NSSCRA 7- Everything Thread (IC)

[Tropicorp]

Team Tropicorp with another mid-table finish in Hampton Island

Golden Bear 400, Stafford City Speedway, Hampton Island :: A strong Top 5 qualifying effort at the Golden Bear 400 had Team Tropicorp and their driver #42 Euroli Islander optimistic for a good race and perhaps the drivers first career Top 10 finish. Instead it was much more of the same for both of the Tropicorp machines as Euroli Islander and Cocoabo #78 fought in the middle of the pack to ultimately finish in the 25th and 26th positions with Islander finishing just ahead of teammate Cocoabo #78.

While no one really expected the two Team Tropicorp drivers to contend for the victory in Hampton Island, there were some fantasies that began to dance around after Islander put the #42 Tropicorp Racing Supply Dart in the Top 5 during Vilaye Energy Drink pole Qualifying. They should have known, however, that the speed wasn't really there based on the fact that Cocoabo #78 was the slowest car in the qualifying session. With one car near the top of the standings and another firmly at the bottom it is perhaps a natural conclusion that the two Team Tropicorp cars finished in the middle of the running order in Stafford City. Neither driver stayed completely out of trouble with both cars finishing the race with sheet metal damage and Euroli Islanders #42 car even requiring some tape patchwork after getting into the rear bumper of a competitors car when the field was trying to avoid an accident during the first half of the race. While the damage didn't seem to effect the car greatly, it certainly may have played into the psyche of Euroli Islander knowing they were piloting a wounded race vehicle and playing a little more defensively to salvage a respectable performance.

With just one race to go in the Regular Season, the Pencurve Electronics 500 in Saint Kanye, Team Tropicorp's drivers sit 28th and 30th in the point standings nearly 150 points out of the Chase positions - mathematically eliminated from contention unless one of the two Team Tropicorp drivers managed to win the event at the Jalton Superspeedway. As has been proven in the past, however, the SuperSpeedway can become an equalizer for the field and produced a must-win victor just one season ago when River 'Shark' Suzgar II, in a position similar to that of the Team Tropicorp drivers, managed to take home the checkered flag and eventually the series championship.

But, if Team Tropicorp can't pull off the upset of the season in Saint Kanye, then they will move on to the remainder of the schedule and focus on technological improvements and on-track experience for their drivers including Cocoabo #28 who is hoping to return to action in Central Shanesville as Team Tropicorp continues negotiations to acquire the rights to Central Shanesvilles non-qualified charter as currently occupied by Jeff Shreeves who has failed to qualify for a single event and has been a black eye to the competitive reputation of the Central Shanesville team. For this reason, they have been looking to sell the slot and of course with Cocoabo #28 now healed and ready to return to action, Team Tropicorp will be looking to either acquire a third entry slot or make use of the Open Charter moving forward.

While Cocoabo #28 hopes to return to the track in Central Shanesville, the Tropicorp Pit Crew Challenge will be skipping the event which despite being the first race of the chase has not drawn high interest from in-person attendees and tickets for the event have not sold out. The Tropicorp Pit Crew Challenge is currently on the road in Saint Kanye at the Pencurve Electronics 500 but after the race weekend is complete and Team Tropicorp heads off to Central Shanesville, the Pit Crew Challenge will return home for a refresh and some additions and improvements before shipping across the Cove to Rockii Coast, Vilita where it will be re-introduced as a "Bigger, better" event for fans in attendance at the Vilaye Energy Drink 314 and beyond as the Pit Crew Challenge will then hit the road with Team Tropicorp through the rest of the events of the NSSCRA Chase.

[Hampton Island]

Scene: Stafford City Speedway, the morning after the race

Lexi Patterson went to the racing office to collect her winnings from the race.

“Here you go!” the marketing rep said he handed her the check.

Lexi smiled and couldn’t wait to open it. However, her excitement was short lived. “This is it? No way. They said I won a lot more then that!”

The marketing rep grinned, “You agreed to 3% of your winnings. 40% to your crew, and 57% back to the track. That is the correct amount.”

“I never agreed to that!”

“Yes you did, Princess. Remember that paperwork you signed, it was in written in there.”

“You just told me to sign it, you didn’t tell me what I was signing!”

“Consider it a life lesson.”

“What about the money from the autograph signings?”

“You agreed for 100% of that to go to the track. On the same document you signed.”

“What about the money from the sponsors?”

“That went to get your car ready. How else do you think we paid for that? Balance left over went to the track, also on the same document you signed.”

“This isn’t right! Not one bit!”

“Sorry, if you want to renegotiate you can come into my office and maybe we can work something out. You still do look good, even when you’re mad.”

“This is what I get for trying so hard, finishing the race, and actually running 29th?”

“If you don’t want to discuss what you can do to get more money, sweetheart, then it was nice meeting you. I wish you well.”

“Wish me well?”

“It’s over, Lexi. The race is over. So is your racing career. Good luck doing the modeling thing.”

“I thought you were going to be there for me?”

“I was. Thank you for allowing us to make the amount of money we did. Maybe you really can race on go-karts now and impress people, but from here we’re done. One more time on my offer to come in my office, honey, and discuss alternatives, you know. Or else, we’re done.”

Lexi knew what he was meaning and wanted none of it. She lowered her head and fought back a tear. She felt used and manipulated. She tried hard to be the best race car driver she could be, ran a clean race, and did just what her crew told her to do. She was never an inconvenience to Stacie Houston on pit road, as she ended up winning the race. Putting her head down more, she found an empty bench, and sat down. All the race teams were leaving and some had already left. Her own trailer was simply put back into the Stafford City Speedway lot, and her crew chief and crew had left the area. While she met several drivers and enjoyed their company, she hadn’t exchanged numbers with them and didn’t feel comfortable talking to them about this. She was about to call James McCurty, when the marketing executive screamed out loud, seeing her, “Last chance, Lexi, if you want to re-negotiate!” She would not budge and would walk away further, calling James McCurty,

“James? Please tell me you aren’t busy.”

“Not that busy, how are you?”

“These guys, they screwed me over.”

“How so?”

“Only 3% of race winnings, nothing from my sponsor or the autograph signings, and now they just told me my racing career is over, because they only cared about this one race.”

“3%? That’s bullshit, why did you sign for that?”

“I didn’t know what I was signing.”

“Still, bullshit.”

“I know, I think I can race more.”

“You can, you finished 29th in this race. You ran smart, you’ll get a contract from someone else, maybe even I can help you.”

“I hope so. I can’t believe they screwed me over like this, and that guy wants to screw me in order to renegotiate the deal.”

“Don’t ever do that.”

“I won’t, I am not like that. I just want to be successful like anyone else. Stacie Houston was right in her blog. No more sexual modeling.”

“That would be a good start.”

[Saint Kanye]

NSSCRA: "STACIE'S CAR HAS GOT IT GOING ON" - BROOKE
Houston takes the 27 to victory lane at Stafford

by Maria Muller


Sage Caldwell will use the open charter spot for the Pencurve Electronics 500, driving the #00. (Photo by Duwayne Corr)

STAFFORD CITY - Team Cassadaigua's Stacie Houston wasn't going to settle for just showing up to the remaining two races in the NSSCRA (Nationstates Stock Car Racing Association) regular season and earning herself a wild card Chase spot.

At the Golden Bear 400 here in the Stafford City Speedway in Hampton Island, Houston held off points leader Jeremiah Brooke and hometown driver Alex Knight to take the win, her first in the seventh NSSCRA season. The driver of the #27 Five Star Mobile car also moved into second in the driver points standings, behind Brooke and ahead of Vangaziland's Kev Schorebrook. Knight drove the #6 Charged Up Transmissions car to a runner-up finish, falling short of handing Hampton Island its first win and Chase spot for two weeks running. He, however, improved on his previous career high finish of third, set last week at Plum Lake. The Kanyean Brooke finished third in the #18 Hyde Medical Group Chadwick, just 0.005 second behind Knight. Sherpa racer Kai Qiang, who pilots the #44 Flying Fish Taxi TMW, ended up fourth, 0.001 second behind Brooke. It was a tight, three-wide finish behind the winner Houston, with Knight in the middle, Brooke inside and Qiang outside.

Polesitter Kevin Cosgrove, also of the home country, took fifth in the #22 car, one of two sponsored by Shellshock Batteries, followed by another three-wide. Sixth place Meghan Sharpe in the #4 Spacebook car was on the inside, and seventh place Yraaga Gilli'i in the #41 Tropicorp Dart was outside, with eighth place Kev in the #25 REDUP Energy Drink VM. Behind them, Liangmei Li in the #88 car narrowly nosed out River Suzgar in the #14 Vilaye Energy Drink Dart; the two were respectively ninth and tenth.

Both of Brooke's teammates at Glorious Free Republic Motorsports made it to the top 20, with Thea Alvarez driving the #46 Multiversal Automotive Coatings Chadwick to eleventh place, and Skip Stiller going home seventeenth in the #3 QED Car Rentals Chadwick. As for the other two Hampton Islanders in the race, full-timer James McCurty was thirteenth in the other Shellshock Batteries car, bearing #23, while part-timer Lexi Patterson ended her NSSCRA debut with a 29th-place finish in the #30 Vamos Papi! machine.

There was a great deal of passes throughout the race, which is to be expected from a short track such as the Stafford City Speedway. At the start, Cosgrove was quickly shuffled out of the lead, as Suzgar and Stiller both overtook him. Brooke and Alvarez also made a charge to the front, going from outside the top 20 to inside the top 10 in just a dozen laps. Aside from the GFR trio, the Vilita & Turori Motorsports and Team Cassadaigua cars also ran well.

Even near the rear, drivers were fighting for every precious position. David Land (#91) was shoved into the wall by Jennifer Jane (#8) for the first caution of the day. Jane was just trying to take 33rd place from Land. The Kanyeans did well in the pits, but it was Cosgrove taking the lead on the restart. Patterson, whose pit stall was directly between Brooke's and Houston's, had a fast pit stop as well and restarted 15th. Unlike earlier, Cosgrove was able to hold on to his lead for some laps, but was then loose on a turn and overtaken on the inside by Floyd Hackerbee, who had Stiller in tow. On the next lap, Stiller's blue #3 nudged Hackerbee's black and red #75 to take the lead, holding it for some time but eventually conceding it to the likes of Houston, Alvarez, and #11 Jenna Logan.

Nearing the event's halfway mark, the #27 of Houston is leading. Behind her, Brooke, in the #18, has just climbed into the top five with a pass on Cocoabo #78. Several laps later, Houston saw lapped traffic in front of her, and found herself having a hard time getting around. Brooke slipped past the slower cars and Houston to take the lead, but the Cassadagan eventually freed herself and chased down the Yeezie. "Stacemiah" had a good battle going on for most of the middle portion of the race. The long green flag run ended when Kevin von Pressman hit the wall, damaging the passenger side of his pink #76 Xavam. Stiller snatched the lead in the pits, Knight behind him, and "Stacemiah" far behind. Alvarez restarted 20th, but she climbed to 13th in just three laps.

More position shuffles followed, and with 17 laps to go, Knight's #6 was in first, the home crowd hoping no late race caution would come to take the win away from him. Behind Knight are Brooke and Houston, continuing the battle they had started earlier in the race. 14 to go. Houston has moved into second, with Brooke on her tail. 9 to go. "Stacemiah" have reduced Knight's lead to half a second now. Six to go, and Knight has the #18 on his inside hoping to grab the lead; he went to block, but the #27 flew by on the #6's outside, followed by groans from the Hampton Islanders in the audience. Three to go. Knight was still trying his hardest to block Brooke, even as the rest of the lead pack, led by Qiang's #44, closed in. White flag. Houston has pulled away, with the other cars in a bunch behind her. Checkered flag.

Brooke congratulated his Cassadagan friend for taking the win in a thriller. "She [Houston] really fought for it that time. It was a great battle, possibly one of the most exciting finishes this season. My car was good enough. Just need a little more work, and some on my part, so that it won't be just good finishes for me, but wins. But Stacie's car, along with the driver's ability, she really had something going on. And props to Knight Don't worry buddy, you'll get yours soon. Hope I do too."

Alvarez, meanwhile, gave her thoughts on her upcoming home race. "The Pencurve [Electronics 500] will be exciting, lemme tell you that. Any race that will decide the fate of some drivers, whether they make or miss the Chase, will have them all giving a hundred percent. It'll be a fight for survival." She also had good words for fellow teenage racer Patterson. "Not bad for a debut. She even beat drivers who would be considered better. Lisanderians, Newmanistanis. Hampton Island has done much over the past few races, and I see that extended to even their newbie."

Stiller commented on Newmanistan's Rocket Motorsports pulling all three of their drivers (#5 Bryan Harrison, #24 Ashley Matthews, #48 Shawn Curtis) out after the regular season due to failing to meet expectations. "I feel sorry for them. Even if they seem to have fallen somewhat compared to last season, they knew how to run a clean race. mostly. But obviously, that's not enough, gotta have speed. Everyone's improving all around them. Let that be a wake up call for Rocket Motorsports, and if it does work, soon they'll get themselves some much-needed glory." The Kanyean veteran was seen sipping from the Vilaye Energy Drink special edition Chase can bearing his name and number. "I appreciate the honor, and the content itself is really good stuff."

We're down to the regular season finale now, the Pencurve Electronics 500 at Jalton Superspeedway in St. Kanye. It will be the first appearance of the season for the GFR full-timers' military tribute schemes (Stiller - Army; Alvarez - Navy; Brooke - Air Force) as well as for part-timer Sage Caldwell. Former top series Rookie of the Year, Sage has seven wins, though none at Jalton (his best finish at the track was fourth). "The team called me up for a reason, and I hope I don't let them down", said the 28-year-old Sage, who will drive the #00.

The fan favorite Tropicorp Racing Supply Pit Crew Challenge will also arrive in Jalton, following a deal made between track management and Tropicorp executives. Race fans in attendance at the track will try to outdo each other in changing tires and refueling race cars in exchange for fabulous prizes. Along with the qualifying and race sessions, the Pit Crew Challenge will be broadcast live on SKYNET (Saint KanYe NETwork) Sports Channel 12, as well as online at nsscra.skynet.stk.

---

OFFICIAL STANDINGS - Race 12 of 23 (Stafford City)

1. #27 Stacie Houston (CDG)
2. #6 Alex Knight (HAM)
3. #18 Jeremiah Brooke (STK)
4. #44 Kai Qiang (SHW)
5. #22 Kevin Cosgrove (HAM)
11. #46 Thea Alvarez (STK)
17. #3 Skip Stiller (STK)

DRIVER POINTS

1. #18 Jeremiah Brooke (STK) - 447
2. #27 Stacie Houston (CDG) - 442 (1 win)
3. #25 Kev Schorebrook (VNG) - 439 (1 win)
4. #13 Eva Kerman (JEB) - 423 (1 win)
5. #75 Floyd Hackerbee (VNG) - 388 (1 win)
7. #44 Kai Qiang (SHW) - 382 (1 win)
8. #14 River Suzgar (VNT) - 380 (1 win)
10. #46 Thea Alvarez (STK) - 376 (1 win)
11. #3 Skip Stiller (STK) - 372 (1 win)
T12. #41 Yraaga Gilli'i (VNT) - 364 (1 win)
T12. #11 Jenna Logan (CDG) - 364 (1 win)
14. #50 Ellie Lindskog (VNG) - 358 (1 win)
17. #90 Tsering Chu (SHW) - 334 (1 win)
T50. #19 Philip West (STK) - 21

NEXT RACE

Pencurve Electronics 500 @ Jalton Superspeedway, Jalton, St. Kanye

[Newmanistan]

Race: Pencurve Electronics 500, Jalton Superspeedway, Jalton, Saint Kanye
Lap Record: 50.520 seconds

Qualifying Results: (Drivers in Red needed qualify in and failed too)

1 #50 Ellie Lindskog (Vangaziland)                        50.925
 2 #44 Kai Qiang (The Sherpa Empire)                       50.938
 3 #2 Centur Tiones (Vilita & Turori)                      50.989
 4 #14 River 'Shark' Suzgar II (Vilita & Turori)           50.999
 5 #6 Alex Knight (Hampton Island)                         51.047
 6 #41 Yraaga Gilli'i (Vilita & Turori)                    51.049
 7 #13 Oberst Eva Kerman (Jebslund)                        51.068
 8 #1 Hauptmann Wilhelm Kerman (Jebslund)                  51.069
 9 #25 Kev Schorebrook (Vangaziland)                       51.072
10 #88 Liangmei Li (The Sherpa Empire)                     51.073
11 #4 Meghan Sharpe (Cassadaigua)                          51.087
12 #11 Jenna Logan (Cassadaigua)                           51.095
13 #27 Stacie Houston (Cassadaigua)                        51.116
14 #75 Floyd Hackerbee (Vangaziland)                       51.143
15 #90 Tsering Chu (The Sherpa Empire)                     51.160
16 #12 Roman Gwinnett (Xanneria)                           51.165
17 #22 Kevin Cosgrove (Hampton Island)                     51.190
18 #42 Euroli Islander (Tropicorp)                         51.225
19 #18 Jeremiah Brooke (Saint Kanye)                       51.270
20 #3 Skip Stiller (Saint Kanye)                           51.311
21 #00 Sage Caldwell (Saint Kanye)                         51.312
22 #78 Cocoabo #78 (Tropicorp)                             51.318
23 #60 Rockii Ezis (Vilita & Turori) *Q*                   51.388
24 #48 Shawn Curtis (Newmanistan)                          51.454
25 #69 Oberfeldwebel Sofia Kerman (Jebslund)               51.465
26 #24 Ashley Matthews (Newmanistan)                       51.557
27 #10 Eddie Walters Jr (Xanneria)                         51.674
28 #5 Bryan Harrison (Newmanistan)                         51.760
29 #46 Thea Alvarez (Saint Kanye)                          51.767
30 #23 James McCurty (Hampton Island) *Q*                  51.797
31 #9 Lício Granado (Lisander)                             51.860
32 #16 Tucker Capps (Xanneria) *Q*                         51.862
33 #32 Andrew Holden (Lisander) *Q*                        51.936
34 #7 Lourdina Westgrens (Lisander)                        52.038
35 #94 Yael Erwann (Brittany Normandy Aquitaine) *Q*       52.142
36 #99 Gael Erwann (Brittany Normandy Aquitaine)           52.144
37 #71 Mael Erwann (Brittany Normandy Aquitaine)           52.255
38 #34 Warren Pawstone (The Ferret Lands) *Q*              52.591
39 #56 Francis Furheart Jr. (The Ferret Lands)             52.790
40 #20 Shane Wray (Central Shanesville)                    52.932
41 #55 Francis Furheart Sr. (The Ferret Lands)             52.942
42 #76 Kevin von Pressman (Greythorne)                     52.982
43 #98 Adam Poboski (Greythorne) *Q*                       52.991
44 #49 Melvin Andrew (One Jamaica) *Q*                     53.124
45 #70 Larry Toothworth (Greythorne)                       53.276
46 #29 Jeff Shreeves (Central Shanesville) *Q*             53.621
47 #21 Omar Brady (One Jamaica)                            53.675
48 #91 David Land (Central Shanesville)                    53.747
49 #8 Jennifer Jane (One Jamaica)                          54.102

[The Sherpa Empire]

‭

----o-֎-o----

‭There are a lot of people in the Sherpa Empire, and not everyone is good at minding their own business. Some inquisitive racing fans with too much time on their hands caught wind of the exploitative terms of Lexi Patterson's contract and made a stink about it on social media, calling for a boycott of Vamos Papi and Starlight Suites. It was largely meaningless since neither brand had a large presence in the Sherpa Empire. Most hotels were locally owned rather than belonging to chains, the Empire's favorite search engine was Sardar, and TrufflePig was the search engine of choice for discerning hipsters that were too cool to use Sardar. Sardar worked better for most things and was available in more languages, but TrufflePig had cute graphics and pretty colors on their homepage, an ethnically diverse management team, lots of socially-conscious marketing, and some feel-good programs to protect the environment or help under-served communities.

‭At Sardar's corporate headquarters in Kathmandu, the marketing guys were trying to figure out if there was some way to use the controversy to their advantage. "Maybe we could do a compare-and-contrast ad," someone suggested. "Show one of their ads with Lexi Patterson, then cut to whatserface winning that race in the Free Republics--"

‭"There aren't any races in the Free Republics," someone else cut in.

‭"Oh, sorry, I meant Mattijana."

‭"There aren't any races in Mattijana either."

‭"Oops, Newmanistan."

‭"There was a race in Tundra Falls, but I don't know if that's the one you mean."

‭"I thought Tundra Falls was in Vilita."

‭"It's not." The guy with a better grasp of geography slid his phone across the conference table and suggested, "Why don't you look up what you have in mind? We do run a search engine after all."

‭The geographically-challenged marketing guy pulled out his own phone and fiddled with it until he found what he was looking for. "Tsering Chu. That's who I meant. Cut to her winning the Pink Love 350 in Cassadaigua. I don't know why I thought it was in Vangaziland."

‭"You didn't..."

‭"We have their ad with Lexi Patterson rolling around looking sexy, then we cut to the finish from that race in Cosumar -- "

‭"Cassadaigua!"

‭"Right, Cassadaigua. We cut to Tsering Whatsername winning that race and we come up with some kind of catchy slogan about how we're selling speed, not sex. Tell them Sardar is the fastest way to find what they're looking for."

‭"I don't even think we need the comparison part," said the marketing guy that knew where Cassadaigua was. "Just get drivers from the countries where we're going to show the ads, come up with a slogan about how we can help people find what they want fast. If we want to advertise in Hampton Island, we could get Alex Knight or James McCurty. Tsering Chu is fine for the regional markets in the Chinese Territories. What's our target market?"

‭"Do we really need an ad campaign to compete with Vamos Papi?" a third marketing guy who had been silent until now chimed in. "I never heard of them until these rat eaters started rambling about a boycott."

‭"Well, we're launching some new foreign language versions of Sardar anyway, so it's a good time to let people know they are there."

‭"That has nothing to do with the Lexi Patterson controversy and nobody's going to make the connection," the geographically-challenged one argued.

‭"Yeah, but who cares? It'll still get people to try using Sardar."

‭

----o-֎-o----

‭Meanwhile, in Jalton, people were getting ready for the last NSSCRA race of the regular season. For some people, this was their last chance to secure a spot in the Chase. For Tsering Chu, it was a chance to take in the sights, have a good time, and admire Sage Caldwell's hair. She had seen a lot of interesting new faces and hairstyles in her travels, particularly in Blue Coast, but Caldwell's dreadlocks were one of the most eye-catching. It would have been really nice if she could talk to him without an interpreter.

‭Liangmei Li still wasn't mathematically guaranteed to make the Chase, but she had to do little more than just show up, and she wasn't worried.

‭Kai Qiang was taking things weirdly seriously, even though he was already locked into the Chase. He was in one of his moods, insecure and mad at the world. He had decided that he needed a break from Mendok's noise and pushiness, and that she needed to spend more of her time with Chu instead of him -- but being left alone with his personal demons was not good for Qiang's mental stability.

‭He had finally managed to achieve financial stability, but emotional stability was slower in coming. Ever since he got into NSSCRA, he'd been handling larger sums of money than he'd ever had access to as a farmer, but he'd also had a lot of financial obligations. Some things were truly obligatory like the start-up costs for Flying Fish Taxi. Others were not legal obligations, but he still felt they were necessary, like supporting his sister or helping IRACT. It was only very recently that he'd managed to get caught up with his debts to Lakpa Fang and the Bhandari family.

‭But his mind still kept returning to the nagging anxiety that everything could be yanked out from under him at any time, that the Ministry of Culture could pull the plug on IRACT and dump their NSSCRA charters, that he had to get the most out of every. frigging. race. because there was no guarantee of how long the opportunities would be there.

‭

----o-֎-o----

[Hampton Island]

Message From Vamos Papi! to Stacie Houston:

Dear Stacie,

Congratulations on winning the Golden Bear 400. You are a good race car driver, stick to that.

Fortunately, young Lexi Patterson has more the one talent, as evidenced by her terrific promotions of our product, as well as Starlight Suites, a leading economy brand all-suite hotel. In her first ever race at that level, she finished 29th, and we are happy to have sponsored the effort. Your efforts to minimize our contribution to the race team and the sport have fallen on deaf ears.

Vamos Papi! is a excellent choice for a search engine, but if the technology it runs on is subpar, then even our product will be slow. For example, I tried purchasing some sexy lingerie for Lexi to wear at our next photo shoot from Pink Love Clothing, using their Spacebook page on a Five Star Mobile device, but this was a slow process. Things improved when I used better technology and didn’t have to go through an inferior social media page. I won’t bash Pink Love though, they have some hot stuff for beautiful women to wear. That’s probably why they are not your sponsor.

Once again, congratulations on winning from all of us at Vamos Papi!

[Vangaziland]

The Vannish media was pretty all-encompassing. Relevant news was spotted immediately and reported to the most finite details. Despite this, certain recent events were lost to the Empire. The name 'Lexi Patterson' was not known. She had one race with no success, swallowed by a pack of brightly-colored cars. She may have garnered the average Vangazi's attention for perhaps 125 seconds of her entire race.

Vannish announcers weren't talking about her story. She was a simple marketing ploy based on the assumption that she looked so amazing. Vangaziland was full of women who were just as attractive as Patterson. They had more going on inside of their heads than somebody trotted out to appeal to unrefined, beer gut males.

Vannish men appreciate strength and intellect. They can also appreciate a woman who can actually succeed at what she does. If she is a basketball player, she should play basketball well. If she is a racer, she should finish in the top 10.... Or win a few Championships, if she's Vangazi.

As a result of Patterson's unknown status, almost nobody in Vangaziland had heard of Vamos Papi. It actually sounded like a company that would have a lawsuit if it existed, based on companies with similar names. It was a surprise anybody would talk about Patterson. There are female drivers actually worth watching on the track. Patterson can't compete with Stacie Houston for attractiveness, let alone Ellie Lindskog.

Ellie has also shown her acting talent. She can portray emotions on screen in a way that her people can relate to. She can tell a story with her eyes and soul. This is what makes a woman stand out. The Patterson experiment had it's intention. The team from Hampton Island seemed to sink many resources into her. In the end, her debut fell short.

If she or any companies relating to her wanted to come at any company, they had better have matched their performance on the track.

Lindskog remained on top of her game, winning the pole in Saint Kanye. As the cameras surrounded her for this high profile event she said, "I'd like to thank my sponsors... REDUP... The energy drink. Van-Bands. Royal Imperial. Vannish Motors and Vannish Motors Racing. We're in this, baby." She flashed her crystal white smile and flexed her sapphire eyes at the camera. There was a feminie strength and confidence to her aura.

In an interesting side note, Vannish broadcasts did not mention the pole award by name. An ad for REDUP often accompanied qualifying results.

"How are you feeling about the last race of the season?" A trackside reporter asked Lindskog the question.

"I might have just picked up my second wind. It may not come back tomorrow. Once the Chase starts, I should be back to full steam ahead. We've been taking things easy in all the VMR pits." She tossed her long golden hair over one shoulder, clueless to the way it glimmered in the fading light. "NSSCRA is a marathon. You have to pace yourself." Laughing she added, "or you could just lose your mind."

Ellie had one more model shoot for a new Vannish clothing line which was supposed to hit the market for late fall. The company supposedly wanted to recruit models from across the world. This would be an exclusive company though. Not just anybody could get the gig. Those who did would represent their nation as some of the most exclusive models in the multiverse. The company was owned by Jenna Vandersen, Baroness of Central Vangaziland. The line was called 'Royal'.

Vandersen raced in WGP2 I, leading the entire field of drivers for much of the season. She was passed by teammate Jang Xiaopeng, taking the title with him. Baroness Vandersen recruited Lindskog for a shoot because of her driver status. Motorsports were rising in Vannish popularity. The company hoped to ride the wave for launch with a burgeoning celebrity.

Modeling gigs and acting jobs don't stop Lindskog from being intelligent, articulate and great at racing a car. There had been talk early in the season about female drivers. Those spectators may now note that Karli Schmitt of Vangaziland adds one more Championship to the female tally. You could say two if you count the Constructors' Cup she helped carry her team to. Schmitt also came a point away from winning a GT2 Cup.

Lindskog hopes to join the list of great female racers. She seems improved from NSSCRA 6 where she failed to advance to the Chase. Now she stands ready to lead the field on the last regular season start. She hasn't won a race since the first race. Can she close things out as well as she started?

Kev Schorebrook missed the latest round of interviews because he was feeling sick. This led Floyd Hackerbee to mention him in an interview. "Kev says hi."

There one once a Vannish female stock car racer named Janica Kilpatrick. People could say what they wanted to about her time on the track. The truth was that she was tougher than 85% of the male drivers around her. There was a video on the network WhoToob where she roughed up the so called tough guys she drove with in a long clip. At one point, she grabbed Danny Scramblin by the collar and completely bullied him. Danny was twice her size and looked like he wanted to cry. She proved one thing. If anybody had a problem with her, they would make a mistake if they told her to her face.

When you're strong, people will always want to tear you down. Lindskog had the same spirit Janica had. She would fight until the season's end.

Lindskog models part of the Royal 'Urban Autumn' line.

[Jebslund]

It was an outrage.

The Sherpa weren't the only ones with fans with too much time on their hands, and, within hours of the leaks to Sherpa websites and media outlets, it had found its way onto Kermanic websites, to the fury of a vast majority of Jebslunden netizens. Seconds after the Kermanic sites revealed the leaked info, every Jebslunder AI that owned a business with connections with the involved businesses severed ties with those businesses and all partners thereof, with electronic notices sent to the affected companies with reasons for the denial of business. Petitions from the citizens had resulted, Oberst Eva Kerman was pleased to note in a copy of a notable Kermanic Financials-focused magazine, in redlisting of the companies involved, with unacceptable business practices listed as the reason, meaning those companies were no longer permitted to do any physical business in Jebslund and no monies received from the government were permitted to be spent on electronic services, to include advertising through them.

Also of note was the fact that offers were being made by various Kermanic companies to sponsor her for the remaining Kermanic open charter this season and as a possible full-time charter next season, many of whom had sent contracts guaranteeing upwards of 90% of profits from all revenue streams she generated by racing going to her, and a few arms companies had even offered 100% in exchange for her also performing in (paid) advertising for their products, in roles that were typically action-oriented with little to no sexuality involved.

[Saint Kanye]

NSSCRA: "FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL" AT JALTON
Thirteen down, three to go - who will complete the Chase grid?

by Ray Wright

JALTON - Here it is, the NSSCRA (Nationstates Stock Car Racing Association) season finale. Tens of thousands of fans from throughout as well as outside St. Kanye are in attendance at the Jalton Superspeedway for the Pencurve Electronics 500. Thirteen of the sixteen Chase seats have already been filled by the twelve race winners so far, as well as points leader Jeremiah Brooke of the home country. Four other drivers (Liangmei Li, Meghan Sharpe, Centur Tiones, Wilhelm Kerman) hold a realistic chance to grab one of the three remaining seats, barring an upset win by anyone outside the top seventeen, that is.

The 500 has been described as a "fight for survival" by local driver Thea Alvarez, referring to how it will determine which of the drivers not locked into the Chase will advance and which won't. Add to that the Kanyeans' tendencies to swarm any event in which their countrymen compete, at home or away (this was especially evident during the International Basketball Championships), and the other side activities for race attendees to enjoy, and it's going to be "one hell of a great race weekend", said Alvarez.

The drivers for local team Glorious Free Republic Motorsports remain optimistic about how they will perform in the race, despite qualifying in the middle of the pack once more. "We'll be counting on our familiarity with the place as an added edge for us against the competition", said Skip Stiller, who qualified twentieth in the #3 QED Car Rentals/Kanyean Army Chadwick. "Yes, and we hope that the presence of our fellow Kanyeans will give us an added confidence boost", added Brooke, driver of the #18 Hyde Medical Group/Kanyean Air Force Chadwick, who's one place higher than Stiller on the starting grid. "I'm one of those who will need it the most, as even though I'm already part of the Chase, I have yet to win, and there's still the regular season championship at stake." Alvarez, who starts 29th in the #46 Multiversal Automotive Coatings/Kanyean Navy Chadwick, said "But as with all other tracks, we need to keep things clean, and have good pit stops."

"This is definitely bigger than any crowd I've seen in a KURT race", said GFR part-timer Sage Caldwell, referring to the country's professional stock car series, the Kanyean Unified Racing Tournament. "It's expected to want to do well in front of your home crowd, but there's also the foreigners, and with them also there, the focus changes on how to make them see what us Yeezies are really capable of." Sage starts 21st in the #00 Kanyean Veterans Fund Chadwick in his NSSCRA debut; he is told that he will also run the next race at Central Shaneville if he finishes 15th or better in the 500. (OOC: Busy schedule. I'll show this car in the post-race article)

Kanyean pop punk band The Robo Rats and rap group Party Healerz, which is composed of six doctors from the Hyde Medical Group, will perform several songs before the race. Randy Phelan, son of late KURT legend Ricky Phelan, will drive the pace car, while actress Charlotte Nimitz, who played a parody of Cassadagan driver Stacie Houston in the comedy show R.O.F.L., will give drivers the command to start their engines. Pencurve Electronics, the race's sponsor, will give out their latest laptop and smartphone model (currently the S-9 and P2-37) not only to the race winner, but also to the regular season champion, the winners of the Tropicorp Racing Supply Pit Crew Challenge side event, as well as ten lucky fans (five Kanyean, five international) selected in a raffle.

All qualifying sessions and races will be broadcast live on SKYNET (Saint KanYe NETwork) Sports Channel 12, and online at nsscra.skynet.stk.

[Vilita and Turori]

---

Centur Tiones :: #2 Tiones Lumber Dart
:: WINS: [ 0 ] :: TOP 5: [ 3 ] :: TOP 10: [ 4 ] -:- POLES: [ 0 ]

#2 Centur Tiones battles for position with #23 James McCurty

The motto of the week for Centur Tiones and the #2 Tiones Lumber Dart team was 'Play it safe'. It was not a time for pushing the envelope. With two races left in the NSSCRA regular season, Tiones was the last car projected into the Chase on points and had the threat of Hauptmann Wilhelm Kerman breathing down their neck. Tiones had yet to win during the NSSCRA 7 season and was over 30 points behind the nearest points driver ahead of them in the standings. Over the final two races of the regular season, Tiones knew they had to out-point Hauptmann Wilhelm Kerman in the #1 machine as #1 and #2 duke it out for slot #16 in the NSSCRA Chase.

Of course all of this would be assuming no driver from outside the Top 16 in the NSSCRA regular season standings would win one of the final two races, and with the home-track drivers in the Hampton Island showing a lot of speed in recent weeks, that was certainly not a given.

Tiones would make a non-nonsense race and stay out of trouble throughout the day keeping Hauptmann Wilhelm Kermann and the three Hampton Island drivers in his sights throught the event, monitoring their position with frequent updates from the crew and asking teammate Yraaga Gilli'i to fight them hard. As the race drew closer to an end, two of the Hampton Island drivers, Alex Knight and Kevin Cosgrove, kept the home fans on their feet as they broke clear of Gilli'i and set their sights on the leader Stacie Houston. Fortunately for Tiones, the Cassadaiguan driver was too strong to be caught. The hometown fans willed on Alex Knight at the finish but the driver of the #6 Charged Up Transmissions car finished sandwiched between Stacemiah across the line.

Tiones crossed the line soon after immediately behind James McCurty and Hauptmann Wilhelm Kerman. While the goal was to finish ahead of the #1 Jebslund Racing machine, conceding a single point was deemed acceptable to the #2 team as they head into the Pencurve Electronics 500 with a 6 point advantage that they will need to maintain if they are going to have a chance to compete for a championship. At 33 points behind Cassadaigua's Meghan Sharpe, Tiones only hope barring early troubles for Sharpe would be to finish within sight of Kerman and hope one of the other 14 assured Chase drivers takes home the checkered flag at the Jalton Superspeedway.

---

River "Shark" Suzgar II :: #14 Vilitan Tourism / Vilaye Energy Drink / Toys '4' All Dart
:: WINS: [ 1 ] :: TOP 5: [ 4 ] :: TOP 10: [ 8 ] -:- POLES: [ 1* ]

River 'Shark' Suzgar II passes pole-sitter Kevin Cosgrove to take the lead in Hampton Island

It was another race and another top 10 finish for River 'Shark' Suzgar II at the Stafford City Speedway on Hampton Island as the defending NSSCRA Champion posted their seventh consecutive Top 10 finish and eigth overall on the season with a 10th place showing in the Golden Bear 400. Despite extending the Top 10 streak another round, however, there weren't too many smiles in the #14 Toys '4' All Dart garage area after the race as they will have felt they let a win slip through their grasp when a loose wheel a quarter of the way through the event set them back and set them off on their strategy.

After starting from th 4th position, Suzgar quickly moved into the lead bypassing home-town driver Kevin Cosgrove in the specially painted #22 Shell Shock Batteries "Black and gold" livery. Suzgar would lead the majority of the opening 100 laps of the race until and then some until a cycle of green flag pitstops when the team apparently did not get the right rear tyre tight on the pit stop. Suzgar complained over the team radio after coming back out on the track in front of teammate Yraaga Gilli'i and Glorious Free Republic Motorsports driver Skip Stiller that there was an untenable vibration coming from the rear of the car. The crew asked the defending champion to feel it out but Suzgar refused, insistent there was a problem and not wanting to risk an accident early in the race. The Vilitan brought the Toys '4' All machine down pit road and they changed all four tires to be sure they got the offender. It was confirmed that in fact the right rear was loose and Suzgar was right to bring the car down pit road. Now nearly two laps down, however, it would be a long fight back to the front. Suzgar would eventually get their lap back and was the fastest car on the track down the stretch but after reaching the Top 5, had worn out the tires and slipped back into a 10th place finish after being nosed out at the line by #88 Liangmei Li of the Sherpa Empire.

As the series moves on to Saint Kany for the final race of the regular season, Suzgar will be one of the favorites to claim victory in the Pencurve Electronics 500, a race which the #14 car won during the previous season. Suzgar sits 8th in the series points heading into Saint Kanye but i just 8 points out of 5th currently occupied by Vangaziland's Floyd Hackerbee.

---

Yraaga Gilli'i :: #41 Tropicorp Racing Supply Dart
:: WINS: [ 1 ] :: TOP 5: [ 4 ] :: TOP 10: [ 6 ] -:- POLES: [ 0 ]

#41 Yraaga Gilli'i battling inside the Top 10 with #4 Meghan Sharpe

Yraaga Gilli'i showed strength throughout the Golden Bear 400 to let their playoff competitors know that the Tropicorp Racing Supply Dart was going to be a threat once the Chase begins despite their lowly position outside the Top 10 in the regular season standings. Gilli'i had the #41 machine in the Top 3 early on and was fighting in and around the Top 5 for much of the day. The team was firing on all cylinders with good pitstops to keep Gilli'i in the Top 10 the majority of the race and Gilli'i proved themselves as a saavy short track driver, building off their victory at the series only other Short Track visit of the season thus far at the Lonngeylin Ring during round 3 of competition. It was that win - the first of their NSSCRA career - that secured a spot in the NSSCRA 7 Chase for the #41 Tropicorp Racing Supply team and after another strong Short Track finish they will certainly be circling two events on the Chase schedule as potential opportunities to snatch a victory when it is needed most to progress on to the next round of the playoffs, the third event of the first round of the Chase at the paper-clip like Concord Heights Motor Speedway in Cassadaigua - a track where Gilli'i was the only Vilita and Turori Motorsports driver to finish in the Top 10 during NSSCRA 6; and the season's penultimate race, the Gryphon Supermarket 250 at the Imperial Speedway in Vangaziland - a race which was won last season by teammate Centur Tiones, which, if Gilli'i can make it to the Round of 8, could provide a catapult for the Tropicorp driver into the Championship Race.

With just one event to go in the regular season there isn't a lot for Gilli'i to fight for at the Jalton Superspeedway and they are likely to be part of a partnership to try to support teammate Centur Tiones' charge to secure the final spot in the Chase going into the Playoffs.

---

Rockii Ezis :: #60 CoCoCo / Coco-Mart Dart
:: WINS: [ 0 ] :: TOP 5: [ 1 ] :: TOP 10: [ 2 ] -:- POLES: [ 0 ]

Rockii Ezis squeezes past as the #8 machine crashes early in the Golden Bear 400

It was very much an up and down race for Rockii Ezis and the #60 CoCoCo / CoCo-Mart Dart team as they narrowly avoided a handful of incidents early in the event only to get caught up in one late and finish amongst the end of the lead lap cars.

While it my have been a very photogenic moment it certainly wasn't exciting for Vilita & Turori's development driver who's heart must have skipped a few beats as Jennifer Jane's #8 One Jamaica car was spun out at the entry to Turn 1 just ahead of Ezis. There was no where for the #60 car to go as the Black Green and Blue #8 came up the track. Ezis planted the car against the wall and awaited impact but narrowly escaped with only minor damage along the right side from scraping the wall and a tear in the left rear quarter panel where the #8 car made contact just behind the wheel well. The alignment was not adversely effected and after a little bit of tape the CoCoCo Dart was back on the track fighting for spots.

Unfortunately Ezis would not be as lucky three quarters of the way through the event when Francis Furheart Sr. of the Ferret Lands blew a tire just as Ezis was trying to pass the #55 car coming out of Turn 4. Furheart used Ezis's car as a buffer to help him complete the turn which slammed the #60 CoCoCo Dart into the wall coming to the start finish line. This time, the alignment would be a little bit out of whack but the team did what they could to straighten things out. Luckily there would be a handful of caution flags in short succession that would give them extra time to work on it without losing a lap. While they wouldn't get it perfect, it was good enough to keep Ezis competitive as he battled home for a lead lap finish in 18th place. While not showing the speed necessary to contend for a victory and an upset showing in the NSSCRA Chase, Ezis has quietly progressed to a respectable 20th place in the regular season standings and, if they don't end up in the Chase could be in contention for the "best of the rest" title as the rest of the non-playoff field will battle for the 17th place in the standings over the final 10 events.

---

[Tropicorp]

Team Tropicorp to Pair Up at Jalton Superspeedway

Team Tropicorp drivers Euroli Islander and Cocoabo #78 practice Tandem Drafting

Pencurve Electronics 500, Jalton Superspeedway, Jalton, Saint Kanye ::

With Both Team Tropicorp drivers well outside the Top 16 in the NSSCRA Series Point standings with just one race left in the NSSCRA 7 Regular Season, the team is well aware the only way they could compete for the NSSCRA Championship would be by putting one of the two Team Tropicorp cars into victory lane at the Pencurve Electronics 500. While it was not the objective of Team Tropicorp entering the NSSCRA season to compete for a championship, after spending twelve weeks following the NSSCRA circuit, even the most even-keeled scientists can get a little bit of a competitive spirit about them, so they are certainly going to try. So when the engineers, scientists and researchers on the Team Tropicorp project set forth their goals for the Pencurve Electronics 500 race weekend, they were certainly looking to improve their technology - and they were certainly looking to find new experiences to provide to their resident racing Cocoabo - Cocoabo #78, to make them a more enriched subject for future competitions. But they also wanted to win. The pitcrew - no one new. Everyone who had not only done it and practiced it before - but also had done that specific job before and had done it well. It would be the first race all season long that every single member of the Team Tropicorp pit crews had done that exact job on that exact car in a previous race.

Thats not to say there would be no experimentation, however. The techies at Team Tropicorp were ready to experiment, push the envelope, and see what they could rig up. They installed a flexible metal bar onto the radiator outlet that could attach to cars front bumper. It would mount through the front bumper to a metal plate next to the grill openings - the actual grill openings not just the Dart-supplied decals to make it look like the commercial version of the car. They then developed a special tape that would be applied over the grilles with a temperature-sensitive adhesive that would decompose if the temperature reached a certain set amount. The application meant that if the Water Temperature inside the #78 or #42 Team Tropicorp cars got too hot due to the tape covering the grille openings, then that temperature level would be transferred thermodynamically through to the front grille opening and cause the tape covering that grill to lose adhesion and detach from the car. This would result in a larger grille opening for air to come through and cool the engine. Team Tropicorp engineers felt this could give them extra speed to aid passing and potentially give the team an edge on the track where other teams would be guessing how much tape was needed throughout the race, they could be more certain they are pushing the envelope to exactly the appropriate level.

They have also been working on tandem driving with Euroli Islander and Cocoabo #78 taking turns in practice as the pusher. While Islander typically takes minimal on-track practice laps and focuses mostly on digital simulator training, they felt it was important for the two to work together in Jalton and encouraged Islander to take maximum advantage of practice laps with their Cocoabo teammate. The superspeedways can always result in an unexpected finish and after working on the NSSCRA circuit for 12 events with just a single 10th place finish to show for it, Team Tropicorp was hoping to put together a strong performance with just a little more technical tweaking and a little more on-track preparation to back it up.

[Newmanistan]

Race: Pencurve Electronics 500, Jalton Superspeedway, Jalton, Saint Kanye
Lap Record: 50.520 seconds
Minimum Time To Avoid DNF: 53.900 seconds

Segment 1:

1 #75 Floyd Hackerbee (Vangaziland)                   50.904
 2 #27 Stacie Houston (Cassadaigua)                    50.916
 3 #46 Thea Alvarez (Saint Kanye)                      50.932
 4 #3 Skip Stiller (Saint Kanye)                       50.995
 5 #22 Kevin Cosgrove (Hampton Island)                 51.042
 6 #90 Tsering Chu (The Sherpa Empire)                 51.058
 7 #14 River 'Shark' Suzgar II (Vilita & Turori)       51.152
 8 #41 Yraaga Gilli'i (Vilita & Turori)                51.157
 9 #25 Kev Schorebrook (Vangaziland)                   51.271
10 #12 Roman Gwinnett (Xanneria)                       51.300
11 #6 Alex Knight (Hampton Island)                     51.357
12 #69 Oberfeldwebel Sofia Kerman (Jebslund)           51.373
13 #13 Oberst Eva Kerman (Jebslund)                    51.453
14 #16 Tucker Capps (Xanneria) *Q*                     51.614
15 #10 Eddie Walters Jr (Xanneria)                     51.660
16 #11 Jenna Logan (Cassadaigua)                       51.728
17 #23 James McCurty (Hampton Island) *Q*              51.740
18 #00 Sage Caldwell (Saint Kanye)                     51.776
19 #4 Meghan Sharpe (Cassadaigua)                      51.798
20 #24 Ashley Matthews (Newmanistan)                   51.836
21 #18 Jeremiah Brooke (Saint Kanye)                   51.866
22 #42 Euroli Islander (Tropicorp)                     51.951
23 #1 Hauptmann Wilhelm Kerman (Jebslund)              52.096
24 #60 Rockii Ezis (Vilita & Turori) *Q*               52.110
25 #7 Lourdina Westgrens (Lisander)                    52.201
26 #78 Cocoabo #78 (Tropicorp)                         52.228
27 #88 Liangmei Li (The Sherpa Empire)                 52.262
28 #2 Centur Tiones (Vilita & Turori)                  52.277
29 #48 Shawn Curtis (Newmanistan)                      52.512
30 #5 Bryan Harrison (Newmanistan)                     52.526
31 #50 Ellie Lindskog (Vangaziland)                    52.762
32 #56 Francis Furheart Jr. (The Ferret Lands)         52.799
33 #55 Francis Furheart Sr. (The Ferret Lands)         52.968
34 #21 Omar Brady (One Jamaica)                        53.204
35 #76 Kevin von Pressman (Greythorne)                 53.229
36 #44 Kai Qiang (The Sherpa Empire)                   53.254
37 #99 Gael Erwann (Brittany Normandy Aquitaine)       53.422
38 #91 David Land (Central Shanesville)                53.522
39 #20 Shane Wray (Central Shanesville)                53.582
40 #8 Jennifer Jane (One Jamaica)                      53.676
41 #71 Mael Erwann (Brittany Normandy Aquitaine)       53.746
42 #70 Larry Toothworth (Greythorne)                   53.768
43 #9 Lício Granado (Lisander)                         53.975 DNF

Segment 2:

1 #18 Jeremiah Brooke (Saint Kanye)                   50.899
 2 #14 River 'Shark' Suzgar II (Vilita & Turori)       50.910
 3 #90 Tsering Chu (The Sherpa Empire)                 50.926
 4 #3 Skip Stiller (Saint Kanye)                       51.046
 5 #42 Euroli Islander (Tropicorp)                     51.048
 6 #22 Kevin Cosgrove (Hampton Island)                 51.051
 7 #23 James McCurty (Hampton Island) *Q*              51.076
 8 #6 Alex Knight (Hampton Island)                     51.086
 9 #44 Kai Qiang (The Sherpa Empire)                   51.106
10 #41 Yraaga Gilli'i (Vilita & Turori)                51.111
11 #12 Roman Gwinnett (Xanneria)                       51.150
12 #88 Liangmei Li (The Sherpa Empire)                 51.173
13 #00 Sage Caldwell (Saint Kanye)                     51.330
14 #11 Jenna Logan (Cassadaigua)                       51.377
15 #46 Thea Alvarez (Saint Kanye)                      51.512
16 #1 Hauptmann Wilhelm Kerman (Jebslund)              51.544
17 #48 Shawn Curtis (Newmanistan)                      51.544
18 #75 Floyd Hackerbee (Vangaziland)                   51.553
19 #60 Rockii Ezis (Vilita & Turori) *Q*               51.566
20 #24 Ashley Matthews (Newmanistan)                   51.581
21 #50 Ellie Lindskog (Vangaziland)                    51.596
22 #27 Stacie Houston (Cassadaigua)                    51.626
23 #5 Bryan Harrison (Newmanistan)                     51.682
24 #2 Centur Tiones (Vilita & Turori)                  51.689
25 #13 Oberst Eva Kerman (Jebslund)                    51.721
26 #25 Kev Schorebrook (Vangaziland)                   51.756
27 #4 Meghan Sharpe (Cassadaigua)                      51.799
28 #10 Eddie Walters Jr (Xanneria)                     51.833
29 #69 Oberfeldwebel Sofia Kerman (Jebslund)           51.906
30 #71 Mael Erwann (Brittany Normandy Aquitaine)       52.144
31 #56 Francis Furheart Jr. (The Ferret Lands)         52.527
32 #55 Francis Furheart Sr. (The Ferret Lands)         52.736
33 #21 Omar Brady (One Jamaica)                        52.792
34 #99 Gael Erwann (Brittany Normandy Aquitaine)       52.868
35 #76 Kevin von Pressman (Greythorne)                 52.960
36 #20 Shane Wray (Central Shanesville)                53.179
37 #7 Lourdina Westgrens (Lisander)                    53.262
38 #70 Larry Toothworth (Greythorne)                   53.408
39 #8 Jennifer Jane (One Jamaica)                      53.483
40 #91 David Land (Central Shanesville)                53.641
41 #78 Cocoabo #78 (Tropicorp)                         53.662
42 #16 Tucker Capps (Xanneria) *Q*                     53.970 DNF

Segment 3:

1 #41 Yraaga Gilli'i (Vilita & Turori)                50.881
 2 #13 Oberst Eva Kerman (Jebslund)                    50.888
 3 #14 River 'Shark' Suzgar II (Vilita & Turori)       50.944
 4 #88 Liangmei Li (The Sherpa Empire)                 50.955
 5 #78 Cocoabo #78 (Tropicorp)                         51.049
 6 #2 Centur Tiones (Vilita & Turori)                  51.095
 7 #6 Alex Knight (Hampton Island)                     51.107
 8 #27 Stacie Houston (Cassadaigua)                    51.226
 9 #46 Thea Alvarez (Saint Kanye)                      51.255
10 #1 Hauptmann Wilhelm Kerman (Jebslund)              51.457
11 #48 Shawn Curtis (Newmanistan)                      51.472
12 #11 Jenna Logan (Cassadaigua)                       51.534
13 #23 James McCurty (Hampton Island) *Q*              51.547
14 #69 Oberfeldwebel Sofia Kerman (Jebslund)           51.586
15 #22 Kevin Cosgrove (Hampton Island)                 51.594
16 #00 Sage Caldwell (Saint Kanye)                     51.735
17 #42 Euroli Islander (Tropicorp)                     51.737
18 #50 Ellie Lindskog (Vangaziland)                    51.744
19 #5 Bryan Harrison (Newmanistan)                     51.759
20 #18 Jeremiah Brooke (Saint Kanye)                   51.952
21 #90 Tsering Chu (The Sherpa Empire)                 52.004
22 #71 Mael Erwann (Brittany Normandy Aquitaine)       52.105
23 #44 Kai Qiang (The Sherpa Empire)                   52.138
24 #3 Skip Stiller (Saint Kanye)                       52.176
25 #75 Floyd Hackerbee (Vangaziland)                   52.247
26 #25 Kev Schorebrook (Vangaziland)                   52.292
27 #4 Meghan Sharpe (Cassadaigua)                      52.455
28 #7 Lourdina Westgrens (Lisander)                    52.496
29 #60 Rockii Ezis (Vilita & Turori) *Q*               52.524
30 #10 Eddie Walters Jr (Xanneria)                     52.668
31 #99 Gael Erwann (Brittany Normandy Aquitaine)       52.690
32 #12 Roman Gwinnett (Xanneria)                       52.798
33 #24 Ashley Matthews (Newmanistan)                   52.890
34 #56 Francis Furheart Jr. (The Ferret Lands)         52.966
35 #70 Larry Toothworth (Greythorne)                   53.252
36 #91 David Land (Central Shanesville)                53.388
37 #20 Shane Wray (Central Shanesville)                53.478
38 #8 Jennifer Jane (One Jamaica)                      53.486
39 #55 Francis Furheart Sr. (The Ferret Lands)         53.506
40 #21 Omar Brady (One Jamaica)                        53.688
41 #76 Kevin von Pressman (Greythorne)                 54.025 DNF

Segment 4:

1 #44 Kai Qiang (The Sherpa Empire)                   50.856
 2 #6 Alex Knight (Hampton Island)                     50.981
 3 #42 Euroli Islander (Tropicorp)                     51.038
 4 #41 Yraaga Gilli'i (Vilita & Turori)                51.044
 5 #25 Kev Schorebrook (Vangaziland)                   51.056
 6 #22 Kevin Cosgrove (Hampton Island)                 51.061
 7 #75 Floyd Hackerbee (Vangaziland)                   51.086
 8 #46 Thea Alvarez (Saint Kanye)                      51.134
 9 #13 Oberst Eva Kerman (Jebslund)                    51.180
10 #88 Liangmei Li (The Sherpa Empire)                 51.183
11 #10 Eddie Walters Jr (Xanneria)                     51.197
12 #2 Centur Tiones (Vilita & Turori)                  51.348
13 #69 Oberfeldwebel Sofia Kerman (Jebslund)           51.404
14 #4 Meghan Sharpe (Cassadaigua)                      51.435
15 #00 Sage Caldwell (Saint Kanye)                     51.467
16 #27 Stacie Houston (Cassadaigua)                    51.489
17 #18 Jeremiah Brooke (Saint Kanye)                   51.498
18 #5 Bryan Harrison (Newmanistan)                     51.532
19 #11 Jenna Logan (Cassadaigua)                       51.548
20 #3 Skip Stiller (Saint Kanye)                       51.552
21 #24 Ashley Matthews (Newmanistan)                   51.603
22 #60 Rockii Ezis (Vilita & Turori) *Q*               51.609
23 #90 Tsering Chu (The Sherpa Empire)                 51.867
24 #1 Hauptmann Wilhelm Kerman (Jebslund)              51.938
25 #78 Cocoabo #78 (Tropicorp)                         52.212
26 #50 Ellie Lindskog (Vangaziland)                    52.403
27 #12 Roman Gwinnett (Xanneria)                       52.806
28 #7 Lourdina Westgrens (Lisander)                    52.908
29 #56 Francis Furheart Jr. (The Ferret Lands)         52.951
30 #55 Francis Furheart Sr. (The Ferret Lands)         53.018
31 #14 River 'Shark' Suzgar II (Vilita & Turori)       53.050
32 #70 Larry Toothworth (Greythorne)                   53.083
33 #71 Mael Erwann (Brittany Normandy Aquitaine)       53.167
34 #20 Shane Wray (Central Shanesville)                53.218
35 #91 David Land (Central Shanesville)                53.603
36 #23 James McCurty (Hampton Island) *Q*              53.763
37 #21 Omar Brady (One Jamaica)                        54.130 DNF
38 #99 Gael Erwann (Brittany Normandy Aquitaine)       54.139 DNF
39 #8 Jennifer Jane (One Jamaica)                      54.140 DNF
40 #48 Shawn Curtis (Newmanistan)                      54.508 DNF

Segment 5:

1 #2 Centur Tiones (Vilita & Turori)                  50.936
 2 #50 Ellie Lindskog (Vangaziland)                    50.987
 3 #90 Tsering Chu (The Sherpa Empire)                 50.995
 4 #14 River 'Shark' Suzgar II (Vilita & Turori)       51.001
 5 #75 Floyd Hackerbee (Vangaziland)                   51.017
 6 #44 Kai Qiang (The Sherpa Empire)                   51.023
 7 #42 Euroli Islander (Tropicorp)                     51.027
 8 #60 Rockii Ezis (Vilita & Turori) *Q*               51.166
 9 #25 Kev Schorebrook (Vangaziland)                   51.212
10 #4 Meghan Sharpe (Cassadaigua)                      51.276
11 #1 Hauptmann Wilhelm Kerman (Jebslund)              51.479
12 #88 Liangmei Li (The Sherpa Empire)                 51.503
13 #69 Oberfeldwebel Sofia Kerman (Jebslund)           51.524
14 #78 Cocoabo #78 (Tropicorp)                         51.729
15 #23 James McCurty (Hampton Island) *Q*              51.755
16 #10 Eddie Walters Jr (Xanneria)                     51.784
17 #18 Jeremiah Brooke (Saint Kanye)                   51.824
18 #3 Skip Stiller (Saint Kanye)                       51.864
19 #13 Oberst Eva Kerman (Jebslund)                    51.985
20 #5 Bryan Harrison (Newmanistan)                     52.057
21 #6 Alex Knight (Hampton Island)                     52.079
22 #00 Sage Caldwell (Saint Kanye)                     52.085
23 #46 Thea Alvarez (Saint Kanye)                      52.142
24 #11 Jenna Logan (Cassadaigua)                       52.174
25 #27 Stacie Houston (Cassadaigua)                    52.247
26 #12 Roman Gwinnett (Xanneria)                       52.490
27 #41 Yraaga Gilli'i (Vilita & Turori)                52.503
28 #24 Ashley Matthews (Newmanistan)                   52.544
29 #71 Mael Erwann (Brittany Normandy Aquitaine)       52.641
30 #70 Larry Toothworth (Greythorne)                   52.937
31 #7 Lourdina Westgrens (Lisander)                    53.111
32 #55 Francis Furheart Sr. (The Ferret Lands)         53.128
33 #20 Shane Wray (Central Shanesville)                53.339
34 #91 David Land (Central Shanesville)                53.420
35 #56 Francis Furheart Jr. (The Ferret Lands)         53.459
36 #22 Kevin Cosgrove (Hampton Island)                 53.492

Final Results (Average Segments 1-5)

 1 #6 Alex Knight (Hampton Island)                     51.322 WINNER
 2 #41 Yraaga Gilli'i (Vilita & Turori)                51.339
 3 #42 Euroli Islander (Tropicorp)                     51.360
 4 #75 Floyd Hackerbee (Vangaziland)                   51.361
 5 #90 Tsering Chu (The Sherpa Empire)                 51.370
 6 #46 Thea Alvarez (Saint Kanye)                      51.395
 7 #14 River 'Shark' Suzgar II (Vilita & Turori)       51.411
 8 #88 Liangmei Li (The Sherpa Empire)                 51.415
 9 #13 Oberst Eva Kerman (Jebslund)                    51.445
10 #2 Centur Tiones (Vilita & Turori)                  51.469
11 #27 Stacie Houston (Cassadaigua)                    51.501
12 #25 Kev Schorebrook (Vangaziland)                   51.517
13 #3 Skip Stiller (Saint Kanye)                       51.527
14 #69 Oberfeldwebel Sofia Kerman (Jebslund)           51.559
15 #18 Jeremiah Brooke (Saint Kanye)                   51.608
16 #22 Kevin Cosgrove (Hampton Island)                 51.648
17 #44 Kai Qiang (The Sherpa Empire)                   51.675
18 #00 Sage Caldwell (Saint Kanye)                     51.679
19 #1 Hauptmann Wilhelm Kerman (Jebslund)              51.703
20 #4 Meghan Sharpe (Cassadaigua)                      51.753
21 #11 Jenna Logan (Cassadaigua)                       51.780
22 #60 Rockii Ezis (Vilita & Turori) *Q*               51.795
23 #10 Eddie Walters Jr (Xanneria)                     51.828
24 #50 Ellie Lindskog (Vangaziland)                    51.898
25 #5 Bryan Harrison (Newmanistan)                     51.911
26 #23 James McCurty (Hampton Island) *Q*              51.976
27 #24 Ashley Matthews (Newmanistan)                   52.091
28 #12 Roman Gwinnett (Xanneria)                       52.109
29 #78 Cocoabo #78 (Tropicorp)                         52.176
30 #71 Mael Erwann (Brittany Normandy Aquitaine)       52.761
31 #7 Lourdina Westgrens (Lisander)                    52.796
32 #56 Francis Furheart Jr. (The Ferret Lands)         52.940
33 #55 Francis Furheart Sr. (The Ferret Lands)         53.071
34 #70 Larry Toothworth (Greythorne)                   53.290
35 #20 Shane Wray (Central Shanesville)                53.359
36 #91 David Land (Central Shanesville)                53.515
37 #21 Omar Brady (One Jamaica)                           DNF
38 #99 Gael Erwann (Brittany Normandy Aquitaine)          DNF
39 #8 Jennifer Jane (One Jamaica)                         DNF
40 #48 Shawn Curtis (Newmanistan)                         DNF
41 #76 Kevin von Pressman (Greythorne)                    DNF
42 #16 Tucker Capps (Xanneria) *Q*                        DNF
43 #9 Lício Granado (Lisander)                            DNF

Final Regular Season Point Standings
Drivers in Green have made the chase, and should all be considered now having 2000 points.

1 #18 Jeremiah Brooke (Saint Kanye)                  476#
 2 #27 Stacie Houston (Cassadaigua)                   475*
 3 #25 Kev Schorebrook (Vangaziland)                  471*
 4 #13 Oberst Eva Kerman (Jebslund)                   458*
 5 #75 Floyd Hackerbee (Vangaziland)                  428*
 6 #88 Liangmei Li (The Sherpa Empire)                419
 7 #14 River 'Shark' Suzgar II (Vilita & Turori)      417*
 8 #46 Thea Alvarez (Saint Kanye)                     414*
 9 #44 Kai Qiang (The Sherpa Empire)                  409*
10 #41 Yraaga Gilli'i (Vilita & Turori)               406*
11 #3 Skip Stiller (Saint Kanye)                      403*
12 #4 Meghan Sharpe (Cassadaigua)                     403
13 #11 Jenna Logan (Cassadaigua)                      387*
14 #2 Centur Tiones (Vilita & Turori)                 380
15 #50 Ellie Lindskog (Vangaziland)                   379*
16 #90 Tsering Chu (The Sherpa Empire)                373*
17 #1 Hauptmann Wilhelm Kerman (Jebslund)             365
18 #6 Alex Knight (Hampton Island)                    301*
19 #24 Ashley Matthews (Newmanistan)                  293
20 #69 Oberfeldwebel Sofia Kerman (Jebslund)          283
21 #60 Rockii Ezis (Vilita & Turori) *Q*              282
22 #9 Lício Granado (Lisander)                        281
23 #23 James McCurty (Hampton Island) *Q*             264
24 #48 Shawn Curtis (Newmanistan)                     245
25 #7 Lourdina Westgrens (Lisander)                   245
26 #5 Bryan Harrison (Newmanistan)                    238
27 #12 Roman Gwinnett (Xanneria)                      234
28 #22 Kevin Cosgrove (Hampton Island)                226
29 #78 Cocoabo #78 (Tropicorp)                        222
30 #42 Euroli Islander (Tropicorp)                    220
31 #10 Eddie Walters Jr (Xanneria)                    181
32 #55 Francis Furheart Sr. (The Ferret Lands)        160
33 #99 Gael Erwann (Brittany Normandy Aquitaine)      157
34 #71 Mael Erwann (Brittany Normandy Aquitaine)      148
35 #76 Kevin von Pressman (Greythorne)                144
36 #56 Francis Furheart Jr. (The Ferret Lands)        128
37 #70 Larry Toothworth (Greythorne)                  127
38 #32 Andrew Holden (Lisander) *Q*                   114
39 #16 Tom Bombelli (Xanneria) *Q*                    103
40 #20 Shane Wray (Central Shanesville)                91
41 #21 Omar Brady (One Jamaica)                        87
42 #8 Jennifer Jane (One Jamaica)                      72
43 #94 Yael Erwann (Brittany Normandy Aquitaine) *Q*   66
44 #01 Jessica Franssen (Vangaziland)                  56
45 #91 David Land (Central Shanesville)                54
46 #28 Cocoabo #28 (Tropicorp)                         51
47 #34 Warren Pawstone (The Ferret Lands) *Q*          50
48 #00 Sage Caldwell (Saint Kanye)                     26
49 #79 Dinggu Wang (The Sherpa Empire)                 25
50 #16 Tucker Capps (Xanneria) *Q*                     23
51 #98 Adam Poboski (Greythorne) *Q*                   22
52 #19 Philip West (Saint Kanye)                       21
53 #63 Kevin Daniels (Newmanistan)                     20
54 #77 iBen Toralmintii (Vilita & Turori)              18
55 #30 Lexi Patterson (Hampton Island)                 15
56 #26 Mor Holstein (Lisander)                         13
57 #17 Tyler Abbott (Cassadaigua)                      10

RP Fodder: "Stace" would have had the tiebreaker on "Miah" due to having the win, if she had one more point.

Good luck to everyone as we continue into the Chase!

[Vilita and Turori]

Knight in Charged Up Armor Slays Tiones Championship Hopes

Pencurve Electronics 500, Jalton Superspeedway, Jalton, Saint Kanye :: 191 Laps into the Pencurve Electronics 500 and nothing had been resolved. Meghan Sharpe in the #4 Spacebook car for Cassadaigua was hanging back safely mid pack, avoiding trouble and looked set to clinch her place in the NSSCRA Chase on points. The Jebslund driver Hauptmann Wilhelm Kerman hadn't shown the speed required to stay up front but was right at the tail end of the lead pack waiting to pounce if something should happen in front. Centur Tiones was in a good spot so long as there wasn't an unlucky 13th new winner. Tiones was running just outside the Top 5 paired up with defending NSSCRA Champion River "Shark" Suzgar. There were, however, two drivers ahead of him who could end the championship dreams of the entire #2 Tiones Dart team if they should cross the line first. Tiones had been working with the #41 Tropicorp Racing Supply Dart of Yraaga Gilli'i earlier in the race but the two got separated during pitstops and Vilita and Turori Motorsports officials made the call to link Tiones up with Suzgar leaving Rockii Ezis hung out to dry. Consider it a learning experience for the driver of the #60 CoCoCo Dart.

#41 Yraaga GIlli'i has a nose out in front on the final lap before a Runner-Up finish

Shuffled back in the pack slightly, Gilli'i paired up with the other Tropicorp Racing Supply sponsored vehicle in the event, Euroli Islander's #42 car for Team Tropicorp. The two instantly found chemistry and had shot up to the front of the field with Islanders car acting as an incredibly pusher to Gilli'i with the Team Tropicorp machine seeming to be able to stay tucked in behind the #41 car for longer than any other pushing car could stay tucked in without needing clean air.
Heading into the final lap it was side be side between Yraaga Gilli'i and Hampton Island driver Alex Knight in the #6 Charged Up Transmissions car - a potential spoiler as they were outside the Top 16 in points. Gilli'i knew full well the situation, needing to win the race to keep Knight out of the playoffs and ensure friend and teammate Centur Tiones got the last spot. River 'Shark' Suzgar had previously pushed Tiones to the race lead with about 15 laps to go but once they got shuffled back the team made the call that the best play would be to hang back in relative safety in case the leaders took each other out and let Gilli'i fight to ensure there wouldn't be a new winner that would leapfrog Tiones in the standings.

The other factor at play, however, was Islander. The Team Tropicorp driver was in a similar situation as Alex Knight - needing a victory in order to make the playoffs. While the #42 Tropicorp Racing Supply Dart had been an outstanding pusher to lead the Tropicorp sponsored duo to the front of the pack, there was otherwise no connection or loyalties for Islander to consider with respect to Centur Tiones. Team Tropicorp and Euroli Islander could smell victory. Sure it might also have come with a spot in the playoffs, but the victory was all they cared about. They worked hard to put themselves in position by pairing up with Yraaga Gilli'i but as they went into the first turn on the final lap, Islander ducked out from behind Gilli'i and forced their way down in Knight's wake. The field immediately reacted behind them with the Glorious Free Republics drivers getting split up and the neat packs become a mob heading down the straightaway as drivers jockeyed for position on the final lap.

The broken draft allowed Knight to pull away slightly and the challengers failed to reorganize quick enough to mount a challenge as Knight led Gilli'i back to the line with Euroli Islander beating out Vannish Motors Racing driver #75 Floyd Hackerbee in a photo finish to claim the last spot on the podium, the first ever Top 3 or even Top-5 finish in the history of the experimentally based Team Tropicorp effort. For Vilita and Turori Motorsports, however, it was the ultimate failure. Having been near the top of the standings all season long until a blown engine at the Plum Lake Circuit, Centur Tiones - who had led the Pencurve Electronics 500 with less than 20 laps remaining, was out of the Chase. First driver out. The crew gave Tiones the news over the radio as Knight beat Gilli'i to the line but there was no response. In the chaos of the last lap Tiones had been shuffled back to 10th place. With Meghan Sharpe still on the lead lap, there was no catching her on points and Knights win had ended any chance at a Championship for one of the early favorites. Few could have predicted - particularly after three Top 5 finishes in the opening five races, that the #2 Tiones Lumber Dart would not be amongst the title challengers and it would be a let down for Vilita and Turori Motorsports with the big race in Rockii Coast just two events away, the marketing push surrounding the event would now involve just two playoff eligible drivers, not 3. It would likely require a ramp-up in the publicity surrounding iBen Toralmintii's return to the track in the #77 machine using the Open Charter, pending the green light from the sanctioning body.

Now, the only thing left for Tiones would be to finish out the season just as they had during NSSCRA Season 6, to go out with a bang. After a fifth place finish in last seasons Pencurve Electronics 500 also left Tiones on the outside looking in as far as the NSSCRA Playoffs were concerned, Tiones was one of the most impressive drivers to close out the season with four consecutive top ten finishes including playing the role of spoiler at the Imperial Speedway in Vangaziland where they recorded their first career NSSCRA victory. While a return to Vangaziland is still a number of events away, the team will likely be transitioned over the final ten races to more of a Research & Development model similar to that of the teams #60 entry for Rockii Ezis, looking to push the envelope of technology and setup to perhaps find a little something that could be used by Vilita and Turori Motorsports two chase-eligible drivers, Yraaga Gilli'i and River 'Shark' Suzgar II.

[The Sherpa Empire]

‭

----o-֎-o----

‭The Pencurve Electronics 500 had plenty of drama, most of which didn't affect anybody from the Sherpa Empire. Alex Knight's upset victory gave him a Chase berth that he could not have secured with anything less than a win. Centur Tiones and Wilhelm Kerman, who most likely thought they were competing against each other for the 16th Chase slot, found themselves both shut out.

‭Kai Qiang got himself in trouble early after running over a piece of debris from Licio Granado's car. He managed to make it to the pits, where his crew repaired the damage, but the unplanned stop left him near the rear of the field, and it wasn't easy to recover from that kind of set-back when you were up against other talented drivers, some of whom were desperate for a win.

‭Liangmei Li didn't get off to a great start either. She complained that her car wasn't handling well. It was hard to know how much that was an actual problem with the car and how much was just because she liked to complain about things. Probably a combination of both.

‭Tsering Chu had the best time of any of the Sherpalanders. She hoped it would be the start of a hot streak going into the Chase, but she knew consistency hadn't been her strong suit in the past. She couldn't get too complacent.

‭

----o-֎-o----

‭Tsering Chu and her crew scrambled frantically to finish up the last of their final exams and end-of-the-semester projects. It was hectic, and a couple of them had to pull all-nighters, but once it was done, they could give NSSCRA their undivided attention. It was a good position to be in, making it into the Chase and now having the time to focus on it properly.

‭One day, the #90 crew was in the pits working on the car, practicing, tire-changing and such. They had been in Central Shanesville for a few days preparing for the Central Shanesville 300. Tsering Chu had abruptly run off, frantically signing as she left that she needed to use the bathroom. The crew weren't sure why she had waited until it was that urgent, but they didn't argue with her about it. When Tsering came back, she looked embarrassed. She took Mendok aside and began signing as discreetly as she could manage, wishing she could whisper it so the pit crew didn't all see what she was asking, "Do you have a pad or a tampon I could borrow?"

‭Mendok looked through her purse, but she didn't have any.

‭"We have to go buy some," Tsering signed, still blushing and looking very uncomfortable. She told the pit crew, "Go ahead and finish those adjustments. We'll be right back," and the two women scurried off in search of a pharmacy or supermarket.

‭They couldn't read the signs that said what was in each aisle, so they had to walk around the store and scan the shelves until they found the pads and tampons. As they searched the store, it occurred to Mendok that it had been a while that it had been a while since she'd had her period, and it would be a good idea to stock up on tampons for herself since she was going to need them any day now. There was no reason to waste time on making another trip to the store.

‭And then after another moment or two, something else occurred to her... It had been too long.

‭Tsering grabbed a pack of pads and headed back toward the front of the store where the cashiers were. Mendok glanced back at the shelves. Next to the feminine hygiene products were adult diapers. On the other side were yeast infection treatments and pregnancy test kits. Tsering grabbed her and pulled her toward the check-out counter, obviously anxious to pay for the pads and get out of the store as quickly as possible. "What are you waiting for?" Tsering was still visibly uncomfortable and walking awkwardly, as she had been since they left the track.

Mendok followed her over to the cashier. She hadn't worked up the nerve to say (or sign) anything about it, but she had a horrible suspicion...

‭

----o-֎-o----

‭In response to the Lexi Patterson controversy, the Independent Racing Association of the Chinese Territories has announced that henceforth, they will not allow fees to be charged for driver autographs or for the chance to meet drivers at any track owned and operated by an IRACT-affiliated racing club, or at any IRACT-sanctioned event. Autograph sessions or meet-and-greets are permitted where access is included in the price of admission to the track. Access to drivers may be used as a prize for contests or raffles if the contest does not have an entry fee. The sale of autographed merchandise is permitted with a minimum 5% royalty going to the driver. Higher royalties may be negotiated at the discretion of the drivers and merchants involved.

‭Furthermore, Lexi Patterson, her entire pit crew, and all her sponsors are pre-emptively banned from all IRACT-sanctioned races, and from IRACT-chartered NSSCRA teams. Vamos Papi and Starlight Suites are also permanently banned from purchasing ad space on billboards, banners, or posters at IRACT-owned facilities. Merchandise featuring Lexi Patterson's name, likeness, autograph, car, number, etc. or the names or logos of any of her sponsors may not be sold on IRACT property. (OOC: This may include some merch for other Hampton Island drivers that have shared sponsors with Patterson.)

‭Like the expulsion of the Guiyang Racing Club, and the bans of individuals caught street racing, IRACT believes these measures are necessary to protect the organization's professional integrity. The exploitative terms of Patterson's contract were wrong, but so was her decision to participate in a publicity stunt which made a mockery of the sport of stock car racing.

‭Additionally, all drivers, pit crews, and track staff, including those from the Sherpa Empire, are reminded not to make sexually inappropriate comments, pose provocatively, or engage in crossdressing on IRACT property. Merchandise featuring nudity, crossdressing, or other sexually provocative imagery may not be sold on IRACT property. Where such merchandise is officially licensed, the responsible drivers or team owners will face penalties.

‭

----o-֎-o----

[Vangaziland]

The final race of the NSSCRA 7 regular season was the Pencurve Electronics 500. The ending at Jalton Superspeedway would have a controversial finish. Based on international reporting it appeared as if the hidden strategy had gone unnoticed. The season to this point had boiled down to a race for the Chase. Many drivers were looking for a way into the playoff round. Some were chasing the regular season pennant.

Then there was Floyd Hackerbee. Floyd had a great start but hit a slow stretch in the middle of the race. He fought to move back into the top 10 as the race started to wind down. He stayed consistent towards the end of the race. The car had gone from as low as 26th back into the top 5. The #75 Humboltson Hotels car looked quick all race day.

In the last 10 laps, Floyd found himself in the top 4. Centur Tiones had been near the front of the pack towards the end. He had even led several late laps. As time wound down, he had fallen back. This had major implications. Hackerbee heard input from the pit chief over his team headset.

"Tiones is dropping back... You know he's in the hunt for a wild card." The manager was dropping a hint. Hackerbee was curious about the update. "A win won't get you the pennant", said the chief. Those two brief items were the only hints Floyd needed. As Euroli Islander fought to keep up with Floyd, Hackerbee changed his strategy.

The truth was that Islander may have also had the pace to run for the win. Floyd ran a defensive race. This meant he bled speed as he constantly fought to keep his car in front of Islander. But why was he running so defensively? If Floyd pushed the car along the lines he had been running, he could have won the race. He had an angle and momentum on Stacie Houston at one point while coming around turn 3.

A second win would have opened up a wild card spot. Centur Tiones would have advanced to the Chase if Floyd won. Hackerbee laughed over his headset as Alex Knight eventually crossed the finish line first. Knight made for an easier opponent in the next round. Tiones would have been one more shot for VTM to win it all.

GFR had three cars in the next round. Cassadaigua added their three. Three cars also came out of the Sherpa Empire. VTM would only have two cars in the playoffs. Floyd stalled Euroli islander just enough to keep him from victory, also eliminating Tropicorp. The Oceanic car finally broke past a lagging Floyd just before the finish line. The Vangazi forced him to change directions by constantly fighting until Islander passed with a drastic maneuver.

The media didn't seem to pick up on the event. Vannish newspapers didn't speak of it. Vilitian reporting focused on the fact that Islander technically finished ahead of Floyd. Hackerbee didn't speak of the intentional stall after the race.

"Congrats to Euroli", Floyd said through a sheepish grin. "You were just a little faster today. That podium will be a great start to your future career." Journalists also asked Floyd how he felt about Jeremiah Brooke taking the group stage. "GFR did well to earn the regular season pennant", he said. "This is an honor some companies take more seriously than others. Drivers from Saint Kanye seem to really push for it." He said this because another Yeezy ranked first after last year's group stage.

He omitted his feelings on the standings. "What matters is the Chase. The Humboltson Hotels car is planning to push hard through these next few weeks. Having three cars advance speaks well of Vannish Motors and our sponsors. I look forward to racing with the fast crowd."

Only a few independant bloggers and suspicious fans mentioned the possibility of Floyd throwing the race. These people were usually outnumbered and told off. It would be written in history that Euroli Island was faster in Saint Kanye. VMR executives would hope taking out Tiones may have exponentially increased their title hopes.

"You did real well", said a mysterious Vannish businessman to Floyd after the race. "Really good", he added in improper English.

---

---

Kev Schorebrook had started hanging out with another Vannish athlete recently. The two met at the street fair before the Blue Coast 400. Jake Carrs is the captain of the champion Vannish lacrosse team. After winning the 28th World Lacrosse Championship, the Vannish colony of Wrexwic won the 29th. The next season would be starting in the near future.

The two enjoyed talking about their sports. They were both serious about their preparations. Kev was set to start a long run towards the Championship. There would be multiple stages. Only a few drivers would advance each time. Everything was on the line. The regular season was now over and irrelevant. Soon people would be running just for exhibition.

Kev needed to stay in competition. He seemed to be Vangaziland's best stock car driver. Last season he was the only NSSCRA driver with two regular season wins. Now he finished the regular season third. He fell short during last year's Chase. He knew his own lack of effort cost him the title. Many companies swooped in like buzzards over a carcass to claim they were the reason VMR didn't win.

The truth was that the Vangazi have had an enormously fiery hot streak which has spanned from sport to sport. There are teams like Schiltzberg that dominate a single sport. Baseball. A team from Saint Kanye once ran an era of the International Basketball Championships.

Vannish sports analysts have coined the term 'The Vannish Era'. They point out that when Vangaziland doesn't win, they push up their international rankings. Vannish teams are creeping up the rankings in sports ranging from baseball to gridiron. There are other sports where the term Vannish defines success. Enough has been said about Vannish Motorsports.

Vannish fight sports are just as dominant. The Vangazi won two separate boxing tournaments. While neither of these were major in terms of cycle, they were highly contested. This led to the Multiverse Fighting Championships. There were three different weight classes. Vangaziland's fight team 'Crossing Sun' walked away with three belts.

In addition to fighting, lacrosse and motorsports, Vangaziland has established itself as a basketball powerhouse. The Empire holds number one rankings in basketball and lacrosse. Two Imperial teams sit in the WLC's top 3. The latest Vannish basketball team won the IBC. All of these events happened relatively close to each other, leading to the term 'era'. Vannish basketball success goes even deeper. Vangazi have won gold medals in back-to-back Olympiads.

It was the Olympics that Kev and Carrs were currently speaking about. They were in South Stead Vangaziland, in a bar not far from VMR headquarters. They decided to go out for a nice Vannish beer and burger.

"Man! The Olympiad. Have you heard word on if you've been selected?" Jake asked Kev before taking a long sip. The drivers selected to drive for the national racing team had not been announced.

"They're stalling", Schorebrook said. "They should have submitted their lineup by now. It might be getting close."

"They'll get the paperwork in", Carrs reassured. "You'd have to think they'd pick you. Especially since there are male and female teams."

"Yeah", Kev said with a chuckle. "There's no way I'd get a spot ahead of Jess Franssen. I don't know. It's going to be a tough competition."

"It's going to be awesome for the sport", Jake said while adjusting himself in his chair. "Think of how many new nations will get into international racing because of this. Once they see how lucrative running a team in the WGPO is? Forget about it..."

"Everyone seems to be expecting that", Kev said. His features tightened into a smug smirk. "We'll just have to educate them on the pecking order. The other regulars will do the same." He laughed it off. "Nah. It won't be that simple."

"The established teams need their piece of the pie." Jake had just set his beer down after another sip. He continued with, "Vannish Motors can't win everything. Other companies need to earn silverware to justify their investments. It's really important. Paramount."

"We've all been training in open wheel cars", Kev said while thinking more about his team. He felt less comfortable talking about other race teams. "Me. Ellie. Floyd. I bet the NSSCRA drivers are coming. The question is really on Ade Imoju. Will they bring him or Henlissen." Henlissen was Schorebrook's counterpart. Kev started only as a GT2 team's third driver. He only raced two endurance races a year. He had come a long way to be one of NSSCRA's fastest.

"You'd have to think they'd take XIaopeng", Jake said about Mr. Jang. "The female team is easy to guess. Jess. Karli. Ellie. Baroness Vandersen. You KNOW they can't wait to have an Imperial Royal in the Olympiad."

Kev laughed. "If she wins, the multiverse will never hear the end of it."

"This is the Vannish Era", Jake quipped. "I just need to focus on the next lacrosse cup. We can't let Wrexwic beat us to the finals again. We're coming with a younger team."

"I can't wait to watch that", Kev replied. "There are definitely a lot of good series coming up. I'm telling you. If Vangaziland does well in this year's World Bowl and Baseball Classic, the Vannish will really be a major sports force."

"It won't be easy though", said Kev. "Next year's WGPC is going to be fun too. VMR is working with Tibet Motor Works. That's going to be an interesting collaboration. You know folk from the Sherpa Empire are great drivers too."

"Do you think Saint Kanye will ever return to basketball?" Jake was really curious on the driver's thoughts. Despite their domestic celebrity status, they were just sports fans to each other.

"I don't think they'd want to tarnish their past", Kev said. "It's all fun and games until Ewingson drops 50 on them."

The last statement made Jake laugh for a few moments. "You think he would? I bet the Yeezies wouldn't just sit back and let that happen."

"Well, the league is finalizing their rosters now", Kev replied with a coy smirk.

[Hampton Island]

Corporate Headquarters of Charged Up Transmissions, during race.

VP of Customer Relations: The new set of quarterly customer satisfaction data is here. You will be happy to know that we have seen a 7% increase, above the 5% you were targeting, boss.

CEO: That’s nice, I’m watching a race.

VP of Marketing: Check it out, that’s our logo featured front and center.

CEO: Alex has been doing very well lately. But it was too late, has to pull this off.

VP of Customer Relations: Sorry, I will come back another time.

Secretary: The 41 and 42 will help each other. The 41 does not want Alex to win because his teammate will not make the chase.

CEO: Alex has something they don’t have. A Charged Up Transmission! Look at how that baby is working for him!

VP of Quality Control: Maybe the 41 will mess up somehow. The 75 is a little passive here, good for us.

VP of Marketing: Making the Chase would so great for us, this is so big.

Secretary: Alex is running smart. Best driver in the nation, doesn’t need no stupid advertising gimmicks.

VP of Quality Control: Could be very fitting, that after that Lexi charade the other sponsors did, that it is our best racer, someone who did it the hard way growing up, who gets in.

CEO: White flag, come on Alex!

VP of Marketing: Moves down low to get a draft off the 75. 41 and 42 trying to work it. Good move by Alex. 75 seems to be on our side.

Secretary: This is where you make friends.

CEO: Humboltson Hotels. Book my stays there where possible.

Secretary: Sure.

VP of Marketing: The joys of NSSCRA sponsorship. And he’s gonna do it! Yes!

Secretary: In the Chase, thatta boy, Alex!

CEO: Great job, great job!

VP of Quality Control: Last time this happened the Pencurve winner won the Championship!

VP of Marketing: Well, let’s do that again!

[Cassadaigua]

Pencurve Drama Takes Us To Chase,
by Chelsea Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

When Stacie Houston won the Golden Bear 400 at Stafford City Speedway in Hampton Island, many of the hometown fans were a little disappointed that the victory prevented their driver, second place Alex Knight, from advancing to the Chase at his home track. One race later, those fans were likely glued to their TV, as Knight carried his momentum from his home nation race, into Jalton, and picked up the win. Knight’s win is at the expense of Centur Tiones, from Vilita & Turori. An interesting twist of fate for VTM, as last year in this same race, River Suzgar, who was not going to get on points, though carried momentum into the race, earned the clutch win. This time, a driver following that script knocked out a VTM driver. Suzgar and teammate Yraaga Gilli’i will be heading to the chase. Gilli’i finished second at Jalton, further adding to the intensity of the race since while he was personally locked in, he certainly was plenty motivated to catch Alex Knight. He would be unable too, and Hampton Island sends a driver to the Chase.

Team Cassadaigua was not much of a threat at Jalton. Stacie Houston’s 11th place finish was the top run from our drivers today. She hung around the 11th- 15th range most of the day, but was never the best car. Meghan Sharpe finished 20th, one spot ahead of Jenna Logan. Logan was already locked in, and all Sharpe had to do was avoid disaster. She was able to go that. Both Houston and Sharpe will make the chase for the second time, and Logan will make her first appearance. They will join Saint Kanye, Vangaziland, and The Sherpa Empire in sending three drivers to the chase, while Vilita & Turori gets two. Jebslund and Hampton Island each will have one driver.

The Chase begins in Central Shanesville, a nation that has not had much to cheer about in regards to their own drivers. Shane Wray and David Land have been unable to make the adjustment, and through 13 races, neither have gained even 100 points. In fact, even now Land is just three points ahead of Cocoabo #28, a driver who was injured early in the year and lost his ride when Tropicorp sold his charter to VTM.

In other words, Stacie Houston posted on Spacebook a message that she got from Vamos Papi!, sarcastically congratulating her on her win at Stafford City. In a blog before the race, Houston was critical of the little known search engine outside of Hampton Island, for the way they chose to use young Lexi Patterson in their advertising. Houston replied, “It’s about what can be expected from them. We know already they have no class. There are many ways to do a web search, and with better names for their product, as well. I have nothing against Lexi at all, she really means well and deserves better then them. Hopefully there will be more opportunities out there for her, in the future.”

[Xanneria]

Interesting Rumors

While the regular season finale at Hampton Island wasn't much to write home about as tire issues plagued the KRD team Iona cars and Tucker Capps motor blew up a mere 90 miles into the race. There was some news about the team that was good. Sponsor Ben Foster Farms is coming back and in a much larger capacity. The popular Xannerian Restaurant Chain will be putting up more money and will be on all three cars in a much larger extent. But the main sponsor is likely KMart. A trendy and fashionable big box store based in Lansing, a suburb of Delano City. They will be funding each driver with unique red, black and blue Knox Hawkeyes. This sponsor news is of course on the heels of the announcement that Dilliard, the cigarette company, has back out of sponsoring the team next year as it appears there's been internal and external pressures on the advertising strategies of the company. But there's an even weirder rumor popping up. Xannerian businessman Marvin Spicer had already said he'd love to run an NSSCRA team. While the NSSCRA only limits one team per nation, Spicer might be able to get around as his team already has a shop in The Western Carolina Union town of Statesville. Spicer whose son is racing in the domestic leagues of Carolina, is likely to hire three veterans from the Big 8 series and have his son race in the Big 8 or the new rumored Esportivan league. The three drivers connected to this possible team are current NSSCRA driver Tucker Capps, a second generation driver whose dad has done some work with the Spicer family, Trevor Bayne a native of Knoxville in East Tennessee Smokey Mountains and Brad Koopalowski, a koopaling from A Mushroom Kingdom. It is to be seen if this team will make the plunge but like Team Iona they are Knox Loyalists and it has been known Knox wants to expand its presence internationally.

[Saint Kanye]

NSSCRA: CHASE GRID SET AS KNIGHT STUNS FIELD AT JALTON
Brooke takes regular season championship at home

by Maria Muller

JALTON - The regular season has ended, and it's time for the Chase, or playoffs, of the seventh Nationstates Stock Car Racing (NSSCRA) season. It is the final race of the regular season, the Pencurve Electronics 500 here in Jalton Superspeedway in St. Kanye, which ultimately determines who will go on to race for the title, and who will lose their chance. Last season, River Suzgar of Vilita and Turori, who almost no one expected to make the Chase, won here, advanced, and ultimately brought home the crown. Fast forward to a season later. After a wild finish, another "underdog" driver took the upset win, and as with Suzgar's case, drastically changed the playoff picture. That driver is Alex Knight, the 34-year-old veteran from Hampton Island.

Knight, who drives the #6 Charged Up Transmissions car, outlasted Suzgar's teammate Yraaga Gilli'i of the #41 Tropicorp Dart in front of a sellout crowd at Jalton. Despite the runner-up finish, Gilli'i is already locked into the Chase thanks to his win at his home track, the Lonngeylin Ring. Euroli Islander (#42) gave Team Tropicorp its first podium finish, getting third by a nose over Vangaziland's Floyd Hackerbee in the #75 Humboltson Hotels VM. Fifth place went to the Sherpa Empire's Tsering Chu, yet another Chase-qualified driver, in the #90 machine.

The best finisher of the four (three full-time; one part-time) cars of Kanyean team Glorious Free Republic Motorsports is teenage racer Thea Alvarez, getting sixth in the #46 Chadwick jointly sponsored by Multiversal Automotive Coatings and the Kanyean Navy. Veteran wheelman Skip Stiller was thirteenth in the #3 QED Car Rentals/Kanyean Army Chadwick. Jeremiah Brooke drove the #18 Hyde Medical Group/Kanyean Air Force Chadwick to just fifteenth, but that gave the 26-year-old enough points to capture the regular season championship, edging Team Cassadaigua's Stacie Houston by just one point. Houston put the #27 Five Star Mobile machine in eleventh; if she finished one place better or if Brooke had been one place worse, the two would have been tied in points, with the 'Dagan having the tiebreaker due to her win at Stafford City last week. Still, Houston showed her good sportsmanship and friendship, hugging and high-fiving Brooke during the latter's awarding.

Sage Caldwell, St. Kanye's part-timer. ended up eighteenth in the #00 Kanyean Veterans Fund Chadwick (photos below). He will return for at least one more race in the schedule, just not next week at Central Shaneville, as GFR said that they will give Sage the open charter in that race if he finishes fifteenth or better in the 500. "Guess I'll take that time to practice and improve my finish", said the 28-year-old driver.

Knight's win once again improved his career-best finish and gave him his third straight podium. He was third at Plum Lake and second at Stafford City. He joins fellow race winners Gilli'i, Hackerbee, Chu, Alvarez, Stiller, Houston, Suzgar (#14), Kev Schorebrook (#25), Eva Kerman (#13), Kai Qiang (#44), Jenna Logan (#11) and Pencurve polesitter Ellie Lindskog (#50) in the Chase. Also in, based on points, are Brooke, Liangmei Li (#88) and Meghan Sharpe (#4). Centur Tiones (#2) and Wilhelm Kerman (#1), who were also in the hunt for a wildcard slot, were booted out. It was especially painful for Tiones, whose fortunes regarding the Chase changed at Plum Lake. The Vilita & Turori Motorsports driver was among the highest-ranked of the winless drivers, but a blown engine in the Sherpa road course sent him tumbling down the standings from a comfortable sixth to a must-win fifteenth. And win he did not. Tiones was leading late at Jalton, but eventually faded and settled for tenth.

Four countries (St. Kanye, Cassadaigua, Vangaziland and the Sherpa Empire) sent three drivers each to the Chase. Vilita and Turori sent two, while Jebslund and Hampton Island sent one apiece. It is interesting to note that, if Tiones had not been eliminated for whatever reason, the playoff grid would be composed of five complete three-car teams and a single driver representing a sixth nation (Eva Kerman of Jebslund).

"This is it. Let's go all the way this time. We'll try our best not to crash out", said Stiller, hoping to prevent a repeat of last season's events in which he was one of the drivers unable to get past the first round of the Chase. "We need to double our efforts, triple it maybe, or more", stated Alvarez. "These are some tough drivers together with us. There are whole teams, and you know their drivers are gonna help each other get as good a finish as they can. And so, we Kanyeans must do so, too." If Stiller wants to leave last season's results behind, Alvarez is hoping for a repeat of herself making it all the way to the Championship Four. "I had a pretty good Chase last season. I want to top that, not just match that."

Brooke is hoping to get some playoff victories to help his campaign. "Last season, I had to wait until the Chase for both my wins. Now it's that time of the season again, and I've done my waiting. People are saying that I know how to really rack up the points, and our format allows for a winless driver to be crowned. I wouldn't be satisfied if I become champ like that. Racing is more than getting as many points as you can. It's about winning. By the way, shout out to my pal Stacie [Houston]. You were so close to getting that regular season trophy. Good luck to you, and see you at Central Shaneville." The Central Shaneville 300 at the D-shaped Central Shaneville Speedway will be the first of ten Chase races (three rounds of three races each, then the finale at the Tundra Falls Proving Grounds at Newmanistan). All qualifying sessions and races will be broadcast live on SKYNET (Saint KanYe NETwork) Sports Channel 12, and online at nsscra.skynet.stk. Full qualifying, race, and driver points tables are also found on that website.

OFFICIAL STANDINGS - Race 13 of 23 (Jalton)

1. #6 Alex Knight (HAM)
2. #41 Yraaga Gilli'i (VNT)
3. #42 Euroli Islander (TRP)
4. #75 Floyd Hackerbee (VNG)
5. #90 Tsering Chu (SHW)
6. #46 Thea Alvarez (STK)
13. #3 Skip Stiller (STK)
15. #18 Jeremiah Brooke (STK)
18. #00 Sage Caldwell (STK)

DRIVER POINTS
(Pre-Chase points. All listed below, with the exception of Caldwell and West, have advanced into the Chase and will have their points reset to 2000 before the next race.)

1. #18 Jeremiah Brooke (STK) - 476
2. #27 Stacie Houston (CDG) - 475 (1 win)
3. #25 Kev Schorebrook (VNG) - 471 (1 win)
4. #13 Eva Kerman (JEB) - 458 (1 win)
5. #75 Floyd Hackerbee (VNG) - 428 (1 win)
6. #88 Liangmei Li (SHW) - 419
7. #14 River Suzgar (VNT) - 417 (1 win)
8. #46 Thea Alvarez (STK) - 414 (1 win)
9. #44 Kai Qiang (SHW) - 409 (1 win)
10. #41 Yraaga Gilli'i (VNT) - 406 (1 win)
T11. #3 Skip Stiller (STK) - 403 (1 win)
T11. #4 Meghan Sharpe (CDG) - 403
13. #11 Jenna Logan (CDG) - 387 (1 win)
15. #50 Ellie Lindskog (VNG) - 379 (1 win)
16. #90 Tsering Chu (SHW) - 373 (1 win)
18. #6 Alex Knight (HAM) - 301 (1 win)
48. #00 Sage Caldwell (STK) - 26
52. #19 Philip West (STK) - 21

NEXT RACE

Central Shaneville 300 @ Central Shaneville Speedway, Central Shaneville

[Jebslund]

Hamptongate?
Racing fans the multiverse over rightly lose their collective shit over exploitation scandal

Well, today's a bit of an interesting racing news day.

You guys remember Lexi Patterson, right? That model-turned-racer Hampton Island ran in their open charter for the Golden Bear 400? Ran in the #30 car, finished 29th? Shame on anyone who said no to that, because that name is all over the racing news today as word of the foul play of two companies, Vamos Papi and Starlight Suites, has gotten them the red ink and her the sympathies of racing fans all over Jebslund. Turns out that race they ran her in was nothing more than a publicity stunt from which the track scored most of the money, the companies in question got the publicity, and the poor model got nothing but 3% of her winnings. I can tell you personally that my credit card company has already reversed the charges for my hotel stay (SHAME ON YOU, STARLIGHT SUITES!) and that all advertising of their companies has been pulled. For those of you not from Jebslund, the "red ink" remark was a reference to redlisting, which is when Jebslund as a whole says, "We don't want you and you aren't getting one red cent of our money." by way of the government declaring doing business with them essentially illegal (you *can* still do online business, and can do business with them out of the country, but 1)why would you want to, and 2)you can't use any money you got from the government to do it). We here in the Empire of Jebslund don't care for exploitation.

Oh, but wait, there's more! In response to criticism from Cassadaigua's Stacie Houston (#27), Vamos Papi doubled down on their sleaziness by sending a very backhanded congratulatory letter to her:

Dear Stacie,

Congratulations on winning the Golden Bear 400. You are a good race car driver, stick to that.

Fortunately, young Lexi Patterson has more the one talent, as evidenced by her terrific promotions of our product, as well as Starlight Suites, a leading economy brand all-suite hotel. In her first ever race at that level, she finished 29th, and we are happy to have sponsored the effort. Your efforts to minimize our contribution to the race team and the sport have fallen on deaf ears.

Vamos Papi! is a excellent choice for a search engine, but if the technology it runs on is subpar, then even our product will be slow. For example, I tried purchasing some sexy lingerie for Lexi to wear at our next photo shoot from Pink Love Clothing, using their Spacebook page on a Five Star Mobile device, but this was a slow process. Things improved when I used better technology and didn’t have to go through an inferior social media page. I won’t bash Pink Love though, they have some hot stuff for beautiful women to wear. That’s probably why they are not your sponsor.

Once again, congratulations on winning from all of us at Vamos Papi!

How's that for brazenness, am I right?

It's not *all* doom and gloom, though. Within seconds of the contract that started the hornets buzzing being leaked (Thank you, Sherpa Empire racing fans), the bidding war was on between AI-owned companies to sign Lexi Patterson and pretty much every AI-owned company in Jebslund had already dropped her old sponsors and their partners like so many hot potatoes. In fact, a buddy of mine, Kommunikationsverzerrung Künstlichkerman, who owns Sei Nah Fleet Systems, put it his own bid for sponsorship, though no word on whether or not Lexi Patterson has accepted the sponsorship offer, which would have her splitting winnings 50-50 with her crew and all other Meats earned, except the cost of her car going to her whenever a track isn't demanding its cut, going straight to her pocket so long as she agrees to star in some non-sexual ads (honestly, if you need a half-naked female to sell a product other than an "adult material" hotline or a "special" website, maybe it's just a crappy product?) showing off some of their latest and greatest lines. For those of you scratching your heads at the business name, well, I always did tell him he was a better saleskerbal than a translator.

In other news, Schnellezeichnung, it turns out, will be the sole representative of Jebslund in the NSSCRA Chase, with the surprise victory of Alex Knight firmly shutting him out of the Chase (not that he placed well enough anyway...). The pressure may be on, Schnellezeichnung, but we're behind you 100% her at Die Sportler, and wherever fans may be reading this article! Your girl Eva Kerman came through with the snack hookup, too! Check the care package I sent ya. A Oma Fantas's Gebratene Fantasien giant chicken leg, a big bag of Geist Beißt, some Kaktussoda from Dürrdürrwüste, and a pack of Glückstreffer candy cigarettes with your name on 'em. Now go out there and make us proud!

No featured Imbissmeister today, folks! I'm preparing a special issue sometime during the Chase to go over a bunch of snacks for all you racing fans out there!

Writing for the Sportler, this has been Eva Kerman wishing you a lucky season!

[Newmanistan]

Race: Central Shaneville 300, Central Shaneville Speedway
Lap Record: 34.257

Drivers in Red needed to qualify in, and failed too.
Driver in Orange failed to qualify in the one-off open charter usage battle

1 #46 Thea Alvarez (Saint Kanye)                          34.532
 2 #3 Skip Stiller (Saint Kanye)                           34.535
 3 #27 Stacie Houston (Cassadaigua)                        34.551
 4 #14 River 'Shark' Suzgar II (Vilita & Turori)           34.582
 5 #88 Liangmei Li (The Sherpa Empire)                     34.628
 6 #44 Kai Qiang (The Sherpa Empire)                       34.677
 7 #69 Oberfeldwebel Sofia Kerman (Jebslund)               34.690
 8 #6 Alex Knight (Hampton Island)                         34.690
 9 #42 Euroli Islander (Tropicorp)                         34.694
10 #78 Cocoabo #78 (Tropicorp)                             34.699
11 #90 Tsering Chu (The Sherpa Empire)                     34.738
12 #18 Jeremiah Brooke (Saint Kanye)                       34.862
13 #75 Floyd Hackerbee (Vangaziland)                       34.890
14 #25 Kev Schorebrook (Vangaziland)                       34.942
15 #23 James McCurty (Hampton Island) *Q*                  34.943
16 #01 Jessica Franssen (Vangaziland)                      34.961
17 #1 Hauptmann Wilhelm Kerman (Jebslund)                  34.995
18 #41 Yraaga Gilli'i (Vilita & Turori)                    35.040
19 #50 Ellie Lindskog (Vangaziland)                        35.121
20 #28 Cocoabo #28 (Tropicorp)                             35.143
21 #11 Jenna Logan (Cassadaigua)                           35.166
22 #7 Lourdina Westgrens (Lisander)                        35.249
23 #16 Tucker Capps (Xanneria) *Q*                         35.422
24 #60 Rockii Ezis (Vilita & Turori) *Q*                   35.582
25 #32 Andrew Holden (Lisander) *Q*                        35.588
26 #22 Kevin Cosgrove (Hampton Island)                     35.591
27 #13 Oberst Eva Kerman (Jebslund)                        35.621
28 #4 Meghan Sharpe (Cassadaigua)                          35.673
29 #64 Travis Barkley (Newmanistan)                        35.674
30 #59 Zachary Cornell (Newmanistan)                       35.853
31 #9 Lício Granado (Lisander)                             35.965
32 #10 Eddie Walters Jr (Xanneria)                         35.973
33 #20 Shane Wray (Central Shanesville)                    35.985
34 #2 Centur Tiones (Vilita & Turori)                      36.018
35 #34 Warren Pawstone (The Ferret Lands) *Q*              36.093
36 #63 Kevin Daniels (Newmanistan)                         36.155
37 #76 Kevin von Pressman (Greythorne)                     36.350
38 #56 Francis Furheart Jr. (The Ferret Lands)             36.369
39 #49 Melvin Andrew (One Jamaica) *Q*                     36.412
40 #29 Jeff Shreeves (Central Shanesville) *Q*             36.445
41 #12 Roman Gwinnett (Xanneria)                           36.479
42 #71 Mael Erwann (Brittany Normandy Aquitaine)           36.645
43 #91 David Land (Central Shanesville)                    36.766
44 #99 Gael Erwann (Brittany Normandy Aquitaine)           36.870
45 #8 Jennifer Jane (One Jamaica)                          36.919
46 #21 Omar Brady (One Jamaica)                            37.040
47 #70 Larry Toothworth (Greythorne)                       37.046
48 #94 Yael Erwann (Brittany Normandy Aquitaine) *Q*       37.058
49 #98 Adam Poboski (Greythorne) *Q*                       37.101
50 #55 Francis Furheart Sr. (The Ferret Lands)             37.368

[Tropicorp]

Cocoabo #28 Makes Brief On-Track Appearance in Central Shaneville

Cocoabo #28 saw limited action in the first chase race weekend, failing to qualify in Cocoabo #78's backup car

Central Shaneville 300, Central Shaneville Speedway ::

Having missed much of the NSSCRA Season due to injuries sustained in the series third event at the Lonngeylin Ring in Vilita, Cocoabo #28 was behind the eight ball in terms of development when compared to their already advanced counterpart Cocoabo #78. Cocoabo #78 had already had a half-cycle head start in the Cocoabo Enrichment and Enhancement Program (CEEP) at the Cocoabo Park when both were selected as drivers for Team Tropicorp's experimental stock car racing team.

After a temporary return to action when the circuit stopped by the Tropicoast Beach Course in Tropicorp itself, Cocoabo #28 had remained in the Cocoabo Forest to finalize their recovery and hone their skills before a full time return to action. Team Tropicorp officials were in discussions with other teams regarding acquiring a third charter for use by Cocoabo #28 after the team offloaded the Cocoabo's charter earlier in the season when it seemed uncertain whether the Cocoabo would return at all during the NSSCRA 7 season. For the first time since the race in Tropicorp, Cocoabo #28 was at the track and standing by in the event that Team Tropicorp was able to come to an agreement with any of the series backmarking clubs and the sanctioning body to get Cocoabo #28 an assured spot in the field.

When it became apparent that there would be no charters changing hand in Central Shaneville, however, Team Tropicorp decided to roll Cocoabo #78's back up car off the truck and put Cocoabo #28 in the car anyway, slapping some tape on the side and roof to turn the "7" into a "2" and sending the medically cleared Cocoabo out on to the track to see if they could qualify into the event on time. While Cocoabo #28 put up a solid lap - the 20th fastest of all drivers, it was not good enough to best the competitor, Vangaziland's Jessica Franssen. As a result, Cocoabo #28 did not qualify for the Central Shaneville 300. Despite this, it was still a positive experience for the Cocoabo getting back behind the wheel and being better prepared for their potential return to full time action later in the season.

While Cocoabo #28 would be left disappointed after the qualifying session was over, the Same could not be said for Team Tropicorp's two full time drivers, Cocoabo #78 and Euroli Islander. The two Team Tropicorp drivers both posted qualifying times inside the top 10 with Islander leading the way in 9th place while Cocoabo #78 was close behind in 10th. Once again the focus will be on those two as Team Tropicorps two field entrants looking to pull off the upset in the Central Shaneville 300.

[Vangaziland]

Jess Franssen was in Central Shanesville for the local 300. She found a slot for the race at the last minute. Her initial plan was to only run two races this season. The main reason for this was because she was keeping herself out of the Chase running. The league continued the charter program even into the postseason. Jess and Vannish Motors saw no reason why they shouldn't trot the #01 car out once more.

The number was an homage to Franssen's recent driver's title. As a manager in the WGP2, she also led Karli Schmitt to her own championship. VMR finished first in team points for the second consecutive WGP2 season. This means both Schmitt and Franssen can roll out the #1 car in their respective leagues. The number 1 is usually only given to the defending champion in open wheel racing.

It was well known throughout Vangaziland that Jess was part of a power couple. She had been dating Hectare Yulssen since WGPC 14. It was getting to the point where they should likely get married. Neither wanted to rush into marriage since their relationship was so public. A divorce would be terribly embarrassing.

Now the pair sat around a small table at a nice Shanesville restaurant. The couple still gazed at each other with warm eyes, even after all of these years. They were waiting fo rtheir food to arrive. They both extended their right hand to embrace over the table. Jess was slightly short with a curvy femnine shape. Yulssen was the captain of Vangaziland's national basketball team. He was a 6'2 point guard with chocolate brown skin and honey brown eyes.

"Ring count", Jess said with a laugh. It was the first time Hectare had seen her with her new ring. He laughed at Jessica's statement.

"Yeah but that's not an official trophy", Yulssen said as he chuckled. "It's like the regular season trophy." This was an inside joke between the couple. Neither had seen official mention over any trophy being given out for the regular season last year. There also didn't seem to be anything like that this year either. Only a generic title greeted the list of final standings in official NSSCRA publications.

"It's based on a real championship though", said Jess grinning. She pulled her hand away from Hectare. If she was going to tease him about her rings, then she wouldn't be romantic.

"But those are like coaching rings, Jess." Hectare tried not to smile. He knew he might tick her off quickly. Part of him wanted to stir the bear. "You and I each have one title as competiors. We're tied." Yulssen sported his own ring from the latest IBC season. The colors of all their rings matched.

"No way!" Jess wasn't having it. She had three rings, one for each finger besides her thumb and pinky. She didn't wear rings for the two driver titles won under her guidance. The rings were not officially a part of the WGPO. Perhaps it would become a tradition if other teams looked into designing their own rings. "Do you know how hard I worked to get these drivers to back to back constructors'? I had to plan every pit stop." She smiled a bit and looked down in reminescence. She knew she had called both good and bad stops in her day.

Here in NSSCRA, she was glad to just be a driver again. Jessica spoke again, saying, "Just focus on your own game. You'd better get to the finals again."

Yulssen smirked. "It's not that simple. We've got some good teams in the multiverse. The Drawks are hungry. Newmanistan is really good and looking for revenge after last season."

"What about Saint Kanye? I heard a rumor that they're coming back", said Jess. "They're coming back. I know it!"

Yulssen said, "Psssh" and swatted the air. "The Yeezies don't want it."

"I think they should come back", Jess said. "What, they're fans are only going to watch Yeezies race stock cars? With all the sports in the multiverse? Okay, they want to keep their pristine basketball record.... What about gridiron? Baseball? The World Cup is the place to really fight a tough crowd. They'll have to get into something at some point. They're only stalling their rankings."

"Well all their eggs are in the NSSCRA basket", Yulssen replied. "They'll need this win. But man. The Vannish are all over the place. I would HATE to be responsible for planning all of this. The Yeezies had to defend one basketball championship every year. Imagine defending all the stuff the Vannish have won in the past few seasons. First in basketball rankings? The number 1 and 2 team in lacrosse? Talk about a headache."

"First world problems", Jess quipped. "Vangaziland problems", she said before bursting into laughter.

The waiter returned suddenly with a tray and two plates. He handed the two athletes their food along with a curt smile. Everything looked fresh and piping hot. The couple thanked him and prepared to eat. They both felt a warmth for each other, still smiling over their inside jokes. Maybe Jess would marry him. She just wanted to make sure she kept the name Franssen.

---

---

Early in the evening before the Central Shanesville 300, Kev Schorebrook browsed his laptop at a wooden desk. His hotel room was fairly Spartan. It was comfortable enough for the stock car driver. It felt like it had been so long since his GT2 days. Unlike Karli Schmitt and Ade Imoju, Schorebrook's car didn't race well in the HGTC.

He was the third driver behind Jon Stansen and James Lark. Kev always felt like he deserved to be the lead driver. When he did take on his role at longer races he was often the fastest of the trio. He had shown his skill now that he had his own seat. There was something about stock car racing that really grew on him.

Kev had done a lot for Vannish Motors. Both the HGTC GT-A and NSSCRA promoted different Vannish Motors products. His GT2 races were still being used to advertise the Vannish Motors Ghost. Now he appealed to the everyman while driving a stripped down Hammerhead. Pride in Vannish motorsports was at an all time high. This drove sports car sales through the roof.

That was the goal of Vannish Motors. It wasn't to win titles just to wear rings like Jessica. They wanted to sell cars. If one was a wealthy car collector looking for trackworthy performance, the first stop should be Vannish Motors. It's easy to make claims. This was a company that put pen to paper.

NSSCRA proved that there were many great motorsport nations. Say what you will about Saint Kanye. You KNOW they produce excellent sports sedans. The GFR program is well put together. Stock car racing has more parity between the different vehicles. The reliability of their engineering has been proven through their regular season consistency.

Cassadaigua is also proving to be home to great engineering. Their cars have pushed at the top of the field throughout the entire season. They seem likely to win it all. You'd be guaranteed to find a sporty choice if you shopped for a Dagan vehicle.

This brings us to the region Kev Schorebrook was currently planning to visit. Kev was planning to spend his end of season vacation not far from Vilitia and Turori in Oceanic Vangaziland. VTM has shown they have a knack for building quality automobiles. The vehicle their NSSCRA chassis is built off is quite fetching. You would have to think their sports cars were basically on par with the Vannish. The company had one strong WGP2 season where they finished 1st and 2nd in standings. The team sported an intimidating black chassis at the time.

Kev was searching a travel website for a trip to Oceanic Vangaziland. It was the Empire's newest territory. He had heard so much about the place. It was apparently a much more rural place than the Vannish Mainland. Their economy had been struggling. The Vannish Empire often steps into situations like this with a helping hand in exchange for their soveriengty.

Schorebrook wanted to see some of the wildlife. There was an animal the stock car driver had to see in its natural habitat. The caramello was a 3 foot flightless bird. It came in different shades of brown and gold. A controversy was surrounding these animals. A tribal group has a tradition of eating the bird that goes back to ancient days.

Many of the modern residents are against exporting the bird. They argue it might be intelligent. Enter Food Co.. The Vannish company specializes in bringing foreign cusine to Vannish shores. They see a huge market in producing caramello meat. Many locals are up in arms over the idea of a large company getting involved. As soon as Food Co.'s first properties landed in OV, protesters camped outside.

"People can protest all they'd like. We shall note their concerns", said Food Co CEO Farley Burns. "We will still bring this tasty dish to the world's palette."

Despite those words, things have not been finalized. A local injunction caused the greater Vannish government to put a temporary stop to operations. Kev was surely curious about tasting the bird. There were restaurants he could go to that served it. The issue wasn't with eating the bird. It was done in small numbers with sustainable farming. The worry was over a large corporation ramping up production to industrial numbers. Locals just didn't trust the Vangazi yet.

Tensions were high here against Vangazi in general. Their country might now be called Oceanic Vangaziland. They felt like anything but Vangazi. It would take decades of relations to build neccessary bridges. Kev hoped to do his part. He would make a public appearance and sign autographs while in the country.

Kev found a great deal on a ticket from Vann Air. He'd leave two weeks after the season's end. It was a relief to know that he'd been on vacation whether he won or lost. He started to think about hotels. That would take a lot of searching and research to find the best one. He wanted to stay in one of the rural resorts in the forest.

It was relaxing to forget about the season for a moment.

[The Sherpa Empire]

‭

----o-֎-o----

‭Kai Qiang had no sympathy for Lexi Patterson. As far as he was concerned, she was a capitalist pig that got beat at her own game, a shameless parasite who didn't deserve to get paid at all. He had been in plenty of races where you didn't get paid for finishing 29th, and he wasn't interested in hearing about the first-world problems of someone whose efforts to selfishly milk NSSCRA for money had fallen a bit flat. He thought the fans "boycotting" Vamos Papi and Starlight Suites were idiots, and the Kermanic companies offering to sponsor Patterson were even stupider.

‭But then he saw what Vamos Papi had written to Stacie Houston, and that was different. He left Houston a message on Spacebook saying, "The man who write that letter just mad because he can't have woman like you. He is idiot."

‭He got on the boycott bandwagon, and he started a petition to have .shw domains blocked from Vamos Papi's search results, which would effectively shut the company out of the Sherpa market as well as forcing people overseas to use a different search engine if they got curious about something in the Sherpa Empire. The petition was written in really bad Sherpa, riddled with spelling errors, sloppy grammar, and random words or phrases from other Tibetic languages -- but a lot of people didn't care how bad the writing was. The petition got picked up by some feminist leaders who attached a summary of what NSSCRA was and who Stacie Houston was, cleaned up the grammar, and began circulating it among their own followers. Before long, it landed on the desk of a high-ranking official at the Ministry of Culture -- not in the Sports Department, but in the Censorship Department. The Censorship Department was getting REALLY tired of hearing about Kai Qiang. The petition was less disturbing than the graphic images and descriptions of sexual abuse -- and there had been a fresh crop of those recently, pairing Qiang with Lexi Patterson -- but the censors were just sick of how often his name kept coming up. Since Qiang was not there to answer their questions, they sent someone over to the Sports Department to demand an explanation from Xue Gong.

‭Gong read the petition, heaved a sigh, and rubbed his head thoughtfully. "Can you give me a few days to look into this?" he asked.

‭The guy from the Censorship Department shrugged. "I guess so."

‭Around the same time, Mendok Sherpa and a computer-science student from the #90 pit crew had a similar idea, but a different approach. They weren't as famous as Qiang, but they were more technologically adept, so they created a widget that website owners who wanted to join the boycott could add to their sites and hide them from Vamos Papi, while still showing up on other search engines. They made it freely available for anyone to use, and posted it on shareware sites that were commonly used in other countries competing in NSSCRA, including Hampton Island.

‭

----o-֎-o----

‭The Sherpa Empire's racers all had decent qualifying times, but they weren't necessarily happy with the results. Kai Qiang and Liangmei Li, who did not want anything to do with each other, got stuck starting side-by-side. The Patterson controversy had reopened the rift between them, with Li defending Patterson and Qiang saying she didn't belong in NSSCRA. (Qiang did take the time to disavow the people posting obscene images of him and Patterson. "Sexual assault isn't funny and nobody needs to see that," he said.)

‭The start of the Chase only added to the tension, since now they were both feeling the pressure to win. Although she never would have admitted to it, Li was embarrassed that she had not managed to win a race in the regular season, and she felt that she had something to prove to make up for it now.

‭Tsering Chu was frustrated to get stuck behind a cocoabo and a driver that she generally referred to as "that weird nerd from Tropicorp." Even after all this time, she still had not gotten used to the idea of cocoabos driving.

‭

----o-֎-o----

‭Sleeping alone was... Well, it was a lot quieter than sleeping with Mendok Sherpa. She snored something awful. Even so, Kai Qiang missed the gentle dampness of her breath, the soft warmth of her cinnamony brown skin against his, the coziness of her arms wrapped around him. He didn't miss getting kicked when she twitched in her sleep or being badgered to indulge her twisted fantasies. It still baffled him how someone who looked so clean-cut and straight-laced could be so wild behind closed doors (or in public spaces when she forgot how loudly her voice carried). But somehow, even with the snoring and the kicking and the totally inappropriate requests, he still slept better when she was there. He tried to get a good night's sleep before the Central Shanesville 300, but despite going to bed at a reasonable hour, he found himself tossing and turning late into the night, unable to fall asleep. Part of it was just nerves because he knew how important it was to do well at the race the next day, but part of it was being alone...

‭

----o-֎-o----

[Vangaziland]

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Royal Clothing Company
2222 W 33rd ST, Northton, VNG
Talent Department

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Greetings Lexi Patterson,

Your name is currently in high international circulation. Conversations are taking place about you across the multiverse. You may have found yourself in the midst of your first public relations snafu. Many internationals are concerned about the terms of your NSSCRA contract. It also appears that you work for a company with terrible public relations. Now you ended up looking bad in the public eye. Here at RoCoCo, we can see beyond the public outcry.

Royal Clothing Company is a new fashion line set to take the multiverse by storm. We plan to open a global storefront and hire international models are hired to display our clothing. We plan to make offers to each model on a case-by-case basis. There may be a waiting line in the future, as only a limited number of models will be hired.

We are offering you a chance to break into the 'big leagues' of modeling. Before we toss you a number, you must read the terms of employment. You would begin working with a Vannish agent. Whoever you worked with in Central Shanesville will cut ties with you. The only person to earn a percentage of your contract will be a Vangazi. Their percentage will be limited to 5%. Making this even better for you is the fact that your income is boosted for this number.

Our offer is:

1 year, 152,000 NSD

You would start with our fall/winter collection and stay through each season's launch. You will have the option for pay increases after each contract term. As we build our revenue, salaries will go up. We may see models earning seven figure salaries.

If you turn down this offer, you will lose priority status. You will have to apply with the rest of the crowd. This would place you behind two tiers of priority nations. Close allies of Vangaziland have first priority. Nations with a rich sporting history receive second preference. It would benefit you to sign and date this contract post haste.

We hope you will choose to work with RoCoCo. Ellie Lindskog is working with us only for the fall line. You might work with her if you choose to accept this offer. We feel this would be a great way to build ties at a time when your public image has taken a hit. Let's set trends. Join us and your picture will be seen across the multiverse. Modeling is not a negative activity. Anybody who assumes that they are just pretty faces being exploited needs to educate themselves. Your previous employer was not the best example. We are offering you fame and a career.

Best of luck to you on the track. Let's make some money.

Happily,
Karl Vannason
Talent Scout - RoCoCo

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