I don't know why I was thinking this way but my feeling through the entire book was that the best way to end it would be with Garraty getting a ticket near the end of the race. The only reason I can think of is that it would have completed the cycle of going from a strong physical a mental specimen at the beginning of the race to competently broken down (both mentally and physically) thus completing the cycle that 99 boys go through from a first person point of view. I imagined Garraty just falling down exhausted and unable and or unwilling to go on with his last sight being the flag flapping over the half track as the solider shot him. Did anyone else imagine the book ending this way?