Chapter 169 Chicken Dinner
By the time the track was all cleaned up and they restarted, there were seven laps to go, and Andrea was in third place. She was lined up behind Gordon Jones’s brother, and her sister was on the outside of the front row, next to him. She knew it would be hard to get around both of them and get the win. They had both proven themselves worthy opponents and people who really wanted to win.
“Steady,” Jo was saying from the seat next to her. “He’ll likely try something tricky on the restart to throw your sister off, and you don’t want to ram into the back of him.”
“Got it,” she said, understanding what he meant. Jones might lay off of the gas, or hit it really hard and then back off. Who knows….
She was about to find out, though. As soon as the green dropped, Jones took off, but then slowed right before he reached the flag, trying to get Leslie to jump the restart. It was an underhanded move that didn’t work; Leslie was too smart for that.
Leslie kept her foot on the gas nice and even, so when Jones pulled his stunt, she was still building speed. He took the green first, which was how it was supposed to work, but he was just getting back on the gas when he reached the flag, so Leslie’s momentum was stronger than his. She rocketed around him and took the lead.
“Stay in it,” Jo said to her, meaning keep her foot on the gas. Andrea did as he said, and caught up to the back of Jones. Leslie was well ahead of him now, and if Andrea was going to catch up to her sister, she’d have to get past him quickly.
She decided to take the high line since he’d been hugging the bottom all night long. She swung to the outside and used her momentum from the move to swing around him. It was a bold move that paid off. She had second place, and she heard everyone on the radio cheering, as well as the people in the stand.
Now, she just had to catch up to Leslie and get around her.
“She’s not going to go down easy,” Brad reminded her. “Just be careful. You’ve come this far. No reason to get hurt or tear up the car now.”
“I hear you,” Andrea said, staying in the gas so that she could cut down the distance between herself and Leslie. Her sister was staying on the bottom, which was the shortest distance around the track but not always the easiest line to stay on because of the tighter turns.
“One to go!” she heard Truitt say as the space between herself and Leslie got to be a matter of feet.
“What are you going to do?” Jo asked her. “Nothing dirty, I know. Will she take you out if she has to?”
“I’m not sure. But I think so. I won’t push it. If an opening is there, though, I’m going to take it.”
As they came back around into the final turn, Andrea swung higher up the track, closer to the wall. Her sister saw her and tried to block her, but Andrea got to the outside line quicker. With just the straightaway left, she was ahead of Leslie.
Her sister could potentially hit her in the quarter panel and spin her out. If she did, that would send Andrea on a wild ride and maybe wreck Leslie, too. She prayed that didn’t happen. Andrea stayed on the gas as Leslie did her best to fight to catch up to her. She could see the checkered flag flying in front of her. Leslie’s line shifted, coming higher up the track, as if she was attempting to wreck Andrea.
With no other choice, Andrea slammed her foot further onto the gas pedal, getting just enough extra speed out of the car to rocket her ahead so that when Leslie tried her dirty trick, she was already gone.
Andrea went across the finish line first, Leslie right behind her.
The crew cheered on the radio, and Andrea couldn’t help but grin like she’d just won another major award. Even though she wasn’t a racer for a living, she had a racer’s heart for certain, and winning meant so much to her, she couldn’t even put it into words.
“You did it!” she heard Case’s voice over the radio for the first time. “That’s my girl! I’m so proud of you!”
“Thank you. Couldn’t have done it without you, babe. And everyone else. You guys are awesome!”
“Winner, winner, chicken dinner!” Truitt said in her ear, making her laugh.
“Let’s go get the flag. Do you know how to do a burn out?” Jo asked.
“I’ve never tried, but I’m willing to find out!”
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