A real-life chase caper across the Southeastern United States is being played out without the aid of Hollywood screenwriters.

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The pursuit of escapee Christopher Daniel Gay has this far covered much of Dixie and involved the theft of numerous trucks and what may or may not have been an attempt to kidnap NASCAR driver Tony Stewart.

The Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Sun Times said Saturday its tally of the pursuit totaled four stolen vehicles and 2,000 miles with the determined Gay still a step ahead of the equally stubborn smokies.

Gay escaped during a transfer of prisoners from Texas to Alabama last Sunday and made his getaway in a stolen pickup. He then traded the hot pickup for a tractor, allegedly stole a loaded Wal-Mart truck and drove it to a Pleasant View, Tenn., trailer park to visit his cancer-stricken mother -- who said her son was non-violent and Christian.

After bailing out of the area on foot, Gay surfaced in Nashville where he allegedly stole country singer Crystal Gayle's tour bus and drove it to Florida's Lakeland Speedway on Thursday. Authorities say he told security guards he was there to pick up Stewart, but the guards told him to get lost -- which he did and hasn't been seen since.