Mr. High School

Ch. 4 - NASCAR Championship

Halloween was through and November had fallen upon the school, Thanksgiving ornaments going up, most people discussing what to do. However, a good chunk if the inner circle of Mr. Young's class had 1 thing to do before they can progress into full Thanksgiving festivities, the NASCAR Championship race. Adam honestly didnt watch it prior or cared too much after finding out most of his new students watch it. But he did pay attention to it in the subsequent weeks after finding out Echo was going with Parker, and even Derby was going. Adam decided he was not going but asked his mother anyway in hopes of having a late excuse to go but even she said no to Florida, by himself and no Ivy and Ivy wasnt going either so that meant a definite no. He made a note to watch it from home for the sake of having a Monday conversation with them so that he wouldn't be completely lost.

Raceday Sunday had arrived, Adam was in his home whilst Derby, Echo, Parker and a few others from the class were also there, not in a massif group as most were off on their own doing their own things. "Woahhh, this is awesome, ive never been to a racetrack before, its so big!" Derby says admiring the sight of the Homestead-Miami Speedway. "This is a great venue especially for the stakes but this by no means is the largest track. Talladega is the largest track, this one is about 2/3's the size of that one." Parker adds. "So Parker, whats the title coming down to, whats the situation?" Echo asks curiously. "It comes down to primarily 2 drivers, Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski. Johnson in the 48 Chevy is a 5x champion who won them in a row from 2006-2010, last year he fell off but returned to form and is aiming to capture his 6th. Keselowski in the 2 Dodge is only in his 3rd season in the series, he is trying to win his first championship and as of right now has more points than Johnson. The 3rd driver involved is a longshot but still technically in it, is Clint Bowyer in the 15 Toyota, he'd essentially have to win the race and hope the other 2 finish outside the top 25 or so but thats unlikely to happen." Slab couldn't quite copy the information, "Can you put it in terms that I can understand?" Echo sighs realizing how easy it was to follow Parker's statement, "48 and 2 are good, whichever finishes in front is champion!" Slab now perfectly comprehends the description given, "wow, thanks for the clarification Echo!"

"Welcome to the season finale of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season here at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, where 2 drivers go into the evening with a chance at the championship, but only 1 will come out with the trophy. As we saw a year ago, a tie is never out of the window of possibility so anything can await us today. Here with me to help cover today's race is Andy Petree and Dale Jarrett, im Alan Bestwick." Adam listening to the broadcast as the TV pans out over the speedway for a nice, scenic view. "We're just moments away from the green flag, and the magic finishing position for Keselowski regardless of Johnson's result will be 22nd, if Brad Keselowski can finish at least in 22nd he will be the championship, no matter what happens." The pre-race discussion ends the pace laps complete and the green flag is getting ready to wave. "Ambrose and Keselowski on the front row and the green flag is out, we're racing!" The cars barreling down towards turn 1 at 160 MPH, getting up to speed. The first couple of laps are underway and almost immediately Keselowski and Johnson found each other on the racetrack battling for 7th. In a different note, for the lead, driver Kyle Busch rocketed from 6th to 1st in just the first 15 laps of the race and was starting to gap the field.

At the racetrack, Echo, Derby, and Slab were all caught out by the insane loudness of these cars, they can hardly hear themselves think at all. After about 45 laps in the race they notice some cars turning into pit road, meaning they're ready to refuel and change their tires to go back and continue running. They were shocked at the speed at which those guys can jack the car, change the tires all around and with precision. Eventually everyone pitted and by lap 50, everyone completed their first set of stops. They eventually kept watching the cars circulate for another set of laps, watching the lead shrink back to Carl Edwards but not before the race's first caution flag flies for debris ob lap 78/267. On the ensuing restart, Busch keeps the lead but is quickly challenged by Martin Truex Jr. The 2 would remain in a heated battle throughout the run as pit stops begin with Truex Jr. having taken the lead away just prior. On pit exit, Kyle makes an aggressive move to get by Truex Jr. on the access road to retake the lead. Wow, Kyle Busch is a talent, I wonder if thats why I heard him being booed an awful lot during the driver introductions. Echo says in thought.