Bob McClurg

Butch “The California Flash” Leal (2023) by Bob McClurg. This is yet another excellent biography in a long list of great reads produced by CarTech books. I’ve read several things by Bob McClurg, including his work on “The American Speed Shop” (also from CarTech books and highly recommended) and I have found his writing clear and precise. While he details the life of ‘The California Flash’ he adds the technical details of the cars that Butch ran. There is so much information provided that at the end of the day you just might feel as if you’ve known Larry “Butch” Leal for years.
As a teenager, Butch worked hard for his parents at their trucking company. He seems to have been interested in motors and the vehicles they were attached to from a very young age. In lieu of pay for his work, dad had agreed to buy Larry a car. Larry got a special “pass” from a judge to drive for his family’s business when the boy was only 14. At 16 dad Frank bought a new 1960 Chevrolet El Camino 348 4-speed car the the future for the young Leal was set.
Soon Butch Leal became a true contender at race courses across the American southwest. He was not just a talented mechanic who understood how to get themes out of an engine, and the total car, he was a daring driver who trusted his ride and proved it time and again.
Bob McClurg lays out the following decades for this Sultan of the Strip. Time and again Butch Leal managed to ride to wins. And he wasn’t limited to just SS/S class races but drove to win in a wide gamut of vehicles. Butch Leal was a 12 time NHRA National Champion. He drove Funny Cars and Super Stock, Pro Stock and Modified. It seems he won at just about every race strip he went to and managed to lead several corporate teams to national championships.
‘The California Flash” is the All-American success story. A kid from the middle of nowhere is determined to do one thing, as good as or better than those around him, and managed to do just that. This is both a happy story about a family man who combined his loves into something strong, and an inspirational tale for people to follow their dreams.
And Mr. McClug manages to make the reading process so easy and enjoyable that you;ll be on the last pages wondering how the book had passed so quickly,… (mer)