CHAPTER 2 - VICTORY LANE

Johnny made his way to victory lane driving his beaten and battered car. He was surprised his car held together for the race only to fall apart from the job Brandon had done to it. His car was so mangled, parts began to fall off easier. He had to be careful to avoid desperate fans of his who grabbed whatever they could from the car falling apart.

Johnny finally pulled into victory lane with what was left of his car. Right as he put the car into park, the entire car fell apart with clattering metal. People scrambled back, while others helped themselves to the spare parts. The doors, trunk, hood, roof, and wheels all fell off into what was left a smoky mess. Johnny could only sigh looking at the destroyed vehicle and the fans.

Kinda ironic the thing only gets completely destroyed by Brandon off the track, but not in the race. I guess I'll be signing a lot of autographs before I leave.

Johnny didn’t let his destroyed car dampen his mood as he walked up to the podium to claim the championship trophy now. He looked at the golden trophy with a sigh. How many times have I won? I lost count years ago. I at least know this is my eight championship win though, Johnny thought standing on the podium.

Johnny turned to face the crowd as they chanted his name and took pictures. The flashes went off everywhere giving him a slight headache from it all. He tried to distract himself by looking to his right to see that second place was empty with a silver trophy sitting there. At least I won't have to deal with Brandon here. He doesn’t like to be around me when I win.

Johnny was disturbed out of his thoughts by two people standing on the third place podium. Brent Atwood and Connor Martin waved to him.

“I don’t know how you keep going Johnny, but I’m quitting after just this one season with Conner here,” Brent said pointing to his friend with a slight shiver in his voice.

“Yeah, seeing people die in races like that is too much for me, especially when you could be the next one, it also sad you plan to retire after this year,” Conner remarked, trying to hide his fear and sadness for Johnny quitting.

Johnny looked over at the two smiling. “Well at least you two pulled through, most people just quit after a few races, if they aren’t upright killed,” Johnny spoke to them as he shook their hands.

They both shook Johnny's hand in return before speaking back. “Can you autograph our trophies at least?’ They asked. Johnny did just that, signing their bronze trophies with a marker as they finished with their publicity. The two got off and left the stage. Now the real celebration could begin…

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Johnny had moved to a new area set up for just the champion. The celebration was in full swing with confetti cannons firing off. The place was packed to the brim with his pit crew, VIPs, fans, and all.

Johnny stood on a golden podium holding a trophy with a Banzai Bangers logo on it that was twice as big as his gold trophy, making poses for the photographers. “Look over here Johnny,” One photographer cried out. Johnny did his best for the photographers as he adjusted his head for them to see his green eyes staring at them. He smiled with a toothy grin, letting his long blond hair he had let grow out, to cover a scar he had gotten in a feud with Brandon, reflected off the trophy as the sun was now setting.

He waited patiently next to do his interview with a particular cameraman as he scanned the crowd. He finally spotted Billy walking his way. Billy never misses wanting to do my interviews, Johnny thought as he waited for the man to finally approach him.

“Ready for your post-race interview, Johnny "the invincible" Victoris?” The man asked.

“Yeah, I’m ready, but please don’t call me by my full name. Johnny is just fine,” He replied with a sigh.

“I’m going to miss you very much after this year, Johnny,” Billy said to Johnny with a sad smile.

“I’m honestly just getting tired of being the best. I want to try other things,” Johnny said back with a tired expression, then shrugged.

Johnny quickly turned his expression around as others were now watching him. He turned to face the camera. Billy got the camera ready to interview Johnny.

“By the way Johnny, this is your 220th win in Banzai Bangers if you lost count,” Billy told Johnny while giving him a signal when he would go live.

Billy really keeps up with my racing wins. I gave up on keeping track years ago. Johnny thought to himself.

Johnny made his statements swift, quick, and professional. “I’d like to thank D.R.I.F.T. for sponsoring me. I’m always willing to try out new racing technology for Banzai Bangers and the racing community,” he said before changing his tone. While facing the crowd.

"Now I'd like to have a minute of silence for those who have lost their lives or were injured today," Johnny said in a sympathetic tone. After a minute of silence, he spoke up again.

"For the injured racers, I'll be donating from my winnings to help with their recovery," he finally finished.

Johnny could only shudder thinking of the many times he saw someone die in a crash that could have been saved. There were no rules on how drivers raced each other or any attempts to stop a race if a crash occurred. The sport had its risks and rewards, with a lot of drivers dying from the risk.

The celebration was beginning to die down with the sun now falling behind the horizon. Most people had already departed, including Johnny’s crew, VIPs, and others. Except for a few dozen fans and security had stayed behind.

Fans lined up to meet with Johnny, asking about his future plans, personal questions, or to get something autographed. Johnny did his best to answer their questions, for his future plans, he just told them all the same thing. He wasn’t sure what he planned to do, he was planning on looking tomorrow.

Johnny started until the last of his fans finally departed leaving him totally exhausted from everything. He walked over to the security who was waiting idly for him. “You ready Johnny?” One of the guards asked. “Yeah,” Johnny said with a long yawn, hopping into a golf kart with the guards to go to his racing trailer.