An Anthro's Tale

American Truck Challange

The trucks took off,the Ridgeliners leading the pack,withe the Jeeps and the Rams in close pursuit. DJ and the other Saleen were in eighth and ninth place,but DJ's truck was gaining fast. She managed to weave through the Rams and Jeeps,but the drivers of the Ridgeliners were having none of her passing. They kept close together,denying DJ the space she needed to pass. The first turn approached. The Ridgeliners began to brake for the turn,giving DJ the window she needed. Throwing her truck into second gear,she cleanly drifted through the corner.

"Holy cow!",one of the announcers exclaimed,"I've never before seen anyone drift in a truck! Whose driving that Saleen?"

"DJ Hayes",another announcer commented,"a 16 year old from Winnoa Mississippi."

The announcers carried on a discussion about my friend over the loudspeakers,but I was too focused on her truck to hear most of it. DJ was putting some distance between her and the Ridgeliners as she neared the second corner. Through the camera on her helmet,I watched as she downshifted and drifted again through the second turn.

"How this 16 year old girl can maneuver this heavy truck through a corner like it's a race car astounds me to no end!",the announcer exclaimed again.

"Well Saleen makes performance vehicles",the other one returned,"the S331 supercharged is no different."

DJ gunned her truck down the straight away. I watched from the pits as the speedometer capped off at 220 miles an hour,enough to beat most race cars.

"That pickup is doing two hundred and twenty miles an hour!",the announcer exclaimed,"I've never seen anything quite like this."

As DJ approached the third turn,the Ridgeliners began to close in. I watched through the helmet cam as DJ pulled her Saleen's E Brake and pulled yet another drift. The Honda's came through the corner at a high speed,slowly but surely chipping away at DJ's lead. Through the helmet cam,I could see one of the Ridgeliners disappear from the rear view mirror.

"Where'd it go?",DJ asked over her radio as she began to brake for the fourth turn.

Through Jack's camera,I watched as he glanced out the window to see the Ridgeliner right beside them.

"He's right there!",Jack said as DJ went through the corner,"one screw up will cost us the lead."

"Don't worry",DJ came back,"I've no intentions of screwing up."

DJ shot down the straight to turn five and went through it with ease,putting just a little distance between herself and the other driver. DJ put the pedal to the floor,casuing the RPM and MPH gages in her truck to shoot up. As the engine began to sound like it was reaching it's peak,DJ depressed the clutch and pulled back on the shifter,making a smooth transition into third gear. The next corner,the Arc, would be a nightmare for trucks,they were longer and heavier than any car,meaning drivers needed to be extra careful to avoid losing control and crashing.

I watched as DJ  gripped the steering wheel,much like what Alex had done this morning. She downshifted into second gear,kept the clutch open and pulled the E Brake before turning the steering wheel to the left and turning her entire truck in such a way that blue smoke flew from the tires. It was a drift unlike anything I had ever seen. The audience stood up and cheered.

"I've never seen anything like that!",the announcer exclaimed,"that truck is drifting at 192 miles an hour!"

"I never knew that pickup trucks were capable of drifting like a Nissan 240",another said,"this truck is something new for sure."

DJ shot her Saleen down another straight away before making a slight turn and heading down Road America's Apex Alley. So named for the fact that it was one giant Apex turn. At the end of the alley,was a sharp right hand turn that was nearly impossible to drift through. DJ slowed to about 20 miles an hour before going through the turn and heading down another straight to the final turn before the Homestretch. At the present moment,DJ's lap time was 1:39:009. If she gunned it,there was a  chance of her braking the standing lap time record of 1:47 dead,set by a #8 Audi Sport Team Joest R10 TDI around 2010.

DJ came around the last corner and started up the Homestretch,the sounds of her Cummins straight four diesel engine now clearly audible. Her lap time ticked away. It was extremely close,but  in the end,it was yet another victory. DJ crossed the finsih line with a 1:45 dead time,no peanlites.

"She just broke the Audi TDI's record lap time!",one of the announcer's shrieked,"I don't believe what I'm seeing. Glad I decided to get up this morning!"

The second lap ended with DJ slightly behind her time with 1:45:502 and the third with 1:46 dead. At the end of the race,ended up placing first,with the two Honda's in second. DJ screeched to a stop and backed into the pits,where we swarmed her. Shelby and I lifted her out of the truck and onto our shoulders while Trent and Tristan pulled Jack onto theirs as the crowd cheered.

"DJ Hayes has won the Road America exhibition race of the American Truck Challenge",the Race Major stated presenting DJ with a small  trophy and a blue ribbon which he placed on the deer guard on her truck.

"Next in the list of events is the second heat of the Camaro Versus Mustang Class R3 Rival's Shootout. Currently Alex Miller is leading this even with 20 points,while Joseph Kane and Morgan Rossi are tied for second place with 15 and Jake Johnson is third with 10. The track is closed for race preparation, Koenigsegg's auto show will continue until the second heat,so until then please enjoy yourselves."