A Racer’s Dream
Raw writing from 1990/1991
This is a work of creative fiction by me in elementary school.
It was composed using WordPerfect on Windows 3.1.
The objective was to complete a 4th or 5th grade Language Arts class assignment.
Origin Story
This is the story of Johnny Frisco, the greatest driver in the world. Johnny lived in Little Rock, Arkansas in a little bungalow with his mother, Jenny and sister, Sonja.
His father, Mark Frisco, was killed when Johnny was 14, in the Vietnam war when a communication problem had developed. Mr. Frisco, a pilot, had just landed his plane when an oncoming plane crashed into his. It was disastrous. Every friend of the Friscos attended the funeral. Hearts were filled with grief. Mr. Frisco had helped plan a school in the neighborhood and a playground for handicapped children.
Passion
Johnny loved cars even as a child. Some weekends, he would spend hours watching car races on the television. Johnny’s dream was to be a race car driver, win the Indy and Daytona and other main events.
When Johnny was 17 years of age, he and his friends went to watch a NASCAR race. A veteran racer named Michael Burns won. The bleachers were empty in a matter of seconds as the fans rushed down to congratulate the winner. But Johnny wasn’t among them. He decided that he did not like Stock Cars and that if he ever raced, it would be in a Formula One car.
Racing Time
When Johnny was 20, he made up his mind to actually race. He went to the Bureau of Registration for Race Car Drivers. When the day came for him to be tested, he couldn’t sleep. The next day, he found out that he had qualified. To celebrate, his friends gave a party that lasted five hours! His training began the very next week. Two years later, Johnny entered his first race. All his friends and relatives came to watch.
Surprisingly, Johnny was not nervous. People up close, who knew him, whispered “He’s got his Pa’s nerves” and “Look at him.” That was the first race he won.
Race Day
Four years later, Johnny entered the Indianapolis 500. Before the race, Johnny’s coach, Wally Jostler, Jr., had a long talk with him. Mostly, he told Johnny things like “Stay to the inside” and “You gotta wait, be patient.” When the race began, the weather was nice and sunny. Johnny started from the 17th position. The announcer said, “Gentlemen, start your engines!” A minute later, the race began. Johnny was slow to begin. After the 5th lap, Johnny was the 20th car from the lead.
On the 20th lap, Johnny had climbed to the 13th position. He muttered to himself, “This is hard!”
Johnny stayed on slot 13 for a long time…35 minutes to be exact. On lap 57, two cars spun, hit each other and were out of the race. On lap 65, everybody perked up when 7 cars smacked into each other like dominoes and five cars went out. Next came an oil spill. One car slid, but nothing unfortunate happened. On lap 74, something really happened. Michael Burns (remember him?) lost control going into the pits, crashed right into the cement barrier separating the pit area from the track and was killed. Then on lap 117, Johnny took the lead.
Smooth Operator
Later he said that it was the simplest move he made. He just swerved around a car and to his surprise, had taken the lead. The laps quickly went by: 120, 130, 140…180, 190, 198. On the last lap, yards before the finish line, a determined racer hit him from behind just as two others came into his car from the sides. Johnny’s car popped up from the sudden pressure, flew past the checkered flag and landed upside down. Johnny smelled a foul stench. He was barely conscious and through the fog managed to read the giant television screen which proclaimed:
WE HAVE A WINNER!!!
CONGRATULATIONS, JOHNNY FRISCO!
His dream had been fulfilled.