The miners ascended quickly on the leaderboard. Y/n felt a lump in her throat as she watched them swerve past something exploding. They then reached a checkpoint, with a few racers following suit. Everyone watched as they jumped off the road to follow the course. They reached another checkpoint, weaving past other racers. Suddenly, Darkwing, one of the racers, transformed midair and struck one of the miners, knocking him off balance. 

"Ooh! Darkwing delivers a devastating blow!" The announcer bellowed.

The red and blue miner brought his friend back to balance, and they went on. After a while,  the racers approached a tunnel filled with obstacles the racers with flying alt-modes avoided with ease.

The miners decided since their jetpacks wouldn't help them much here, they would avoid the obstacles just as easily by going along with them. One grappled onto another racer's wing while the other climbed on top of one. The racer with the grappled wing angrily kicked the miner off, sending him flying toward his friend, who was also kicked off by a racer. A jet pack could be seen falling to the ground as the miners began to stick together again. 

The spectators at the stadium watched as they made it past the tunnel, surprisingly seeming unharmed. 

Other racers began to soar and swoop past them; the miners were now far behind. They watched as the racers disappeared into the distance.

"And the miners have fallen waaaaay behind. We can now focus on the real contenders of this race!" The announcer said. The broadcast now focused away from the miners and on the next part of the race. 

Y/n mouthed an 'oh' under her breath. She was quite ecstatic to watch a pair of new racers. They seemed to know what they were doing. 

After a few seconds, a distant shout could be heard from the outside of the stadium. Y/n glanced in the direction she heard the shouts. It was coming from the other side of the track. 

In the broadcast, the two miners could be seen directly landing at the checkpoint of the next part of the race. Y/n looked back at the broadcast and gasped. She saw how the miners were at the checkpoint way before the other racers. Sentinel side-eyed her, seeing how the corners of her lips lifted at the sight of them advancing. 

However, Darkwing was right in front of them. The miners saw this, and, unable to slow down, they struck him. Darkwing crashed off the track. After he realized what had happened, Darking snapped his head towards the miners, who were now in front along with other racers and growled.

"I don't believe it! The miners take down Darkwing!" The announcer says.

On the leaderboard, the stadium could see how the miners are now in the top five. 

The crowd cheered at the sight of this. Y/n and Sentinel looked at each other with eagerness. For the entire stadium, this race had to be the most exciting they've watched. 

The miners followed the other four racers in front of them. Ahead, the magnetic obstacle course was the final and the most hazardous. The racers began to struggle to go ahead. One of the leading bots lost control, which caused the three behind him to crash. The miners moved cautiously as parts of the other racers flew in different directions. 

The word 'MINERS' ascended to first place on the leaderboard.

The announcer came back, "A four-bot pileup in the magnetic tunnel, and the miners are now in first position! This is unbelievable!"

The crowd cheered. The cogless bots among it shouted in ecstasy. Y/n bounced on her heels and clapped her hands. The miners began to sprint towards the finish line. It was just some steps away. Y/n could see them more clearly now. 

No one noticed a piece of armor flying towards the grey miner.

The piece crashed into him, making him lose his balance. The crowd gasped and went quiet as they saw one of his legs spraying sparks. His friend turned back to help him up, "D!"

"No. Go! Leave me!" The injured one, who Y/n assumed was D, said.

The other shook his head, "No. We do this together."

From the distance on the platform, Y/n saw how D's friend began to support him as they continued towards the finish line.

Y/n felt her spark pulsating as the miners looked up at the platform above them. She and Sentinel observed them getting closer to winning. The crowd went silent. All eyes were on them. 

"One miner is now carrying the other mere steps from the finishing line!" The announcer beamed in. Y/n grew tired of him as she kept her focus on the miners. In the corner of her vision, she noticed another racer rapidly advancing. 

"This is the most amazing, sensational, dramatic, heartrending, exciting, thrilling finish in the history of--"

The miners were inches away from the finishing line until the racer from before hurled past them, swerving them out of her way. Y/n gaped at the sight of this. 

The racer transformed just before she slid through the finish line. Y/n craned her neck to see the broadcast in front of her. The racer, Chromia, pumped her fists in the air as she faced the spectators. 

"We have a winner! Chromia comes from behind to take the prize--talk about an Iacon 5000 for the ages!" The announcer said gleefully. 

The miners, lying on the ground, looked at each other with a worried look. Y/n continued to observe them with a small pout. Sentinel glanced at her before taking his leave. 

"Well, second place is still pretty good..." One of them said dryly. 

Before they could even stand up, the other racers zoomed past them. Y/n saw how one grinned at the other with a wry face before Sentinel took her servo prior to leaving.