Author's Note

I appreciate the wait for this race, as I've mentioned in the past I had a lot of concerns about writing this chapter due to to some very controversial events that happened at this race in real life as well as many hot topics that persist to this day.

Regardless, Talladega. A race I'm sure many NASCAR fans were awaiting. Enjoy, and please leave a comment if you find any errors and to let me know your opinions. I'm always open to constructive criticism.

Race 10: Talladega

Practice, Talladega Superspeedway

Joint practice for both the Monster Energy and Equestrian Cup Series was underway at Talladega, and for Hendrick Motorsports and specifically Pinkie Pie in the #9 there were high expectations. She had run near the front at Daytona, finishing in the top 5, and the pink earth pony was looking forward to the track’s bigger cousin to the west. Manufacturer alliances were going to be in full force, and the two top Chevrolet teams of Hendrick and Ganassi were running practice together. They were in double file, one line consisting of the Monster Energy Driver’s on the bottom including Byron, Elliot, Kurt Busch, and Bowman and a second line on the top consisting of Twilight, Pinkie, Akula, and Starlight.

The were practicing double file running for the respective races, and coming down the backstretch were fast approaching slow traffic with the #36 Front Row Racing Ford. Byron and Twilight got around him with no problems, but behind that there was some scuffling. As Pinkie moved down to clear the traffic, Akula let off the gas so that he wouldn’t run into the #9, Starlight however did not get this memo and bumped the #40.

The momentum carried the Ganassi driver into the earth pony, and she made subsequent contact with Chase Elliott’s right front with both driver’s sliding onto the flat and making significant contact with the inside wall, bringing out a red flag to the session.

Having one of their cars totalled in practice would have been a loss, but both cars being totalled was a disaster for the entire #9 team. Both drivers got out without any issues, Pinkie checking on Chase, and rode away together.

A short visit to the medical center followed as it was mandatory, and when Pinkie got out she found her three Hendrick teammates Viral, Twilight, and Starlight awaiting her.

"Feeling well?" Twilight inquired.

"Oh it's nothing Twi, not the first time I've been there." The earth pony shrugged off the Princesses concern.

They turned back to head towards the garage as a group, with Twilight striking up conversation.

"So I've been looking into the history of this track, it's quite fascinating. Rumors state it was built on top of a burial ground, or that the track is cursed."

"You and your studying Twilight." Starlight interjected.

"It's an interesting history! And there's a lot of crazy stories that support the claims. And I'm not exactly superstitious but 2009 would be very symbolic if that was the case."

"Keselowski and Edward's coming to the flag?" Viral suspected.

"More than that, the car Brad was driving was owned by the same American Indian people that were said to have been living here when the track was built. And the cars that finished behind him, Newman and Junior, were sponsored by the American Army and National Guard. If I know anything about human history, then that's textbook symbolism."

"Thanks for the history lesson…" Starlight retorted, shortly before bumping into some pony...or rather a changeling.

Viral got in between her and Akula, before the latter could tear the former's skin off her body. Not far behind was the rest of Ganasii, Trixie and Sunset. Twilight put a hoof up to her snout in disappointment.

"Are we really still doing this?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"Well if some pony could keep her nose clean we wouldn't be having this problem." Akula spat, Viral still holding onto him to keep him from doing anything."

"Boo hoo, it was a fucking accident." Starlight responded.

"Cut the mare some slack, she's still not comfortable driving." Trixie added, trying to back up her friend while respecting her teammate.

"You don't seem to be much better, you left your tail in Vegas." Twilight threw in.

"You talk a lot of shit for some pony who outsmarted herself a couple weeks ago." Sunset inserted herself into the scuffle that was already brewing.

Akula shifted his vision towards the two unicorns behind him, first Trixie.

"At least Twilight knows to not suck on Starlight's horn like a filly.."

Then Sunset.

"And her mentor isn't a racist prick."

"At least Larson could fucking drive!"

"CAN WE FUCKING STOP?!" Viral shouted.

Akula was about to mutter something about Pinkie and Red Bull Racing before Viral, now enraged, boldly slapped him.

"You know what, we're going to work this out. Starlight, you're going to be spending time with Sunset and Trixie. Akula, you're coming over here with us. That way we can talk without any of you bickering like high schoolers."

Silently, every pony agreed. Starlight and Akula swapping places.

"Maybe I should introduce you to Rick, he has a way of stopping this kind of thing. I sat down with him and Starlight after Atlanta. We had dinner." Viral shared.

"Dinner?" Akula inquired.

"Yeah, he gave us Mickey Mouse trays."

Twilight held a hoof up to her mouth holding a chuckle, remembering Hendrick had done this before with Jimmie and Chad. The two friends walked away, and Twilight and Pinkie were left to themselves.

The two of them made their way down the garage, Twilight bringing up the elephant in the room.

"So, Chase is taking the backup car. That means you don't have a car now. Which means you need to find a new one. So, any ideas?" Twilight beamed with an awkward smile.

Just as she finished, they passed by a sat down Darrell Wallace Jr, known by fans as Bubba Wallace. Driver of the #43 Chevrolet, and the lone African-American driver in the Cup Series.

However, the week had not been kind to the young driver. He had appeared on a news network advocating for the ban of confederate flags at races, and though NASCAR had followed up the way he had wanted, the backlash had been immense.

Pinkie knew the moment she needed a new car, who she was going to ask. It was a matter of finding him. After all, making others happy was always her goal.

She glanced over at her lavender friend, moving her eyes in the direction of Bubba. Twilight caught on, and moved along back to her own hauler. Now alone with Wallace, she cleared her throat to get his attention.

He tilted his head up and took off his sunglasses, his mouth curling up ever so slightly in the presence of Pinkie.

"Pinkie, to what do I owe the pleasure?" He asked, reaching out to her hoof as she pulled him off his behind.

"Business, sadly, perhaps we can have fun another time."

"Let me guess, you want my backup car? Come on, tag with me. We'll bring it back to your spot."

Bubba's team was hard at work on his Primary car, but his backup had been mostly untouched since it had arrived at the track. But soon, it would be getting a fresh set of equipment, courtesy of a Hendrick Motorsports update.

It didn't take long either, her team had the car ready to go by qualifying day. But, it didn't matter that much. She would be heading to the rear of the field anyway.

So she watched the rest of the field do their laps, and to her surprise Bubba Wallace came back over to converse with her.

"Hey, Pinkie. You mind talking in private?"

Pinkie felt it, a sense of sadness over him. Something was deeply troubling him. Why else would he come to her anyway? It didn't take long to find out what troubled him, and it shocked her deeply. Pinkie embraced him as he began to sob into her shoulder.

He had heard news of something in his garage, truthful or not, it would become the talking point of the entire weekend. Whether he intended it or not, Bubba Wallace had become the most controversial driver in NASCAR's modern age.

Qualifying Results:

1. Twilight Sparkle
2. Viral Velocity
3. Rainbow Dash
4. Lightning Dust
5. Fluttershy
6. Scootaloo
7. Sunset Shimmer
8. Sweetie Belle
9. Rarity
10. Apple Bloom
11. Spitfire
12. Akula
13. Applejack
14. Lyra Heartstrings
15. Vapor Trail
16. Starlight Glimmer
17. Trixie Lulamoon
18. Octavia Melody
19. Vinyl Scratch
20. Sky Stinger
21. Oscura Galaxia
22. Bloothy
23. Derpy Hooves
24. Danger Dean- DNQ, Tech Inspection Failure
25. Pinkie Pie- DNQ, Backup Car

On the morning of race day, Akula returned to the Hendrick garage. Having heard word of Pinkie's choice for her backup car, he very quickly had a soft spot for the pink earth pony that just last year drove a car over top of him. He had a lot of respect for Bubba Wallace, who like his F1 mentor and friend Lewis Hamilton, was a colored driver in a sport dominated by white.

In addition, Cliff Daniels the crew chief for Jimmie Johnson was transferred over to the #40 car, he did not have a spot as a Crew Chief on the Hendrick Motorsports Equestrian Cup team as Neon Shock and Viral had the #24, which moved Chad Knaus to work with Twilight. Not only was his expertise and experience much more helpful for Akula, but this helped the cohesion between the two top Chevy teams, which would help their efforts dramatically.

“Talladega Super Speedway, NASCAR’s largest oval and producer of even larger crashes. Thank you for joining us, I’m Mike Joy with Jeff Gordon and for the first time this season Kurt Busch joins us in the commentary box. Kurt, great to have you with us today, this is a little more in your comfort zone than your previous job in the series.”

“Yeah Mike, it was definitely not something that I would normally have in my job description. I’m actually glad to be out of there and up here with you guys or out on track.”

“While we’re on the subject of the #40 team, great pick for a driver looking for experience. Cliff Daniels, I’ve heard a lot of good things about him. He does a very good job, with the talent Akula has I think we’ll definitely see a great improvement in his already good form.”

“Of course the other big talking point of the weekend for this series is the #9 team, course crashing out in practice and missing qualifying but they managed to find a backup car in the #43.”

“It’s tough, Hendrick Motorsports has always been very strong at Super Speedways. They locked out the front row this race with the #24 and #48 but who do they have starting behind them? Toyota, Toyota, Toyota, you have to get to the 4th row to find the next chevy behind those two. It’s going to be really hard to control the front of the field with so many of their fellow Chevys down the field.”

“Well before we get the command to fire engines let’s get a couple more late breaking stories. Jamie?”

“Mike you just talked about the #9, now the #43 team having to go to the rear of the field, how about the #95. Ran so well at Daytona alongside the other Toyota’s, and they failed tech inspection. Such a shame for a team that is looking to be on the up, but…Dean is a very good driver. We expect him and the #43 next to him to make their way to the front eventually. Regan.”

“At the season opener at Daytona the #18 team was the car to beat, they ran up front, led many laps, and won the race. So far it’s Dash’s only win of the season, but despite an early spring slump they finished second at Richmond. They’ll be starting right behind the pole sitter. Marty?”

“While the guys in the commentary booth may have already brought it up, it's still worth noting. The #40 team now has a new crew chief effective for the remainder of the season. Cliff Daniels, currently the crew chief of Jimmie Johnson. Obviously with the scrambled lineup of crew chiefs at Hendrick there was some trouble initially finding a spot for Daniels, but within the practice and qualifying sessions it seems he and Akula have found a good foundation. We’ll keep an eye out for their progress.”

“Thanks for the extra info on that story Marty, we’ve got twenty-five very fast stock cars about to do 94 laps at the biggest track on the calendar. Join us, for the call to fire engines.”

The Hendrick owned engine inside the chevrolet responded to the call as the #43 was fired up. Pinkie was grateful to have arguably one of the best Crew Chiefs on the grid to guide her around. Alan Gustafson, who worked with Chase in the Cup Series, was a well respected man in the profession. His guidance proved significant for the earth pony’s early races.

“Just going to confirm we’ve got a working phone line.” Alan confirmed, he knew just how to get Pinkie into the right place.

“I’ve got it all coming through.” She responded.

“Good, we’ve got our work cut out for us but we’ve got a fast car and a positive attitude so let’s put those to use.”

It was a bit of a wait to get out on track, starting from the rear of the field, but soon enough they filed out behind the pace car and began warmup laps. As they came around to complete the first of them, a different voice found Pinkie’s ear. It was Jeff Gordon.

“Morning Pinkie, it’s Jeff up in the commentary booth. How copy?”

“Clear as day Jeff, what you need?”

“Just want your thoughts on the situation. You know you have a fast car, you’ve got two teammates at the front of the field, what’s the plan for getting to the front by the end of this?”

“Keeping this car intact would be a start.”

Jeff and Kurt couldn’t help but laugh.

“Aside from that it’s really just picking the right lane to be in, we worked hard on this car to get it ready on such short notice and I’m incredibly thankful to the #43 team for letting us borrow their car for the remainder of the weekend. I know it’s been tough for them, for a lot of us, and it means a lot to me driving this car. I do want to be at the front by the end of this and I know we’ve got the car to do it.”

“Wise words Pinkie, wise words.”

Pinkie hadn't started at the rear for any race yet, but the prospect of pushing through the pack with a competitive car was exciting, and so when the green flag flew she pressed up to the rear of the #41 Ford in front of her and got into the draft. At the front, Viral pulled down in front of Twilight to lead the bottom line, and the two Hendrick Chevrolets were off as Lightning Dust started off leading the outside. It wasn't long before a gap opened up between the #48 and #18 which she filled rather quickly.

As expected the high line was quickly being abandoned early on, but some decided to stick to it. A group of Ford's began to line up, consisting of Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, Lyra, Octavia, and Vinyl. They stayed in line, even with the fourth car on the inside but unable to get any forward momentum.

Lap 7

The Ford's up top had begun to lose ground, as the Stewart-HAAS cars began to form up with the bottom line, but the CMC kept running the high line, wanting to stay together.

It was at this time that JGR was ready to make a move, with three cars lined up behind the two Chevrolets in front. The #11 let off for a run, then swung outside followed by the #18 and #20. Viral went up to cover, before coming back to try and recollect Twilight. By the time the #48 got back up to speed Lightning was fully alongside. The #42 pulled up to Twilight's bumper and gave her a good push, which drove her into Viral and allowed the pegasus to regain lane control.

For the next couple laps, she swung up to the high line on the straits before coming to pick up the bottom in the corners. This began to bunch the pack up, and as the pack was jostling for positioning both the #2 and #22 pulled down to the apron and left their spot in the bottom lane. With both of them having already won a race, they figured it would be smart to ride at the rear.

This left holes in the bottom lane that allowed the outside lane to capitalize. Lightning would lead the subsequent lap. Pinkie for her effort had cracked into the top 20, but couldn't make ground quickly. However, ahead her teammates were devising a plan. They remembered what the Toyota's pulled at Daytona and went to one-up them.

At the conclusion of lap 9, all of the Chevy's from Hendrick Motorsports, Ganasii, and JTG Daughtry pulled into the pits for fuel and to bunch up together. Viral would lead them out, and this allowed Pinkie to regroup with them on track. The Toyota's were quick to react, not wanting to be outdone in their own game.

This left the Ford's of Penske and Stewart-HAAS as well as RCR to fight for the stage. Scootaloo would front the field for the remaining 13 laps of stage 1 as there were no longer enough cars in the lead pack to make a substantial move.

Stage 1 Results

1. Scootaloo (+1 Playoff Point)
2. Sweetie Belle
3. Apple Bloom
4. Octavia Melody
5. Lyra Heartstrings
6. Oscura Galaxia
7. Bloothy
8. Vinyl Scratch
9. Derpy Hooves
10. Applejack

Cars that didn't stop during stage one stopped at the end of the stage, dropping to the rear. This meant that the front row was once again Viral and Twilight. This time being pushed along by Akula and Sunset respectively. The restart was clean, with the changeling giving his close friend a massive push and both dropping down in front of the #48.

After a couple laps, a train began to form. Fronted by the Chevy's and the Toyota's sandwiched between them and RCR with the Ford's holding the rear of the pack together.

That was until Lap 33, when the #3 car made a move around the outside of the #95. Oscura was not keen riding behind Dean and brought some cars to the outside. They gathered a little momentum, and the front was picked up by The #88.

A few more cars moved up the high line trying to gain some spots for the end of the stage, but as cars were making split second decisions it congested the top line. A close call with the #42 and #88 nearly caused an accordion effect down the line as Sunset was going to use the momentum to make a charge to the front. Kurt made the call.

“...and as more and more cars make that move it slows the momentum of the bottom lane because they have to regroup, as here is the #42 moving up…”

“Contact. Two Chevy's get together and the top lane stacks up. We stay green.”

“I’ll tell you Mike I held my breath there, that was a dangerously late move by the #42. Very lucky to keep going after that.”

Conversely, the Toyota's on the bottom line stayed nose to tail and pushed further along. And when the top line collapsed it left only Viral, Akula, Twilight, and Pinkie ahead of them. As it got closer to the stage end, the Toyota's once again pounced on the Chevy's. As a line, they moved around the outside of Pinkie and Twilight. Akula and Viral went up to cover and stuffed the run coming onto the backstretch for the final time in stage two. A push from the #18 to the #11 was carried up the line all the way up to the #24.

Viral had her hooves full trying to straighten out the car but demonstrated brilliant car control. Twilight took the lead while this was happening and Pinkie had checked up to avoid what almost became a wreck. Twilight took yet another stage win for the year, her playoff position seeming relatively safe for now.

Stage 2 Results

1. Twilight Sparkle (+1 Playoff Point)
2. Viral Velocity
3. Akula
4. Pinkie Pie
5. Lightning Dust
6. Rainbow Dash
7. Fluttershy
8. Spitfire
9. Danger Dean
10. Oscura Galaxia

The restart for the final stage commenced after pitstops, during which a few teams took gambles on strategy for field position. The #3, #8, and #41 taking only two tires to get to the front of the field.

Pinkie restarted 7th, and for the first time that race a car other than a Ford or Hendrick Chevy led as the #3 car got out in front of the field. There was some jostling behind her however, as coming down the backstretch on lap one the #24 was a bit too aggressive with the #41. The HAAS Tooling Ford jumped sideways, but Derpy showed incredible reaction speed, managing to steer the car straight. After falling down the order a bit she settled behind Dash’s #18 Toyota. The chaos behind allowed both RCR cars to line up together. They fronted the draft for several more laps.

Lap 72

Peak Super Speedway action, Double file back to the rear of the pack and three wide in some places. There had been a few close calls, but for the most part every pony seemed to be holding steady fairly well. Pinkie was the second car on the outside line behind Twilight and in front of Akula. Viral was tucked up behind the #8 and #3, wanting to get back to the front quickly.

Coming on to the backstretch, the #8 swung around the outside of the #3. With the aggressiveness of Joey Logano, Oscura tried to close the door. This resulted in left front to right rear contact. Mild chaos ensued, as Oscura was swung towards the outside. The unicorn immediately began counter steering, just as the #8 was moving to the bottom after having punctured a left front tire. They banged wheels again, and ended up down on the apron.

Viral had to take extreme evasive action, checking up hard and finding herself in the middle lane with no help as the #48 and #20 split either side of her. Despite how much happened in such a short amount of time, all parties managed to either keep their cars straight or get off track.

In the case for Oscura, she got below the apron. Despite her erratic move, she got off lightly compared to her teammate. The #8 team had to call Bloothy in to replace the left side tires on the RCR Chevrolet. Oscura stayed out to run alone at the rear.

The #8 was slow getting to pit road with the left front down, enough that the field completed a full lap by the time she got there. They were once again on the backstretch when she made it to her box. It was a quick stop, likely putting her a lap down. As she was exiting, the field was coming out of turn four. Fluttershy and Twilight side by side for the lead.

Every spotter was on the radio about the #8 coming out of pit road, wanting to avoid a massive ARCA style pileup. What they didn’t account for, was the #8 car merging onto the track early, before they even got to turn one. It was a mistake not seen since Kevin Lepage’s Busch Series wreck several years before.

The first two cars, Fluttershy and Twilight, easily had room to move around. It was the second row of Pinkie, Viral, and Rainbow that was too tight to fit. Trying to avoid the #8, Dash had no other move but to run the #24 wide. Doing so not only turned the #43 down onto the apron nearly recollecting the #18 but also pinched the #24 into the #40.

"Hold the brake, straighten it when you can. Nothing coming towards ya just woah it down and get it going." Eddie D'Hondt, the teams spotter, slowly coached her as the car spun itself around onto the apron.

"Everything feels fine, check the left rear when you have a moment."

"Looks like it caught behind the wheel, nothing to worry about. We'll pull that out on the next stop."

The contact to her left rear surprised her, but Pinkie’s spin was harmless. She collected the car on the apron and continued along with no problematic damage. The right rear quarter panel of the Axalta Chevy was hooked to the left front fender of the #40 as they skidded down the wall in turn one.

After covering some distance, Akula slowed down to allow the pegasus to roll her car off his. They were lucky that the damage was not worse, because what happened behind them was much worse.

The next car behind Dash, was Derpy, and unfortunately this mare did not get the memo about what was happening with the #8. The impact lifted the #8’s rear wheels off the ground, both cars spun in opposite directions, and almost instantly the track was entirely blocked.

Some cars riding at the back were able to slow down in time to avoid piling in, among them were the #2, #22, #6, #14, and #47. Everyone else, not so lucky. By the time everything came to a halt, it was little more than a car park in turn two. Fluttershy, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow, Lyra, Scootaloo, and Sky Stinger got away with no damage, Viral, Akula, Pinkie, and Oscura managed to drive away with minimal or repairable damage.

Every other car either drove away a mess, or didn’t drive away at all. Sixteen of the twenty-five taken out in one wreck. The Big One had struck. So while safety crews began to work on recovery and cleanup the commentary booth began breaking down the events leading up to and during the crash.

"Now this started on the previous lap, with contact between teammates. We'll see it first from our aerial view…" Mike opened up the discussion. "Right there, Viral pushing the #8 on the inside. The #8 moves up high and the #3 blocks. Contact, now we stayed green but that contact cut the left front of the #8."

They moved to a replay of the following crash, starting from the Start/Finish Line camera.

"Now here is what happened on the following lap."

Mike stayed silent as all three of them got another look at the massive pileup.

“That’s just a poor decision by the #8 car, I’m sure all the spotters are on the radio telling their drivers ‘car on the apron, car on the apron’ but you’re not expecting that car to merge into the pack at such a low speed.” Kurt noted.

“From the #11, right behind the #41.”

Lightning’s hood cam was right on the frontlines as she drove hard into the initial impact. The camera was doused in radiator fluid as the Toyota navigated its way out of the pileup.

“Sunset’s Credit One Bank Onboard.”

Sunset had been the first car on the outside behind Akula, but the #40 ahead was quickly covered by the #41 turning right into her path before the #42 hit it hard and spun around towards the apron.

“Riding with the #2 this time, see it from the back.”

Rarity had been leading the group of cars at the back a distance behind the main pack, and was able to slow down adequately before getting to the accident. The camera panned over to get a better look at the junkyard she was driving by.

“Just a car park on the apron of turn 1... It’s going to take some time to clean this up as we are under yellow for the big one here at Talladega.”

While the clean up was happening in turn 1, Pinkie’s team got to work pulling the fender out and putting on new tires. Also with her in pit lane were the #24 and #40 repairing their own damage from the wreck. All three cars got back on track without going a lap down, Pinkie in particular catching back up to the lead pack now consisting of just a dozen cars. Then, the #24 and #40 went back onto pit road when everyone else did to double check and make sure the cars weren’t compromised. After a couple minutes, both cars went back on track and were up to speed.

After a lengthy clean up, the all clear was given by the safety workers and race officials called the pace car into the pits on lap 78. The field bunched up, led by the #20 and #48 to the green, but this didn’t last long as from several cars lengths back the #24 and #40 both shot around the outside of both lanes and to the lead.

They took advantage of the fact that you could not advance position before the start/finish line, by getting up to speed far quicker than the cars ahead of them. Akula and Viral stormed ahead and began to form a gap, though that gap diminished quickly as the remaining cars began to form up. Pinkie took a couple laps to push past slower traffic and find her teammate and preferred drafting partner Twilight. They hung around on the outside together, eventually being picked up by their fellow Chevy’s. The four of them working together managed to take control of the race and along with Fluttershy, Rainbow, Rarity, and Applejack formed an 8 car line that broke away from the remaining cars.

Lap 87

"Let's check in with the new duo at the #40 team."

"Cliff, I don't think I need to tell you, but this is the scariest (expletive) I have ever done in my life."

"Yeah, and you're leading too. You may be scared as (expletive) but you're driving the (expletive) wheels off that thing. So keep at it."

"Roger that."

"Well I think it's safe to say it's going well." Kurt noted while he and Jeff shared a laugh.

The front 8 cars had separated from the remaining 4 cars to form a lead pack, lead by the #40 followed by the three remaining Hendrick Chevy’s. Behind them, the JGR Toyota's and Penske Ford's.

Both manufacturers knew that alone they would not be able to do anything about the Chevy's. Despite an attempt at coordination, the Penske Ford's did not align themselves with the Toyota's. Both Rarity and Applejack having problematic experiences with the mare just ahead of them.

As such, the Toyota's got formed up and began a tandem. Similar to how the #40 and #24 had in order to get to the front. They swung to the inside, underneath the #43.

They were moving fast, but Pinkie moved down half a lane to try and take air of the #20's rear. Fluttershy had the same idea on the #48 and they made contact. The #20 wobbled a bit, but kept going straight.

Pinkie fell off the cars ahead and into the two Ford's behind her who gladly picked her up. She was able to get back together with Twilight as the Toyota's formed back up and took 3rd and 4th.

Lap 89

Pinkie didn't need Pinkie Sense to see that the #20 was unstable when they completed Lap 88. But the Toyota's were challenging for the lead. They had the edge coming onto the backstretch.

Then a wiggle formed from the #20, and another. Then a more profound wiggle. Dash was still pushing full force when the right rear tire gave way. This time the car shook violently.

It swung right, but the pegasus turned the car away from the outside line. Preventing a larger pileup.

Instead, the #18 hit the left rear as it swung back. The force brought the car up slightly. Just enough for the air to catch. Dash swung hard left and both cars began to head towards the inside wall.

It was a hard hit for the #18 square on, immediately caving in the entire nose and destroying it, but it was mild compared to the #20. The roof flaps were just barely not enough to bring the car down. It swung around with its rear towards the sky.

The Toyota impacted with the rear first, tearing out a significant part of the protective fencing lining the inside of the backstretch. It dug in, tearing the rear suspension out of the car. Then the car swung around and hit the fence with the driver side before it smacked the ground hard, spinning around on its passenger side. It and the #18 skidded down a couple hundred feet before the #20 rolled onto its lid and the #18 crawled next to it.

Silence rang out for several aching moments, before Dash disconnected her helmet, got out of her car, got down on her chest, and looked inside for her friend. The safety crew arrived, and as they did...Dash looked over and used a wing to give a thumbs up. A collective breath was let out.

After a few minutes, Fluttershy was flipped back right side up and brought out, shaken, but unharmed, putting a wing around Dash as they went to the ambulance and the crowd applauded. Dash’s quick actions were applauded by most fans, some pointing out that her actions were similar to that of Dale Jr at Pocono, when he had got out of his car to check on Steve Park after a violent crash in the early 2000's

This wreck brought out a red flag, the cars left running on track pulling into pit lane on the front stretch and the driver’s having a moment to catch their breaths as they waited for the fencing to be repaired.

Pinkie was mentally devastated, feeling she was in part guilty for the crash that certainly had left a mark on Fluttershy’s soft demeanor. She got out of the car, her head hung low, but her friends quickly calmed her down.

"Hey, Pinkie. Don't let that beat you up, accidents happen." Viral gave her a pat on the shoulder.

"She could have been hurt."

"But she wasn't…" Akula continued. "And that's what is important isn't it?"

"...yeah, I suppose."

"Maybe it's a good idea if we check on her?" Twilight offered."

All of them agreed, and took the walk over while they had the time. They waited outside the medical center, and thankfully before long both Fluttershy and Rainbow walked out with each other.

Pinkie shot up and squeezed the pegasus, thankfully softening her grip before sobbing a bit into her shoulder. Letting out a tirade of apologies for her part in the accident to which the humble pegasus couldn't help but rub her shoulder and explain that she didn't hold anything against her.

The red flag period ended after a 45 minute wait, afterwards the drivers still left in the race got back into their cars and returned to the track. Akula, Viral, Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, Lyra, Scootaloo, Sky Stinger, and Oscura. Ten cars left to settle it, it was turning into the Bud Shootout that happened at Daytona in February.

On the restart, it was Akula and Twilight who got the edge over Viral and Pinkie on the restart, but it didn’t take long for partners to find each other again. Akula moved to pick up Viral, Twilight let Pinkie catch up to her, Rarity and AJ got hooked up, even the four remaining cars decided to pair up. This was now a race of tandems, and it didn’t take long for things to shift at the front.

Lap 91

Down the backstretch, the #48 and #43 swung around the outside and took the lead. The two Ford’s followed suit rather quickly leaving the #24 and #40 separated, needing to form back up. For the next few laps, Pinkie and Twilight had Rarity and Applejack hot on their bumpers. All the way up to the white flag, where the Ford’s were little more than a couple car lengths behind them coming into turn 1.

At the rear, Oscura pushed Sky too hard in the tri-oval and spun him down into the run off, but there was no caution. The leaders were coming down the backstretch, with the Ford’s charging hard on the entry to turn 3, swinging wide to try and get a run around the outside. The push was too much for Rarity to control, and after a wiggle and catch she lost the rear and spun down onto the apron leaving Applejack to continue alone.

Now it was between Pinkie and Twilight, both of whom had yet to win a race. Pinkie was locked to the bumper coming out of turn 4 and stayed for just a bit. She waited for the perfect place, she knew where it was. Kevin Harvick had pulled this move on Jamie McMurrary a decade prior, but she figured Twilight would be wise to this.

When she moved her nose inside, so too did the alicorn. Just as she thought, she swung to the outside this time and got alongside, using the slipstream overspeed and the drag on the #48’s right rear. She knew she had timed it perfectly, but no one else did.

The run to the line was tense as the two Hendrick powered cars were dead even, right up to when they crossed the line. Applejack barely edged out ahead of the oncoming Akula and Viral. Followed by Scootaloo, Lyra, and Oscura. Then Rarity and Sky much later.

However, everyone was waiting on the verdict for who would be awarded the victory. The timing board said the #43, but the word needed to be made official. And soon it was, by a record margin of victory in the series. Pinkie had edged out Twilight at the line by .001 seconds.

"We get it?!" Eddie was screaming the question.

"Yes sir!" Alan confirmed the results of the finish.

Once she got the confirmation, Pinkie ripped the window net out and shook a hoof in the air all the way around the oval. Getting some nudges from the #24, #48, and #40 as congratulations. It was a long ride back to the grandstands, but when she got there she took time to throw some smoke for the fans in the stands. Once she had decimated her rear tires, she climbed out and was greeted by the team rushing from the pit lane to celebrate. Whilst that was taking place, the rest of the drivers returning to the pits were getting interviews.

Twilight was met by Regan Smith first, happy to exchange some words with the former driver.

"Twilight another stellar performance today in the #48, your third second place finish of the season, getting ever so close to that elusive first win."

"Yeah, the team put a lot of work into the car. It worked great, being at the front all race long certainly helped keep us out of trouble towards the end there. I'm happy for Pinkie, we managed to work well together all race and we kept it clean all the way up to the line. Being on the wrong side of history is still being a part of history. I know Jimmie had a similarly close finish here a few years back."

"In terms of the standings you're currently leading all driver's without a win. Do you expect this consistency to pay off in the end or is the team looking to secure a playoff spot as soon as possible?"

"Well twenty years ago maybe this consistency would be fine as is, but this system rewards victories. You can get away with second or third only so much before it isn't enough. If we have sixteen winners and we aren't one of them, doesn't really matter how consistent we are does it?"

"Wise words Twilight, best of luck to you."

"Thank you."

Further down the pit lane, Marty found the #40 team and managed to get some words in with Akula.

"Akula, yet another top five finish despite a complete overhaul at crew chief. We overheard you and Cliff exchanging some encouraging words. How's the new partnership working out so far?"

"It's good, very good in fact. Cliff's been really helpful and his experience definitely payed off. I think it was a good switch to let Kurt do what he's best at."

"Now, I don't mean to embarrass you at all but one of the things we overheard was that Talladega is quite a frightening experience for you. As a former open-wheel driver has adjusting to such a massive oval like Talladega been a huge hurdle?"

"Adjusting to Stock Car Racing in general was a bit of a task for me, Talladega is just a massive shift in perspective coming from someone who raced on classic circuits for 6 years. Going this fast for this long on a surface that steep, got my nerves a bit tense I'll be honest. The team has my back, got some good friends in the garage and on track, should be alright."

"We overheard Regan talking with Twilight about wins and the playoffs this season, you're the second highest driver without a win so far this season. What's your take on consistency versus aggression?"

"Got to be fighting for that first win at some point, I've been in position to get it before and just got unlucky. I'm confident this team can make a fast car every week and I'll do my best to be in position the get it in victory lane."

"Thank you and congrats on the result."

"Well gentlemen, we are ten races in and we've already had eight winners. Seems we are on pace to have Sixteen winners before we even get to the playoffs. A lot of drivers we expected to have wins by now including Twilight, Akula, Sunset, and Spitfire have yet to secure their spot in the playoffs while some surprise winners such as Scootaloo and Vinyl have shuffled the standings quite a bit."

"Indeed Mike, and look at the schedule we have coming up. Dover and Martinsville, we talked a lot about how strong the Chip Ganassi cars are at short tracks and Twilight too has had a good track record. Charlotte, Kansas, and Michigan after that. The Toyota's have been really strong at Intermediate tracks this season. Notably Spitfire who may have won at Las Vegas if not for a cut tire."

"A lot of exciting action in the coming weeks. Good night everyone and we look forward to you joining us next time when we head to the North East for our first of two races at Dover."

Finishing Positions

1. 43 Pinkie Pie 40 Points (+5 Playoff Points)

2. 48 Twilight Sparkle 35 Points

3. 22 Applejack 34 Points

4. 40 Akula 33 Points

5. 24 Viral Velocity 32 Points

6. 14 Lyra Heartstrings 31 Points

7. 6 Scootaloo 30 Points

8. 3 Oscura Galaxia 29 Points

9. 2 Rarity 28 Points

10. 47 Sky Stinger 27 Points

11. 20 Fluttershy 26 Points (DNF Lap 89)

12. 18 Rainbow Dash 25 Points (DNF Lap 89)

13. 11 Lightning Dust 24 Points (DNF Lap 73)

14. 42 Sunset Shimmer 23 Points (DNF Lap 73)

15. 41 Derpy Hooves 22 Points (DNF Lap 73)

16. 88 Starlight Glimmer 21 Points (DNF Lap 73)

17. 19 Spitfire 20 Points (DNF Lap 73)

18. 95 Danger Dean 19 Points (DNF Lap 73)

19. 21 Apple Bloom 18 Points (DNF Lap 73)

20. 10 Octavia Melody 17 Points (DNF Lap 73)

21. 12 Sweetie Belle 16 Points (DNF Lap 73)

22. 4 Vinyl Scratch 15 Points (DNF Lap 73)

23. 1 Trixie Lulamoon 14 Points (DNF Lap 73)

24. 37 Vapor Trail 13 Points (DNF Lap 73)

25. 8 Bloothy 12 Points (DNF Lap 73, One Lap Down)

1. Lightning Dust 366 Points (2 Wins-12 Playoff Points)

2. Rarity 329 Points (2 Wins-10 Playoff Points)

3. Pinkie Pie 383 Points (1 Win-6 Playoff Points)

4. Viral Velocity 342 Points (1 Win-7 Playoff Points)

5. Applejack 338 Points (1 Win-7 Playoff Points)

6. Rainbow Dash 306 Points (1 Win-7 Playoff Points)

7. Scootaloo 275 Points (1 Win-6 Playoff Points)

8. Vinyl Scratch 226 Points (1 Win-5 Playoff Points)

9. Twilight Sparkle 365 Points (4 Playoff Points)

10. Akula 364 Points (3 Playoff Points)

11. Fluttershy 361 Points (1 Playoff Point)

12. Sunset Shimmer 360 Points (2 Playoff Points)

13. Spitfire 343 Points (1 Playoff Point)

14. Danger Dean 316 Points (1 Playoff Point)

15. Sweetie Belle 267 Points

16. Octavia Melody 259 Points

17. Starlight Glimmer 252 Points

18. Lyra Heartstrings 243 Points

19. Apple Bloom 231 Points

20. Bloothy 223 Points

21. Oscura Galaxia 216 Points

22. Vapor Trail 204 Points

23. Trixie Lulamoon 200 Points

24. Sky Stinger 196 Points

25. Derpy Hooves 189 Points