Hot Rod and Speedway Comics #5

Val Corry is a spoiled movie star who thinks his fat checkbook makes him a world-class driver—until a stunt gone wrong on set lands professional racer Johnny Sawyer in the hospital. After the other drivers challenge his skills, Corry spends sixty grand on top-tier cars and enters a series of races to prove himself, racking up wins and publicity along the way. But when Sawyer emerges from recovery to challenge him to one final race, Corry discovers that money and mechanics alone don't make a champion.

Al Barton gets a second chance when car owner Victor Dorner hires him to drive in the California-Mexico road race, but discovers mid-competition that Dorner has been using the vehicle to smuggle contraband across the border. Now on the run from Dorner's men and racing against his rival Jack Olmstead, Barton must navigate treacherous mountain roads and decide who he can trust to cross the finish line.

When race-track operator Mal Harris rigs cars to throw their front tires at precisely the right moment to guarantee betting profits, driver Fred Callahan witnesses a fatal crash and becomes convinced Harris murdered his friend—but Harris and his thugs won't let accusations stand. Callahan finds himself forced into a high-stakes race where his own vehicle may be sabotaged, setting the stage for a collision between justice and Harris's dangerous game.

Larry Stark is obsessed with the Braganza, a sleek foreign racing car worth twenty thousand dollars that's being exhibited across the country before it's awarded to the winner of the National championship race. When the car captures his imagination at the docks, he throws himself into racing to earn a shot at it, but his reckless driving and single-minded pursuit of the prize begin to strain his relationship with his supportive brother Dave. As Larry chases his dream through race after race, he'll discover that winning isn't everything—and that the people who believe in you matter more than the machine you're after.