NSSCRA 9- Everything Thread (IC)

[The Northern Chinese Republic]

Hengxing Tian wasn't happy to be starting so far back, but he was quite pleased with his company. He had his eye on Liangmei Li. Whenever they crossed paths during their pre-race preparations, he would hit her with his best suave smile. He thought he saw her smiling back like she was interested in him. He couldn't imagine any reason why a young single woman would ever reject him anyway. He was physically fit and filthy rich.

And starting beside him was the defending champion Kai Qiang. Tian imagined he and Qiang were rivals. As the race got underway, Tian got out ahead of Qiang and he was quite proud of how many laps he was able to keep Qiang behind him. It was just too bad he was having such a difficult time keeping up with all those other cars that weren't his or Qiang's. When Qiang came up the outside to pass him, Tian was looking forward to a long exciting duel, but his hopes were quickly dashed as Anavella Ariiki got between them. Next thing he knew, Qiang was ten places ahead of him, and Ariiki was out of reach too after following Qiang up the field.

Tian became increasingly frustrated as the race went on, and despite all the various events that shook up the field, he just couldn't figure out how to move up. He crossed the finish line in 36th place and steaming mad. "You told me you were going to make the car faster!" he yelled at Baozi.

Baozi sighed. "I also told you you should drive a Beiyang or an AutoModi."

"Beiyang and AutoModi weren't interested," said Tian.

"You mean they wouldn't beg," said Baozi. "They would have sold you their cars."

"I don't want to work with people who aren't serious about working with me," Tian answered.

Baozi shrugged. "It's your decision. You know, this is our first time competing in NSSCRA, so it's natural that it takes a race or two to learn the ropes."

"Baozi, I'm not here to LARP as an NSSCRA driver," Tian said. "I'm here to win, and I need to have a car that can win races."

"I'm doing the best I can," said Baozi. "It just takes some trial and error to figure out what works."

[The Sherpa Empire]

酒醉龙
@drunkdragon

---

When you're trying to say you had a Jeff Shreeves Moment, but you write the wrong driver's name...

#JeffShreevesMoment #ScottHawkingMoment

[Bolgano]

NSSCRA9-Race 1-Tundra Falls
Gwen Tracer Allison Win the first race of the Season.

Another good day at NSSCRA, the first race of the year after the exhibition, showed us a good level of speed, especially the winner Gwen Tracer Allison (Valentine Z) with a difference of 0.145 from the second Jeremiah Brooke (Saint Kanye) and Stacie Houston (Cassadaigua) to close the podium, the winner of the exhibition Yraaga Gilli'i (Vilita and Turori) after failing with a 59,965 failed his chance to be among the first places, the worst runner who was not in DNF was Cristensen Kalsters (Islas Aaland) with an average of 59,362 and in 40th place, Daniel Crettom achieved the 16th position with an average of 57,505, being his best performance compared to the exhibition.

|   1 | #31- Gwen Tracer Allison (Valentine Z)                                    | 56.972 |
|   2 | #18- Jeremiah Brooke (Saint Kanye)                                        | 57.117 |
|   3 | #27- Stacie Houston (Cassadaigua)                                         | 57.141 |
|   4 | #8- Frank Bronson (Hapilopper)                                            | 57.156 |
|   5 | #81- Chris Holmes (Hapilopper)                                            | 57.157 |
|   6 | #13- Brigadegeneral Eva Kerman (Jebslund)                                 | 57.216 |
|   7 | #2- Centur Tiones (Vilita and Turori)                                     | 57.280 |
|   8 | #73- Taylor Henderson (Hapilopper)                                        | 57.284 |
|   9 | #5- Bryan Harrison (Newmanistan)                                          | 57.293 |
|  10 | #46- Thea Alvarez (Saint Kanye)                                           | 57.323 |
|  16 | #09- Daniel Cretton (Bolgano)                                             | 57.505 |

Cretton´s segments
S1: 57.777 Worst Segement
S2: 57.425
S3: 57.318 Best Segement
S4: 57.502
S5: 57.505

Table of Positions
|   1 | #31- Gwen Tracer Allison (Valentine Z)*                                   |     50 |
|   2 | #18- Jeremiah Brooke (Saint Kanye)                                        |     45 |
|   3 | #27- Stacie Houston (Cassadaigua)                                         |     44 |
|   4 | #8- Frank Bronson (Hapilopper)                                            |     44 |
|   5 | #81- Chris Holmes (Hapilopper)                                            |     42 |
|   6 | #13- Brigadegeneral Eva Kerman (Jebslund)                                 |     41 |
|   7 | #2- Centur Tiones (Vilita and Turori)                                     |     40 |
|   8 | #73- Taylor Henderson (Hapilopper)                                        |     39 |
|   9 | #5- Bryan Harrison (Newmanistan)                                          |     38 |
|  10 | #46- Thea Alvarez (Saint Kanye)                                           |     37 |
|  16 | #09- Daniel Cretton (Bolgano)                                             |     31 |

[Valentine Z]

The Valentians – Qualifications @ Tundra Falls 500, Tundra Falls Proving Grounds, Newmanistan

As the Valentians touched down on the landing zone gently, they would be greeted by a few NSSCRA officials, along with a few other locals, it would seem. All bets were off by Jared and Angeline that they felt that bringing in a ship that looks something like a war machine might not be the brightest of idea, even with all the preparations. However, they would get a bunch of nice and lighthearted comments from the people around – mostly on how the ship looks nice, even if a little shabby and overly done and exaggerated to the point.

Jared Kev Jensen Benedict Angus Steven Van Den Borre: Well, can’t hurt with a bit of precautions. Besides, I got us all covered, don’t worry about that. So… they knew, just bewildered, really!

Germaine Athena Mercy Sylvi Angelina Lauran Tschanz: Ohh, no…. look, Valentina!

Valentina, along with the rest of the Valentians, would look at the right side of the ship, specifically at the flag.

Valentina Freya Clarice Constance Judy Yadana Aye: Hmm, it got ripped! Maybe it was due to the speed? Are we travelling a little too fast?

Wing Commander Angeline Joyce Crystal Bella Vanda Regina Nogueira: Err… somewhat… Maybe… not really? I don’t know, I think so? But the important thing is that it is still legible, so… that’s all it matters, hehe. Besides, there are two other perfectly flags attached onto the ship, so no one would not notice! Anyway, so… Valentina? It’s time to go!

The three Valentian drivers head off to the official tents for confirmation. Valentina figured that she might as well shrink herself, and thus did just that at that moment. The shrinking transformation would be like the ones you see in movies and TV shows – the one where the character gradually shrinks, but without the accompanying noise; only some light. They signed their respective names and were good to go.

Valentina planed 7th, Clarissa placed 30th, and Gwen placed 29th.

Gwen Tracer Fate Hepburn Eveline Foxworthy Allison: Well, well, Valentina! There is this side of you that you are not showing us completely, haha! Tell me, did you practice this a lot?

Valentina blushed a little, even towards Gwen. Sure, they are as friends as they can get, but that comment from Gwen simply left her extremely flattered.

Valentina Freya Clarice Constance Judy Yadana Aye: Ooh, thank you! Well… yeah, I have been driving back in Valentine Z as well! The thing is, I have been doing it for quite a while and all that! I’m used to the bumpy roads of Southeast Asia, so… you know, you tend to drive better on a smooth road. Either that, or I am still fine with these number of cars around me. Qualifications are always less stressful than the actual race, you know?

Clarissa Alanis Star Breya Coraline Taissa Jolijn Harumi: Hmm, yes, I know what you mean! I’m sure that you will do well for the race tomorrow, haha! Now, let us sleep!

Gwen Tracer Fate Hepburn Eveline Foxworthy Allison: [Softly to herself] Come on, Gwen… you can do this. Put on a good show tomorrow!

Clarissa noticed her whispering, but she decided not to talk to Gwen about it. She needed a private moment like any others, after all.

---

The Valentians – Pre-Race @ Tundra Falls 500, Tundra Falls Proving Grounds, Newmanistan

Gwen stood still in an empty race track, in an empty field. There was not a single soul around her, not a single robot, not a single beep. Not a single sound of tires being rolled around. Not a single sound of metallic grinding. Nothing. Everything seemed… ethereal. And once more, she was 100 meters tall, but she did not seem to be damaging the race tracks; as she walked around, one of her foot was clearly phasing through a bunch of stadium seats.

Gwen Tracer Fate Hepburn Eveline Foxworthy Allison: Where am I? What is happening? Ohh, shit… This is not… oh no.

As she looked further into the distance, a mascot rabbit, around 80 meters tall (4/5th the size of Gwen at the moment), hopped and approached Gwen.

“Heyyy-ya, Gwen! How are you doing?”

Gwen Tracer Fate Hepburn Eveline Foxworthy Allison: Damn it, I am Lucid Dreaming again! What is it, Mr. Bunny?

“You have to win the race, Gwen Tracer Allison!”

Gwen Tracer Fate Hepburn Eveline Foxworthy Allison: Well, that’s what I was intent on doing, isn’t it?

The voice from the mascot rabbit was unwavering. Same tone, same attitude. However, it started getting distorted, “You BETTER win, Allison! Or the COCABOS WILL EAT YOU ALIVE, HAHAHA!”

This was then followed by perhaps 80 Cocoabos, around 200 meters tall (twice as tall as Gwen), surrounded Gwen and spoke in unison: You have to win, Gwenny! You have to!

Gwen Tracer Fate Hepburn Eveline Foxworthy Allison: Crap, crap, crap, I don’t need any of this! Damn it, you are not real! How is a Fate getting sleep paralysis demons, anyway?!

“Winnnn….. win…… wan….. wak….. wake……. Wake up!”

Clarissa would be beside Gwen bed, vigorously shaking her friend to snap her awake.

Clarissa Alanis Star Breya Coraline Taissa Jolijn Harumi: GWEN, WAKE UP! Gwennnnn, it’s time to race!

Gwen Tracer Fate Hepburn Eveline Foxworthy Allison: DAHHH, ahh, what?! Ohh, Clarrie! Damn, it’s you.

Gwen would wake up to all the Valentians looking at her. They were simply staring at her, curious at what she was going to say. But Clarissa let in a few words first.

Clarissa Alanis Star Breya Coraline Taissa Jolijn Harumi: Ahh, don’t worry… Jolyn got this before too!

Gwen, still a little shaken but unfazed, would briskly walk her way into the bathroom for a shower, followed by a breakfast.

Gwen Tracer Fate Hepburn Eveline Foxworthy Allison: There’s no such thing as Giant Cocoabos… there’s no such thing as Giant Cocoabos… Ohh, dear.

Jenny Claudia Joy Lena Linette Tanya Hoshiko Radiance: Looks like someone miss their bird friend from last season.

Germaine Athena Mercy Sylvi Angelina Lauran Tschanz: Jenny, have some sympathy for poor Gwen over there! Gwen, don’t worry about it, okay? I can help you out later!

Jenny Claudia Joy Lena Linette Tanya Hoshiko Radiance: Wait, why can’t she help herself out? You know, being a Fate and everything, she should be able-

Germaine gave Jenny a light shove, followed by a whisper.

Germaine Athena Mercy Sylvi Angelina Lauran Tschanz: [Softly towards Jenny] Don’t worry, this might work in her favour. We will help her later after the race.

Jenny Claudia Joy Lena Linette Tanya Hoshiko Radiance: Sure, sure… though, I only hope she doesn’t have a breakdown during the race itself, you know?

---

The Valentians – Actual Race @ Tundra Falls 500, Tundra Falls Proving Grounds, Newmanistan

Soon, they are on the race track, with their cars all on their starting positions. It was time for them to go.

Valentina Freya Clarice Constance Judy Yadana Aye: All right, ladies, let’s go!

Clarissa Alanis Star Breya Coraline Taissa Jolijn Harumi: Woo-hoo, that’s Valentina! Gwennnn, you can do it, trust yourself!

Gwen Tracer Fate Hepburn Eveline Foxworthy Allison: [Muttering to herself] I must win, I must win… I must win… I will do it.

Meanwhile, at the pit stop,

Gustav Ernest Desmond Canice Vytautas: Are you sure about this, Germaine? I mean, I am not a medic, but Gwen seems pretty edged out. We don’t want anyone citing a nervous breakdown.

Germaine Athena Mercy Sylvi Angelina Lauran Tschanz: Ahh, please, trust me on this! She is not traumatised. You will see. Am I right, Angeline?

Angeline was fiddling with her device, after which she gave Germaine a meaningful wink and an “Okay” sign.

-----

Somewhere along the 5th to Last Segment, the Valentians went for a pit stop. Valentina and Clarissa did relatively fine, and there is Gwen who placed 10th on the previous segment. The pit stop went swimmingly well, getting all the fuel and tire replacements that they need. After roaring back onto the track, that is when someone suddenly yelled out in the Valentian radio.

Gwen Tracer Fate Hepburn Eveline Foxworthy Allison: I. AM. GWEN TRACER ALLISON! And I will prove that bunny that I mean business!

Clarissa and Valentina were confused, along with the pit crew. Everyone was basically more or less confused at the sudden outburst of determination, anger, and energy. What on Earth caused that, they wondered.

Germaine Athena Mercy Sylvi Angelina Lauran Tschanz: I told you, Gwen… you can do it! Use that determination to your advantage! I told you all she was not having a nervous breakdown. That was what like to call… “Calm before the Allison Storm.” Look at her, she was doing amazingly well ever since Lap 1!

---

The Valentians – Highlights of the Race @ Tundra Falls 500, Tundra Falls Proving Grounds, Newmanistan

Segment 0 represents the starting position from the qualifications / Lap 0. Segment 6 is taken as the last lap’s position as they crossed the checker flag.

Segment 0: Clarissa: 30 // Valentina: 07 // Gwen: 29
Segment 1: Clarissa: 40 // Valentina: 20 // Gwen: 07
Segment 2: Clarissa: 07 // Valentina: 23 // Gwen: 02
Segment 3: Clarissa: 04 // Valentina: 19 // Gwen: 05
Segment 4: Clarissa: 17 // Valentina: 24 // Gwen: 04
Segment 5: Clarissa: 09 // Valentina: 27 // Gwen: 10
Segment 6: Clarissa: 12 // Valentina: 17 // Gwen: 01

Exuberant Superintendent T-1000/2904 Surveillant Clarissa Alanis Star Breya « La Amoureux Chéri » Millie Taissa Butterfly Mélody Coraline Jolijn Trini Clementine Hollie Samantha Zeta Harumi: 12th is not a shabby thing to be! In fact, I am a little proud of myself that I got this far, haha! But one thing is for sure, is about Gwen. I err… I have never seen someone went 0 to 100 in that amount of time. In fact, it’s like she went from 0 to 800 in a few seconds. She’s… she pulled a very spectacular move today throughout the entire race and that won her! That really won her the race! She has been talking about winning a race in NSSCRA 8, but she never got her... victory. Until now, of course! Today is her day, and I am just very happy to see her on the podium! I wish her luck with the future races, and I am pretty sure that we Valentians will be able to win AND have fun, ha ha! ♥ ^^

Valentina “De Sierlijke en Vrij High Valkyrie ov Valentine Z” Anastasia Freya Ada. Jolin Annelijn Caitlin Trijntje Crystal Clarice Constance Judy Voi. Nexitros Annile. Teresa Thida Myat Yadana Aye: I have known Gwen for perhaps 3-4 decades by now; time works differently for us, so there is that. And I must say… I have never seen her go this crazy! And I mean crazy in a very, very positive way! I know that she is capable of such a thing, but what I didn’t know was the way she did it. It’s… it’s like a different person altogether when Gwen is determined like that. You usually see her sassing one another with Jenny, and then you see this and you just went “… Damn, she just went there!” as for myself, this race is rather fine! I am actually rather glad that I finished 17th today. I wish the rest of my friends, and my friends from other nations all the best as well! I am sure that they have been training over and over for this event, and I am sure that they will do well! Now the only thing that is hindering me so far is my 14-hour limit. I will need to make sure that I did not accidentally damage anything!

Chief Aviator Gwen Tracer Hepburn “Fate of Existence and the Omniverse” Ellen Trixie Caitlin Foxworthy Avril Verlene Eveline Celinda Sammy Doris Wit. Oxton Arielle Lindall Leslie Vitesse Allison: I did it… I did it, woo-hoo! I know I can do it! Well… it was less of being able to do it, and more of having the willpower. All thanks to the nightmare creatures that I have right here! [she taps to her forehead]. To those that are wondering… don’t worry, I did not had a nervous breakdown this morning. It was just me getting a little too focused and I admit, I was stressed out, but not to the point of getting a breakdown. I did my signature dance at the victory podium and people seem to like it! I would like to thank Jeremiah and Stacie for putting up a good race as well, along with those that are at the front of the race. Regardless of the win, or not, I actually have fun with it, even though I was chasing and trying to defeat my nightmare from winning. So err… I would like to thank my Nightmare Bunny and the 80 Cocoabos for invading my head and just giving me the motivation too! But please, never go into my head again. Now, if I want to again, and if I can't be Fate herself for this race, because I don't want to abuse my powers, I will still rely on my skills as I did with this race. Problem is, this determination comes rare! I don't want to rely on my nightmares, but once and for all, Gwen Tracer Allison, that is me, will have to prove that she is lady with skills, not the nightmares that haunt her! Okay, I've been rambling. Cheers! [Kisses trophy]

---

The Valentians – Post-Race @ Tundra Falls 500, Tundra Falls Proving Grounds, Newmanistan

Gwen Tracer “Fate” Hepburn Ellen Foxworthy Allison
@gta31_cavalryishere

@Jeremiah_B Thank you very much, my friend! Ahh, of course! We will never know who Fate will pick next! You guys have also been very nice to me and I would like to thank you all for the battle that you have given me as well. #NSSCRA9 Cheers, Loves! The Cavalry’s here!

… AAAA, someone put bunnies in my bedroom! ><

And the Valentians then have a pretty hard party in their rooms. Not exactly hard drinks and liquors yet, but they popped open a few beer cans. Even Angeline got herself into some of the action, asking Clarissa to take over the piloting and driving tasks for the next day.

Clarissa Alanis Star Breya Coraline Taissa Jolijn Harumi: To my friend Gwen! May many more victories come to you! Cheers!

Valentina Freya Clarice Constance Judy Yadana Aye: Hm hm, cheers indeed!

Gwen Tracer Fate Hepburn Eveline Foxworthy Allison: Aww, thanks, guys! This has been a very fun night!

Germaine Athena Mercy Sylvi Angelina Lauran Tschanz: So err… do you still want that therapy?

Jenny Claudia Joy Lena Linette Tanya Hoshiko Radiance: Hehehe..

Germaine Athena Mercy Sylvi Angelina Lauran Tschanz: Oh my God, Jenny. Why did you put all the bunny plush toys in Gwen’s room?

Jenny Claudia Joy Lena Linette Tanya Hoshiko Radiance: A girl’s gotta have fun sometimes!

Gwen Tracer Fate Hepburn Eveline Foxworthy Allison: Oh shoot, that’s a lottt of them! I have to say, you guys got me for a while… Don’t worry, I will be fine! They are less of nightmares, and more of comedy fuel for me now. Or determination fuel.

Germaine Athena Mercy Sylvi Angelina Lauran Tschanz: What about the Cocoabos?

Gwen Tracer Fate Hepburn Eveline Foxworthy Allison: Ehh, it will blow over. I think I still have my heart towards that one stowaway birdie. I still miss him.

Clarissa Alanis Star Breya Coraline Taissa Jolijn Harumi: Well, maybe if we are going there, we can certainly meet that bird! But… would it recognise you? Or will you?

[Filindostan]

Announcing: The Zalada 4.4 Sale!
by TGF Staff

Filindostani online shopping company Zalada have recently announced the 4.4 Sale, where prices of items ranging from industrial home cleaners, to high end monitors and mobile phones will be marked down by an average of 44 percent. Discounts start at 20 percent off, and may vary with products on offer. The sale will start from 12 AM Filindostan Time of the 4th of April, and will last for four days.

Zalada has also partnered with Badai Angin Tim Motorsport to promote the 4.4 Sale, which logos will be prominent in the hood and the quarter panels of the #0 Badai Angin Kecepatan of Hana Bhe. In addition, Zalada has allowed free rein on the paint scheme that will be used for the promotion, which will pay homage to the first time the predecessor team of the #0 ran three seasons ago in NSSCRA 6:

The color combination of the paint scheme, as well as how the #0 is colored, were patterned to the #0 Ayakashi Energy Drink Kissan Kamikaze that Chiemi Hino drove in the 6th season of the multiverse's premier stock car racing championship. Despite the #0 not making the playoffs that season unlike the #00 of Eiji Ibi and the #71 of Noriyasu Nagai did, the #0 team was retained as the top team for BA Tim, having first dibs on the technical support compared to IL Jenie's #00 and Frank Egar's #80 teams.

Below is the reference scheme of the #0 Kamikaze:

It remains to be seen though if BA Tim will do other retro schemes this time for the #00 and the #71 teams. Hana Bhe will run the scheme at Race 4 in Cocoa-bo Speedway in Starksville, Cassadaigua.

[Newmanistan]

Qualifying: Argo Petrol 350 @ Lannisburg Complex, Lannisburg, New Northwesteros
Lap Record: 32.073 sec.

Qualifying Results:

 1 #10- Eddie Walters Jr (Xanneria) *Q*                           32.492
 2 #44- Kai Qiang (The Sherpa Empire)                             32.552
 3 #06- Rinzi Aogar Zakhilwal (The Sherpa Empire)                 32.629
 4 #2- Centur Tiones (Vilita and Turori)                          32.636
 5 #89- Liangmei Li (The Sherpa Empire)                           32.649
 6 #27- Stacie Houston (Cassadaigua)                              32.663
 7 #6- Alex Knight (Hampton Island)                               32.735
 8 #9- Liuyong Xu (New Northwesteros) *Q*                         32.792
 9 #15- Valentina Freya Yadana Aye (Valentine Z)                  32.821
10 #41- Yraaga Gilli'i (Vilita and Turori)                        32.828
11 #96- Guillermo Archer (Abanhfleft)                             32.840
12 #46- Thea Alvarez (Saint Kanye)                                32.875
13 #8- Frank Bronson (Hapilopper)                                 32.876
14 #12- Roman Gwinnett (Xanneria)                                 32.883
15 #4- Meghan Sharpe (Cassadaigua)                                32.883
16 #18- Jeremiah Brooke (Saint Kanye)                             32.888
17 #1- Vanda Rosa Cordeiro Kerman (Jebslund) *Q*                  32.949
18 #21- Paul Nystrom (New Northwesteros)                          32.949
19 #5- Bryan Harrison (Newmanistan) *Q*                           33.011
20 #11- Jenna Logan (Cassadaigua)                                 33.029
21 #26- Roger Bipacks (Bolgano) *Q*                               33.071
22 #00- Michael Stefan (TJUN-ia)                                  33.071
23 #22- Kevin Cosgrove (Hampton Island) *Q*                       33.095
24 #98- Wilma von Cärinthen (Abanhfleft) *Q*                      33.109
25 #0- Hana Bhe (Filindostan)                                     33.139
26 #30- Lexi Patterson (Jebslund)                                 33.142
27 #7- Clarissa Alanis Star (Valentine Z)                         33.155
28 #77- Katarzyna Owczarzak-Kostrzewska (Terre Septentrionale)    33.229
29 #78- Cocoabo #78 (Tropicorp)                                   33.263
30 #14- River "Shark" Suzgar (Vilita and Turori)                  33.272
31 #09- Daniel Cretton (Bolgano)                                  33.291
32 #66- Hengxing Tian (The Northern Chinese Republic)             33.353
33 #81- Chris Holmes (Hapilopper)                                 33.469
34 #99- Jelan Ozoemena (Banija)                                   33.476
35 #54- Scott Hawking (Wreckeria)                                 33.495
36 #23- James McCurty (Hampton Island) *Q*                        33.498
37 #13- Brigadegeneral Eva Kerman (Jebslund)                      33.625
38 #33- Tyler Linde (New Northwesteros) *Q*                       33.639 (uses open charter)
39 #50- Ellie Lindskog (Vangaziland) *Q*                          33.730
40 #57- Gordon Orton (Appalachian Nation) *Q*                     33.756
41 #24- Kevin Daniels (Newmanistan) *Q*                           33.793
42 #53- Teija Kuusela (The Albali Republic)                       33.800
43 #48- Rockii Ezis (Newmanistan)                                 33.825
44 #55- Rosalie Presseault-Espinoza (Terre Septentrionale) *Q*    33.849
45 #28- Cocoabo #28 (Tropicorp)                                   33.877
46 #45- Ben Carpenter (Esmerel) *Q*                               33.913
47 #64- Alfonso Mercado (TJUN-ia) *Q*                             33.945
48 #25- Kev Schorebrook (Vangaziland)                             34.046
49 #02 Maksimuma Rapideco (Islas Aaland) *Q*                      34.086
50 #03 Alfred Histerg (Islas Aaland) *Q*                          34.192
51 #04- Félix-Antoine Constantineau (Terre Septentrionale) *Q*    34.269
52 #31- Gwen Tracer Allison (Valentine Z)                         34.302
53 #88- Anavella Ariiki (Tropicorp)                               34.340
54 #36- Taras Lakrov (Ceroat) *Q*                                 34.410
55 #80- Leonidas Baxter (Abanhfleft) *Q*                          34.454
56 #52- Jeff Shreeves (Appalachian Nation)                        34.486
57 #39- Rustam Ilyich Yudin (Ceroat) *Q*                          34.505
58 #20- David Rockingham (Esmerel) *Q*                            34.586
59 #32- Waltteri Lehto (The Albali Republic) *Q*                  34.671
60 #38- Elio Aaron (Esmerel)                                      34.698
61 #37- Pyotr Lavrentiev (Ceroat)                                 34.703
62 #73- Taylor Henderson (Hapilopper)                             34.749
63 #01 Cristensen Kalsters (Islas Aaland)                         34.853
64 #75- Floyd Hackerbee (Vangaziland) *Q*                         34.953
65 #35- Melissa Nilis (Bolgano) *Q*                               35.046
66 #3- Skip Stiller (Saint Kanye)                                 35.459

[Hapilopper]

The Team Blue Center, Lannisburg Complex, Lannisburg, New Northwesteros
The first part of race weekend
Chris Holmes was chuckling as he looked at his phone. For obvious reasons, anyone that viewed Chris chuckling at something had to view him with suspicion, but for once, he wasn’t plotting something. Rather, he was looking through twii.tur and a pair of duelling hashtags that had popped up in the aftermath of an accident that occurred during the Tundra Falls 500.

The hashtags, #JeffShreevesMoment and #ScottHawkingMoments, featured different unfortunate incidents where people just weren’t at their best. It came following the question of “who was to blame” for the Shreeves-Hawking incident during the previous week’s accident, when Scott Hawking slowed to a near-standstill to avoid a spinning Roman Gwinnett, and in the process, got ass-packed by the hapless Jeff Shreeves. It was all fun and games until Chris saw a tweet from former team owner Ken Henson.

“Man, what the fuck… anyone seen this?” Chris asked.

Kenneth Henson
@KenHenson

---

When some fat dipshit rolls your golf cart down a hill in Vilita and doesn't even buy you a new one #ChrisHolmesMoments #ScottHawkingMoments

Frank Bronson and Chet Byrd, watching some television nearby, came over to see what Chris was talking about. When they saw the tweet from their erstwhile boss, they started chuckling.

“I guess Ken’s still pissed off about that golf cart, huh?” Chet said.

It was the start of a third hashtag, #ChrisHolmesMoments, where people started posting moments where they witnessed something so monumentally stupid, it had to be recorded. Using the hashtag, people visualized Chris pulling off some incredibly dumb things, and the odd thing was, it seemed believable. There was the guy that hurled a stink bomb in a teacher’s lounge, someone who ruined a funeral by passing gas about as loudly as they could, and the person who got so drunk they asked an arresting police officer if he wanted a beer.

“Did you ever do that, Holmes?” Chet asked Chris of that last one.

“What, where I was so drunk I asked an officer if he wanted a beer?” Chris replied. “No, I think that’s something you did.”

There were more, and it got worse when Drake Stevenson got involved.

Drake Stevenson
@HapiDrake81

---

When you're soaking in the tub and your roommate decides to throw a "depth charge" M-80 in the tub. True story. Flooded the bathroom. #ChrisHolmesMoments

“So, tell us the story about the depth charge,” Frank said with a smile on his face.

“What depth charge?” Chris asked before looking at his phone. “What depth… aw shit.”

The Stevenson/Holmes/Randall apartment, Hapilopper City
A month and a half ago
Drake Stevenson had just come home after a rough day at the gym. He had been working out for the past two hours, and he had been spent. Anything he could do to get in shape for the upcoming racing season, he was doing it. Now he was feeling the effects, and all he wanted to do was grab a beer and soak in the tub for about an hour.

He came into the apartment, where Chris Holmes and Claire Randall were enjoying some takeout in the living room, while watching a baseball game going on over at Capital Stadium. Drake waved at them, took out two beers from the fridge, threw his gym bag into his bedroom and went into the bathroom and shut the door. Pretty soon after, Chris and Claire could hear water running and some old-school rock music playing in the bathroom.

Chris and Claire had to turn up their TV so they could hear what was going on, and it was starting to wear thin on Chris. Drake, meanwhile, had no concept of what was going on and was relaxing in the tub, trying to ease the pain from what had been a very stressful workout. The last thing he needed was any of Chris Holmes’ antics this afternoon. All he needed to do was relax for an hour and he’d be good. He’d probably go with Chris and Claire to Andrew’s Pub and have a few beers afterward, and then it’d be a great rest of the day.

Feeling devious, Chris went into his and Claire’s room, grabbed a couple of miniature fireworks and waited a bit.

“What are you doing, Chris?” Claire asked him.

“Watch this, babe,” Chris responded with a sly grin. “As soon as the time is right, I’m gonna light these and hurl them into the bathtub. He’ll never know what hit him.”

Chris’s cue was when he heard Drake in the bathroom. He could hear Drake give a very satisfying – and very loud – sigh in the tub, the kind of noise one makes when all is well at the moment and someone was feeling fine. Chris grabbed a lighter on the counter, lit the miniature fireworks, opened the door and tossed them in the tub.

“DEPTH CHARGE!!” Chris shouted as he threw the fireworks in the tub and slammed the door shut.

A couple of very loud explosions could be heard in the bathtub and before he knew it, Chris realized he had to start running like hell. Drake, not even bothering to put a towel around himself, had exploded out of the bathroom and had given chase after Chris.

“WHY YOU LITTLE SHIT, COME HERE!” Drake shouted at Chris as he chased after him.

Chris ran out of the apartment and rushed down the stairs to the common area. Drake, not even thinking about it, rushed out of the apartment giving chase. Chris blitzed towards the common area of the apartment complex where several people were relaxing by the pool, catching some rays. Imagine their shock to find Chris Holmes being chased by a butt-ass naked Drake Stevenson around the swimming pool.

Drake wasn’t seeing the humor in it and wanted to kick Chris’s ass for the firework prank. Chris, meanwhile, was laughing his ass off, and decided he’d try to trick Drake into falling into the swimming pool. Never mind the fact it was rather cold out and the swimming pool had to have been freezing, the idea of Drake ending up in the swimming pool seemed hilarious. So he jumped onto the diving board, rushed back off, and Drake, trying to grab hold, lost his footing and fell right into the pool.

By this point, a couple of Hapilopper City police officers, as well as Claire, had converged on the scene. The police officers weren’t impressed with the indecent exposure, no matter how accidental it had been, and Claire wasn’t impressed when she stepped into the bathroom and found that the fireworks had shot water from the tub all over the bathroom floor.

“God damn it, Chris, you’ve flooded the bathroom!” Claire barked after rushing out to the swimming pool. “You’re cleaning that up!”

Drake, by now treading water in the pool, was also not impressed, but even less so having seen the police officers.

“Mr. Stevenson, trying to impress somebody?” one officer said. “I know we’re not impressed.”

“Sir, this asshole over here launched a couple of firecrackers into a bath I was taking,” Drake replied. “I never gave it any thought. I just gave chase. Wouldn’t you?”

“Not in public, no,” the officer replied. “I’d put some clothes on first.”

Nevertheless, the officers took the situation into account. Theoretically, Drake could have spent a day in jail for indecent exposure, but having seen what led to it, the officers wound up just giving him a ticket, which meant he had to pay a $90 fine for “accidental indecent exposure.” Chris, meanwhile, had indeed flooded the bathroom, and he spent the rest of the day cleaning it up at the request of both Drake and Claire. That’s what’s called a #ChrisHolmesMoment.

[Wrecker]

Lannisburg Complex, Lannisburg, New Northwesteros
The first part of race weekend
Scott Hawking was, to say the least, a little disheartened when he looked at social media upon arriving in New Northwesteros. There had been a sizable amount of posts concerning the accident he had suffered with Jeff Shreeves in the season-opening Tundra Falls 500, which turned to memes using the hashtag #JeffShreevesMoments, then the hashtag #ScottHawkingMoments. Scott looked at some of the posts, and to his dismay, included a couple from his Late Model rivals at Halsted Raceway, where they pointed out some stupid moves he had pulled off, like the time Scott accidentally smashed his car against the turn one wall in the middle of a victory lap after winning a prestigious 150-lap late model race.

Scott didn’t like thinking of that incident. He had worked on building that car for weeks, and when he scored the victory, he had demolished the car and had nothing to show for his big victory.

But at least it seemed like he had his supporters in the garage area. The defending NSSCRA champ, Kai Qiang, appeared to be one of them, having gone over to Scott to see if he was OK. Scott, a little starstruck at the defending champion, of all people, asking about him, responded that he was fine, if not a little pissed off about the incident. Scott didn’t know it, but Qiang might have sensed a kindred spirit in Scott. Apparently Qiang had started off just like Scott, struggling to make it in the world of the NSSCRA.

And to Scott’s relief, #ScottHawkingMoments quickly made way for #ChrisHolmesMoments, for another NSSCRA driver – the lead driver from Team Blue, who apparently was known for his own moments of stupidity, something helped by no less than Ken Henson, former Team Blue team owner, and Drake Stevenson, Chris’s roommate, recalling incidents Chris had been involved in, and just reading the hashtag, Scott started thinking that if people thought Chris Holmes could do things like this, he must either be an absolute idiot or a complete maniac. Or both.

At the very least, that hashtag made Scott realize that no matter what happened last week, nobody could say he was the biggest idiot in the NSSCRA garage. He was just someone starting out in the biggest racing series of them all, and all he had done was slow down in a high-banked corner to avoid a wreck. It wasn’t his fault someone plowed into the back of him at top speed like he wasn’t looking where he was going.

Plus, things were looking up for him. He had a sponsor this week. Apocalypse Pest Control had agreed to sponsor Hawking Racing this weekend, and the forlorn matte black and orange had given way to matte black and yellow. With a sponsor on the car, to say the least, it looked a lot less depressing. In fact, it looked like there was hope, and there was more to come.

One rumor around the garage had stated that Scott had been approached by Cocoa-Bo Eatery to sponsor the 54 car in four races – the upcoming race at Cocoa-Bo Speedway in Cassadaigua, the RTC 400 in Banija, the race in Islas Aaland and the Cocoabo Preservation 300 at Cocoabo Park. Scott didn’t exactly deny the rumors either, only stating he was “very excited for what the future looked like.”

“And you know what the future looks like?” Scott told the Wreckerian Sports News. “It’s got birds.”

“Birds?” the WSN reporter asked.

“Yeah. Birds. You know, like the ones driving the Tropicorp cars.”

“Cocoabos?”

“Damn right.”

As Scott hit the track, knowing that his future looked a lot brighter now than it did this time two weeks ago, or even last week, he knew that, sometime, sooner rather than later, all he would have to worry about would be just going out there and driving as fast as he could. Before long, he wouldn’t have to worry about having enough money to race, or having to beg, borrow and steal his way to the next race. He wound up qualifying 35th quick, with a speed that would put him 32nd on the grid.

Everything was getting better by the day. All he and his friends had to do was keep working, keep building on what they had. They would be a top team before long.

[Abanhfleft]

Malabon, Abanhfleft
Three days before the Argo Petro 350 qualifying

"So you're telling me that not only is weed illegal in New Northwesteros, but there's also the chance that I won't be able to race in Lannisburg unless I change my paintjob?"

Leonidas Baxter couldn't believe what he was hearing. How could UrGa have messed this up? They had been planning to enter NSSCRA ever since the end of the competition's eighth season, the one that Kai Qiang won. That should have been more than ample time for UrGa to delve into the laws and customs of the countries that would host races and plan accordingly. There might be a place in the calendar where video games are banned, which would mean no Mazetainment for Guillermo Archer's hood. Or there could be a place where an arms manufacturing company couldn't advertise so Wilma von Cärinthen wouldn't be able to drive with Lesmash's distinctive bullet logo on her car. And now this. Leo Baxter was in danger of not being able to drive in Lannisburg at all because of the pot leaves on his paintjob.

"I have absolutely no defense at all for this, Leonidas," Olga Semyonovna Gatutina said somberly. "I do not know how this could have slipped through the cracks. The only explanation that I could think of is that we weren't sure that a Northwesterosian race would even be on the calendar, but that's still no excuse."

"So, what now?" Leo asked. "And please, ma'am, don't call me Leonidas. I'm not about to grow a six-pack and kick people into wells while shouting 'This is Sparta!'"

"Oh, don't down yourself like that," Gatutina said. "And don't worry about New Northwesteros. Our legal team will take care of it. I've seen pictures of the place; it reminds me of Rivymiyitevko. Have you ever been to Rivymiyitevko? Seen pictures of it? It's all gray. Gray, gray everywhere. The buildings, the roads, the sky; heck, even the people are all gray. So somber and depressing. I feel that New Northwesteros is just like that. I'm sure that our legal team will find ways to deal with your, well, situation."

"And if your legal team doesn't find a way?" Leo asked. He was quite suspicious that the solution that Gatutina was talking about involved the transfer of cash from one party to another underneath some tables.

"Then I'm sure that the Kanyean paint company can come up with a base green paintjob in time for the race," Gatutina said with a confidence that Leo was not exactly feeling at the moment.

"Are you sure about that, ma'am?" Leo asked again.

"Of course I am," Gatutina nodded. "And please, you can call me Olga."

"Yes, Olga," Leo nodded.

---

Lannnisburg Complex
Lannisburg, New Northwesteros
Argo Petrol 350 Qualifying Day

Perhaps the bribes did work. Leo Baxter was allowed to take his #80 car with the pot leaves (which he had dubbed the "Hot Box", although the lack of a driver's side window meant that it was practically impossible to actually hot box in the "Hot Box") into New Northwesteros without any real penalty. Or maybe UrGa didn't have to bribe either NSSCRA or the Norwesties at all into allowing the "Hot Box" into NNW. Maybe all this was done with a perfectly legal request from UrGa's legal team to the Norwestie government. Leo didn't really know though, and he wasn't sure that he wanted to know the answer if he asked.

Not that it would have mattered anyway. Leo placed 55th overall in the qualification table, almost a second and a half slower than Wilma von Cärinthen and 1.6 seconds slower than Guillermo Archer. Part of Leo was resentful that he had once again been left in the dust while both Archer and Cärinthen were slowly but steadily improving their performances, but for the most part Leo was happy that UrGa was finally becoming competitive with the rest of NSSCRA to the point of being able to not only punch above their weight but mix it with the rest of the top half of the field.

And the Argo Petrol 350 qualifying did throw up some very interesting results. The likes of Kai Qiang and Rinzi Zakhilwal being near the top of the quali standings was normal enough. But Eddie Walters Jr. of Xanneria, a must-qualify driver, taking pole? Now that would have certainly upset quite a number of bookies. Walters literally came out of nowhere and posted the fastest qualifying time right when no one was expecting it, and Leo guessed that the sheer shock of seeing an unchartered driver take pole must have distracted everyone else to the point that some of the big names in NSSCRA did poorly. Gwen Tracer Allison, winner of the Tundra Falls 500, had fallen intp 52nd place, along with that Hapiloppian rookie Taylor Henderson.

But the biggest surprise of all had to be Skip Stiller. Way down in 66th place. Absolute rock bottom. Leo didn't know why, but he just felt the need to talk to Stiller and tell him that it would be fine. For all of Abanhfleft's sporting history with Saint Kanye, Leo had actually found the Yeezie ballers good fun to be with. The fans could get a bit insufferable, but then again fans were always like that. Fleftic, Yeezie, whoever, every single team in the multiverse had obnoxious fans. It was just that Abanhfleft had developed a reputation of having the most obnoxious fans, at least in terms of basketball. And Leo actually quited liked the Yeezie drivers in NSSCRA.

Leo finally hopped out of his chair and made the walk towards the GFR team tent, or headquarters, or wherever the Kanyean drivers stayed in the track during the race weekend. Gil Archer's words from Newmanistan echoed in Leo's mind: Everyone has off days. And everyone has to start from somewhere. It's pushing ourselves to do well even during the off days that really matters.

After a little asking around, Leo finally found Skip Stiller. "Skip Stiller?" he asked. "Leo Baxter," he said, holding out his hand. "Look, I couldn't help but see what happened in qualifying, and I just wanted to say don't worry about it. It may look like you've had an off day today, but qualification is just one half of the battle. There's still the race tomorrow to go, and I know that you've got what it takes to make it up the field."

---

"We were on the verge of greatness, Deck," Wilma von Cärinthen told her crew chief at the end of the qualifying session. "We were this close!" she exclaimed, holding up her index and middle fingers in such a way that only a human hair could barely pass through their separation.

"Yeah, I know," Deckard Sullivan agreed. "Feels really terrible."

"You know, the qualis like these are the ones that really suck," Wilma continued. "When you're so far back down the field, at least then you know that you just can't keep up. But this... This is knowing that there's lots of things I could have done better out there. Warmed up the tyres better. Get the chassis or the camber loosened up a little bit. Maybe take just a little bit less fuel for the quali. All sorts of things I'm thinking about I could have done better or differently. It's dangerous. I know I should be focusing on the next race but right now, I just can't. You know what I mean?"

"I mean, Willie, like I said, it sucks," Deck nodded. "But we're also still figuring out which works and which doesn't, and also we're figuring out which works best across all the races and which ones work only for specific tracks like supers and shorts and road courses."

"Still," Wilma insisted. "One-tenth of a second. One-tenth of a second. Knock that one-tenth off of my time and I'm on the grid instead of Bryan Harrison. And right now i'm thinking of all the ways I could have shaved that one-tenth of a second off my time."

What neither of them didn't talk about, or refused to, was the fact that eking tenths of a second out of a car was a difficult proposition in and of itself. Shaving thousandths and even hundredths of a second of performance or speed was achievable, doable in someone's backyard. But tenths? That was the kind of thing that required specialist designers, builders, and engineers. And there was only so much that could be done within both budgets and regulations.

But that didn't stop people from trying. "All right, Willie, I'll see what I can do about the setup for the next race," Deck Sullivan said. "Esmerel's already loaded in your simulator. Tweak your setups however you want, and we'll replicate it."

---

"Hey, Dad."

"Hey, William," Guillermo Archer said to his eldest son. They were video chatting with each other on their phones.

"Yo, Dad, I saw the race in Newmanistan. You know, the actual race and not the Exhibition," William said. "Sorry about the fuel leak."

"I know, William," Guillermo sighed. "It's not your fault though, so don't apologize to me for it. You weren't the piece of tyre that cracked my tank."

"So how's New Northwesteros?"

"Gray," Guillermo chuckled. "Gray, gray, gray everywhere. Remember that race in that Pridnestrovian island? What was it called again? Ribby-ribby blah blah blah?"

"Rivymiyitevko," William corrected his father.

"Yeah, whatever. That place," Guillermo waved off.

"That bad? Really?" William asked. He definitely couldn't believe that there could be a place in the multiverse quite as bad as Rivymiyitevko.

"Yeah, that bad. At least it's not raining or foggy out here right now," Guillermo said. "Or maybe I'm just lucky."

"Yeah, Dad, about that," William trailed off. "Do you think you can pass on some of your luck to me?"

"Why? What's this about now? Are you in trouble again, William?"

"No, Dad. Well, not really. It's just that there's only a few weeks left in the preseason and I still haven't signed for a team," William admitted.

"What? Really? That can't be! That's not possible!" Guillermo protested. Just this year, the very same year that Gil Archer and the others had been entered into NSSCRA by UrGa, William Archer had registered for the WGP2, first as part of UrGa's entry into that competition, and then as a free agent after UrGa reread the entry rules.

"Yeah, well, believe it, Dad," William shrugged. "I tested out for this team called Adelphia in this place called Strayquestria, but they preferred a bunch of drivers over me. Then I applied for Polestar Racing from Nekoni but they're also interested in someone else." Story of my life, really, William didn't want to add. Unlike his father, who had found his true love and married her when he had the chance, William was still striking out on love, and now it appeared that his bad luck was spreading to his WGP2 applications.

"Okay, well, shouldn't there be other teams out there still searching for drivers?" Guillermo asked.

Yeah, by this point there aren't a lot of them," William admitted. "I fu— messed up real bad, Dad. I sat on my butt and waited for the offers to come to me instead of me offering myself to the teams, and now I have to play catch up. I think there's still some teams left. I could go for Bitten Heroes. Or maybe SinVal Racing. I don't know. I guess I'll go wherever the wind will take me."

"Yeah, well, just watch yourself out there, you hear?" Guillermo told his son. "You watch yourself; you keep yourself safe. Understand?"

"Sir, yes, sir," William said with an extravagant mock salute. "Bye, Dad," he then added seriously.

"Bye, son," Guillermo replied.

"Catch you next time," William said.

"Not if I catch you first," Guillermo added, and then he ended the video chat. Gil sincerely wanted his eldest son to keep himself safe. William was the reason why Gil had gotten into racing in the first place, and when William had said that he wanted to race just like his dad, Gil had impressed on him the importance of safety in their chosen profession. Racing was a dangerous thing; even today when safety standards had never been higher, there were still many serious accidents, and sometimes someone isn't so lucky and has a fatal incident. Yet William, knowing the risks and what was at stake, still wanted to race. And Gil had no idea how he would handle it if he lost William after already having lost so much.

[Cassadaigua]

Bad ending,
by Meghan Sharpe, Driver #4 Spacebook Blaze

Things were going pretty well early on in the Tundra Falls 500. We had advanced our position, and were making the right adjustments. Maybe this could be our day, and it would be a great way to finish off the last Tundra Falls 500 that I will ever run in. It had been an eventual couple days for me ever since I had announced that I was stepping down from NSSCRA competition. Like I have said in all my interviews, I have really enjoyed everything about running at this level and it has been an honor to compete, but it is time for me to step down. I think most of you who are following the sport are also aware that Skip Stiller, from Saint Kanye, has also announced that he will be stepping down from this level. Skip has been a great competitor, and another driver that races hard, but clean. With our haulers parked next to one another for this race, we had some time to talk about our decisions and made a friendly bet between us. Whichever of us finished worse then the other would have to buy dinner for the race team of the one that did better.

So, there we were, running pretty well. I’m running pretty well, but we are encountering a slow car in the #12 of Roman Gwinnett. He clearly had some kind of issue, but I running with the 41 and the 11, I felt pretty safe that we could all avoid it. The 99 of Jelan Ozoemena, from Banija, was also part of the group we were running with. Jelan is a very good driver and will do well in this series, but he may have overreacted in trying to avoid the 12, and made contact with me. Jenna got into the back of me just a little bit as well, and then the 41 of Gilli’i was also involved. I was done, and Jenna had front nose damage that hampered the rest of her day. Everyone was okay, and that’s the good news, but it is always frustrating to go out so early in a race, especially one that starts the season.

Back in the garage, I watched the rest of the race from the hauler and only had Stacie to root for now. Jenna’s day, like I said, was also ruined with the collateral damage from the impact. Stacie was running well, though, and had a great shot. With about 40 laps to go, my crew chief came in and told me that Skip’s crew chief mentioned to her where the team would like to go after the race. I would have loved to have been racing him competitively all the way to the end here, but it was not to be. I responded to my crew chief to go ahead and make the appropriate dinner reservations whenever they wanted to do. Fortunately, they did not go overboard in what they decided to eat.

In NSSCRA, there is not much time to rest. You pack it all up, and head to the next race, and for us that is in New Northwesteros. It’s been a little bit now since the last time I updated by Spacebook story, and we have already qualified. I will be in row 8, alongside Jeremiah Brooke. Sadly, we did not extend our bet with Skip Stiller into qualifying for this race, but I assure you that his qualifying run had nothing to do with the meal we paid for him at Tundra Falls. Not sure why he qualified so poorly as of now, but I am sure we’ll find out.

[Saint Kanye]

To know the difference between St. Kanye and neighboring New Northwesteros, all you need to do is look at their flags.

STK is a bright purple and vibrant lime. This is a very modernized and urbanized country. Neon lights, advertisements, colorful graffiti everywhere, with towering skyscrapers of metal and glass. They have a diverse mix of cultures and subcultures, where people value personal freedoms and innovation.

NNW is a flat black and neutral gray. The place has a drab, gritty industrial vibe, with mostly gray cubical buildings, smoke-spewing factories, and a conservative population which follows stricter laws and gives greater importance to authority, security and tradition (mostly the elders, since the youths are increasingly exposed to Kanyean media).

STK is a democracy and is technologically advanced. NNW is an autocracy and a military powerhouse. But even with their differences, they are allies. They work together, like yin and yang. There are many Norwestie tourists in St. Kanye. There are many Yeezie-owned factories in New Northwesteros. Almost everything is sold in St. Kanye, but almost everything is manufactured in New Northwesteros.

---

Lannisburg Complex, Lannisburg, New Northwesteros
Right after qualifying for the Argo Petrol 350

Thea Alvarez qualified her #46 GGtech Chadwick in twelfth at the Lannisburg Complex. The Glorious Free Republic Motorsports driver liked her car's new sponsor and scheme, but secretly hoped she'd be running her Multiversal Automotive Coatings car in this particular race. The rainbow colors of that car would stand out among all the gray in the surroundings, she thought. She preferred color. In other words, she preferred St. Kanye.

After the Tundra Falls 500 in Newmanistan, she and her team decided to go back home first and then head to Lannisburg later, to catch up on things. Alvarez stayed with her parents during that time and slept in her old room, which was kept the same except for the addition of her NSSCRA race trophies. She always had those shipped home. Maybe if she won the upcoming race, she would personally bring another addition to her collection.

Jeremiah Brooke will be starting sixteenth in his #18 Vylet Chadwick. While in St. Kanye, he paid sick (but non-contagious) children surprise visits at the Hyde Bompton Medical Center. The hospital is located in his hometown and owned by the Hyde Medical Group, who also sponsor him. The kids were happy, he was happy, and of course the sponsor was happy.

Like Alvarez, he too visited his parents, having a barbecue with them and impressing them with his take on his mother's potato salad, the same salad that he brought to the drivers' party in Hapilopper last season. Brooke made a whole batch of the stuff and brought it to New Northwesteros, eating some with every meal. Norwestie food is so bland, but he's just too polite to say that. So the bland chow is one problem solved. What else does Brooke need to improve? His place in the field. Sixteenth is not bad, but also not good enough. Time to hit the simulators again later.

Skip Stiller was sixty-sixth. Subtracting the DNQs, that's forty-sixth. Tail end of the field. The driver of the #3 QED Car Rentals Chadwick looked pale and weak. He was fine when he visited his pregnant wife and his racing school in St. Kanye, but since the night before qualifying, he has not been feeling well. Back at the garage area, Stiller was slumped on a chair, helmet in hand, when he was approached by a familiar face.

Weakly, Stiller said "Hey, uh, would you mind?" The person replied, "Skip Stiller? Leo Baxter." Stiller knew that name. Every Kanyean did. Baxter used to play point guard for the Fleftic national basketball team, the Rebolusyonaryos, Rebs for short. And their rivalry with St. Kanye's team, the Surge, was one of the biggest in international sports. Baxter held out his hand, which Stiller took and shook. "Look, I couldn't help but see what happened in qualifying, and I just wanted to say don't worry about it. It may look like you've had an off day today, but qualification is just one half of the battle. There's still the race tomorrow to go, and I know that you've got what it takes to make it up the field."

"Thanks, man, appreciate it", replied Stiller, who sat up straight, appearing a little better after Baxter's encouragement. Stiller still was not used to Baxter wearing a green pot leaf-patterned firesuit with the number 80, rather than a blue, orange and green jersey and shorts with the number 1, but maybe he will be once he actually starts racing against him. "And you, don't stop trying. You'll soon figure things out and qualify, I know it. And I hope you give me as good of a battle as you did with Cedric Philips or Victor McLain", naming previous members of the Kanyean hoops team.

Soon the Yeezie and the Fleftic were approached by the other two GFR members. "Leo", spoke Stiller, "meet my teammates at Glorious Free Republic Motorsports. These are Thea Alvarez and Jeremiah Brooke." "It's a pleasure sir", said the shy Alvarez. Brooke spoke, "Hey man, how are you? You know, you were one of the guys that made every Rebs-Surge game worth watching. Well, and Jazz [Higgs, Baxter's old hoops teammate]. What's he up to these days, anyway? Always had a soft spot for him coz, ya know, half Yeezie." (Higgs' mother is Kanyean.)

"Where are your teammates, by the way?" Stiller asked Baxter. "I qualified next to one of them, the #96 guy, but I don't know where he went", spoke Alvarez. "Then let's find them. Would like to get to know them too", said Brooke. "Salad?"

[Valentine Z]

Love Letters from Valentine Z

0.25 Valentian Credits
Standard Edition

Old Earth Time: 2080 - February - 25
Decimal Time: 25 - 293 - 6 : 00 : 00

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

---

News from NSSCRA 9 - Gwen Tracer Allison's big finish! Attributes it to her sleep demons.

Reporter: Head Diplomat Charlene Jeannie Natalia Adeline Marceline “Wanbyeoghan Hyeobsang-Ga” Celestie Christine Irelle Dva. Arianna Rees Edith Novena Annie Ciara W. I. Bethany Myong Suh-Hyung

Secondary Reporter: Wing Commander Angeline Joyce Crystal Bella Wv “A Estrela Alegre” Samara Sapphire Tamara Annie Estefania Carolina Tavares Alencar Melissa Clemente Teixeira Vanda Regina Mik Nogueira

Today was a great day for our fellow Valentians in NSSCRA 9, whereby our fellow Fate of the Omniverse, Gwen Tracer Allison, has snagged herself the first place on the very first race, after finishing the previous race with 18th position (but it was an Exhibition Race, so it didn't count). Sporting her bright and refurbished #31 T-Racer Holdings car, she started off at 10th on the last segment and along the way, she was passing through various cars. Some of them have gave her an intense competition, but she managed to win with nearly 0.200 seconds in front of the second car behind her. Fans, NSSCRA officials, along with the many other fellow racers, have stated that it was quite a surprise from Gwen, having her do a finish for the very first race, after taking a break between the previous season and the current season.

Angeline stated that, "Gwen was on her edge after having that nightmare involving a rather large bunny, along with 80 Cocoabos (native animals to Cocoabo Preservation / Cocoabo Park) chanting at her to win."

Gwen could not be reached for comments 2-3 hours after the race. Only after that then she voiced out that she "felt a lot better and that I hope to take on the future challenges ahead of me."

Finishing 1st on the very first race that matters, fans and people around her have already set up high expectations for Gwen. I, along with the Valentians, wish her all the best.

Quickie OOC: This is a cross-over / impromptu post from my news thread. Might be one of the only times I'm doing it, because I don't want to spam here with my stuff when you can read it in my thread.

[The Albali Republic]

Astra's Ups and Downs
19/02/2020 | NSSCRA

Last race, Astra Motorsport's Teija Kuusela defied all expectations to finish 19th. Was it just a fluke?

As a result of Kuusela's good showing at the Tundra Falls 500 in which she finished 19th, many fans had began to hope that their beloved team could be on the up after a rough start. They eagerly waited for the Argo Petrol 350, only to be sorely disappointed. For a third time, Waltteri Lehto has failed to qualify after a miserable performance saw him take 59th place; Teija Kuusela drove slightly better, scoring 42nd place. This is by far the worst qualifying performance by Astra's drivers. Once again, fans of both Astra and the wider sport have been asking one question - "How can this be happening?" We arranged an interview with Astra's crew chief Robin Janes to get some answers. The interviewer is Illés Zabina.

IZ: "So, I am sure you have been hearing the displeasure from fans over these past few races. How are you and your team going to silence the critics?"
RJ: "We are going to get our heads down and work as hard as we can to iron out these issues - they are teething problems, and we are to expect such things in the first couple of races in an entirely new series for us."
IZ: "But you delayed your entry into NSSCRA by an entire season because 'Astra wasn't ready', as Marten Laas had said previously. Surely these issues would have been ironed out long before NSSCRA 9 had started."
RJ: "That's true - many, many problems were solved before coming into this season, yet there are things that only become apparent when the racing actually starts; testing can only reveal so much."
IZ: "Do you think your drivers are being unfairly blamed for Astra's failures recently?"
RJ: "Of course. We have two wonderful drivers in Teija and Waltteri - we would not have hired them and made them our faces to the sport if we were not one hundred percent confident in their abilities."
IZ: "Waltteri Lehto has failed to qualify in all three races so far, in addition to the Exhibition. This can't all be the fault of 'teething problems', can it?"
RJ: "Waltteri is one of the best drivers I know of. We hired him because of-"
IZ: "I'm sorry for the interruption but this isn't what I am asking. Is the team responsible for Waltteri's lacklustre performance, or does he bear some blame as well?"
RJ: "I... the team, including the drivers, are working as one to fix these problems. There is no room for individual blame."

So there we are - if Robin Janes is to be believed, we can expect to see a resurgent Astra in the following races. The team expects a lot of hard work from all of its staff including their drivers to make a real difference to their rocky performance.

[Filindostan]

Hana Bhe #0
@HanBheZero

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28th in Tundra Falls! Thanks to the team for giving me the highest finish of my career.
Struggled last year with sub-36th finishes and 18 DNQs. Let's see if we can keep our momentum in Argo Petrol 350.
#NSSCRA #BadaiAnginTim #GirlsWillCode

Rusty #71
@RustyIbuna71

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Replying to @HanBheZero

@HanBheZero Ooh, the third hashtag... what does that mean? #GirlsWillCode

Hana Bhe #0
@HanBheZero

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Replying to @RustyIbuna71

Shhhh... That's a secret. You'll find out in a few weeks. Want to be a volunteer? Hahaha!

Rusty #71
@RustyIbuna71

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Replying to @HanBheZero

We'll see after a while. See you in the Yoggy... oops.

Professional Heckler FID
@DaHecklerFID

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Replying to @HanBheZero and @RustyIbuna71

Tagging @FujiKYK22.
Hi Kyoko! HAHAHA!

藤崎 京子
@FujiKYK22

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Replying to @HanBheZero, @RustyIbuna71, and @DaHecklerFID

@RustyIbuna71. Let's talk in Yoggy after I come back from Hodori.

[Xanneria]

Walters fast in Lannisberg
By Lee Iyokoka

NEW NORTHWESTEROS - On a chilly haze filled afternoon Eddie Walters Jr took a pole at the "new" track in New Northwesteros. the flat "roval" as it is being branded takes place near an industrial complex in the town of Lannisburg. Walters took to the track like a fish in water, the flat rhomboid track left some people in the dust, like Skip Stiller who was all over the place during his lap. Although it sounds like Stiller might be having some reactions to the notable smog that lies around the track. But With Stiller 46th, it's gonna be interesting to see how he does. Another driver shocking people was Liuyoing Xu, the Sherpa native has qualified 8th in the second hometown car, while I've heard grumblings in the garage about the cars legality, I think it would be more a case of the team focusing on this race more than the others as to why the car was so fast. I'm sure some testing had been done before hand and the connections between them and the Yeezies team would also help out. Roger Bipacks was first car out, a painful 0.060 seconds off. Another driver who did well was Hengxing Tian, who after a tumultious exhibition race has shown to be a decent driver. In fact recently Roman Gwinnett got to talk to him recently and had this to say about the North Chinese driver.

He's got a real passion to win. I can respect that, but if just can listen to to other drivers who talk to him and give him suggestions, I think he's gonna go places. He's new and he needs to understand that. I could see him being a bit better of a driver in the future. He seems to be a cool kid.

In fact he out qualified some heavy hitters, including two Team Blue cars and two of the Tropicorp entries. Jeff Shreeves might not think much about that though, after an incident between the two in the Exhibition sent Shreeves out and fuming, and along with that he got taken out by another lapped car in the Points race. He qualified in 41st place (56th overall) but his teammate Gordon Orton who has to qualifying did get 40th overall, but given the 4 charter sports were taken by teams in the top 20 it wasn't enough. Clearly the Mercado does have speed though, and Shreeve4s has been admitting to sandbagging.

Sponsor Update for the KRD Team

One of the more intriguing news to come out of the Xannerian Motorsports scene this week was that XANAir, the primary sponsor of KRD Team Iona announced that it would be pbringing on branding of two airlines that they have part or full ownership of. One of them is RRW Airways. Yes, the new flag carrier of the recently stabilized nation of Wrecker is partially owned by XANAir with partiall ownership by the Wrecker Government. It will be interesting to see if the rumored talks about RRW AIrways and the #54 of Scott Hawking will come to pass after this announcement, but now XANAir believes that it would be beneficial to have the companies brand exposed to the public in the "Glorious Southewst of AO"

They picked two races for the airline. One naturally would be the Halsted race in Wrecker and the other more controversially would be the West Hampton race. It's speculated that since no Xannaria airline flys there that West Hampton would be a better market for the Wreckerian Airline as it it flys short haul flights from Halsted to West Hampton. (Right now aside from Hapilopper, Xanneria and Banija are the only other international destinations flown by the airline.)

The other airline is SugarAir. SugarAir is a AO based airline run fully by XANAir. The airline is based in WInston, Capital of the Xannerian_Sunbelt_Islands. Its name is derived from the massive sugar plantations on the island. Several AO based races will see the Pink and Tropical Yellow colors adorned on the cars.


RRW AIRWAYS

Race 24 (May 16/17)- Halstead Raceway, Halstead, Wreckeria 
Race 28 (May 30/31)- West Hampton Motor Speedway, Hapilopper (Speedway)

SugarAir

Race 5 (Feb 29/Mar 1)- RTC 400, Ruwani Motor Speedway, Ruwani, Hangaza, Banija (Speedway)
Race 7 (Mar 7/8)- Cocoabo Preservation 300K, Cocoabo Park Circuit, Tropicorp (Road Course)
Race 20 (Apr 28/29)- Tropicorp 500, Tropicoast Beach Course, Tropicorp (Superspeedway)
Race 29 (June 2/3)- Vilaye Energy Drink 314, Vilitan Mountain Challenge Course, Vilita (Road Course)

[The Sherpa Empire]

About ten years ago...

It was a muggy afternoon. Kai Qiang had spent most of the day selling sugarcane from the back of a pedal cart. He was woozy from the heat, and filthy and sweaty from pedaling the cart over unpaved roads on his way into town. It was a school day, but he had skipped school to sell sugarcane because was desperate for money. He had been missing school increasingly often to make time for other responsibilities -- the legal processes to settle his father's estate, working the fields, bringing the crops to market, that sort of thing. Even when he did go to school nowadays, he was so exhausted he could barely stay awake. He had trouble following the lessons because he had missed so much on the days he was absent. He went for the school lunches as much as the actual classes.

Emotionally, he was still reeling from his father's death, but he didn't even have time to grieve properly because he was so overwhelmed trying to keep up with everything. Some of his teachers were sympathetic and would cut him some slack if he turned things in late. Others just gave him smug high-handed lectures about how he was throwing away his future by missing so much school -- as if he had a choice. Qiang was running himself ragged trying to stay in school without starving, but everything was still coming apart at the seams.

It was late in the day and Qiang had already missed most of the day's classes, but he thought maybe there was time to stop by the school to see Hongfu Lu. He didn't have many people he could talk to, so it meant a lot being able to talk to her and share his troubles. His parents were dead, his sister had gone to Guangdong to stay with some distant relatives they barely knew, and it was hard to keep up with his friends when he was missing so much school. But there was still Hongfu Lu. His talks with her were one of the last pieces of his old life that he still had.

He felt sluggish and drowsy as he pedaled toward the school. His legs were sore from pedaling, his arms were sore from chopping the sugarcane and peeling off the bark, and he could feel the weight of the cart and the stiffness of its rusty old wheels slowing him down. It was tempting to just pull over in a quiet alley, curl up in the back of the cart, and doze off -- but if he did that, he'd miss his chance to see Lu. He reached the school a few minutes before the final bell rang and slumped forward over the handlebars to catch his breath for a minute.
He was sure he looked like a grimy mess, but if he went inside to wash up, he was more likely to miss Lu coming out or to get dragged into the principal's office to explain why he'd been absent again.

Of course, showing up at school without cleaning himself up first had its own downsides. Qiang hated letting his classmates see him like this. It was humiliating, and sometimes they bullied him for it, but it was unavoidable.

Hongfu Lu came out of the school with two other girls, all of them chatting and smiling. They stopped when they saw Qiang, and the smiles faded from their faces. He gave them a friendly greeting, trying to act as if nothing was amiss -- but he could tell something was wrong. He tried to hug Lu, but she pushed him away. The other girls excused themselves and hurried away. Lu's eyes glistened with tears. "Qiang, I can't do this anymore," she said.

"What do you mean?" Qiang said, but he knew exactly what she meant. He just didn't want to believe it.

"I mean... Look at yourself!" said Lu. "You look like you just crawled out the gutter."

"Yeah, I had to work..."

"People look at me funny just for talking to you, like they think I'm some kind of loser," said Lu.

"I know," said Qiang, "but my father's not here to pay the bills, so I have to do this until I can get a better job."

"How are you going to get a better job when you're failing all your classes?" said Lu. "You have no future, Qiang.
I'm sorry, but I'm not going to spend my whole life with a flunk out who sells sugarcane at the farmer's market."

Qiang got angry now. "You think I like doing this? I come to class as much as I can because I don't want to do this my whole life -- but I need to eat. I have living expenses that can't wait until I graduate. It's not always going to be like this!"

Lu shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I have to think about my future." A group of popular kids from good families walked past, pointing and gossiping. "And my reputation," Lu added.

"You said you would be there for me."

"Yeah, and you said you were going to go to college and design cars for Punjab Motors," Lu retorted. "I know what it's like being poor, and I'm not going to live my whole life that way."

"I still want to do that," said Qiang. "I just didn't know my father was going to die and I'd have to pay all my own bills."

"How are you going to go to college and get an engineering degree when you're flunking out of high school?" said Lu.

Qiang stammered helplessly, lost for words.

"I'm sorry," said Lu. She hugged him one last time and then turned and hurried away, leaving Qiang standing there dumbfounded with his cart of unsold sugarcane.

Qiang felt like the ground had been yanked out from under him. The last several months of his life felt like one long nightmare that he couldn't wake up from. It was tempting to just throw in the towel and stop trying, to go home, crawl into bed, and never get up, just lie there until he died. Or maybe step in front of a bus so he didn't have to bother going home. What was the point of even living when every day was just a new kind of hell?

He stood there for several minutes, staring stupidly into space, ignoring his former classmates that were still pouring out of the school, gawking, pointing, and gossiping about his disheveled appearance.

As the last students trickled out of the school and the crowd started to thin out, his math teacher, Mrs. Zheng came over and put a hand on his shoulder. She was wearing gaudy clothes and too much make-up and she had a couple of large brightly colored bags drapped over her arm. She pulled out some papers and handed them to Qiang. "These are the problems we did in class today, and this is the homework. If you bring them in tomorrow, I'll mark you present for today so you don't have another absence."

Qiang handed the papers back. "Don't bother."

"Qiang Kai, I have to flunk you if you don't do the work," Mrs. Zheng said. "I know what's going on, but I can't give you credit for assignments that you haven't done."

"I'm not coming back," said Qiang. He turned to leave, but Mrs. Zheng grabbed his arm.

"No," she said. "Come inside and let's talk about it."

"I need to get home and have dinner," said Qiang.

"I'll get you some leftovers from the cafeteria," said Zheng.

Qiang parked his cart with the sugarcane by the entrance of the schoolyard and asked the gatekeepers to make sure nobody stole the cart or the sugarcane while he went inside to talk to his math teachers. They had a long conversation and Qiang took Mrs. Zheng's worksheets home with him, but he never did the problems.

---

Present day...

The drab cityscape of Lannisburg reminded Qiang of the grubby industrial parts of Guilin. The picturesque places in Guilin were exceptionally beautiful, but it had its ugly parts too. Some racing fans asked him to sign autographs or pose with them for selfies the morning before qualifying. He spent a little while indulging them, but then it was time to get back his car and take his turn on the track. As he was walking to his car, he thought of an old memory: he was selling gai lan and sugarcane at a market in Guilin, and a family of fat brown tourists had asked to take his picture. They probably planned to take it home to Rajasthan or Uttar Pradesh so they could show their friends how quaint and backward life was in the Chinese Territories.

Now racing fans in Lannisburg were asking to take his picture so they could show their friends how slick and cool their trip to the race track was. People were funny.

Qiang had a good run in qualifying, only missing out on the pole by a couple hundredths of a second. The two IRACT teams and Qiang's old neighbor Liuyong Xu were also in the top 10. They just had to make sure they didn't fuck it up tomorrow.

[Saint Kanye]

The following transcript is taken from the SKYNET Sports Channel 12 broadcast of the Argo Petrol 350. The commentators are Shaun Pitt and Carl Tanner, both former professional stock car drivers in St. Kanye.

---

And we're back. It's a, uh, cloudy day here in New Northwesteros, city of Lannisburg. Home of the Lannisburg Complex. Site of the Argo Petrol 350, the second points race in our NSSCRA schedule. This is SKYNET Sports 12, and I'm Shaun Pitt.
And I'm Carl Tanner. Race is starting in a few minutes, but first let's take a look at our field.

Big surprise in qualifying, as Eddie Walters Jr. gets the Vilaye Energy Drink Pole Award. Walters of course drives the #10 XanAir/Ben Fosters Knox for KRD Team Iona out of Xanneria.
This guy finished 32nd in points last season and lost his charter as a result. Looks like he's back for vengeance this time, Shaun.
Bet. Can he keep this up for the whole race, or will he fall to the back?
We'll see about that. Then we have our champ Kai Qiang in the #44 Khamdo Electronics TMW.
Outside pole, just like in the Exhibition.

Starting third is Qiang's fellow Sherpa driver Rinzi Aogar Zakhilwal in the #06 Mayhem AutoModi.
These Sherpas have been great in qualifying today, Carl. All of em in the top ten.
Beside Zakhilwal, the #2 Tiones Lumber Dart of Centur Tiones, from Vilita & Turori Motorsports.
Tiones is the only VTM driver in the top ten at the [Tundra Falls] 500. Heck, he was the only VTM driver in the top half of the field!
But I'm sure his teammates won't let that happen again, Shaun. Let's move on.

Fifth, another Sherpa like we're talking about. Liangmei Li in the Xianglian Sportswear TMW, #88.
#89, you mean.
Sorry, was used to her old number.
Then it's Team Cassadaigua's Stacie Houston in the #27 Five Star Mobile Blaze.
Oh, would you look at that. White and pink car, that 89, beside a black and pink car.

Up next, black and green beside white and green.
Alex Knight is in that #6 Charged Up Transmissions car, Hampton Island Racing. And then another Sherpa, Liuyong Xu.
Xu is driving for the home team, Direwolf Auto Team. Prime Insurance Chadwick, his season #9, changed from last season's 99.
So that's the 6 and the 9 in our fourth row.
(together) Nice.

Fifth row, we have, uh, Valentina Freya, uh, Yadana Aye, did I say that right?
Mhm. Valentina Freya Yadana Aye. The rookie from Valentine Z, replacing Jolyn Helen Ceeta in the #15 Eveline.
Ceeta went over to WGP2, using the name "Jolyn Caulfield".
Another V&T car beside Ceeta, I mean, Aye. Yraaga Gilli'i in the #41 Tropicorp Dart.
Bad result for Gilli'i last week, as he was collected a crash midway. (a video of the crash plays)
Now he needs to avoid something like that, and we hope he does.
That's the top ten starters for the Argo Petrol 350. We'll see you later.

(commercial break)

We're back again with the NSSCRA on SKYNET Sports 12.
We already talked about the top ten starters in the Argo Petrol 350, now let's continue with the rest of the field.
At eleventh is Guillermo Archer, driving the #96 Mazetainment Games Luxur for UrGa Stock Car Department.
UrGa is from Pridnestrovia, but Archer himself is Fleftic.
He's a two-time truck series champion back home.
Next, we have our first Kanyean in the field, Thea Alvarez, in the #46 GGtech Chadwick for GFR. Glorious Free Republic Motorsports, that is.
Well, would you look at that, Shaun. A gaming software car beside a gaming hardware car. Like, it's possible that some play a Mazetainment title on a GGtech laptop.
Ain't surprised if some already do, Carl.

(OOC: ICly, the two cover the whole field, but I'm only focusing on the notable drivers in this RP.)

Fifteenth, Meghan Sharpe of Team Cassadaigua. This is gonna be her last season.
She's driving that beautiful #4 Spacebook Blaze.
Sixteenth is another driver from St. Kanye. We got Jeremiah Brooke in the #18 Vylet Chadwick for GFR.
Hey, a website and an internet provider.
No Vylet, no Spacebook.
That's the case for a lot of our Yeezie viewers, right?

Next, Vanda Rosa Cordeiro.... Kerman. #1 Die Sportler MA for Jebslunder Motorenwerken. Rookie of the Year candidate.
Beside her, another entry from N-N-Dubs, Paul Nystrom in that #21 Argoil Chadwick for Direwolf.
Argoil is the motor oil brand of Argo Petrol, who sponsors this race.

(skip)

Eleventh row, we got some goose eggs.
Double zero of TJUN-ia's Michael Stefan, and single zero of Filindostan's Hana Bhe.
Stefan races for Jaguar Racing, and Bhe, in that Descension car, for Badai Angin Tim Motorsport, BA Tim for short.

(skip)

Sixteenth row. Inside, Jelan Ozoemena of Banija.
He's driving a Yeezie car, the Sentoza Speedhawk. #99, sponsored by Regional Transit.
Outside, fellow single car team, Wreckerian Scott Hawking in the #54 Apocalypse Pest Control Preston.
Apocalypse is a Norwestie company, they signed a six-race deal with Hawking. They got two cars on the field today, this is the first one.

Seventeenth row. Inside, from Jebslund, in the #13 BDA car,,,,,
Brigade General Eva Kerman. (both salute)
Outside, the other Apocalypse car. #33 Chadwick for Direwolf Auto Team, driven by Tyler Linde.
Remember, the 54 has more black, the 33 has more yellow.
And of course, the brands are different.
Tyler, the son of Elbert, owner of Apocalypse.
What a great dad, Shaun, supporting his son's racing career.

(skip)

Finally, we're down to the last row.
#01, Cristensen Kalsters out of Islas Aaland.
And Skip Stiller of GFR, #3 QED Car Rentals Chadwick.
Word around the garage is, Stiller wasn't feeling well during qualifying, which is why he did poorly.
Hope he's better now though. We know how dangerous those GFR cars could be, including him, they can make up lots of positions quickly.
And that's our field. We'll be back in time for the starting command.

[Hampton Island]

Setting: Shellshock Batteries CEO’s office, featuring the CEO and a college intern

Intern: Sir, I have the letter drawn up. Let me know what you think.

CEO: (reading). Drivers and teams of the NSSCRA, let me; hold on.

Intern: What?

CEO: No one says “the” NSSCRA. Just call it NSSCRA.

Intern: Sorry. Do I pronounce it as Niss-kra, or just say each letter individually?

CEO: I say Niss-kra. Now, let me read more. (Reading again), Shellshock Batteries offers a fine product and we would like to promote it on your car. It’s a battery, so it’s important for the car. (Stops reading). Seriously?

Intern: What?

CEO: Was this your strong suit?

Intern: Writing was not, no.

CEO: I’ve noticed.

Intern: Marketing is.

CEO: You have to be able to write if you want to market.

Intern: I just use spell check and grammar check. My spelling was fine. Grammar check told me to say “the” NSSCRA and just not NSSCRA.

CEO: Sometimes, we have to use common sense and not grammar checks.

Intern: Good idea.

CEO: (reads more). By putting a large Shellshock Batteries logo on your car, we can advertise our product and give you a large sum of money that can be negotiated. (Stops reading). Do not just offer a large sum of money to someone. Don’t ever say that.

Intern: Well, it would be a large sum of money. Millions, right?

CEO: Of course, but you never phrase it like that. Or else they are going to increase their initial asking price and make the negotiation even more difficult. All you say is a competitive sponsorship package.

Intern: Oh, okay.

CEO: Well, I think I have read enough. I’ll have my normal coffee, two creams, one sugar.

Intern: Sure.

CEO: (thinking to himself). I should have just done this myself.

Official letter: (sent to all race teams with drivers that have a charter)

To: NSSCRA Drivers needing sponsorship or additional sponsorship
From: Shellshock Batteries

I hope this letter finds you well. Here at Shellshock Batteries, we can proudly say that we have been a sponsor in NSSCRA since the 6th season, adorning the #22 of Kevin Cosgrove. Kevin has represented the brand with honor and dignity. Unfortunately, due to the rules for NSSCRA 9, we are no longer guaranteed a spot in the field. We have tried to work out a deal with the #6 of Alex Knight, but have not been able to do so. We are looking to be either a primary or a secondary sponsor of your race program, and we will offer a competitive price to accomplish this. Our product is a quality product, and if you have not used it in your vehicles yourself, we would be glad to oblige. We would not require you to run our battery in your car, but will pay a higher price if you do.

Please let me know soon,
Thank you!

[New Northwesteros]

DIREWOLF AUTO TEAM
@direwolfautoteam

---

Great day for Direwolf as all three of our @Chadwick C-1000s qualify for the @ArgoPetrol 350 at the Lannisburg Complex. @LYXfastaf starts 8th, @25NystromPaul is 18th, @TyLindeRacing is 34th.

#DireWolfPack #NSSCRA

Tyler Linde was delighted to find out that his qualifying effort at his home track resulted in him making the field. Thirty-fourth meant the lower mid-pack, but Linde didn't care. This would be the first race of his NSSCRA career.

His father Elbert, who owns his car sponsor Apocalypse Pest Control, gave him a call after qualifying congratulating him on making the field. Elbert also said that he'll be watching the race tomorrow. And why wouldn't he, as his company's name is on two of the cars in the race. Aside from Linde's #33 Chadwick, there was also Wreckerian Scott Hawking's #54 Preston.

Linde wanted to go out for drinks to celebrate (the drinking age in both New Northwesteros and St. Kanye is 18), but he was quickly stopped by his fellow Direwolf Auto Team driver, the Sherpa-born Liuyong Xu. "Are you crazy? The race is tomorrow. If you're gonna drink yourself blind, do it after the race."

"Yeahhh guess you're right", replied Linde. "Hey, that gives me an idea. You know the dinner bet between Stiller and Sharpe? I'm gonna find someone to try to buy the drinks for me." Kanyean Skip Stiller and Cassadagan Meghan Sharpe, who were both quitting full-time racing after this season, made a bet in which the better finisher in last week's Tundra Falls 500 would get treated to dinner by the other. Stiller went on to finish eleventh, way ahead of Sharpe, who crashed out in the middle of the race and was classified forty-fifth.

"Ain't doing it", said Xu.

"Not interested either", added Paul Nystrom, another of their teammates.

"Whatever, guys. Oh, I know!" Linde's eyes lit up as he grabbed his phone and opened the Twii.tur app.

Tyler Linde #33
@TyLindeRacing

---

Hey @Scott_HawkingMotors, since we're both sponsored by Apocalypse, let's bet? You know the rules, better finisher gets treated. Instead of dinner let's make it a case of beer.....

#NSSCRA

[Jebslund]

13th wasn't a bad place to start the season in. It was just outside the top ten, and it would certainly be easier to climb to the top from 13th than, say, 30th, but Lexi was still not happy. She'd been in or near the lead most of the race, until a bad pit late in the race (she'd pitted too soon and hadn't quite slowed down enough to avoid a time penalty) left her so far behind that it had been all she could do to get to 13th and stay there. Keeping Kai Qiang behind her helped her mood slightly, the memories of him trash talking her last season having left their mark, loathe as she was to admit it. She'd been hitting the sims hard since then, making sure she'd do better next time.

As for Eva, while 6th wasn't 1st, it was still a top ten finish. That meant there was nothing to celebrate and everything to improve upon after the first points race of the season, and that meant hitting the simulator, doing plenty of practice laps, and studying race footage to see what was working and what wasn't. Eva had had two disappointing seasons so far in NSSCRA, and, although her military career was going well so far, she wanted to retire. As much as it disappointed her to get to the top only to fumble at the one yard line, Eva loved racing. She loved the feeling of driving that fast, of competing with other drivers, of those last few seconds of a good, tough race where everything seemed to slow down and it was hers by a milimeter, of waiting for the photo to be analysed to announce the winner. If she wanted to make a career of it, though, she needed to prove that she could go the distance.

As for Vanda Rosa, she'd finished 34th, a disappointing finish for the first points race of the season. While her sponsors and pit crew reassured her that this was normal for rookies and that she'd improve with experience, Vanda Rosa was still feeling the pressure to do far better. Nobody ever heard of racers who finished in the bottom tenth of the field. Nobody was proud of racers who finished so low. If she was to be anything but an embarrassment to her family and her community and her sponsors, Vanda Rosa was going to need to do *far* better, and start consistently earning far higher finishes.

[Vilita and Turori]

---

:: twii.tur Trending ::

twii.tur is a short message communication service that originated from Turori and allowed users to exchange content of 140 characters. The service was conceived as a way to allow officials to receive alerts and key information such as incoming weather notifications, major events and the ability to stay coordinated during a time of crisis but was under-utilized and doubts were raised as to whether the overhead of the infrastructure was worthwhile to maintain. As capabilities of interconnected and handheld communication devices improved, the Turorian Weather & Information Interchange (Twii) was adapted into a public facing service where users could sign up to create their own twii nodes where users would sign up to a twii group to receive all the twii messages delivered by members of that group. Ultimately, as demand grew, a fully public release of twii came at the connected location twii.tur where all users can participate in the public twii, selecting which messages to receive by adding individual users, groups or topics to their twii.tur feed. More recent developments and additions to twii.tur included the introduction of quick bangs, images, emotitags and users with high overall ratings can even post video of 30 seconds or less onto their twii feed.


Since it transitioned from an internal Turorian public service to an open social communication platform allowing users outside of the Island Emirate of Turori to register accounts and share content ahead of the World Cup 80 finals, twii.tur has exploded in popularity becoming one of fastest growing companies in the Island Emirate of Turori as well as one of the most well-recognized brand names in the multiverse. twii.tur has become the go-to social communication and information exchange platform not only throughout the Atlantian Oceania region but also outside of Atlantian Oceania throughout Esportiva in places such as South Covello, and Rushmore in nations such as Nephara, Eura, Cassadaigua and Savojarna. twii.tur has even made it big in the independent lands beyond including in Saint Kanye and Omerica among others. To 'twii' has become a statement embedded in culture and not just a statement of action.

Hearing that @Scott_HawkingMotors has picked up sponsorship from #betterwithcocoa-bo details to follow

:: Behind the twii ::
Cocoa-bo, the beloved Turorian delectables and eatery shop which has recently made a massive expansion into Rushmore and specifically the nation of Cassadaigua has been looking to become primary sponsor on at least two NSSCRA stock cars in order to celebrate the first ever NSSCRA event at the newly re-branded Cocoa-bo Speedway in Starksville, Cassadaigua. Now, it appears they have signed their first deal with Wreckeria driver #54 Scott Hawking. If the reports are accurate, Hawking will have his #54 Skychief re-painted in Cocoa-bo colors for the stretch of events beginning in Starksville and running through Banija, Islas Aaland and Tropicorp. While the most important factor for Cocoa-bo was the primary sponsorship at the Cocoa-bo speedway in Cassadaigua, an emerging market for the brand, the opportunity to continue sponsoring the team in Banija and the Cocoabo Forest, two additional key markets, made an easy decision to maintain the deal with the team. Cocoa-bo have also reportedly written an option into the contract with the possibility to add further races to the partnership with the team if the initial deal results in positive exposure for both team and sponsor.

---

Lets go @VTM_NSSCRA !!!!! First race of the season #TundraFalls500 boogity yeah!

---

#boom goes @YG41

---

get that #12 car off the track!!

:: Behind the twii ::
The season had gotten off to a hot start for Vilita & Turori Motorsports driver Yraaga Gilli'i who won the Tundra Falls Exhibition for the first time. The leader in race victories from NSSCRA Season 8, Gilli'i has two straight appearances in the Championship 4 and was listed as the early odds-on favorite in many sports books to be crowned NSSCRA Season 9 champion. Those wagers were validated when Gilli'i outpaced a massive field to take the checkered flag in the Exhibition event but things couldn't have gone worse for the driver of the #41 Tropicorp Racing Supply Dart as a slow Xannerian #12 entry for Roman Gwinnet bottled up the field behind them on a restart causing the inexperienced Banijan driver Jelan Ozoemena to make contact with Team Cassadaigua's Meghan Sharpe, sending both cars into the path of Gilli'i and eliminating all from the Tundra Falls 500 before the halfway mark. It has put each driver in an early deficit points wise which could come back to haunt them as the 27 race regular season schedule is almost certain to result in at least a small number of race winning drivers missing out on the NSSCRA Chase due to points. While Gilli'i led the series in Race Victories during NSSCRA Season 8, the field is catching up and the team is also working with a brand new vehicle from the Dart Group which could result in some instability early in the season. Vilita and Turori Motorsports were not particularly impressive in Tundra Falls with only #2 Centur Tiones posting a Top 10 finish.

[Newmanistan]

Race: Argo Petrol 350 @ Lannisburg Complex, Lannisburg, New Northwesteros
Lap Record: 32.073 sec.
Minimum to avoid DNF: 35.350 sec.

Segment 1:

1 #10- Eddie Walters Jr (Xanneria) *Q*                           32.491
 2 #2- Centur Tiones (Vilita and Turori)                          32.540
 3 #7- Clarissa Alanis Star (Valentine Z)                         32.619
 4 #44- Kai Qiang (The Sherpa Empire)                             32.652
 5 #27- Stacie Houston (Cassadaigua)                              32.653
 6 #81- Chris Holmes (Hapilopper)                                 32.698
 7 #96- Guillermo Archer (Abanhfleft)                             32.790
 8 #89- Liangmei Li (The Sherpa Empire)                           32.793
 9 #11- Jenna Logan (Cassadaigua)                                 32.804
10 #31- Gwen Tracer Allison (Valentine Z)                         32.845
11 #14- River "Shark" Suzgar (Vilita and Turori)                  32.862
12 #41- Yraaga Gilli'i (Vilita and Turori)                        32.888
13 #30- Lexi Patterson (Jebslund)                                 32.908
14 #3- Skip Stiller (Saint Kanye)                                 32.929
15 #13- Brigadegeneral Eva Kerman (Jebslund)                      32.932
16 #88- Anavella Ariiki (Tropicorp)                               33.027
17 #6- Alex Knight (Hampton Island)                               33.030
18 #78- Cocoabo #78 (Tropicorp)                                   33.046
19 #0- Hana Bhe (Filindostan)                                     33.092
20 #09- Daniel Cretton (Bolgano)                                  33.118
21 #66- Hengxing Tian (The Northern Chinese Republic)             33.186
22 #99- Jelan Ozoemena (Banija)                                   33.284
23 #4- Meghan Sharpe (Cassadaigua)                                33.319
24 #8- Frank Bronson (Hapilopper)                                 33.323
25 #18- Jeremiah Brooke (Saint Kanye)                             33.350
26 #46- Thea Alvarez (Saint Kanye)                                33.362
27 #21- Paul Nystrom (New Northwesteros)                          33.421
28 #48- Rockii Ezis (Newmanistan)                                 33.482
29 #9- Liuyong Xu (New Northwesteros) *Q*                         33.501
30 #00- Michael Stefan (TJUN-ia)                                  33.539
31 #38- Elio Aaron (Esmerel)                                      33.681
32 #28- Cocoabo #28 (Tropicorp)                                   33.686
33 #1- Vanda Rosa Cordeiro Kerman (Jebslund) *Q*                  33.711
34 #77- Katarzyna Owczarzak-Kostrzewska (Terre Septentrionale)    33.822
35 #5- Bryan Harrison (Newmanistan) *Q*                           33.856
36 #73- Taylor Henderson (Hapilopper)                             33.900
37 #52- Jeff Shreeves (Appalachian Nation)                        33.946
38 #33- Tyler Linde (New Northwesteros) *Q*                       34.054
39 #25- Kev Schorebrook (Vangaziland)                             34.065
40 #12- Roman Gwinnett (Xanneria)                                 34.084
41 #06- Rinzi Aogar Zakhilwal (The Sherpa Empire)                 34.152
42 #53- Teija Kuusela (The Albali Republic)                       34.154
43 #01 Cristensen Kalsters (Islas Aaland)                         34.229
44 #37- Pyotr Lavrentiev (Ceroat)                                 34.598
45 #54- Scott Hawking (Wreckeria)                                 34.787
46 #15- Valentina Freya Yadana Aye (Valentine Z)                  35.314

Segment 2:

1 #44- Kai Qiang (The Sherpa Empire)                             32.508
 2 #18- Jeremiah Brooke (Saint Kanye)                             32.579
 3 #81- Chris Holmes (Hapilopper)                                 32.649
 4 #89- Liangmei Li (The Sherpa Empire)                           32.763
 5 #3- Skip Stiller (Saint Kanye)                                 32.766
 6 #9- Liuyong Xu (New Northwesteros) *Q*                         32.802
 7 #41- Yraaga Gilli'i (Vilita and Turori)                        32.834
 8 #2- Centur Tiones (Vilita and Turori)                          32.859
 9 #31- Gwen Tracer Allison (Valentine Z)                         32.869
10 #21- Paul Nystrom (New Northwesteros)                          32.879
11 #78- Cocoabo #78 (Tropicorp)                                   32.900
12 #7- Clarissa Alanis Star (Valentine Z)                         32.915
13 #53- Teija Kuusela (The Albali Republic)                       32.924
14 #12- Roman Gwinnett (Xanneria)                                 32.976
15 #5- Bryan Harrison (Newmanistan) *Q*                           32.988
16 #06- Rinzi Aogar Zakhilwal (The Sherpa Empire)                 33.006
17 #0- Hana Bhe (Filindostan)                                     33.036
18 #6- Alex Knight (Hampton Island)                               33.084
19 #15- Valentina Freya Yadana Aye (Valentine Z)                  33.106
20 #00- Michael Stefan (TJUN-ia)                                  33.164
21 #14- River "Shark" Suzgar (Vilita and Turori)                  33.168
22 #10- Eddie Walters Jr (Xanneria) *Q*                           33.195
23 #48- Rockii Ezis (Newmanistan)                                 33.207
24 #99- Jelan Ozoemena (Banija)                                   33.229
25 #66- Hengxing Tian (The Northern Chinese Republic)             33.240
26 #88- Anavella Ariiki (Tropicorp)                               33.343
27 #4- Meghan Sharpe (Cassadaigua)                                33.373
28 #1- Vanda Rosa Cordeiro Kerman (Jebslund) *Q*                  33.377
29 #8- Frank Bronson (Hapilopper)                                 33.420
30 #46- Thea Alvarez (Saint Kanye)                                33.443
31 #33- Tyler Linde (New Northwesteros) *Q*                       33.487
32 #77- Katarzyna Owczarzak-Kostrzewska (Terre Septentrionale)    33.580
33 #54- Scott Hawking (Wreckeria)                                 33.599
34 #27- Stacie Houston (Cassadaigua)                              33.764
35 #28- Cocoabo #28 (Tropicorp)                                   33.913
36 #52- Jeff Shreeves (Appalachian Nation)                        33.921
37 #73- Taylor Henderson (Hapilopper)                             33.972
38 #11- Jenna Logan (Cassadaigua)                                 33.996
39 #25- Kev Schorebrook (Vangaziland)                             34.052
40 #01 Cristensen Kalsters (Islas Aaland)                         34.116
41 #09- Daniel Cretton (Bolgano)                                  34.311
42 #30- Lexi Patterson (Jebslund)                                 34.406
43 #96- Guillermo Archer (Abanhfleft)                             34.417
44 #38- Elio Aaron (Esmerel)                                      34.420
45 #13- Brigadegeneral Eva Kerman (Jebslund)                      34.526
46 #37- Pyotr Lavrentiev (Ceroat)                                 34.743

Segment 3:

1 #14- River "Shark" Suzgar (Vilita and Turori)                  32.490
 2 #10- Eddie Walters Jr (Xanneria) *Q*                           32.503
 3 #81- Chris Holmes (Hapilopper)                                 32.540
 4 #06- Rinzi Aogar Zakhilwal (The Sherpa Empire)                 32.595
 5 #46- Thea Alvarez (Saint Kanye)                                32.649
 6 #96- Guillermo Archer (Abanhfleft)                             32.677
 7 #44- Kai Qiang (The Sherpa Empire)                             32.681
 8 #15- Valentina Freya Yadana Aye (Valentine Z)                  32.713
 9 #27- Stacie Houston (Cassadaigua)                              32.714
10 #41- Yraaga Gilli'i (Vilita and Turori)                        32.728
11 #7- Clarissa Alanis Star (Valentine Z)                         32.728
12 #21- Paul Nystrom (New Northwesteros)                          32.774
13 #30- Lexi Patterson (Jebslund)                                 32.818
14 #89- Liangmei Li (The Sherpa Empire)                           32.820
15 #2- Centur Tiones (Vilita and Turori)                          32.849
16 #78- Cocoabo #78 (Tropicorp)                                   32.851
17 #12- Roman Gwinnett (Xanneria)                                 32.894
18 #31- Gwen Tracer Allison (Valentine Z)                         32.900
19 #8- Frank Bronson (Hapilopper)                                 32.909
20 #53- Teija Kuusela (The Albali Republic)                       32.917
21 #66- Hengxing Tian (The Northern Chinese Republic)             32.941
22 #3- Skip Stiller (Saint Kanye)                                 32.952
23 #73- Taylor Henderson (Hapilopper)                             33.002
24 #48- Rockii Ezis (Newmanistan)                                 33.005
25 #18- Jeremiah Brooke (Saint Kanye)                             33.127
26 #6- Alex Knight (Hampton Island)                               33.146
27 #9- Liuyong Xu (New Northwesteros) *Q*                         33.170
28 #88- Anavella Ariiki (Tropicorp)                               33.171
29 #09- Daniel Cretton (Bolgano)                                  33.222
30 #77- Katarzyna Owczarzak-Kostrzewska (Terre Septentrionale)    33.225
31 #13- Brigadegeneral Eva Kerman (Jebslund)                      33.270
32 #99- Jelan Ozoemena (Banija)                                   33.277
33 #1- Vanda Rosa Cordeiro Kerman (Jebslund) *Q*                  33.282
34 #5- Bryan Harrison (Newmanistan) *Q*                           33.413
35 #0- Hana Bhe (Filindostan)                                     33.426
36 #38- Elio Aaron (Esmerel)                                      33.455
37 #54- Scott Hawking (Wreckeria)                                 33.509
38 #11- Jenna Logan (Cassadaigua)                                 33.518
39 #00- Michael Stefan (TJUN-ia)                                  33.652
40 #33- Tyler Linde (New Northwesteros) *Q*                       33.832
41 #52- Jeff Shreeves (Appalachian Nation)                        34.059
42 #4- Meghan Sharpe (Cassadaigua)                                34.201
43 #01 Cristensen Kalsters (Islas Aaland)                         34.667
44 #28- Cocoabo #28 (Tropicorp)                                   34.849
45 #25- Kev Schorebrook (Vangaziland)                             35.490 DNF
46 #37- Pyotr Lavrentiev (Ceroat)                                 35.713 DNF

Segment 4:

1 #27- Stacie Houston (Cassadaigua)                              32.497
 2 #15- Valentina Freya Yadana Aye (Valentine Z)                  32.533
 3 #06- Rinzi Aogar Zakhilwal (The Sherpa Empire)                 32.572
 4 #46- Thea Alvarez (Saint Kanye)                                32.588
 5 #7- Clarissa Alanis Star (Valentine Z)                         32.686
 6 #4- Meghan Sharpe (Cassadaigua)                                32.691
 7 #18- Jeremiah Brooke (Saint Kanye)                             32.706
 8 #44- Kai Qiang (The Sherpa Empire)                             32.736
 9 #9- Liuyong Xu (New Northwesteros) *Q*                         32.759
10 #96- Guillermo Archer (Abanhfleft)                             32.821
11 #14- River "Shark" Suzgar (Vilita and Turori)                  32.824
12 #6- Alex Knight (Hampton Island)                               32.838
13 #8- Frank Bronson (Hapilopper)                                 32.866
14 #89- Liangmei Li (The Sherpa Empire)                           32.867
15 #78- Cocoabo #78 (Tropicorp)                                   32.957
16 #2- Centur Tiones (Vilita and Turori)                          32.966
17 #30- Lexi Patterson (Jebslund)                                 32.981
18 #10- Eddie Walters Jr (Xanneria) *Q*                           32.999
19 #41- Yraaga Gilli'i (Vilita and Turori)                        33.124
20 #1- Vanda Rosa Cordeiro Kerman (Jebslund) *Q*                  33.231
21 #11- Jenna Logan (Cassadaigua)                                 33.233
22 #21- Paul Nystrom (New Northwesteros)                          33.238
23 #28- Cocoabo #28 (Tropicorp)                                   33.249
24 #00- Michael Stefan (TJUN-ia)                                  33.254
25 #48- Rockii Ezis (Newmanistan)                                 33.275
26 #73- Taylor Henderson (Hapilopper)                             33.310
27 #38- Elio Aaron (Esmerel)                                      33.516
28 #13- Brigadegeneral Eva Kerman (Jebslund)                      33.594
29 #09- Daniel Cretton (Bolgano)                                  33.594
30 #5- Bryan Harrison (Newmanistan) *Q*                           33.629
31 #54- Scott Hawking (Wreckeria)                                 33.654
32 #52- Jeff Shreeves (Appalachian Nation)                        33.756
33 #33- Tyler Linde (New Northwesteros) *Q*                       33.855
34 #31- Gwen Tracer Allison (Valentine Z)                         33.901
35 #99- Jelan Ozoemena (Banija)                                   33.992
36 #53- Teija Kuusela (The Albali Republic)                       34.056
37 #88- Anavella Ariiki (Tropicorp)                               34.413
38 #77- Katarzyna Owczarzak-Kostrzewska (Terre Septentrionale)    34.522
39 #0- Hana Bhe (Filindostan)                                     34.611
40 #81- Chris Holmes (Hapilopper)                                 34.973
41 #66- Hengxing Tian (The Northern Chinese Republic)             35.179
42 #01 Cristensen Kalsters (Islas Aaland)                         35.416 DNF
43 #3- Skip Stiller (Saint Kanye)                                 35.424 DNF
44 #12- Roman Gwinnett (Xanneria)                                 35.576 DNF

Segment 5:

1 #14- River "Shark" Suzgar (Vilita and Turori)                  32.470
 2 #06- Rinzi Aogar Zakhilwal (The Sherpa Empire)                 32.506
 3 #11- Jenna Logan (Cassadaigua)                                 32.598
 4 #48- Rockii Ezis (Newmanistan)                                 32.615
 5 #6- Alex Knight (Hampton Island)                               32.674
 6 #18- Jeremiah Brooke (Saint Kanye)                             32.696
 7 #9- Liuyong Xu (New Northwesteros) *Q*                         32.709
 8 #96- Guillermo Archer (Abanhfleft)                             32.738
 9 #89- Liangmei Li (The Sherpa Empire)                           32.759
10 #27- Stacie Houston (Cassadaigua)                              32.787
11 #5- Bryan Harrison (Newmanistan) *Q*                           32.833
12 #41- Yraaga Gilli'i (Vilita and Turori)                        32.863
13 #66- Hengxing Tian (The Northern Chinese Republic)             32.908
14 #46- Thea Alvarez (Saint Kanye)                                32.956
15 #31- Gwen Tracer Allison (Valentine Z)                         32.965
16 #30- Lexi Patterson (Jebslund)                                 32.976
17 #28- Cocoabo #28 (Tropicorp)                                   33.031
18 #15- Valentina Freya Yadana Aye (Valentine Z)                  33.051
19 #09- Daniel Cretton (Bolgano)                                  33.078
20 #4- Meghan Sharpe (Cassadaigua)                                33.099
21 #1- Vanda Rosa Cordeiro Kerman (Jebslund) *Q*                  33.109
22 #13- Brigadegeneral Eva Kerman (Jebslund)                      33.124
23 #99- Jelan Ozoemena (Banija)                                   33.131
24 #33- Tyler Linde (New Northwesteros) *Q*                       33.142
25 #73- Taylor Henderson (Hapilopper)                             33.231
26 #44- Kai Qiang (The Sherpa Empire)                             33.275
27 #10- Eddie Walters Jr (Xanneria) *Q*                           33.333
28 #00- Michael Stefan (TJUN-ia)                                  33.401
29 #88- Anavella Ariiki (Tropicorp)                               33.410
30 #53- Teija Kuusela (The Albali Republic)                       33.504
31 #78- Cocoabo #78 (Tropicorp)                                   33.559
32 #54- Scott Hawking (Wreckeria)                                 33.632
33 #38- Elio Aaron (Esmerel)                                      33.652
34 #2- Centur Tiones (Vilita and Turori)                          33.705
35 #0- Hana Bhe (Filindostan)                                     33.707
36 #21- Paul Nystrom (New Northwesteros)                          33.932
37 #81- Chris Holmes (Hapilopper)                                 33.986
38 #8- Frank Bronson (Hapilopper)                                 34.042
39 #77- Katarzyna Owczarzak-Kostrzewska (Terre Septentrionale)    34.054
40 #52- Jeff Shreeves (Appalachian Nation)                        34.166
41 #7- Clarissa Alanis Star (Valentine Z)                         34.355

Final Results:

+-----+-------------------------------------------------------------+--------+
| Pos |                           Driver                            |  Avg.  |
+-----+-------------------------------------------------------------+--------+
|   1 | #14- River "Shark" Suzgar (Vilita and Turori)               | 32.763 | WINNER
|   2 | #44- Kai Qiang (The Sherpa Empire)                          | 32.770 |
|   3 | #89- Liangmei Li (The Sherpa Empire)                        | 32.800 |
|   4 | #27- Stacie Houston (Cassadaigua)                           | 32.883 |
|   5 | #41- Yraaga Gilli'i (Vilita and Turori)                     | 32.887 |
|   6 | #18- Jeremiah Brooke (Saint Kanye)                          | 32.892 |
|   7 | #10- Eddie Walters Jr (Xanneria)                            | 32.904 |
|   8 | #6- Alex Knight (Hampton Island)                            | 32.954 |
|   9 | #06- Rinzi Aogar Zakhilwal (The Sherpa Empire)              | 32.966 |
|  10 | #2- Centur Tiones (Vilita and Turori)                       | 32.984 |
|  11 | #9- Liuyong Xu (New Northwesteros)                          | 32.988 |
|  12 | #46- Thea Alvarez (Saint Kanye)                             | 32.998 |
|  13 | #7- Clarissa Alanis Star (Valentine Z)                      | 33.061 |
|  14 | #78- Cocoabo #78 (Tropicorp)                                | 33.063 |
|  15 | #96- Guillermo Archer (Abanhfleft)                          | 33.089 |
|  16 | #31- Gwen Tracer Allison (Valentine Z)                      | 33.096 |
|  17 | #48- Rockii Ezis (Newmanistan)                              | 33.117 |
|  18 | #30- Lexi Patterson (Jebslund)                              | 33.218 |
|  19 | #11- Jenna Logan (Cassadaigua)                              | 33.230 |
|  20 | #21- Paul Nystrom (New Northwesteros)                       | 33.249 |
|  21 | #8- Frank Bronson (Hapilopper)                              | 33.312 |
|  22 | #4- Meghan Sharpe (Cassadaigua)                             | 33.337 |
|  23 | #1- Vanda Rosa Cordeiro Kerman (Jebslund)                   | 33.342 |
|  24 | #15- Valentina Freya Yadana Aye (Valentine Z)               | 33.343 |
|  25 | #5- Bryan Harrison (Newmanistan)                            | 33.344 |
|  26 | #81- Chris Holmes (Hapilopper)                              | 33.369 |
|  27 | #99- Jelan Ozoemena (Banija)                                | 33.383 |
|  28 | #00- Michael Stefan (TJUN-ia)                               | 33.402 |
|  29 | #09- Daniel Cretton (Bolgano)                               | 33.465 |
|  30 | #88- Anavella Ariiki (Tropicorp)                            | 33.473 |
|  31 | #73- Taylor Henderson (Hapilopper)                          | 33.483 |
|  32 | #13- Brigadegeneral Eva Kerman (Jebslund)                   | 33.489 |
|  33 | #66- Hengxing Tian (The Northern Chinese Republic)          | 33.491 |
|  34 | #53- Teija Kuusela (The Albali Republic)                    | 33.511 |
|  35 | #0- Hana Bhe (Filindostan)                                  | 33.574 |
|  36 | #33- Tyler Linde (New Northwesteros)                        | 33.674 |
|  37 | #38- Elio Aaron (Esmerel)                                   | 33.745 |
|  38 | #28- Cocoabo #28 (Tropicorp)                                | 33.746 |
|  39 | #54- Scott Hawking (Wreckeria)                              | 33.836 |
|  40 | #77- Katarzyna Owczarzak-Kostrzewska (Terre Septentrionale) | 33.841 |
|  41 | #52- Jeff Shreeves (Appalachian Nation)                     | 33.970 |
|  42 | #01 Cristensen Kalsters (Islas Aaland)                      | DNF    |
|  43 | #3- Skip Stiller (Saint Kanye)                              | DNF    |
|  44 | #12- Roman Gwinnett (Xanneria)                              | DNF    |
|  45 | #25- Kev Schorebrook (Vangaziland)                          | DNF    |
|  46 | #37- Pyotr Lavrentiev (Ceroat)                              | DNF    |
+-----+-------------------------------------------------------------+--------+

Point Standings (after 2 races)

+-----+-------------------------------------------------------------+--------+
| Pos |                           Driver                            | Points |
+-----+-------------------------------------------------------------+--------+
|   1 | #27- Stacie Houston (Cassadaigua)                           |     87 |
|   2 | #18- Jeremiah Brooke (Saint Kanye)                          |     86 |
|   3 | #31- Gwen Tracer Allison (Valentine Z)*                     |     81 |
|   4 | #44- Kai Qiang (The Sherpa Empire)                          |     78 |
|   5 | #2- Centur Tiones (Vilita and Turori)                       |     77 |
|   6 | #46- Thea Alvarez (Saint Kanye)                             |     72 |
|   7 | #8- Frank Bronson (Hapilopper)                              |     70 |
|   8 | #7- Clarissa Alanis Star (Valentine Z)                      |     69 |
|   9 | #6- Alex Knight (Hampton Island)                            |     66 |
|  10 | #81- Chris Holmes (Hapilopper)                              |     63 |
|  11 | #30- Lexi Patterson (Jebslund)                              |     63 |
|  12 | #14- River "Shark" Suzgar (Vilita and Turori)*              |     62 |
|  13 | #89- Liangmei Li (The Sherpa Empire)                        |     61 |
|  14 | #5- Bryan Harrison (Newmanistan)                            |     60 |
|  15 | #13- Brigadegeneral Eva Kerman (Jebslund)                   |     56 |
|  16 | #73- Taylor Henderson (Hapilopper)                          |     55 |
|  17 | #96- Guillermo Archer (Abanhfleft)                          |     54 |
|  18 | #48- Rockii Ezis (Newmanistan)                              |     54 |
|  19 | #15- Valentina Freya Yadana Aye (Valentine Z)               |     53 |
|  20 | #21- Paul Nystrom (New Northwesteros)                       |     53 |
|  21 | #06- Rinzi Aogar Zakhilwal (The Sherpa Empire)              |     52 |
|  22 | #78- Cocoabo #78 (Tropicorp)                                |     51 |
|  23 | #09- Daniel Cretton (Bolgano)                               |     49 |
|  24 | #11- Jenna Logan (Cassadaigua)                              |     48 |
|  25 | #41- Yraaga Gilli'i (Vilita and Turori)                     |     46 |
|  26 | #10- Eddie Walters Jr (Xanneria)                            |     41 |
|  27 | #53- Teija Kuusela (The Albali Republic)                    |     41 |
|  28 | #3- Skip Stiller (Saint Kanye)                              |     40 |
|  29 | #88- Anavella Ariiki (Tropicorp)                            |     38 |
|  30 | #1- Vanda Rosa Cordeiro Kerman (Jebslund)                   |     37 |
|  31 | #9- Liuyong Xu (New Northwesteros)                          |     36 |
|  32 | #28- Cocoabo #28 (Tropicorp)                                |     34 |
|  33 | #12- Roman Gwinnett (Xanneria)                              |     32 |
|  34 | #22- Kevin Cosgrove (Hampton Island)                        |     32 |
|  35 | #0- Hana Bhe (Filindostan)                                  |     31 |
|  36 | #00- Michael Stefan (TJUN-ia)                               |     29 |
|  37 | #4- Meghan Sharpe (Cassadaigua)                             |     27 |
|  38 | #66- Hengxing Tian (The Northern Chinese Republic)          |     25 |
|  39 | #38- Elio Aaron (Esmerel)                                   |     25 |
|  40 | #77- Katarzyna Owczarzak-Kostrzewska (Terre Septentrionale) |     23 |
|  41 | #99- Jelan Ozoemena (Banija)                                |     23 |
|  42 | #45- Ben Carpenter (Esmerel)                                |     23 |
|  43 | #54- Scott Hawking (Wreckeria)                              |     14 |
|  44 | #01 Cristensen Kalsters (Islas Aaland)                      |     12 |
|  45 | #52- Jeff Shreeves (Appalachian Nation)                     |     11 |
|  46 | #25- Kev Schorebrook (Vangaziland)                          |     11 |
|  47 | #33- Tyler Linde (New Northwesteros)                        |     11 |
|  48 | #23- James McCurty (Hampton Island)                         |      8 |
|  49 | #37- Pyotr Lavrentiev (Ceroat)                              |      2 |
+-----+-------------------------------------------------------------+--------+

Next Race: Race 3 (Feb 22/23)- Raleigh Raceway, (sponsor TBA) 400, Park City, Rainier Province, Esmerel (Speedway)

[Xanneria]

Tough track tames drivers in Lannisberg
By Lee Iyokoka

NEW NORTHWESTEROS - No one was safe from the monster that was the Lannisberg Racing complex neither Tropicorp, nor Rollie, nor Fedek were safe. Tires were chewed up by the track and the track spit them out as frequently. Its only fitting in a race that feature multiple games of tire roulette that 13 cars finished on the lead lap. What didn't help is that this Roval style track uses public roads about and with overnight rains at the track, the pavement went soft, causing chunks to occasionally come up and cause cars to have the play automotive dodgeball with the debris. Jeff Shreeves was the hardest hit as he spent all of 25 laps behind the wall when the team had to replace both front shocks on the car. Another driver doomed by the track conditions was Roman Gwinnett. Overheating problems knocked him out cold, but it's to be believed that an errant piece of debris midway busted the radiator by putting a big hole in there. Sadly another over site by the team put a Xannerian driver out of the race. Despite all the issues surrounding the track only 5 cars dropped out, but boy did a lot of the field make unnecessary pit-stops.

One driver who got away from the potholes and the other big messes was our own Eddie Walters Jr. Walters in the Red XANAir/Ben Foster's Knox had the car to beat early on, leading the first 25 laps and 58 over all, as he battled the two VTM driver Suzgar and Tiones. While he faded at the end he still had possibly one of the best ever Xannerian cars. But as he ran in fifth towards the last couple of laps a white car got in his was as it was clear who ever it was had some issues, a possible leak or a tire deflating, we never got word who it was but Walters got stuck behind them and lost two spots near the end.

XCAR Hastings 500 set for two weeks from now

XCAR has long been THE motorsport domestically for Xannerians, Starcomers, and Appalachians, but now its going one step further and will be broadcast to other nations as the Stock Car divisions primier event, the Hasting 500 in Dupree, Hastings, will be sent out to millions of race fans across Esportiva and beyond. Last year saw savy, veteran, hotshoe Jeff Parsons take his #42 Petty Motorwerks factory ride to victory lane for the 3rdh time in the last dozen years. Now the field could have its strongest field in years thanks to some timely off-time for the kids of the NSSCRA series. It's known that both KRD drivers will join KRD XCAR Driver Tucker Capps and Jeff Shreeves and Gordon Orton will compete under Jim Lowe's Mercado team with Brett Pickles and Ryan Hendrick also running Mercados.

XCAR is nearly identical in rules and format to NSSCRA but the main difference is that NSSCRA uses a more "Formula Libre" approach to manufacturers while XCAR uses only 5 eligible manufacturers.

[The Northern Chinese Republic]

Hengxing Tian's car was definitely running better. The big name drivers were no longer lapping him by simply flooring it down the nearest straight away -- though several of were still outmaneuvering him or getting ahead while he was in the pits. And speaking of the pits, his pit stops were still taking longer than the other teams.

"The car was better," he told his crew. "But it still needs to be faster, and you need to pick up the pace changing tires."

The tire changers promised to practice during the week and try to get faster.

When Tian returned to his lodgings, a luxurious room that seemed like a world apart from the gritty gray city outside the window, he found that he had a message from Shellshock Batteries. He called Baozi and asked the mechanic, "Do you know anything about Shellshock Batteries?"

Baozi shrugged out of habit, even though they were on the phone and Tian couldn't see him. "They're batteries," he said. "What about them?"

"They're looking for sponsorships," said Tian. "How would you feel about using their batteries?"

"I don't think it would make much difference one way or another," said Baozi. "We've been using Panda Power because that's what I use at home, but Shellshock batteries will get the job done too."

"Hmm," said Tian. "It sounds like I should call them and find out what their idea of a 'competitive price' is... Thank you, dear Bao."

[Abanhfleft]

All Leo Baxter thought that he was going to do when he walked over to the GFR camp was to give Skip Stiller a little bit of encouragement. The Kanyean driver, though looking like a bit under the weather, thanked Leo for his encouragement and even threw in a few words of advice for the Fleftic baller-turned-driver as well. "Don't stop trying," Stiller had told Leo. "You'll soon figure out things and qualify, I know it. And I hope you give me as good of a battle as you did with Cedric Phillips and Victor McLain."

Leo laughed at the memories that those names brought back to him. It was certainly quite a fun thing to watch a five-foot-seven point guard like Leo balling with the six-footers like Victor McLain. "Oh, yeah, those were good times," he said.

Soon, the rest of the GFR team approached Leo and Skip. "Leo," spoke Stiller, "meet my teammates at Glorious Free Republic Motorsports. These are Thea Alvarez and Jeremiah Brooke."

"It's a pleasure, sir," said the shy Alvarez.

"Hello," Leo said, shaking their hands as well.

"Hey man, how are you?" Brooke asked him.

"Doing fine, I suppose," Leo replied. "I really wish I could be out there with you guys, but I have a feeling I will be there soon enough."

Brooke nodded. "You know, you were one of the guys that made every Rebs-Surge game worth watching. Well, and Jazz. What's he up to these days anyway? Always had a soft spot for him coz, ya know, half Yeezie."

"Oh, yeah, my boy Jazz," Leo nodded, referring to Jazz Higgs, center for both the Abanhfleft Rebolusyonaryos national basketball team and the Uranium City Nukes of the Fleftic Basketball Association. "He's doing very well, thank you. Actually, you know what? He was in the FBA All-Star Weekend last week. You probably missed it because you were out there racing, but I managed to catch the All-Star Weekend. Oh, boy. My boy Jazz just won the Slam Dunk Contest by doing a running 720 from the free throw line! Man was trying to do a Gerard Carrera back there!" When he saw that the Yeezies didn't understand what he was talking about, Leo told them about Gerard Carrera, the seven-foot-two center most notably of the Releinthi Chiefs who won three Slam Dunk Contests between 2000 to 2010, the most notable one with a reverse two-handed 720-degree dunk from the free throw line.

"Also, he's won two FBA rings. Back to back, in fact," Leo continued. "And it looks like he and the Nukes are on course for a three-peat. If any one of you guys are betting guys, I'd bet on the Nukes now while you still can. And if you have the time, look up the Team Jazz versus Team Toni All-Star Game. You won't believe what happens in the fourth quarter."

Leo and the Yeezies then did some more small talk before Stiller asked Baxter, "Where are your teammates, by the way?"

"I qualified next to one of them, the #96 guy, but I don't know where we went," spoke Alvarez.

"Then let's find them. Would like to get to know them too," said Brooke. "Salad?"

"Well, I don't know about salad," Leo said, "but I can take you to where my team is. Follow me?"

---

The first thing that Leo saw when he got back to the UrGa HQ was that there was someone in the driver's seat of his #80. The engine wasn't on; the car wasn't going anywhere at all. But the person inside was turning the wheel and making vroom-vroom noises and brake squeaks like he was a kid in an imaginary race. "Hey Lee, what the hell are you doing in there? Get out of my car!"

The man whom Leo Baxter had just called "Lee" actually went by two names. To everyone that he met, he introduced himself as Ganglie Zhe. To the Pridnestrovian government, and on his Pridnestrovian passport, he was Gennady Svyatoslavovich Zhe. He was ethnically Chinese, like the way Kai Qiang and Liangmei Li and Dinggu Wang were Chinese, but in terms of citizenship he was Pridnestrovian. It was a long story involving Chinese socialists and Sherpalander police round-ups. But whatever his name and nationality was, he was Leo's spotter, and he had just been caught red-handed.

"Chyort!" Ganglie cried out. He cried (and failed) to squeeze himself out of the "Hot Box" before Leo could get closer to him. "I'm so sorry, man! I just wanted to know what it feels like to sit behind one of these things! I'm sorry! I won't do it again!"

"Will you calm down, Lee?" Leo said with a smile. "I'm just kidding. You can stay in the Hot Box if you like. Look, I brought friends!"

Only then did Ganglie really see the people who had come into the UrGa HQ with Leo. "Govno," he muttered. "Is that... And is that... Is she..."

"Yep," Leo nodded. "Skip Stiller, Jeremiah Brooke, and Thea Alvarez. The Glorious Free Republic Motorsports drivers, in the flesh."

"No way, man!" Ganglie said. "Man, Alvarez really has got freckles and then some!" he added in a whisper.

"Ganglie Zhe!" Leonidas Baxter rebuked his spotter in an equally low whisper. "That is no way to treat our guests!" Leo then introduced Ganglie to the Yeezie drivers, and then they went deeper into the HQ.

At a black and red tent they encountered a number of mechanics poring over the black and red #98 Emperor of Wilma von Cärinthen. Cärinthen herself was standing over her car's engine alongside three men, one of whom was easily recognizable by his blue eyes and blue and pink firesuit.

"We're in luck, guys," Leo told the Yeezies. "Two drivers, one tent. Come on, don't be shy. I'll introduce you."

Guillermo Archer was the first to notice the arrival of the group. "Well, look who we have here," he said. "It's the drivers from Saint Kanye, come down to visit us new plebs."

"Easy now, Gil," Leo said. "They all come in peace." Leo then introduced the Fleftic drivers and their crew chiefs (James Santiago for Archer and Deckard Sullivan for Cärinthen) to the Yeezie ones.

"You actually caught us at a really good time, guys," Wilma von Cärinthen said. "If you'd come down here during Tundra Falls then all you would've heard would've been shouting and cursing like you wouldn't believe."

"I've never met a Yeezie before in person," Archer admitted. "And this is the first time I'm ever gonna say this to one of you before, but I hated you guys. Like, really loathed like you wouldn't believe. I'm not talking about you three though. I'm talking about the Surge. The Purple and Lime. Man, I remember the first time that the Surge and Rebs met in the IBC, and I can't remember if the Surge swept the Rebs back then or not, but you guys definitely beat us in the playoffs. Man, I was really angry at you guys back then. Like I was thinking 'Who were these guys and how dare they defeat my Rebolusyonaryos?' And back then, every time that a Rebs-Surge game was announced, I watched, no matter what I was doing, because I wanted us to beat you in basketball. But at least I didn't turn out like one of those 'Real Fans' though, amirite? At least I didn't kidnap a Yeezie ambassador in Qasden.

"But it's all cool now," Archer continued. "You guys were just like us, just wanting to ball, and it just happened that you proved better than us more than times than not. And you three drivers are really good. Even you, Skip. I know that being dead last must suck for you right now but I've seen what you can do. Just don't bump me on the way, any of you. Because I will bump back!" he added with a grin.

A short woman with dirty blonde hair and wire-frame glasses wearing a red and green shirt and blue jeans walked into the tent. "Skip, Jeremiah, Thea, this is Olga Gatutina," Leo said, introducing the woman to the Yeezie drivers. "She's our, shall we say, boss."

"Team principal is the technical term," Olga Semyonovna Gatutina said. "Hello, gentlemen and lady," she said to the Yeezies as she shook their hands. "You are from Glorious Free Republic Motorsports, da?" she asked. The Kanyean trio nodded.

"Well, welcome to the UrGa Motorsports Division's Stock Car Department," Gatutina told them. "Here we always strive to be among the best of the best in the multiverse, even if we are newcomers here, relatively speaking. And we also aim to build relationships with our fellow teams. Of course, at the end of the day this is a competition, and everyone wants to be champion, but realistically speaking, there are only a few teams and a few drivers who can do that. Which is why friendship and cooperation is so important for us to remain competitive in this series. It never hurt anyone to have friends, da? Once again, welcome to UrGa. We hope you have enjoyed your time here with us," Gatutina said with a smile.

---

"Another poor finish," Gil Archer muttered after the end of the Argo Petrol 350. "And it was all going so well before!"

It was true; for most of the race Gil had been hovering in and around the top ten of the field. Unlike Tundra Falls, Gil didn't get himself involved in any of the incidents on the track; the only problems he really had were near the start, when after his first pit stop he found that his car had suddenly become too tight and he had to go back into pit lane to get it fixed, dropping him all the way down to 43rd. Gil recovered incredibly after that, but towards the end, with an eighth-place finish in sight, Gil's car once again failed him; this time it was his rear left tyre that popped, forcing him to slow down again and limp home in 15th place.

"James, have you ever seen a place with pavement this fucked up?" Gil asked his crew chief. "Even Oxyrhynchus didn't chew up tyres like this place did!" Oxyrhynchus was a town in the Fhulghamous Peninsula Colony of Abanhfleft that was home to an oval track notorious throughout the Abanhfleft Racing Truck Series for having the highest number of tyre punctures per race due to the oddly abrasive sand in the area wearing down on the asphalt no matter the efforts to protect the track.

"And that was with the Sifaka!" Gil continued. "Imagine if we ran this race on Akorns. We'd run out of tyres faster than you can say 'River "Shark" Suzgar wins!'"

At that moment, Leonidas Baxter and his crew chief arrived in the UrGa conference room (actually just a tent attached to the main tent with supposedly soundproof flaps), with Baxter looking quite winded. The biggest incident to happen in the Argo Petrol 350 didn't happen on the track itself, or rather that was how Gil understood it. Skip Stiller, one of the Kanyean racers that had paid the UrGa drivers the day before the race, had apparently parked his car, got out, and fainted. People were still talking about Leo Baxter practically leaping over the pit wall and rushing to check on Stiller, and apparently it was only now that Baxter had been able to come back to UrGa.

"Hey, man," Gil said. "How's Stiller?"

Leo Baxter shook his head. "Nobody knows," he replied as he took his seat. "We're all just waiting for GFR's statement for this one."

The last one in the tent was Olga Gatutina, team principal of the UrGa Motorsports Division Stock Car Department. Her carefully brushed dirty blonde hair was getting a little frizzy, and her gold-plated wire frame glasses had slid down her nose. "Thank you all for coming," she said to the six people inside the tent with her (Archer, Cärinthen, Baxter, and their respective crew chiefs).

"First of all, Guillermo, congratulations on finishing the race in 15th place," Gatutina said. "You have certainly exceeded our expectations with that performance. At the same time, I am sorry that you had to drop from eighth place because of your tyre puncture. However, seeing as almost everyone else ran into the same problem, I will not put this down as a failure on your part.

"And you, Leonidas," Gatutina continued, "thank you for being such a fine example of humanity at its finest. Seeing you jumping the wall to run to the aid of a fellow racer surely shows that while our team may be rivals with those of Skip Stiller and Saint Kanye, at the end of the day we all don't want to see anybody getting hurt. I saw you, in fact, when you ran out there, and it distracted me from my pitch to sell UrGa trucks, Minchev pickups, and Luxur sedans to the Norwesties. Thank goodness I got the deal done though, or else..."

"Did you really just call us all over here just so everyone can hear you tell me off for trying to help out Skip, ma'am?" Leo asked her with more than a hint of indignation. "The man is unwell! And where is this coming from? Just yesterday you were talking about how friendship and cooperation between teams was going to be important for us if we want to keep being competitive in this series!"

"Of course that's true," Gatutina insisted. "I know what I said. I'm only telling you that your actions almost cost UrGa a fantastic deal with New Northwesteros. And now, on to the real reason why I called you all in here.

"Tundra Falls is done, and so is New Northwesteros," Gatutina said. "Those two races are in the past. Forget about them now. Now, our focus is on the next race, and that one is in Esmerel. Now, so far our legal team has not heard any word on whether the locals have requested the open charter for their home race. Now, if they won't request the open charter, then we will. The plan is this: if, in Esmerel, Wilhelmina qualifies and Leonidas doesn't then we will request the open charter for Leonidas. If Leonidas qualifies and Wilhelmina doesn't then we will request the charter for Wilhelmina. If both Wilhelmina and Leonidas qualify then the problem solves itself. But if neither of you qualify... then we will request the open charter for Leonidas."

"What?" Wilma asked.

"If neither of you qualify then we will request the charter for Leonidas," Gatutina repeated. "That is simple enough to understand, da?"

"Oh, I understood you, all right," Wilma said. "What I don't understand is this: why him? Why not me?"

"I believe I've already said this before," Gatutina replied. "UrGa's application and entry into NSSCRA was approved by the APOC Coalition. Four nations, all requiring their approval for us to enter NSSCRA, and they gave it, on one condition: one of our drivers must be a name that everyone recognizes,"

"And I'm not?" Wilma shot back. "Me, a two-time ARTS champion, not recognizable?"

"You didn't let me finish," Gatutina retorted. "The deal between UrGa and the Coalition was for a driver that everyone throughout the Coalition recognizes. And Leonidas Baxter fits that bill."

"I don't believe this," Cärinthen, said, throwing her hands up in the air. "I worked so hard to get here. I worked so hards to be on this level. I had to work twice as hard because of my gender and my sexuality and because nobody would dare come near me with a sponsorship until I finally showed results. Everyday I wake up hoping that this day would be the day that I finally make it as a NSSCRA driver. Not just an ARTS driver, a NSSCRA driver. I jumped at the chance when you offered it to me, and now you're telling me that you'd rather have a part-timer who never made it out of the midfield in a truck racing competition?!"

"There's no need for you to raise your voice again," Gatutina warned.

"No, no, there is most definitely a need for me to raise my voice!" Wilma continued doggedly, and in her building fury she stood up from her seat. "I have been working my ass off for this team since day one. I have accepted the results as they came. I have accepted sitting in the sidelines and watching while everyone else got to go out there and race. But not this time! This time I am taking a stand! I want the open charter for Esmerel! And either I get it or you'll have to get through the rest of this season with only two drivers."

Guillermo Archer could see the gears turning in Gatutina's mind. He could imagine the woman from UrGa weighing the options, everything that she had to take into account before making this decision. On the one hand, Wilma did have a point: she had been working her ass off for this team, and had been taking the punches as they came. Having a second driver out there also wouldn't hurt UrGa's chances of accumulating these owner points that some other teams and drivers have been talking about since the start of the season. On the other hand, Wilma hadn't exactly been showing that she deserved a spot in the field. Qualifying for Lannisburg aside, Wilma had done poorly when she had taken to the track in a NSSCRA-quality vehicle. And Leo Baxter had once managed to beat her and him in a qualifying session. Also, judging by the social media reactions, it really seemed as if Baxter was the biggest attractor of Fleftic audiences to stock car racing. He had no idea about the other countries like Pridnestrovia and Copper Cuprum and Oontaz, but the name Leonidas Baxter most definitely still had clout in Abanhfleft.

Yet another dillemma for Gatutina, Gil knew, was the fact that there could be a rearrangement of charters soon-ish. Already there were a few drivers who looked in danger of losing their guaranteed charters, and the possibility of acquiring those charters most certainly had to be weighing on Gatutina's mind. It appeared that UrGa wanted a stable of three drivers for NSSCRA, and if Wilma walked and talked shit about UrGa then that plan would be very much in jeopardy.

But then again, if UrGa caved to Wilma then it might have a negative impact. It might show UrGa to be controlled by their drivers and not the other way around. Olga Gatutina surely had to show leadership and initiative, especially in a situation such as this. But how would she show it?

Gatutina herself took her sweet time to deliberate on her decision. And when it finally came, it came as no surprise to everyone else. "All right, fine," she said. "You can have the open charter for Esmerel, Wilhelmina. But only if neither you nor Leonidas qualify. If either of you qualify then the one who doesn't will get the charter. If both of you get in then there will have been no need for this."

"And what if Esmerel makes a request for the charter as well?" Gil asked, hoping to pour oil over these troubled waters.

"If Esmerel makes a request, then we will step away," Gatutina replied. "Simple as that. Is that all? Then you're all free to go. Thank you for coming."

At that moment, a man in business attire walked into the tent and motioned to talk with Gatutina. The UrGa Stock Car Department team principal walked over to the man and they began whispering. Gatutina then nodded her head, which served as the signal for the man to leave. She then faced the drivers and their chiefs and said, "It looks like the problem has solved itself. I've just gotten word that Esmerel have plans to apply for their home race charter. Our request is now officially off the table, to be delayed for the next time the opportunity presents itself."

"Well, that was anticlimactic," Gil muttered to James, who nodded in agreement.