Trucks

On the morning of the opening race for the truck series season, the weather was warm, sunny and bright. All of the major contenders and their crews had shown up for pre-race inspection, a chance to qualify, and win the most prestigious race of the truck series, The “Oil Cup” 400. Fans of all ages; from all over the globe flocked to, and tuned in with their friends and families to the world-famous track in Texas to see and hear their favorite truck compete for the largest purse in motorsports. What an exciting day it was going to be!
After all of the trucks passed inspection and qualified, the stage was set for what was to be the greatest competitive race in the history of the sport. Hale Danhard; the number 22 truck, and a 5-time winner of the 400, had won the “Borse Hard” pole, and the 1942; number 9, flathead V8 Ford pickup, Beverly Joe Breece was starting second. It was the first time a female truck of that style had ever made it into the series, and qualified so high; with a speed of 198.7 miles per hour, Beverly had set a new record for females, and trucks of her era! How did she do it? “Hard work, an awesome team, and loads of determination,” was her response. When the pace truck dropped off, and the green flag fell, tensions were high, and the 200-lap race for the chase to the checkered flag was on! “Yippie, yippie, yay! Let’s go racing!”
Shortly after the race went green, the number 22; Hale Danhard raced Beverly hard and took the lead. The number 90; Cole Wickly moved into second, Dale Beck; the 000 slid into third, and Beverly dropped to fourth. For the first 66 lap segment of the race, Danhard dominated and set the pace for the 24-truck field; it appeared as though he was gonna win the segment and take the flag for bonus points. Then on the last lap, the number 90 and the 000 challenged Danhard 3 wide for the lead! The 000 went high, the 90 went low, and Beverly came charging in from behind, bringing the rest of the field with her, and they were coming fast!
Cole, Hale, and Dale rubbed and banged together!
Beverly stuck close on Hale’s bumper!
Dale, Hale, and Cole continued to bump and bang!
Then, just seconds before the checkered flag waved, Hale cut a tire, got loose, spun up the track, and took Dale out with him!
Beverly blasted through the middle and rubbed Cole!
Cole spun down the track into the grass, and Beverly charged on with the rest of the field hot on her tail to win the first segment!
Fans in the stands, in the field, at their homes, and by their radios stood and cheered for Beverly!
Beverly’s pit crew joyfully hollered and slapped hands! “Whew!” The crew chief yelled into his headset, “That’s the way to get it done, Bev! Now let’s get ready to pit!”
“I’ve got you.” Beverly replied, “After I catch the pace truck and they bring us around, I’ll be in.”
Beverly’s crew quickly focused and got ready for her.
After her pit stop, Beverly left pit road, came out in tenth place, and filed in with the rest of the field behind the pace truck. The number 84 truck; Buck Bradly, in second, and Paul Jones; the number 52 truck in first, led the rest of the field around behind the pace truck. A 4-time series champion, Paul Jones was, and is known to be one of the most aggressive trucks in the sport; taking the lead from him is never an easy task.
As the pace truck rolled off the track, the trucks rumbled along and quickly approached the restart zone. In the zone; Buck throttled down, and Paul followed suit. The two trucks launched, and they began to shoot forward out of the zone with the rest following; Buck immediately pulled ahead and Paul abruptly slowed without warning. A launching truck plowed into the back of Paul, and a pileup commenced: seven trucks ran into one another, the yellow flag quickly came out, and Beverly barely scraped through (slight contact with the number 30 truck; Mike Brian caved in her front right fender and shredded her front right tire).
Paul called over the radio to his crew, “Sorry about that guys. My transmission wouldn’t shift. I think the gears broke.”
“That’s alright.” Paul’s crew chief replied, “We’ll get em next week.”
As the caution flag waved, track crews carefully cleaned up debris and removed wreckage from the 2-mile oval. Trucks still on the lead lap came into the pits for tires, adjustments, and fuel. Beverly’s crew worked swiftly on pulling out her caved in fender. Once the fender was pulled out, the crew hurried, did a 4-tire change, topped her off with gas, and sent her on her way. Three other trucks involved in the incident were also able to repair minor damage and head back out into the field.
Leading the now 16 truck field around behind the pace truck; Buck Bradly; the number 84 being the first out of the pits, took over the number 1 spot. Next to him in the second slot; Darrin Green; the number 32 rookie truck from Italy, and the number 55 truck; Ken Conelly in third. Due to her lengthy stop, Beverly had dropped all the way back to the 13th spot.
“That’s alright.” Beverly’s crew chief radioed to her, “We’ve got plenty of laps to catch up. Settle in, and after the green flag falls, try to pace yourself for a few. We need to see how good our repairs were.”
“Roger that.” Beverly responded back to her chief.