Lap 35 came up quickly for Applejack, who had already put the other 3 cars more then 2 laps down. Jeff's voice came over the radio
"Ok Applejack bring the car in next time round"
"10-4 Jeff" Applejack replied
Applejack brought the car down pit road and into her pit box. As soon as she stopped, it was like a flood gate opened and crew members were over the wall and jacking the car up and replacing the tires
"What in Tarnation, these guys move fast" Applejack thought to herself
In no time at all Applejack had fresh tires and a full tank of gas and she was off and back onto the track in no time. By the time she came around and crossed the line she could see that Vinyl had brought the 4 car down pit road.
It was lap 49 and Applejack was just cursing her way along
"You are not going to put me another lap down" Lighting Dust said to herself as she saw Applejack closing in on her
Lightning Dust wrenched the wheel to the right, making contact with Applejacks front quarter panel. Lightning Dust and the 11 car ended up in the wall while the impact sent Applejack and the 24 car spinning around down the track, straight for the wall
"Hit the breaks and turn to your left" Applejack heard in her ear, but it wasn't Jeff's voice. It was Dale Sr's
Applejack hit the breaks and turned the wheel to the left, avoiding the wall and coming to rest in the infield grass just after the finish line
"What the hay just happened" Applejack asked herself
"Like I said, stay away from the wall" Dale Sr's voice said in her ear
Applejack climbed out of her car and looked around. The 4 and 88 cars were parked on pit road and both Vinyl and Flamefly were running towards her
"Holy Cow AJ are you alright?!" Vinyl asked, a hint of panic in her voice
"How in Equestria did you avoid hitting the wall?" Flamefly asked
"Ya a'hm a'right Vinyl and that's a long story Flamefly" Applejack responded
Jeff was running over to Applejack
"That was amazing Applejack, how did you avoid the wall"
"Long story Jeff. What the hay was Lightning Dust thinkin, tryin ta spin ma out" Applejack said
Applejack looked towards where the 11 car came to rest. The car was totaled, pieces and parts were everywhere.
"Why don't you call it a day Applejack. Tomorrow's the last practice before the tryout" Jeff said
"A'right Jeff. A'hel see y'all tomorrow"
Applejack was walking through the garage area at Daytona International Speedway. She noticed how similar they had made Ponyville International Speedway to it. She turned a corner and saw Dale Sr again.
"Thanks for ya help out there today" Applejack said to the Legand
"Don't sweat it, just looking out for ya. Have fun out there Applejack" said Dale Sr, and he was gone
Applejack awoke with a start as her alarm clock started going off. She reached over and shut it off and got out of bed. She grabbed her old worn brown Stetson hat that she got from her father when she was just a filly. She thought to herself
"I thought only Princess Luna could go into dreams"
Applejack arrived at her garage bright and earily like the days prior and, like the days before, Jeff was waiting for her
"Well Applejack, today's your final day of practice.......... sort of" Jeff said as he handed the amber farm pony her firesuit and helmet
"What do ya mean by sort of?" The Element of Honesty asked curiously
"Well today's practice is going to be used more as a qualifying thing for your tryout. You see the tryout is model after the Sprint Unlimited"
Applejack remembered reading in one of Twilights books that the Sprint Unlimited was held one week before the Daytona 500. It was like a heat race of 75 laps
"And your going to be doing it in the 4 cars that you have practiced in over the past 4 days. The Drive to End Hunger, Axalta, 3M and the car to your right in the Panasonic car"
Applejack looked at the car to her right. It had the usual 24 on the side but it wasnet the yellow color that Applejack had come to know, but instead it was white. The car also was a light blue in color with "Panasonic" on the sides
"Well a'right then. Let's go do this thing"
Applejack had drivin the Panasonic car out onto pit road where she was met by an assortment of colors and cars. By her pit box was the Drive to Ed Hunger, Axalta and 3M cars that she had raced the previous 3 days. The Panasonic car was backed in next to the Axalta car and she climbed out
"So how this is going to work is that qualifying will be split up into 3 rounds, and each round dosent end until you've gone and made at least one pass in each of your cars" Jeff explained
"Sounds simple enough"
"But now it's you and the other 44 ponies who have been practicing with the drivers so it's going to be real tough. Fastest 24 advance from round 1 to round 2. Then the fastest 12 go to round 3, and the fastest car/pony at the end of round 3 will win the pole for the tryout showdown tomorrow" Jeff said to his star student
"A'right. When do we begin?"
"Climb into the Panasonic car and right now"
Applejack climbed into the Panasonic car and started the engine. Jeff climbed ontop of the pit box and waited. Then all of a sudden the command came from NASCAR and qualifying was under way. Applejack quickly got out onto the track first and was quickly down the back straight
"Make me proud Applejack" Dale Sr's voice said in her ear.
In no time at all Applejack clocked a speed in the Panasonic car
"CLICK"
200.000 MPH
Applejack brought the car down pit road and backed into her pit stall. She was quickly out of the Panasonic car, into the Drive to End Hunger car and was off again.
"CLICK"
202.429 MPH
The Axalta car
"CLICK"
200.001 MPH
The 3M car
"ClLICK"
200.003 MPH
It was already the 3rd round of qualifying and Applejack was the only one to get above 200 mph. For the 3rd round the ponies only got to use the car that they had been going the fastest in. For Applejack it was the Drive to End Hunger car
"Alright Applejack go get that pole position" Jeff's voice came over the radio
"CLICK"
203.000 MPH
"Word from NASCAR: Congratulations on setting the track record"
The official word came from NASCAR: Applejack and #24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet has won the Pole Position for the Tryout Showdown