Tales Of The Flame & The Ax: A Shooting Star Falls Story
Part Fifty-Five: Green Flag
The day of the race had finally arrived and what had been a mild morning soon gave way to a more humid and hotter afternoon as the start time quickly approached. They had spent the morning going to events organized by Lyle's sponsors and the girls were even included quite a bit as they wore their sashes and tiaras from the dirt event a few days prior. Mabel and Pacifica were shocked that people actually wanted pictures with them and autographs from them but were more than happy to oblige. "Now you have an idea of what I go through for thirty-eight weeks a year..." Lyle jokingly commented with a large smile on his face. He was glad the girls were having fun and honestly it was a little refreshing to have a bit of a distraction from the usual race day grind. They finally made their way back inside the track and down to the pit area. Lyle had to get ready for driver introductions while the rest of the family climbed atop the pit box and took their seats for the five-hundred-mile event. The stands were packed with over seventy-thousand fans who had made the pilgrimage to the small South Carolina town to watch the legendary event in person. After a stunning rendition of the American national anthem and a flyover by a squadron of fighter jets, the event was finally about to begin.
The engines fired and soon the cars rolled off pit road to begin their pace laps. Moments later, the green flag was in the air and the full field of forty roared past the girls and into turn one. The crowd roared as the cars made their way around the circuit for the first time. Sixty laps were completed before the first caution came out for a two car incident in turn three and it was time for the first round of pit stops. Lyle's red, white and blue vehicle slid into the pit stall and the Pines sisters watched with astonishment as the six crew members worked in a choreographed series of moves to service the car. In a little over ten and a half seconds, the car roared away. "How did they do that so fast?!" Mabel asked her crush. "Lots and lots of practice. Those guys are absolute beasts in the gym and most all of them are former college athletes." he replied as the race restarted. "Got a flat! Coming to you!" Lyle commented over the radio as he began to slow down the backstretch. "Copy. We'll take care of it. Twenty-nine hundred in third. Don't speed." his crew chief answered in a very calm manner that was akin to an air traffic controller. With the unplanned pit stop, Lyle fell to two laps down in thirty second position. After another seventy-three laps, it was time for Lyle Karson to visit pit road again, this time under green flag conditions, which meant that the cars continued to go around the track at full race pace while he had to proceed in the pits at only forty-five miles per hour. He complained of no front grip in the car and his crew chief reassured him that they made major adjustments to make the handling more his liking in the next segment of the race.
As the afternoon turned into early evening, the lights that surrounded the raceway began to illuminate. Past the halfway point of the race, another caution flag came out for a car spinning in the middle of turns one and two. While Lyle felt the car was handling much better, he didn't have the track position to make up much ground on the leader. Now, after another pit stop to get a full tank of fuel and four fresh tires, he felt as though he could begin to fight his way back towards the front of the field as he had managed to earn his laps back. The green flag flew once again, and Lyle gained eight spots in the first ten laps; now finding himself inside the top ten. With only five laps left in the historic race, he found himself in third place and in sight of the leader, Brandon Howe in the number two car. All three cars ran close to the outside wall in turns three and four as they plotted their race winning moves. The leader had to lift the throttle slightly to avoid hitting the wall on the exit of the corner and the second-place car of Zach Bishop pulled to the inside to try and take the lead. Brandon came down to block as they crossed the finish line with now only four laps to go and held his position as they barreled off towards the first turn. The leader decided to enter the corner low, and the number 9 car of Bishop tried to pass him on the outside, only to have the leader come up to block. The trailing car then made a daring move to the bottom lane and briefly pulled side by side before clipping the bottom of the banking; slowing the momentum of both cars briefly as they made slight contact.
Lyle saw the opportunity at the exit of turn two and pulled alongside Bishop as Howe opened a gap down the back straightaway. Lyle managed to pass the number nine and now saw the leader out his front windshield as they entered turn three. Lyle was less than a car length off the rear bumper of Brandon Howe as Bishop began to fade in his rearview mirror. Crossing under the flag stand, there were now only three laps to go! Roaring off into the first turn of the speedway, the leader took the low line and Lyle was able to keep up his momentum as he ran less than six inches off the wall through the corner. To the Pines sisters, it looked as though Lyle was about ten miles per hour quicker than the car in front of him as they exited the corner. The number two machine slid up to the wall to block his momentum, but Lyle didn't flinch and contacted the rear bumper of the car, which caused the leader to almost lose control. Knowing that he'd likely be caught up in the ensuing wreck, Lyle lifted off the throttle briefly and allowed Howe to regain control. The move slowed both cars down as they made their way down the backstretch and the number nine of Bishop had been able to catch back up. It was once again a three-car battle for the win as they came down the front straightaway. "Two to go. Get that checkered flag..." Lyle's crew chief said over the radio as the girls and the Karson family watched on. Mabel was fidgeting about with nervousness while Pacifica was stoic in her seat atop the pit box.
Lyle was less than half a foot off the rear bumper as the cars entered the first turn on the penultimate lap of the five-hundred-mile event. Howe took the high line against the wall and Lyle dove low to try and take the point. He failed to do so, as the driver ahead of him pushed his car to the absolute limit of control to retain his position as they barreled down the back straightaway; all three cars with less than a two-foot gap between one another. Heading into turn three, the cars took the high line around the wall and took on the look of a high horsepower freight train until Lyle ducked out in the middle of the turn to take another shot at the lead. The two cars drifted into each other as they banged doors on the exit of the corner. They could all see the official in the flag stand waving the white flag furiously, which indicated that it was the final lap. A slower car ahead would factor into how each driver attempted to enter the first turn as they continued to run side by side; taking swipes at one another while doing so. Lyle was on the bottom and briefly pulled ahead by the slimmest of margins as they touched once again and both cars drifted up to the outside wall! Sparks and smoke rose from the pair of cars as they carried their momentum through the corner. Somehow, the two managed to separate and they continued to race around the corner. They once again made contact on the exit of turn number two and Zach Bishop drew ever closer. Halfway down the back straightaway, Lyle swung up behind the leader and the number nine took his chance to win. He gained the lead on the bottom, but Howe never lifted his foot off the accelerator and rode the wall into turn three; a shower of sparks and smoke filling the windshield of Lyle's racecar as he fell to third place. All three cars were now in the outside wall and the number two car of Brandon Howe began to lose momentum as his vehicle began to break down from the desperate maneuver. The second-place car of Zach Bishop was able to recover and as they made their way onto the frontstretch, he was first to the line to secure the win. Lyle's car had broken its steering and he tried his best to wrestle it back to the checkered flag. A few other cars had been able to catch back up in all the mayhem and passed him before he was able to make it to the finish line. Lyle Karson would finish the exciting race in fifth position.
"That was unreal!" Pacifica shouted at the top of her lungs as the cars passed by. "Dad always says he'll either bring home the trophy or the steering wheel... Guess today it was the steering wheel's turn..." Logan quipped. The race winning car of Zach Bishop began to do donuts on the frontstretch as the crowd roared with approval. On pit road, Lyle exited his car and walked to the destroyed number two car ahead of him. The two drivers shared a smile and shook each other's hands before describing the finish with animated body gestures. A reporter came up to the pair and interviewed Brandon first. "You were a lap away from advancing to the next round of the playoffs. Lyle Karson raced you hard, but he also raced you fair. Walk me through those final few laps." he asked the clearly exhausted driver. "Honestly? I was just trying to hold on. I had a really fast car, but it was just a little too free to run their speed there at the end. They could run up the hill really well in turns one and two, which gave them a good run down the backstretch, but I'd have to run real low to keep the rear of the car underneath me. I was hoping that they'd get to racing behind me there and let me get away. When Lyle got beside me, my only opportunity was to go as hard as I could. We got into the wall in one and I felt the right front going down along the backstretch, so my only option was to ride it against the fence like I've done in video games before. It worked for a little while, but then the car got stuck in it and killed my momentum. Man! I wish that would have worked. We would have moved on in the playoffs, but at least the fans here got one hell of a show." the driver responded before thanking his team and sponsors.
A female reporter was standing by with Lyle. "I'm here with Lyle Karson, who managed to rebound from an ill handling car early on in the race to contend for the win in the final laps. Walk us through those last few laps." she asked before pointing the microphone towards the blue firesuit clad driver. "It was a lot of fun. I was just trying to be patient as I caught those two and hoped that they would get to racing each other so that I could get by both of them. I got by Zach there off two and I could see that Brandon was really loose off two in front of me, so I stayed patient behind him. Obviously, we were coming to the white and I didn't want to get to his inside on the frontstretch because I knew what happened would happen. My plan was to be behind him, but I had such a good run off four that I had to make the move. He was on my door and got me really loose. I had to chase him up the track and we got together a little bit there. Just a lot of fun. I know he was going really hard for his first win. It was a lot of fun from all of our seats and it's just crazy to be a part of a finish like that, so congrats to Zach. Congrats to Brandon too. Like I said, I had a lot of fun racing with him. I would have honestly liked to have seen him win in that fashion by riding the wall, but hey, it was a good race and I know all of the fans had to have enjoyed that one. That was one of the best finishes, I think, we've seen in a long time. Glad to be a part of it, wish we could have come out the winner, but either way I had a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone on this car, they worked really hard. We were two laps down at one point and we were able to fight back. Had a blast! Hottest race I've ever been in by far in my life. I had a blast, and I can't wait to do it all again next week!" he said as he recalled the events of the day. "Like Lyle Karson said, a fun battle to watch. He'll bring it home fifth this evening." the reporter said before finishing her interview.
The Karson family and the Pines sisters climbed off the pit box and climbed over the pit wall to meet the clearly exhausted driver on pit road. Several cars were smoking and shooting steam out of them as the crews tended to them. "That was amazing, honey." Caitlynn remarked before kissing her husband passionately. "Thanks! I gave it my all. Hope I put on a good show for you guys..." he said while looking at the pair of dress clad teenage girls. "I think it's official. We're totally fans now!" Mabel said in an excited tone as Pacifica nodded in agreement. "Glad to hear that." he said with a genuine smile. It always made him happy to hear that newcomers to the sport had a good time and intended on following the tour full time. Lyle would head to victory lane to congratulate the winner, then take a shower and change into his regular clothes before rejoining the rest of the group. About twenty minutes later they were heading out of the track in a helicopter; their luggage already being delivered to the airport during the race. Logan could tell that although she had a lot of fun, reality was beginning to settle in for Mabel. That in just a few short hours the two may very well never see one another ever again. "Hey Mabel..." the teen boy asked his crush over the hum of the engines. "Yeah?" she asked as she was shaken from her thoughts. "I can't believe that I haven't asked you this already, but can I have your number?" he said as a slight blush came over his cheeks. "Oh! Yeah! Of course!" she agreed as he handed his phone to her. She put in her number and gave it back to him. She soon repeated the gesture, and the pair could now communicate with one another no matter the distance between them. The redhead's phone buzzed, and she checked it. "Mabel, you're such an amazing girl. I will always remember our time together. 3" the message read. She looked up and her eyes began to water as she smiled at the boy who had stolen her heart. "I wish it didn't have to end. I feel the same way. 3" she replied. The helicopter landed at the airport and soon the Karson family and the Pines sisters were aboard the private jet that would return the twins back to their normal lives in Gravity Falls, Oregon.
Author's Note: I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and I hope it was fun to read as well. The Tales of The Flame & The Ax is almost over, just like summer is for the Pines family. What will happen when Mabel & Pacifica return home? Will the new school year be a welcome chance for them to start things over again or will old problems follow them along? As Dipper prepares to shoot the pilot for his show, how will it affect not only him, but the ones he cares for most? Is Wendy alright or is she hiding her real emotions once more? Answers to these and many more questions in the next installment of Tales of The Flame & The Ax. Thank you for all the reviews, follows, fan art and for taking the time to read my stories. It really does mean a lot to me. Until next time... - iKLOT