Dragstrip Hotrodders [Drag-Strip Hotrodders] #4

Buddy Alden is a reckless hotrodder with a mean streak and a habit of throwing his father's money around—until his carelessness damages Todd Bryant's dad's car and lands him in trouble with Officer Dan Varenna. When Buddy tries to intimidate Todd at Palumbo's diner, Todd stands up to him in front of witnesses, earning the hothead's bitter resentment. Now the two rivals find themselves facing off at Westly Oval in a legitimate stock car race, where Todd's skill and nerve will be put to the test against Buddy's raw speed and refusal to lose.

Hobie Tanner trades in his wrecked '63 Plymouth for his grandfather's beat-up old roadster, but when rival driver Pete Moss won't stop taunting him, Hobie gets a chance to transform his jalopy into a real hotrod with a salvaged engine and some help from friends. Now it's time to settle things on the road to Moon Lake, and Hobie's got something to prove.

Joe Hyland joins the Cremona Cam Crashers as an engine-building enthusiast, but his cautious approach and slow driving earn him mockery from hothead Busher Reynolds—and concern from Nancy, who wants Joe to prove himself on the drag strip. When pressure mounts, Joe not only builds and races a modified Chevrolet to satisfy his girlfriend, but secretly engineers an ambitious rail job in his cellar, combining meticulous design with raw power in ways his rivals never considered. By the time his custom machine roars down the track, Slow Joe has learned that speed, like everything else, rewards those who understand both the art and the science.