake up sheeple! Fight the powers of Illuminati!

The comment promptly received 200 thumbs down.

After a 30 minute red, the race went green. Knuckles was now in the lead, followed by Sonic, Amy, Tails, and Sticks. The drivers worked together to push themselves away from the pack, then would decide it between themselves. With 45 laps to go, they were 5 seconds clear of the remainder of the field.

However, their plans were foiled when a caution came out for a HUGE piece of debris that wrecked Ryan Newman and Paul Menard.

People still thought it was rigged to bunch up the field.

The teams headed to pit road for the final stop of the day. Off of pit road, the team had good pit stops. Sonic was away in 12.4 seconds, Tails in 12.8, Knuckles in 13.1, Amy in 12.3, and Sticks leading with 12.2. They were all beat out, however, by Kyle Busch, who gambled on taking two tires instead of four.

The race restarted with just 32 laps to go. Kyle Busch led the outside, with Sonic leading the inside. Sonic and the inside line tried and tried again to pass Kyle Busch, but he kept blocking them. The action kept the many fans in the stands on their feet, with Kyle moving all around the track. It was looking like Sonic and gang would have to settle for second.

Finally, with 5 laps to go, the action heated up even more.

Kyle Busch was still moving around to protect his position and get the win at the track which injured his legs the previous years. However, the Sonic crew finally found a foothold and got alongside. The inside and outside raced side by side over the next few laps. No one knew who would get the win!

On the second to last lap, a third line, led by Trevor Bayne, made it three wide for the lead between Busch, Sonic, and Bayne. The fans couldn't get enough. The white flag flew. Sonic tried to side up the track to block, but Busch was already there. The two touched, but no one wrecked. Coming out of turn number four, all hell broke loose as Trevor Bayne spun out in front of Kyle Busch, and as the field self-destructed behind them, Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, and Sticks finished a storybook 1-2-3-4-5 to cheers from the crowd.

However, no one knew of their secret.