Now, with other cars to help block, Red Pfister, Clayton, and Bob Yang began to draw away from the Atomic Bomb. Al held his own against the pack, but could not get past the blockers. Still, time was on his side. Car after car took pit stops and roared back in; the race hung balanced for hours during the hot, cloudless afternoon. Hot Rock’s stubborn alternate finally took his car in for a repair stop; it came back sounding a little better and no longer blowing so much smoke, but Dwight was not fooled. That car wasn’t going to make it through the race.
Coming down toward the wire, the first teams were going back out; car after car was signaled in for a change of drivers. Christine restrained her impatience, waiting until the last mandated fuel stop to replace an exhausted Bob. So she was st
