Fireball 500

Nice racing sequences and to my knowledge the only feature film to have both those kids from Philadelphia Frankie Avalon and Fabian in the cast are the attractions that Fireball 500 has. The title comes from the logo that Avalon has on his car.

Avalon is a professional racing driver and has arrived in North Carolina to try his hand at the stock car circuit where local boy Fabian rules. Fabian also runs a little moonshine on the side and of course is wary of the revenuers. These two as in the teen idol business were rivals in those late Eisenhower/ Kennedy years.

The women they are rivals over are Annette Funicello and Julie Parrish, you watch the film to see who gets who. There's someone else in the picture who would like to eliminate both these guys. I won't reveal but it won't be hard to figure it out.

Avalon is slightly miscast in a film that I think Elvis Presley might have had first dibs on and rejected. Or Colonel Parker probably rejected for him.

Two very colorful character players Chill Wills and Harvey Lembeck are in the cast. Wills is Annette's uncle and Lembeck is most definitely not doing Erich Von Zipper.

For aging fans of the leads like myself.