Muscle Dragger

By Frank Cantu

It is 1962 when Frank prepares his 1955 muscle car for another challenger. In his fifteen-plus years of street racing in the Valley, Frank has seen it all. Accompanied by his nephew, Ricky, Frank pulls his car to the start line, looks back, and gives the boy a thumbs-up. Seconds later, Frank becomes a victim of a violent crash that takes his life and leaves Ricky heartbroken.

After a tumultuous decade, Ricky learns his uncle’s death may not have been an accident. His quest to uncover the truth takes him to the Midwest where he hopes to track down Driver, a racer who may know the real story behind Frank’s death. While finding trouble with other street car racers along the way, Ricky meets a beautiful girl and picks up an unexpected passenger. But it is not until he meets Driver that Ricky realizes that his quest is just beginning.

In this intriguing novella, a young man embarks on a journey to learn the truth behind his uncle’s mysterious death in a street race.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Feb 9, 2017
• ISBN: 9781483460680

Book preview

CANTU

Copyright © 2016 Frank A. Cantu.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of both publisher and author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-6069-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-6068-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016917645

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 10/17/2016

CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

CHAPTER 1

T he race was close. Frank won again, coming across the finish line at 110 miles per hour. The ’55 Chevy Bel Air was slowing down to come to a stop. Frank knew he couldn’t have gotten to that speed without his best friends, Danny and Mark.

The crowd attending the race made their way to Frank’s location. The people were excited, as they had been to all his races. He attracted people of all ages. He was looked upon as a legend in the Manteca area.

Among the crowd were Danny, Mark, and Frank’s nephew, Ricky. Ricky rushed over to his uncle. He always seemed to be more excited than the spectators. The eleven-year-old Ricky attended most of his uncle’s races and was the son of Frank’s older brother, Richard, who’d been killed in the Korean War at the age of twenty-four. Shortly after Richard’s death, Frank became the father figure for his nephew.

Ricky congratulated his uncle with a big hug, something that Frank loved.

After a little celebrating, Danny said, "Frank, there is a young racer in town wanting to try his luck with you. He sent word that he wants to race you in two weeks. But one thing he wants is to race you at two o’clock in the morning. Maybe he’s a little superstitious. Danny shook his head and continued, saying, He has fifteen hundred dollars to put up."

Set it up! It really doesn’t matter what time it is. Frank patted Ricky on the shoulder. They both got into the car and left the race.

Two weeks had passed, and the time for the race arrived.

On a cool winter evening in 1962, Frank was ready for another challenger. Both Frank and Danny had been waiting for this day. They were ready to collect the prize money.

Frank, Mark, and Danny had gotten the ’55 prepared. Now it was time to put it on the track.

Frank, thinking of his challenger, asked Danny, What do you know about this guy?

This dude is twenty-one and looks cocky. I don’t know where he’s from. I’ve asked some people if they have heard of him, but they all said no—only that he rides alone. One guy said he looked under the hood. When he opened it, it was packed under there, very wicked, so be careful.

In his fifteen-plus years racing in the valley, Frank had seen it all. He would take the same approach as he had in all his other races. He knew that this kid was trying to make a name for himself like all the others before him.

Frank had his nephew, Ricky, with him. He gave him a hug and left him with Danny and Mark. Ricky watched excitedly as his uncle got into his car and began to drive up to the start line.

Frank pulled up to the line. He looked at Danny and Mark, and for a second he thought back to the time when the three of them were young and working on coupes. Danny and Mark were brilliant with engines. The three of them had done so much together. Frank loved his two best friends like brothers. Danny looked at Frank and gave him the thumbs-up.

Frank settled in. It was time; the signal came. Go! Both cars blew out of the start line, with the ’57 jumping out in front for the one-mile race. Frank picked up speed, passing the quarter mile. He took the lead. It was looking good. Suddenly, the cars hit each other! Frank lost control. He drove off the asphalt, hitting dirt and flipping the ’55, rolling several times. A large cloud of dust covered the wreck.

The other driver stopped his car and got out to see the wreckage. He saw the lights of the cars that were speeding toward the wreck. Nervous about what was happening, he pulled a seven-inch pocketknife out of his right boot and stabbed the front right tire. When some of the crowd arrived to the scene, they were in a panic because Frank was still in the car. He wasn’t moving or responding.

What happened? one spectator asked.

I blew my front tire. We hit, and he lost control.

Frank was being pulled out of the car by