Part 1: The Out-Of-Town Tuner

Danial grasped the last of many wilted plants that resided on the hillside.

This particular improvised hand-hold was spinier than the rest, which was only overshadowed by Daniel's feeling of triumph for finally reaching the top.

"The top" being a small gravel landing that was nearly one of a kind on Mt. Lavenner.

What made this particular spot so desirable, that Daniel would get his hands all dirty and itchy, is that it resided right next to the only road down Mt. Lavenner.

Daniel swiped off the dirt on his clothes nonchalantly before checking his watch.

10:02.

He had a few minutes before his plan came to fruition, so he turned his attention to the city.

Kelmont stretched out all over the valley, more out than up, with several skyscrapers interrupting the faintest signs of the sunset that tailored to the longest night of summer.

The lights twinkled in rival of the sky, what a perfect night.

Admiring over, Daniel turned back to the guard rail and beyond that, the road.

He could already imagine the rest of the race.

He broke it into two parts.

Firstly, the Mazda RX-7 just had more to it power wise, and would muscle out a lead against the Nissan 240SX on the first straight stretch.

However, the 240SX sat with a more experienced driver, as someone had mentioned about the out-of-towner.

Therefore, with some of the later long corners, like the one Daniel stood at now, the RX-7 had a good chance of being past.

The RX-7 was still the favorite to win though, as people had often seen its power leave its opponent's headlights a few corners behind it.

Daniel had heard about the race weeks ago, and had spent a good deal of time reading up on both cars, and had decided to make this his watch point.

He had first noticed this personal viewing spot from the very commonly chosen corner that he could see up the mountain on the other side of the road.

While he was waiting for the racers a few weeks ago, like he was now, he had examined the course and had, mostly by chance, noticed the little spot.

He knew it wouldn't be easy to reach, between not having a car and beyond that, not being able to just park it on the road, Daniel had elected to climb up from below it.

Only now, after examining his clothes closer, did he realize what a bad idea that had been. His jeans had several holes in them, and a greater number of tears.

His shirt was dirty and frayed in several areas and finally, his shoes were practically ruined from the mud.

He regretted for only a moment, before mentally shrugging it off on cue with the sound of motors and screeching tires, cheers from the corner above, and the swing of headlights above.

It must be close, Daniel thought, and it was only a matter of time now before the 240SX and RX-7 passed by the crucial point in the race, the spot where Daniel stood.

Daniel had always admired the street racers that sped the mountain passes, and these two were going to be something.

It was all over in a few seconds.

Both cars had made the first left turn to come into Daniel's view at top speed.

The out-of-towner must have done his homework as to know that that corner was only a preliminary to the lengthy one where Daniel stood a little ways past its Apex.

There must have been some desperation now for the follower, because as the RX-7 flashed its brakes the 240SX only lowered its engine's hum before both cars broke into a long drawn out slide, each of which started slow, precise and meaningful.

But as the desperation now set on the RX-7, who's driver soon realized how fast his opponent was cornering on the outside of him, he knew he'd be over taken if he didn't act quickly, so he steered his car inside a few degrees and put the smallest amount of his foot's weight on the gas.

The result was instantaneous but not completely desired as the RX's back end slid within inches of the 240SX's front fender.

The two cars slid nearly parallel but if the slid continued as it was the winner would be obvious.

With the inside line on the next corner and no other place to pass on the mountain, all the 240SX had to do was catch its tires and the rest would be simple.

But instead, when the 240SX driver tried accelerating out of the corner, his sideways inertia overcame everything else, and all the weight shifted to the right, throwing the car nearly into the guard rail where Daniel stood.

With just enough clearance on the narrow road, the RX-7 came out of its slide and sped out of the corner.

Daniel got his first good look at the out-of-towner's car as it slowly recovered from its failed corner.

Although he was no expert on cars, Daniel could distinctly tell that it didn't look like an 240SX S13 like his friend had.

Nor did it sound or act the same.

That car that burned away from Daniel was something special, and Daniel felt a little remorse for it having lost the way it did. But beyond that, after witnessing what he did, Daniel felt free.