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Big time dawn

Two months after Texas.

- You're not going to sleep yet? - Lucy walked into the kitchen at midnight.

- I will, it's just a very stressful time right now. We're hosting. Tomorrow there's gonna be a car show, then the day after tomorrow is the placement race, and then the day after that the actual race.

- Who's gonna be at the car show?

- A lot of people with very cool cars. Hopefully, the car show will pull a lot of people into the race the day after.

- I'll leave you to it then. - Lucy went to bed.

She woke up full of excitement and got out to see Marshall doing something with the cars in the garage.

- Great, you woke up, - Marshall cleaned his hands, - we need to get these two for the show. Which one do you want to drive?

- This is quite exciting, I'll take the Ford GT40.

- I knew you would pick that.

Lucy got into the car and wanted to touch around to feel the history it's been through. She started it and heard the ancient rumble.

- It's a beast. See ya there.

- Sure, be careful.

Lucy pushed the car just a little - she didn't want to scratch it one bit. After parking in it a big parking lot she got out and waited for Marshall. Right after him, multiple cars started showing up one after another.

- Oh Lucy, look at that. - A car was pulling up into the lot.

- That's the Trevita, right?

- Oh, it's not just any old Koenigsegg Trevita, it's coated with diamond carbon fiber.

- Oh geez, that's a little extra, isn't it?

- Of course, it is, you can buy one for five million dollars. Of course, it's pretty much impossible to get one.

- If that's one of the first cars, what's coming next?

- You'll see.

While Marshall went to talk to the Koenigsegg owner, Lucy waited for other cars to come in. Within a few hours an Aston Martin Vulcan, a Bugatti Chiron, an old Jaguar, and some Ferraris had shown up.

People kept coming in - either bringing cars in, looking at cars, taking pictures with them, or anything else they would want to.

- Hey, - a man came up to Lucy.

- Hello, if you have any questions about the car feel free to ask. - Lucy smiled.

- Umm no, the car is nice, but actually, my son wanted a picture.

- Yeah, of course, the car's yours. - She moved to the side.

- Oh no, he wants a picture with you, you're his favorite racer, - he moved in closer to whisper, - just between you and me, I think he has a little crush.

Lucy was flabbergasted. She didn't know what to say, so she just smiled and waited for the son. He was about twelve and pretty short, even next to Lucy. Lucy side-hugged him over the shoulder for the picture.

- Hey, thanks for watching the races. - Lucy patted his head.

- I've watched every single one of them. On Friday I'll see it in real life.

- That's great, see you there then.

After a whole day of looking at cars, Lucy was tired and full of fulfillment. In the evening, Lucy and the crew had to welcome other teams since they were coming a day early. The crew had placed an old BMW in their pits.

- Why is there a BMW in our pits? - Lucy asked.

- To be safe.

After welcoming some teams, Elliot pulled Lucy aside.

- You have to listen to me really carefully, - Elliot started speaking, - you have to not race.

- What do you mean? I'm not just gonna quit when I have a chance at winning.

- No, you don't understand. Xander will literally do anything to win this time, he might even try to stop you before we start the race, you can get hurt big time.

- I couldn't care less. That's a risk I'm willing to take.

- You have to quit, it's gonna end up really bad I can guarantee it.

- I guess we'll see then. - Lucy walked away.

Lucy was mad that Elliot could even dare to tell her such a thing. She went home and went to sleep.

The following day the crew got up early and gathered around the BMW placed yesterday.

- Alright, what do you have to show? - Lucy asked. 

Howard started the car and opened it up for the engine to be exposed.

- What's that smell? - Connor chuckled.

- We both know what that is pretty well, - Marshall pulled away, - what does that smell like, Lucy?

Lucy went up to the engine and gave it a sniff:

- Like caramel? - She hesitated.

- That's right, and how is caramel made? - Howard asked.

- By burning sugar?

- Exactly, someone tried to screw us over by putting sugar in our tank. That's why we put the decoy car, we knew something like this would happen. Stay alert.

Lucy immediately realized Elliot was right but wasn't planning to quit. She destroyed the placement match and placed first. She triumphantly got out of her car and was prepared for the actual race.

- That was great. Go to bed, have some good rest, tomorrow will be extremely hard. Keith is coming back to help you since you won't be able to drive the whole time. - Marshall patted Lucy on the back.

- I'm excited.

- You're not scared? - Connor asked.

- Not at all. - Lucy smiled.