Tensions were high as the weekend got underway. This was the last race of the first season of 2013, and Darlington wasn't known for being gentle to any driver, no matter how many championships or races they have won.

Qualifying stayed dry and fast, with all of the teams striving through practice to get just the perfect setup to make that final run. Raz Yoshi lost grip during his qualifying run and would start at the back of the field. The rookies were ready to put on a show and demonstrate to veterans and fans alike that they were serious about their attempts to tame this tough track as Silaria took the pole after her qualifying attempt, and Eric and Dart Wuffy qualified fifth and seventh by the end of the round. However, the bubble was burst in Silaria's pit as Chris Furris made his run last, stealing the pole from her.

The FURCAR drivers were on the track early in the evening, raring to go, grinding their gears to get through the pre-race festivities. But finally their ride-and-wave laps were done and they were scrambling out of the vintage Ford Rancheros and into their own cars and then out onto the track. The pace car seemed to crawl as they circled around the track, but finally the green flag waved, the crowd roared as they jumped to their feet, and the race was on!

And on...and on...

Lap after lap of racing flew by as the FURCAR drivers put on their best show. There were many close battles in the season points and no one wanted to mess up their run by beating and banging on their neighbors. Mark, Zeke, and Jackie Rae were pleased to see Belic Bear starting near the back of the field in twenty-fourth position, but they knew they were going to have to race hard if they were going to have a chance at stealing the season title from the big grizzly. Tigris decided to play it cool since she was starting right next to Belic and kept alongside or just ahead of him during the start and the first segment of the race before the first green flag pit stops. She knew she couldn't beat him in the points, but the other drivers were definitely ahead of her for the hunting!

Bad luck struck the Ragdoll Physics and Alcoholocaust teams during the first round of pit stops as K'gra pulled out in front of Zero in their mad dash to get back onto the track. Both cars had to swing all the way around the apron of the track to return to their pits to have sheet metal banged out and tires swapped, putting them both a lap down by the time their repairs were finished and the leopard and fox were back out on the track.

And thus the race continued, the fans holding their breaths as they continued waiting for any sign of trouble on the track. But to no avail. The FURCAR drivers were all intent on finishing this race in one piece, not only in their fight for final points positions, but also to make it up to their crews for all the bodywork and repairs they had to complete during the previous ten weeks. The next pit stops also continued smoothly, as if they had been practicing for the pit crew competitions during the All-Star weekend during the upcoming break... Hmmm....

Finally the fans were rewarded for their patience with a minor but still exciting wreck just past the fifty-laps-to-go mark. Chris and Silaria, who had been running near the front most of the day, got a little too close to each other as they passed lapped cars entering Turns 3 and 4. The pair spun in separate directions, sending all the cars behind them scattering. Some drivers threaded the needle successfully, while others weren't so lucky and bumped into each other or the walls around the track. However, the damage all around wasn't too bad and, with the field slowed down for the caution, all those involved were back out on the track after an extended amount of time in the pits. Some of the luckiest drivers who managed to stay on the lead lap by avoiding the incident were the FURCAR rookies, who had all been running strong throughout their first season. Dart Wuffy, Eric, Kai, and Zeke all restarted at the green within the top ten.

Tensions continued to mount in the cars, in the pits, and in the stands as the laps continued to wind down. Belic and Tigris had been making their way up through the field all day, but Mark had suffered more significant damage and had dropped back to the second half of the field. Rookie Kai Lehtonen tucked in behind Tigris after she passed him, Jackie Rae right on his tail.

Five laps to go.

Four.

Three.

Two.

The rookies made a last serge to the front, but veteran Wildfox raced the track and kept ahead of them all to take the checkered flag on the last lap. Eric, Dart, and Zeke sorted themselves out to take the second, third, and fourth positions. Tigris pushed her way into the rookie crowd to take fifth from Kai. Jackie Rae took seventh, with Belic right behind her in eighth. Duzzy and Ice road lion forced a photo finish but rounded out the top-10.

With his top-10 finish, Belic secured the season championship. Rookie Zeke Bawlbowolf leapt over Mark to take second place. Tigris kept her fourth place position, but Jackie Rae and Cheesebeagle swapped places for fifth and sixth, respectively. Slidewolf, Shockey Rai, Eric, and Wildfox completed the top-10.

Zeke Bawlbowolf won the Rookie Of The Year by twenty-nine points. Eric and Dart Wuffy took second and third while Jo and Silaria finished the top-5.

And with that, Season One of 2013 is done. Belic Bear is season champion AGAIN after lulling the rest of the drivers into a false sense of security about their chances to take the top spot. Can anyone stop this bear? The FURCAR drivers will get their chance in two weeks! Next week is a non-points event as the field gathers to enjoy the All-Star race at Charlotte so come join in the festivities and we’ll find you on the track for Season Two!!

Perfect possible driver combination: 230 points – Hamlin, Johnson or Kyle Busch, Kenseth, Gordon, Montoya, Burton

Pole Award: Chris Furris (K9 Racing North America #85)

Hard Charger Award: Tigris (HyperLynx Racing #84)

Week 11 Standings – Darlington 5/11/13

WEEK

1) (15) Wildfox (Wildfox Motorsports #34) – 219

2) (5) Eric AKA Phantom (Phantom Impulse Racing #41) – 212 (ROOKIE)

3) (7) Dart Wuffy (Wolf’s Den Racing #88) – 210 (ROOKIE)

4) (12) Zeke Bawlbowolf (Zeke Bawlbowolf Racing #29) – 208 (ROOKIE)

5) (23) Tigris (HyperLynx Racing #84) – 205 (tie broken by more top-5 finishers)

6) (16) Kai Lehtonen (Fluffy Fasttrack Motorsports #3) – 205 (ROOKIE) (tie broken by more top-10 finishers)

7) (3) Jackie Rae Caldoon (Tanuki Trax #02) – 205

8) (24) Belic (Kodiak Racing #76) – 201

9) (9) Duzzy Valo (G-Shep Racing #09) – 200 (tie broken by more top-5 finishers)

10) (18) Ice road lion (Jetpack Racing #40) – 200

11) (25) Raz Yoshi (Yoshi Motorsports #30) –198

12) (8) Duroc (Hog Juice Racing #50) – 196

13) (26) Swift Fox (SF Racing #45) – 192 (ROOKIE)

14) (1) Chris Furris (K9 Racing North America #85) – 191

15) (14) Shockey Rai (Carolina Speed Racing #86) – 190

16) (2) Silaria (One Horn Racing #05) – 189 (ROOKIE)

17) (10) Mark (Howling Wolves Racing #64) – 187

18) (22) Slidewolf (Team Vault-Tec #9) – 185

19) (4) K’gra (Ragdoll Physics Racing #21) – 183

20) (6) Zero (Alcoholocaust Motorsports #00) – 182

21) (20) Cheesebeagle (RaceToTheCheese Racing #300) – 180

22) (19) Croco Chilton (Crocosaur Racing #15) – 174

23) (17) Roxanne Clement (Sunshine Racing AMX #53) – 173 (tie broken by top-5 finisher)

24) (21) Oren Hart (Sunshine Racing AMX #77) – 173

25) (13) Moon Mochi (Monster Blue Eyez Nation #42) – 172

26) (11) Chance Tigerfox (Tigerfox Racing #70) – 168

SEASON (points behind next driver, positions moved this week)

1) Belic (Kodiak Racing #76) – 2116 (n/a, +0)

2) Zeke Bawlbowolf (Zeke Bawlbowolf Racing #29) – 2056 (ROOKIE) (-60, +1)

3) Mark (Howling Wolves Racing #64) – 2036 (-20, -1)

4) Tigris (HyperLynx Racing #84) – 2023 (-13, +0)

5) Jackie Rae Caldoon (Tanuki Trax #02) – 1976 (-47, +1)

6) Cheesebeagle (RaceToTheCheese Racing #300) –1960 (-16, -1)

7) Slidewolf (Team Vault-Tec #9) – 1925 (-35, +1)

8) Shockey Rai (Carolina Speed Racing #86) – 1922 (-3, +1)

9) Eric AKA Phantom (Phantom Impulse Racing #41) – 1920 (ROOKIE) (-2, +1)

10) Wildfox (Wildfox Motorsports #34) – 1894 (-26, -2)

11) Ice road lion (Jetpack Racing #40) – 1888 (-6, +0)

12) Duroc (Hog Juice Racing #50) – 1859 (-29, +1)

13) Duzzy Valo (G-Shep Racing #09) – 1858 (-1, +1)

14) Roxanne Clement (Sunshine Racing AMX #53) – 1826 (-32, +1)

15) Oren Hart (Sunshine Racing AMX #77) – 1825 (-1, +1)

16) K’gra (Ragdoll Physics Racing #21) – 1822 (-3, +1)

17) Zero (Alcoholocaust Motorsports #00) – 1780 (-42, +3)

18) Beino (Yoshi Motorsports #13) – 1756 (-24, -11)

19) Croco Chilton (Crocosaur Racing #15) – 1732 (-24, +2)

20) Dart Wuffy (Wolf’s Den Racing #88) – 1714 (ROOKIE) (-18, +4)

21) Moon Mochi (Monster Blue Eyez Nation #42) – 1702 (-12, +2)

22) Silaria (One Horn Racing #05) – 1672 (-30, +3) (ROOKIE)

23) Edscott (SABco Autosport #42) – 1638 (-34, -5)

24) Jo L.T. Speed (Flame Driven Motorsports #44) – 1628 (ROOKIE) (-10, -5)

25) Chris Furris (K9 Racing North America #85) – 1595 (-33, +1)

26) Raz Yoshi (Yoshi Motorsports #30) –1572 (-23, +1)

27) Kenku (Wonder Drink Racing #88) – 1533 (-39, -5)

28) Swift Fox (SF Racing #45) – 1481 (ROOKIE) (-52, +0)

29) Chance Tigerfox (Tigerfox Racing #70) – 1316 (-165, +1)

30) Furry Mike (WWE-Furs Racing #21) – 1189 (ROOKIE) (-127, -1)

31) Kai Lehtonen (Fluffy Fasttrack Motorsports #3) – 1090 (-99, +1) (ROOKIE)

32) Jasper Erickson (iBolt! Racing Group #25) – 908 (-182, -1) (ROOKIE)

33) Colimarm (Procyon-Cyclone #57) – 170 (-738, +0) (ROOKIE)

34) Darksteel (Darksteel Racing #375) – 166 (-4, +0) (ROOKIE)

35) Kasey The Husky (KTH Racing #35) – 131 (-35, +0)

ROOKIES (points behind next rookie)

1) Zeke Bawlbowolf (Zeke Bawlbowolf Racing #29) – 135 points (n/a)

2) Eric (Phantom Impulse Racing #41) – 106 points(-1)

3) Dart Wuffy (Wolf’s Den Racing #88) – 98 points (-3)

4) Jo L.T. Speed (Flame Driven Motorsports #44) – 86 points (-1)

5) Silaria (One Horn Racing #05) – 85 points (-32)

6) Swift Fox (SF Racing #45) – 69 points (-12)

7) Kai Lehtonen (Fluffy Fasttrack Motorsports #3) – 58 points (-15)

8) Furry Mike (WWE-Furs Racing #21) – 51 points (-12)

9) Jasper Erickson (iBolt! Racing Group #25) – 30 points (-6)

10) Colimarm (Procyon-Cyclone #57) – 6 points (-24)

11) Darksteel (Darksteel Racing #375) – 5 points (-1)

SEASON STATS:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1puSi7iCherQmpBOGdRR3JlR3c/edit?usp=sharing&pli=1

CAREER STATS:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1puSi7iChereEZ6TEFnLVFTSGFXY2JjNndkeXFxQQ