3rd Aug 1997

Famed orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Richard Beckett, returns to his home town of Eagle Ridge after boyhood friend and track owner, Chris Chandler, offers him a job as a safety and medical officer at the speedway. When a driver is killed in a crash at the track, Chandler needs Beckett for the job even more. But Beckett is more interested in finding out what caused the wreck than in signing a contract.

3rd Aug 1997

Beckett hires bubble gum-chewing track brat Nando as his assistant. In an intimate chat that grows hotter by the minute, Mimi questions Beckett about his history with Nicole and his rivalry with Chandler. Kennedy, the track tow driver, who dreams of getting a ride, interrupts their liaison by bringing Moss' wrecked car for Beckett to examine.

16th Aug 1997

Beckett is harassed by a lovesick sixteen-year-old whose mechanic father has illegally modified a racer's car.

23rd Aug 1997

A former con man turned evangelist sets up his tent on the track's infield, arousing both suspicion and support.

30th Aug 1997

Beckett and his surgeon father are reunited while attempting to save an aging driver in need of a liver transplant.

6th Sep 1997

Financial troubles plague Servine Racing and one of the sponsors is worried. Meanwhile, Beckett continues to monitor Chandler's health, warning him to eliminate as much stress as he possibly can. But Chandler has no desire to, for he has big plans for his speedway's expansion.

25th Oct 1997

When an up-and-coming driver dies in a fiery crash, Beckett and attorney Mimi find themselves on opposite sides of a lawsuit that puts the entire sport of racing on trial.

1st Nov 1997

On a scorching day at the race track, a hand grenade arrives in Chandler's pizza. Temperatures and tensions rise as Chandler seems to be fouling up Sheriff Lowell Carter's attempts to nab the perpetrator until security footage reveals potentially incriminating evidence.

8th Nov 1997

When Kennedy wins a race, a driver he beat racially taunts him. Meanwhile, Nicole is in the midst of her divorce from Chandler as Beckett helps her bring photographic equipment into the studio she's renting from Chandler's speedway. Guest starring Larry Linville.

15th Nov 1997

Beckett and Chandler rekindle their friendship in a two-man race, just like the old days. Divorce procedures between Nicole and Chandler are coming to an end. And things are heating up between Beckett and Nicole, picking up where they left off 15 years ago.

22nd Nov 1997

Chandler lures a Formula One ex-champion to Eagle Ridge, but Beckett balks because the driver has a shady past. Meanwhile, Jared and Stevie unmercifully haze the rookie, Kennedy.

29th Nov 1997

When his father dies, Beckett prepares the funeral arrangements and finds his younger brother, Jeff. Mimi, who has put her relationship with Beckett on hold, is intrigued when she learns Jeff is charming but also trouble-and everyone but Beckett seems to know it.

14th Jan 1998

Chandler, vying for the presidency of CONTRAC, works on a TV package the current organization's president hands him. He tries to boost TV coverage by fostering grudges between drivers.

21st Jan 1998

Beckett enjoys his quietest race day in weeks until a freak accident in a garage injures Dusty Stokes' wife and daughter, while Stokes is leading the Eagle Ridge 500 with just 100 laps to go.

28th Jan 1998

With Jared recuperating from a recent injury, Chandler brings in a rookie driver to sub for him, Kat Kiernan, who turns out to be hell-on-wheels, a wild, flirtatious party animal who drinks and carouses with the boys.

4th Feb 1998

Still in pursuit of a CONTRAC presidency, Chandler enlists Takeshta, mogul of a large Japanese company, to sponsor what has always been an All-American racing series.

11th Feb 1998

When Beckett attends his first CONTRAC meeting as Chandler's partner, he suggests to the president that he'd like to see a race between legendary drivers. The president likes the idea so much that he hands Beckett the assignment of rounding up old-timers and making it happen.

18th Feb 1998

Beckett's estranged brother returns to Eagle Ridge only to be implicated as the prime suspect in the murder of one of Chandler's employees. Guest starring Robert Carradine.

25th Feb 1998

4th Mar 1998

When a blizzard immobilizes Eagle Ridge, two thugs rip-off the speedway's end of season receipts. But when one of them is injured they are forced to seek help and take Mimi hostage while they wait for Beckett to return home.

11th Mar 1998

Beckett's college friend, a television producer, visits the speedway to get Beckett's assistance in developing a television series set in the world of stock car racing.

18th Mar 1998

Nicole decides to sell her half of Eagle Ridge to rival track owner Madsen. Beckett and Chandler team up to convince her not to sell.

25th Mar 1998

Mimi's long lost mother visits Eagle Ridge to attempt a reconciliation, but her surprise uncovers a family secret that only deepens their estrangement.