As for the race itself, Gunter once again held the lead.
During a pit stop for Marco, Darren turned and noticed me standing nearby. He motioned for me to approach the observation tower. After I had, he passed a pair of race radio headphones to me, enabling me to hear his conversation with Dyson as the race unfolded.
DYSON
“Jesus fucking Christ!” I exclaimed. “What the hell happened to this car? It was perfect in qualifying. The oversteer is ridiculous, Darren! I’m practically drifting, heading into turn three. At this rate, I’ll never run Gunter down. Who set this car up? A bunch of chimps?”
Darren interrupted my cussing fest.
“If anyone can drive through it, Dyson, it’s you. We’ve already tried to fix the oversteer twice. But unless you abandon, there’s nothing I can do.”
By this time, the race was nearing the halfway point.
I managed to hold my position between second-place and fifth-place the entire day, but the car was getting away from me. I bit my lip and tried to come up with a new game plan on the fly. The one we had going into the start was out the window now. We had one more pit stop coming up, but if they couldn’t get it dialed in, I was going to have to make it happen on my own.
Just then, the radio crackled to life again in my ear piece.
“Dyson,” Darren said. “I know we’re not running like you want to, but I think I might have something that will help.”
The steering wheel vibrated in my hand as I came out of turn four.
“Well unless you’re gonna strap a leprechaun to the front of this car, it better be good.”
Darren’s voice went silent. A few seconds later another one took its place.
“Sounds like you’re having trouble out there,” Ava’s voice echoed in my ear. “You need me to take over?”
I smiled, downshifting hard coming into turn five.
“If only it were that easy.” I said, coming out of it and heading down the back straightaway. Redlining the engine, I fought for fourth position. My struggles must have been plain for everyone to see.
Ava remained quiet for a few seconds.
“Okay, well I don’t want to distract you. I know you can do it.”
I smiled, shaking my head and downshifting hard once more.
“Honey, the only thing that would distract me right now would be you running across the track naked. I feel pretty safe that’s not gonna happen.”
In the background, I heard the sound of Darren laughing.
“Dyson,” Ava groaned. “Can you be serious? Just once?”
Passing and moving into third place, I replied, “Why? Winning is more fun this way.”
“Uh huh,” Ava deadpanned. “Well, from where I sit, it doesn’t look like you’re winning right now.”
I leaned back, laughing.
“Patience,” I began, refocusing on the road in front of me. “There’s a long way to go yet.”
A few seconds later, Darren interrupted us.
“Let’s get you in here, Dyson.”
I frowned. “What are you talking about? I’m not due to come in yet.”
The radio buzzed in my ear again.
“I’ve been running some numbers here. If we take a chance now, get you in, we can work on that oversteer enough to get you through the finish.”
I shook my head. “No way. I’ll never make it. I won’t have enough fuel.”
“You’re losing a bunch of it because of the oversteer anyway, Dyson. It won’t make a huge difference but it might be enough to keep you close to Gunter at the end.”
He had a point.
“Okay, when should I come in?”
“Eleven laps.”
When the time came, I pulled in and glanced in the direction of the observation tower. I saw Ava standing there. I was going to be there for at least a minute so I called her over the radio.
“Did you see Dieter?” I asked.
Ava hesitated for a moment. “Y-Yes, I did. How did you know about that?”
“I know about everything that happens with my team.”
“Oh really,” she replied. “Do I have you to thank for that?”
“No,” I said, glancing up towards her. “You earned that. You’re one of us.”
In my ear piece, I heard the sound of a hard swallow.
“Thank you for saying that, Dyson.”
“Of course. Oh I almost forgot to ask. Did Dieter tell you about your other surprise?”
“Maybe.”
Just then, I felt the reassuring thump of tires striking the ground beneath me. Getting the thumbs-up from my crew, I accelerated out of the pits.
“Good, we’ll have something to celebrate over, after I win.”
Ava giggled, sending vibrations into my ear piece and through my body, straight to my crotch.
“I’m looking forward to it,” she said.
Ten laps later, the adjustments we made helped, but not by a lot. I was still fighting the oversteer, but I felt like if I could just get out of traffic and into some open air, I’d have a shot. There was only one way to do it, though. And no one was going to like it, least of all Darren.
With only five laps to go, I began to take chances that I knew would piss him off. I used ridiculously low lines and did everything I could to minimize the drift coming into the turns, especially turn one off the straightaway, the worst of them all.
The laps ticked off, one by one. I was making steady progress, but still in third. Gunter was almost five car lengths ahead of me. Coming into the home straightaway, I took a chance and passed the car right in front of me on the high side. Luckily, the risk paid off, and as I hit the corner at the end of the straightaway, I stayed clear of him.
Darren went ballistic.
“Dyson!” he screamed. “What the fuck was that! You could have just as easily…”
“Shut up man!” I yelled in return. “One more word, and I swear to Christ I’ll turn this radio off.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Darren fired back, “Don’t threaten me like that. If you don’t…”
I’d had enough.
I turned the radio off before another sound entered my ear. Dead ahead, only a couple of car lengths away, was Gunter. I managed to close the gap, and as we rounded the turn into the home straightaway, I took the low line and passed him.
Ripping by the grandstands, I heard the roar of the crowd over the wailing of the engine. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I took the lead with one lap to go.
However, as the car entered turn one, it got loose.
Nothing about the way it had acted the entire day prepared me for how it behaved. I managed to steer out of trouble and keep my lead ahead of Gunter. As we worked our way around the back side of the course, I wondered what Darren must have been thinking. It was nice to not have him screaming in my ear for a change.
Now, distraction free, I was able to focus on the road ahead. And, as we came into the final third of the course, it became obvious how much concentration I’d need. Just ahead, we were about to hit traffic as we caught up to cars not on the lead lap.
In the distance, I heard a loud groan from the huge crowd. I gripped the steering wheel. Something wasn’t right. There was no reason for that kind of reaction this far out from the grandstands. And then, while coming over a rise, I saw the reason for the sound come into view.
A massive pileup, heading into the last turn before the straightaway, choked the road ahead with dark billows of smoke.
Shit.
Somehow I had to get through it and come out the other side unscathed, in case we finished under caution. Approaching the scene, I noticed debris everywhere. There was no sense in trying to avoid it piecemeal. On pure instinct, I accelerated, and drove into the darkness of the pileup. But as soon as I entered the blackness, I lost traction and started to slide.
Oil.
Gunter followed right behind me, and unless I could somehow straighten my slide, he would likely make it through and win the race. I did everything I could to steer through, and as we emerged into the sunlight once again, I noticed Gunter in my mirror.