Racing
in the Irish Hills of Michigan
Ever since he could remember, Spud had dreamed of racing with his heroes on the oval speedways of the American south. Unfortunately, he was always met with resistance. The sanctioning body for the series, the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), discriminated against Spud for being a food product. Finally, after years of litigation the tuber achieved a landmark victory when the Supreme Court handed down it's verdict in late August of 2000 forcing NASCAR into allowing the carbohydrate to compete. Spud wasted no time and headed to the Irish Hills of Michigan to participate in the Pepsi 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
When
the potato rolled his Ferrari Tuberrossa into the garage area of the track,
a sudden hush came over the other race teams. They were well aware of
Spud's vast knowledge of chassis geometry and many feared that he would
be tough competition. Some teams though, were eager to take advantage
of the tater's experience and came over to Spud's stall to discuss setup
and pit strategy. The yam was happy to provide some advice, but was careful
to keep his best secrets to himself.
Spud's
hard work in the shop paid dividends quickly when he took his car out
on the morning of qualifying and peeled around the track with a lap speed
of 223.043 miles per hour. The other teams stood in shock and disbelief
as the potato pulled his Ferrari back into the garage area. His
car wasn't just quick, it was over 20 mph faster than the second fastest.
The glory would not last for long though, as Spud had to take his car
through for inspection.