Episode description
Pit Lane Light-Pulse: Reappraising the Choi Method: Part 1
An interview with Choi Moon-soo
“Back in the day, you’d see the car come down the pit lane and screech to a halt. Like clockwork, the pit crew would be waiting, tools in hand, and they’d descend on the thing like vultures on a carcass. Wheels off. The fuel line comes in. Temperature and electricity probes. Wheels on. Signal to the driver. Away it goes.
In the early part of the 21st Century, many years ago, it took them about fourteen seconds. Before she disappeared, my sister got it down to two.
When we started, a full turnover took about six seconds. The number’s not clear in my head. Feels so long ago, and so distinct from what the teams do now, with the Choi Method. Maybe the difference between two and six seconds doesn’t feel like a lot to you, but it’s a while, I tell you. Whole span. And she whittled it down, second by second.
People talk about the Choi Method now like it’s any other part of the race. Fair enough. They print it on some of the ceramic engine mountings, too. Let folks know the Method will work: Choi Certified. Every time I hear it, a little hand closes around my heart for a second. Apparently some guys at an auto repair in Bangkok figured out how to make it work with a normal car.
Liana was never secretive about how she did it. Her team had to know, and once the Method took hold, the other teams did too. Incheon Thunderbolt never tried to lock it down. Knowing Liana, there was some line in her contract that stopped them. She’d give talks, walk teams through it. Once you know how it’s done, it’s just a matter of practice.
Just a matter of practice. They say the Austrians don’t call it a pit stop any more. You want to learn the Choi Method? Close your eyes. Can you hear it? It’s coming down the pit lane. Here we go.”
Contents
Opening
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From the pier, I watch the bay / The rain is falling, the water ripples, what does it say? / Little stories come and gone, little heart attacks / A missing child, a stolen painting, engines on the track.”
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Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials “A.C.” is an elevated resort city in Atlanta Country in the US state of New Jersey. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalks, and holographic beach. Atlantic City inspired the US version of the board game Monopoly, which uses various Atlantic City street names and destinations in the game. From 1921 until 2033 Atlantic City was the home of the Miss America pageant. In 1976, New Jersey voters legalized casino gambling in Atlantic City, and the first casino opened in 1978...”
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From the shoreline I / witness three pasts / empty promises, radio stations, movie studio collapse / From [Bluff City/Blough City/Bluffington Beach] I take in the view / who is missing, when is going gone, what is left to do? / I’m right there but I’m there too, got a slot machine’s perspective / I’m in the third place, I’m in-between, I’m biting back invective / I am Atlantic, I am City, I am black and blue / I am nothing, we are nothing, baby this town’s through / We’re in the marsh, outside your bar, cheek to cheek, alone / dancing to the roar of the gravity cars and the piano's semi tones”
Plot
The crew prepares for their upcoming race in their own ways - Wrench is worrying over her car and triple-checking it over, Trip is listening to hype-up music, and Froggy is checking over their car to reassure themselves that they are prepared for the race. They discuss their racing strategy, partially as a way to reassure themselves that they are prepared for the race. Wrench, who has been part of other team’s pit crews in the past, discusses other teams and those she thinks might be their main competition - Tiger Bite, Sonny Veranda the Third’s crew, and Absolute Pluperfect.
The first race takes place during the day, mid-afternoon. Various racers - Denizen A, Brett Nebraska, Suzy Sazerac, Egon “Eggs” Benny - stand ready at their vehicles to the cheer of the crowd (the crowd divided by the high, cutting edge fashion of the rich tourists in the stands and the regular citizens of Atlantic City). Absolute pulls ahead of Callista Lee, taking some hits as they pass her. Sonny Veranda the Third moves up, taking a small amount of damage to his vehicle. Of the Tiger Bite crew, only SC attempts to pass other cars but doesn’t manage to get past the group. Trip pushes forward, passing, SC, Tate, and Sonny and taking damage to his vehicle in the process. Wrench holds her position, stopping Baby from moving forward. Froggy pushes forward, passing a few of their competitors.
Trip and Sonny bump against one another, while Callista and Absolute vie for first position. Trip moves ahead, feigning passing right and switching to passing Callista on the left. Sonny follows Trip’s path, using Trip’s manoeuvre to drift past Callista. Wrench tries to hold their position but plays things too carefully, slowing down around a turn and losing their position in the race.
Trip holds his position as they make another lap, almost managing to pass Absolute. Behind him, Sonny attempts to holding onto his position but falls behind SC. SC deploys his car’s wings in an attempt to skip part of the track, coming down hard on the nose of his car. Baby pushes forward, passing Sonny using the same technique that SC attempted to deploy.
Froggy attempts to take advantage of the destruction of the cars ahead of them, but isn’t able to due to the difficult terrain on the track. Wrench also tries to overtake other cars, suffering engine damage in the process. Absolute manages to hold their position in first.
Sonny, angered by the damage done to his car by Baby, deliberately slams his car into their’s. Pizza-sized saw blades emerge from Sonny’s car, causing damage to Baby’s vehicle and causing Baby to pull back. Froggy passes Fortenbaugh, and Wrench successfully copies them.
Trip pushes his engines, managing to get to first position, overtaking Absolute. SC does his best to block other cars from advancing in position, while Froggy and Wrench push forward. Trip attempts to push forward to hold his lead, Absolute just passing him at the last second.
Sonny destroys Baby’s car, barely leaving them alive. In retaliation, Tate takes out Sonny. Callista takes advantage of this to move forward. Froggy pushes her car, manoeuvring their car perfectly in order to overtake Callista. Fortinbras crashes into the remains of Callista’s Keen X1, causing a huge pile up of the other drivers.
The camera catches the main characters as they cross the finish line: Trip is frustrated by missing first place, Froggy is aggressive but happy at having moved up so far in position, and Wrench is in tears with stress.
Reporters crowd the cars, asking questions about the final crash, implying that Wrench was directly responsible for the pile up. Trip defends her, yelling at the reporters. On the podium, Absolute makes a remark to Trip under their breath, which Trip responds to loudly, ensuring that all coverage will focus on him and not Wrench.
Back at the garage, Wrench is happy they have come through the race unscathed but very upset at the damage to their cars. The door opens, the person in shadow there to make them an offer.