The paintjob unveiling was a moment Abdoulaye would never forget, that was something he was confident of. Even among the whirlwind experience that NSSCRA was for him, this was a moment that would stick with him through it all, and he'd known even as he'd experienced it. There was something special about a moment that felt designed to just take a beat and celebrate himself.
But of course, it could only be a beat. He had to move on and get ready for the Pencurve. Back on the GFR private jet, which was always fun; he was on his way back to his action. The action had moved now: the teams were now getting ready for the race in Hampton Island. Abdoulaye watched with interest and spent as much time on the simulator as he could.
The GFR Motorsport team did very well in qualifying, which was exciting. Sometimes Abdoulaye felt like he was a new NSSCRA fan just as much as he was a driver, although admittedly he had behind-the-scenes access most fans could only dream of. But he watched the races and cheered for the Yeezies just like their fans did, even if he happened to be in their pit garage while doing so.
Unfortunately, when the race itself came around, the Yeezies didn't finish quite as high in the standings as they had during qualifying. But thanks to the way NSSCRA functioned, at this point in the season (when things would have been tightening up if it had been the WGP), the Kanyean drivers could actually afford a less-than-ideal finish. For one thing, it wasn't just the top ten drivers who finished in the points: everybody got some. And the bonus for finishing at the front wasn't quite as sizable, relatively speaking, as it was in the open-wheel competition Abdoulaye was used to. And on top of that, the 'end of the season' wasn't really the end of anything: rather, it would be the beginning of 'The Chase'.
'The Chase' was almost like a playoff. Only so many drivers could compete and more and more of them would be eliminated as the chase progressed. With Abdoulaye's friends the Kanyeans all sitting pretty safely near the top of the standings, even if they all failed to finish for the entire Hampton Island race, they'd all probably still make the chase. After all, the last race was on their home turf where they'd have an advantage. Even if they all fell down the season standings by 50 points, which was impossible, they'd all still be in places that would qualify for the chase if they could just match pace at the Pencurve.
Fortunately, of course, that didn't happen and none of the Kanyean drivers were forced to retire. Abdoulaye was happy. Each individual NSSCRA wreck, although it looked more mild than its WGP equivalent, was a lot more dangerous, and also had a much larger chance of snowballing into the big one. Any time that scenario was avoided, Abdoulaye was celebrating the end of the race, even if his teammates hardly broke the top twenty.
