Hot Laps

A brain-dead hayseed named Troy Slackherd''s been caught red-handed trying to hijack an eighteen-wheeler filled with die-cast toy race cars. The culprit''s the step-brother of pro-racing''s most popular speed demon, Junior Senior Jr.—which means Redball''s returning, against his will, to the 180 m.p.h. world of gas fumes, adrenaline, and treacherous curves. When the truckful of toys leads to a lockerful of cash—and to perfidy, porn, loser Louisiana wiseguys . . . and murder—Redball realizes he''s back in the race for good or ill. And he''ll have to keep moving . . . or die.