Part I: Chapter 5 Summary

Thompson and his attorney, like the racers and the rest of the press, are at the track and ready by sunrise. However, the race does not begin until 9 a.m., so everyone waits at the casino next to the pits. In the crowd, a man in a Harley-Davidson shirt tells the story of how he arrived at the Mint 400. During an argument with his wife about his plan to go to Las Vegas, he became physically abusive. Subsequently, two men he had never seen before attacked him. One of them asked him where he was going, and when he told him the Mint 400, they handed him ten dollars and drove him to the bus station. After traveling all night, he arrived in downtown Las Vegas.

Thompson watches as the correspondent from Life magazine slumps drunkenly onto the bar. Feeling...