Stock-car racer

the long version

Butterworth, as WEB Griffin, has become famous as an author of adult fiction (military and police procedurals) but from ca 1965 to ca 1980 he wrote boys' books, mostly about car racing. They were well written, with predictable plots, good characterization, and excellent descriptions of place and action. They are all dated now, but the average teen-aged boy who is interested in cars will still find them interesting. And the writing is far better than most current juveniles.