Part 33 (2/2)

No matter what Wong threw at him, Jason fended him off, and as Lap 39 ended, it was Wong who found himself

in 7th place, last place.

And out of the race.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

RACE 50.

LAP: 40 OF 51.

RACERS LEFT ON TRACK: 6.

So by Lap 40, the race order was this: 1st: Barnaby.

2nd: Xavier.

3rd: Krishna.

4th: Ariel.

5th: Isaiah Was.h.i.+ngton.6th: Jason.

As one would expect of such an important race, it was super close - while he was in last place, Jason was still flying within sight of the leaders.

Then, at the end of Lap 41, everyone pitted.

Jason swung into the pits, to see all the other pit bays teeming with activity. In a race as long as this one, pit stops were longer, taking anywhere between 30 and 50 seconds.

As he arrived, he saw Barnaby shoom back out onto the track - closely followed by Krishna and Ariel, but not, surprisingly, Xavier Xonora. For some reason, Xavier was still in his pit bay.

Jason came to his own bay.

Sally immediately went to work, and outdid herself. She performed a superb stop, so superb that Jason came out of his pit bay before Isaiah Was.h.i.+ngton did, leapfrogging him into 5th place.

He gunned the Argonaut out of its pit bay - only to slam on the brakes a moment later.

A car was blocking the exit tunnel that led back out to the track.

Xavier Xonora's Speed Razor.

It was just splayed across the tunnel, completely blocking the exit - as if it had stalled in the process of leaving its own pit bay. Xavier offered Jason a disingenuous shrug: 'Sorry. But it's not my fault.'

Seconds ticked by.

Jason fumed. 'The son-of-a-b.i.t.c.h is blocking us!' He couldn't believe it. Every second he was held up here by Xavier, Barnaby was racing away to victory.

And then Isaiah Was.h.i.+ngton appeared in Jason's rearview mirrors, looming up behind the Argonaut, only Was.h.i.+ngton didn't appear to be slowing: at this rate, he was going to ram Jason's tailfin - To evade him, Jason started edging around Xavier's car. But then, just as he was about to get round Xavier, surprise-surprise, Xavier got the Speed Razor started and darted off ahead of Jason.

Jason could only swear and chase after him, still in 5th place ahead of Was.h.i.+ngton, but now a long way behind Barnaby Becker.

Jason raced hard through the rain.

He was now second-last and so safe from immediate elimination, but directly in front of him was the tailfin of the all-black Speed Razor. And Jason had a feeling that Xavier wasn't going to let him past lightly.

At the end of the next lap, Lap 42, Isaiah Was.h.i.+ngton bowed out.

Five racers left.

Nine laps remaining.

One elimination to go, before the six-lap dash to the Finish Line.

The race order was: 1st: Barnaby Becker.

2nd: Varishna Krishna.

3rd: Ariel Piper.

4th: Xavier.

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