I want you to know that I think you’ve been doing an amazing job with this piece of fanfiction. I completely understand though and you know you’ll always have a reader right here whenever you decide to update. 
Thank you very much for your support, and I really appreciate hearing that Paulisha. You know I would never leave a story unfinished so I will do my best when I’m ready to return to this one. 
[size=50]I used your name :3[/size]
Whos [size=50]Name?[/size]
Haha! Yes you did. 
Lol, no. She was just mentioning that she used my name instead of my username.
When i saw this i thought it wouldn’t be my cup of tea but its wonderful!
Thanks! I’m glad you gave it shot! I should have a few chapters added in a while!
Can’t wait!
I know, it has been ages since I did anything with this story. But you know me, never one to leave a story unfinished! So, I’m very happy to say that I got some unexpected inspiration for this story a few days ago. Since it has been so long, I’ll just give a quick re-cap on the last chapter: Doc began dating Bonnie and is still unemployed. He came across a small race stadium one day and was challenged by Rick to try a race against him. Rick was impressed and invited him to join their group. Doc soon became known for his classic drift move and raced almost daily with the boys. One day, Rick showed him the piston of his deceased friend and asked Doc if he would like to join their annual race for the piston. Doc agreed and was given the name “Hudson Hornet”. Good? OK, here’s what comes next!
CHAPTER FIVE
The following day, we all arrived extra early at the track. A few of the boys had dug up some old spray-paint tools and we took turns using them to cover ourselves with race names and numbers. I proudly donned my new name and the number 51, chosen from the age my father died at. It was quite amusing to see all my buddies flaunting their temporary paint.
I half wished that Bonnie could come watch me that afternoon, but I knew she was much too busy to take time out to see me race. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how she really felt about me spending so much time on racing. Her opinion was like a subtle version of Johnny’s. Johnny was always yapping at me about how I was wasting my life on something that wasn’t help pay the bills. Bonnie however, she just nodded and smiled when I talked about the track. She never let on that she disapproved of it, but she never showed much interest either. I tried not to let it bother me too much. After all, I couldn’t expect either of them to truly understand my growing fascination with racing. There was something addictive about that rush of adrenaline and the passion I had behind perfecting my technique that they wouldn’t be able to process.
I gazed around at the boys and realized that they were the only ones who knew what it felt like. Even better than I did probably, given how long they’d been racing.
And there were cars that supported us too. As the afternoon rolled in, I watched some spectators trickle into the stands. I guessed that most were friends of Rick and the other guys who had been racing for several years. They made for a small but enthusiastic crowd, who I planned on impressing. Being one of the group’s rookies, I felt it was my responsibility to stand out if I wanted to gain any repute.
It wasn’t much longer that Rick announced the start of the race. It was to be only 100 laps, and we were to start in the positions we had drawn the previous day. I was situated about halfway into the pack. It could have been better, but it also could have been worse I figured.
I stole a quick glance at William’s piston which had been polished and placed on a small table in the centre of the infield. It wasn’t much, but it had been glorified into something more. I knew we were all going to mean business out on the track this time.
We were then ordered to our positions and I took my spot behind the first row of cars. All the engines around me began to rev stridently with anticipation. The line ahead of me started to drive and I motored forward as we began the first few warm-up laps. After the third time around, I steadied myself for the blast to come. As soon as the front row crossed the finish line, the entire stadium roared with the noise of engines bolting into full speed. I hunkered down and charged after the pack. I was already eager to race ahead but I knew I had to save my energy for when it really counted.
About 60 laps in, a green Oldsmobile we called ‘Uncle’ burned out and pulled off the track. Most of the guys I raced with were older than me, and as I passed Uncle I reckoned that the others were probably growing tired by this time. It seemed like an ideal moment to begin slipping ahead through the pack.
So, I did. I accelerated to higher speeds and effortlessly glided past several of the boys in front of me. It wasn’t until we were 90 laps down that I realized the challenge ahead. There was only one car between myself and first place, and that car happened to be Rick.
I thundered onwards, chasing him closer and closer for a good six laps. They sure didn’t call him the ‘Rocket’ for nothing. I had a feeling he knew it was me behind him too. He was an expert at blocking my attempts to pass, and by no means was he going easy on me.
Four laps, three laps… time was running out far too quickly. I sought one last potential shot at claiming first, but as expected, Rick was right on top of it and cut me off one last time, leaving me to finish in second place.
I drew to a stop at the side, as did the others, and we watched Rick take his victory lap accompanied by polite cheers from the crowd. Afterwards, everyone dispersed and Rick approached me.
“Not bad for your first Piston Championship race,” Rick winked at me.
I smiled sheepishly, “Thanks. I’m not all that surprised you won though!”
Rick laughed, “What can I say?”
Uncle spotted us chattering and came to join us. He was looking a bit frustrated and tired. “Congrats, Rick,” he nodded respectfully.
Rick nodded back. “Uncle, what happened to ya out there?”
The green car scoffed, “I was going just fine, but I swear someone siphoned my gas!”
“When did you fill up?” Rick asked.
“This morning, ‘round ten.”
“Uncle,” Rick replied, “You would have been wide-awake. Ain’t nobody siphoned your gas, pal.”
We all chuckled as Uncle admitted, “I know. Guess I really am getting a bit too old for this.”
The three of us laughed again lightly. Suddenly, two cars from the stands drove up to us, interrupting the conversation. They looked to be in their mid-thirties and were both dull-coloured Cadillacs.
“Good afternoon boys, I’m Mr. Richards, and this here is my partner Mr. Johnson,” one of the cars introduced.
I exchanged a look with Rick and he greeted, “Hello, fellas.”
“We’re both talent scouts for Mr. Tex, owner of Dinoco,” Mr. Richards explained. “He is looking to invest some money with a new company to try and broaden advertisement.”
“Yes,” Mr. Johnson picked up, “And racing is a growing interest across the country. So, he’s decided to sponsor to help create an official racing league. We’ve been traveling to various states and gathering cars who we think are prospective racers for the league. You,” he gestured to Rick and me, “are both very talented.”
Mr. Richards butted in, “Of course, you would need to qualify and meet the requirements to be accepted. But if you’re willing, the try-outs will be held in Daytona, Florida.”
Rick shot me a look of disbelief and excitement. I imagined my face held something very similar at the moment.
There was a slight pause before he finally responded, “Yes! We would be very interested! Doc, if you want to wait here, I’ll just get some information from these gentlecars and we can talk about it later, OK?”
I bobbed my hood in a dumbfound manner and gave the two scouts an appreciative smile. I knew I’d make those try-outs, even if the world was ending.
Not the most amazing chapter but racing scenes are one of my weaknesses. Hopefully it was still enjoyable to see the next chapter in Doc's life (quite literally!). :laughing: If I still have readers for this story, your comments would be loved! Thanks! :slight_smile:I enjoyed it. And I particularly like the racing try-out offer bit at the end. I think you continued the story well.
I’m glad you got back to this story! I didn’t think the racing scenes were so bad! I’m with pixarmilan, I liked the offer at the end. Florida, woop woop! 
I don’t know if this will make sense or not but you do a really great job of setting the scenery of “Old Time America”, like the language and dialogue you use. Plus, the descriptions of car types and stuff. It makes it seem very era-centered.
Wow, i cant believe i missed this! A great chapter as usual, Can’t wait for more!!!
Thanks everybody! You’ll see how everything with the offer folds out soon.
That makes total sense! And such a wonderful compliment too. I’ve never written a fic where the historical background was important, so I’m thrilled to hear that. Thank you so much!!
Sorry for the double-post, I just happened to get another chapter done! Today was my last day at school, so now I’ve got the whole summer vacation to write. 
Anyways, here’s the next one!
CHAPTER SIX
That night I invited Bonnie over to my house for dinner. She didn’t see it as anything out of the ordinary, but I was planning on telling my family the proposal I’d received earlier that afternoon. I knew Rick was planning on going, but he thought it would be best for me to run it by my family first.
We all parked at our normal positions at the table; Bonnie beside me, Cindy and Johnny directly across from us and Mama heading the table. Cindy had made us a nice meal of a specialty fuel mix she’d learned at the diner.
“This is great, Cind,” Johnny complimented as he sucked the liquid down.
“Yes,” Bonnie smiled charmingly, “It is wonderful.”
Cindy blinked shyly and whispered her thanks, quiet as ever. There was something about her being the same little sister she’d always been that I loved.
I waited a moment and cleared my windpipe. “There’s something I’d like to tell you guys about, something that happened this afternoon.”
Everyone looked back at me with curiosity, except for Johnny. His stare was more like a skeptical glare.
“I met a couple of talent scouts today out at the track,” I started. Johnny stopped drinking and intensified his stare as I continued, “They’re working on starting a professional racing league. They invited Rick and me to the try-outs in Florida.”
By this point everyone at the table had stopped drinking. There was a stretch of uncomfortable silence. I gazed around at their faces, searching for approval. Johnny looked the least impressed, Mama and Bonnie were unreadable but Cindy’s eyes gleamed with a hint of delight.
“What are you trying to tell us?” Johnny interrogated.
I was quiet for a second. He had a good point. Was I seeking their consent? No, I think I was looking for their support instead.
“I just wanted you to know…,” I said slowly, “that I’m going to attend.”
An expression of fury filled Johnny as he fought back, “Are you serious? Doc, you’ve let this stupid hobby of yours go way too far. When are you going to start providing for this family? And you’ve got a girlfriend now! Do you ever intend on making a living for her sake?”
“Shut up, Johnny!” I spat at him angrily. “Since when do you run my life?”
His lip twitched with rage. “You goddamn kids don’t got any respect or sense in you these days, do you? While I’ve been fighting in war and slaving away at work, here you’ve been without any idea what responsibility even means!”
I couldn’t believe he was trying to make me feel guilt over such a thing. I was also shocked that he was finally making reference to the war, the thing that had been taboo under our roof for so long. Well, if he was willing to go outside the box than so was I.
“You can’t tell me what to do,” I snipped, “You’re not my father.”
The entire room dropped dead silent at the word ‘father’. My heart was pounding as I felt stunned that the phrase had even escaped my mouth. Then Johnny reversed from the table and slammed his side against it carelessly as he dismissed himself from the room.
Bonnie turned to me and said gently, “Doc, I need to go home. Would you please show me to the door?”
My eyes flickered to Mama and Cindy, but they both avoided eye-contact. I nodded to Bonnie and we exited noiselessly.
Once we were out on the porch, she stopped and looked at me nervously. I thought I could see her eyes shining with tears.
“What are you doing?” she whispered softly.
I gave her a confused face. “What-?”
“You’re brother’s right,” she interrupted. She closed her eyes as if she expected me to yell. It hurt me to see her so afraid.
“But Bonnie-,” I tried again.
She opened her gorgeous brown eyes and let their broken emotion flow out. “When are you going to start doing something with your life?”
“I am,” I pleaded, “Racing is what I want to do with my life.”
She seemed offended for some reason, as if the idea was purely madness. “Look, you can go to those try-outs, but don’t expect me to be waiting for you when you come back.”
I couldn’t grasp what she was saying to me. It was like all the faith and trust she’d had in me had faded away before my very eyes. I started to follow her down the path towards the road.
“Bonnie, wait,” I whimpered, but she kept right on driving.
When she had disappeared from my sight, I let out a sigh and sluggishly made my way back into the house. Maybe this offer wasn’t worth it if it meant losing the care of everyone around me.
I entered the dining room and found that everything had already been cleared away. It was almost like the whole ordeal had never happened. I had the sudden urge to go to the track and just run a few laps to clear my mind of it. I started back towards the door, and out of my peripheral vision I saw Mama sitting quietly in the living room. I halted and observed her gazing peacefully out the window. Then I entered the room and approached her side, not saying a word.
Her voice came for the first time in a long time, and it pronounced more than a one-word sentence as she said, “Go to Florida, Doc.”
My engine almost stopped at her request. “But Mama-.”
“Never mind Johnny,” she told me delicately, “He’s been hardened by the war. Cord was able to find happiness again, but not Johnny. He’s lifeless, just like me.”
I felt my windshield glaze with tears at the sorrow in her voice. I was unable to find any words I could form to comfort her.
“Your father,” she continued, “He would have been happy again. You’ve got his ambition, Doc. I want you to go.”
I didn’t know how she could speak such things without a threatening desire to cry. Even though she’d fallen, she would always be the strongest car I knew.
I enjoyed writing this chapter, I find the family dynamics are great to work with. I think that might be my favourite thing about writing- establishing character relationships and all that good stuff. :stuck_out_tongue: Oh, and in case anyone forgot, Cord is Doc's oldest brother who got married to a foreign girl after the war. Any comments would be awesome! Well, thanks for reading!Great chapter, I think you really showed the conflicting opinions very well.
My favorite bits of writing:
and
Awesome chapter! I love the family drama, which I expected to happen soon. (except I expected Mama to be against it too, but I like that twist. 
) I liked all the parts that pixarmilan already pointed out.
Great! Thanks for the feedback you guys! Oooh, glad I got you with the twist. My personal favourite bit from that chapter is the last line. Not quite sure when the next chapter will be out but not too long of a wait I imagine!
Next chappie is here! Please read and enjoy!
CHAPTER SEVEN
Rick and I arrived in Daytona the following week. He had rented us a room in a decent hotel that wasn’t all that far from the track where the race try-outs were to take place. Despite this nearness, we still woke up at the crack of dawn so we could take a more scenic route to track. After all, we were tourists too.
As we entered the track, I was completely taken aback. The entire atmosphere was different from the homey little place I’d been visiting every day. The only similarity seemed to be that Rick was with me.
It was a huge track, at least twice the size of ours. We would still be racing on dirt, but the dirt here was richer, darker and thicker. Immediately I started considering how it would affect my grip. There was a pit section too, something I hadn’t even thought about. Would we be required to practice a pit stop today? The greatest difference though was the cars. There must have been hundreds of them, everywhere! There was a broad range of makes and models, some I’d never seen in my life. Some had spoilers, some had weird kinds of tires and some had freshly waxed hoods. They couldn’t all be here for the same reason, could they?
“Rookie,” Rick said as he bumped my fender, “You alright? Your eyes are lookin’ the size of hubcaps.”
I shook my hood with embarrassment. “It’s just…” I lowered my voice, “There are so many cars here. How am I ever going to make the cut? I’m just a kid from Illinois!”
Rick gave me a small smile of reassurance, “Don’t think that way. As of right now, they ain’t any better than us. They might have some flashy things but that don’t mean nothing.”
I looked into his eyes, hesitant to believe. If anyone else had said it I wouldn’t have, but since it was Rick I allowed myself to trust his theory.
“Now, let’s get over to the registration,” he suggested and nodded towards a long line up ahead.
By the time we had reached the front, I’d received both warm welcomes and stuck-up glances from many passing faces. We were then asked for all our information, basic stuff like our age and full name. Then a forklift slapped a number onto each of us and we were free to roam as we pleased.
Rick and I took a good survey of the track and Rick happened to run into an old pal of his. When they were done catching up, Rick turned to me and asked if I wanted to run some practice laps.
“Not yet,” I responded, “I like to save my energy.” Quite honestly, I wasn’t feeling totally ready either. There was still some anxiety from all the intimidating cars hovering within me.
Rick didn’t object. “Alright, rook. I think I’ll take a few and then how about I buy us some lunch before things get started?”
“Sure,” I agreed, “Think you can find me around when you’re done?”
He nodded and we parted our ways. I was acquainted with my surroundings now, but I still had a desire to explore.
I moved along with the crowds until I found a quieter spot. It was somewhere behind the pits and mostly full of forklifts. I don’t think I saw more of those little things anywhere else in my life.
I observed them bustling among each other, pushing carts of fuel and tires and performing some checks on a racer or two. Then, out of the mixture came a gorgeous, cherry-red Thunderbird. Her green eyes carelessly wandered over the vehicles in her vicinity and she cruised along through the sea of bodies at her own pace. Many of the male eyes were stealing peeks at her, and I couldn’t tell whether she didn’t notice or she just didn’t care.
She was drawing closer in my direction and before I had a chance to move, there she was in front of me. She appeared to be chewing bubblegum and her eyes opened slightly when she noticed me directly in her path.
“Hey there,” she smiled nonchalantly, “Ya here to race?” Her voice had the softest touch of a Southern accent lying under her calm tone.
“Yeah,” I replied blandly.
Her eyes seemed to size me up after my response, not in a judgmental way, more in a way that simply absorbed information. “My name’s Donna Mayfield,” she introduced herself and we unconsciously began to move away from the pits.
“Nice to meet you,” I smiled foolishly. I gazed at the crowds around us. It was evident that she was probably about one of five or so females present at the track.
She noticed my eyes scanning around and continued, “I’m named after some aunt of mine. Don’t know why. She never did anything worth namin’ after. I guess I just have eyes like her.”
I bobbed my hood in interest. Donna seemed to be a pretty outgoing girl for her age. “What are you at the track for today?” I inquired politely.
“Oh!” Donna rolled her eyes. “My daddy works as a mechanic. After my mama died he decided he’d have to take some work here instead. He told me to go battin’ eyes at that Mr. Tex’s son. Mr. Tex is runnin’ most of this thing, so he’s crazy rich my daddy says.”
I stifled a laugh. “And who’s Mr. Tex’s son? Have you met with him yet?”
“Tex Junior, I think. You’d know him if ya saw him. Big ugly horns on his grill,” she paused to make a face of disgust. “Why would I want to be lookin’ at him?”
We both laughed at the image of this wealthy yet unattractive car.
As our laughter passed, Donna explained earnestly, “But I want to be a nurse. That’s why I’m really taggin’ along. I’m hopin’ there might be a crash or something, and I could help out. ‘Course daddy can’t afford for me to become a nurse, but I got about as much chance with that as I do reelin’ in one of them rich boys.”
I looked over at her, seeing that her eyes where downcast with some sort of exasperation but lined with hopefulness. She was fighting the odds, just like I would be.
“Well,” I tried to comfort her, “If there was any place to look for a crash, I think you’ve found it.”
She smiled weakly and lifted her front bumper. “Yes, that’s right.”
Just then, I spotted Rick not far away and he seemed as though he were searching for someone; that ‘someone’ being me.
“It’s been nice talking with you Miss Mayfield, but I’m afraid I have to go.”
Her grin widened, “You too…” she struggled to recall a name to place to my face.
“Doc Hudson,” I finished for her.
“Mr. Hudson,” she said, noting the name to her brain. “Good luck to you,” she replied and then disappeared into the swarm of cars as easily as she had come.
Some of you may recognize Donna's name, and that is because this is not Donna's first mention in a story of mine. It is her first actual appearance but she has been introduced before. For those who recall, you may have some insight on future events that are to come in the story but if you don't know that's alright. I'm not giving any spoilers! Oh, and by "Mr. Tex" I mean the father of "Mr. Tex" from the first film. Since I think Mr. Tex would be dead before then if it was him running the first Piston Cup race... :laughing: And one last note, I know there is a race track in Daytona but this one is not it. From now on, the tracks will most likely be fictional. Not because I'm too lazy to research, just for the purpose of working with the story. With that said, thank you for reading and feel free to comment if you'd like to see more! :smiley:Very enjoyable chapter! I think you set the atmosphere of the try-outs very well.
I’m looking forward to more.
Great! Thank you pixarmilan!
Nice chapter! I like your descriptions of their surroundings and all that good stuff. 
I knew that Donna sounded somewhat familiar! Can’t wait to read more.