[EricH]

That's... not a 1/2" gap. More like a 1"-2" gap.

I'd go with Peter's suggestion: unwrap the end, cut the noodles, and replace with a vertical section of noodle. You've got time now (and presumably some extra noodle sections laying around), so fix it now and fix it right so you don't have to fix it in a big hurry at the competition.