Teenage Hotrodders #23

Ken King finally gets his shot at clearing his name—a blackmailer named Rudolf Funk is holding the papers that will prove Ken innocent in a racing accident that hurt his friend Jerry Gerard. All Ken has to do is deliver $15,000 to a park drop-off and retrieve the documents, but when a police officer unexpectedly appears, Funk panics and tries to flee with both the money and the papers, forcing Ken into a desperate chase that spirals far beyond what either of them anticipated.

A young driver named Merle needs cash after his aging Chevrolet is destroyed in a race, and Mr. Goldman, the Plymouth dealer whose sponsored competitor beat him, offers an unexpected opportunity: buy the damaged '65 Barracuda that Leech Pawnell just raced for six hundred dollars, with the rest due after Merle wins the big Late Stocker Championships. With his friend Dutch and a shot at five grand in prize money, Merle takes the gamble on a car that's never run under his control—and discovers that the real test isn't just the competition on the track, but whether he's got what it takes to prove himself behind the wheel.