Fireball 500

Plot

Stock car racer "Fireball" Dave Owens from California goes to race in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where he intends on competing against local champ Sonny Leander Fox. Dave beats Leander in a race, impressing the latter's girlfriend, Jane, and the wealthy Martha Brian.

Martha persuades Dave to drive in a cross country night race, not telling him he is actually smugging moonshine. She and her partner, Charlie Bigg, are pleased with Dave's results. Leander, who runs his own still and smuggling operation, is impressed with Dave's success, but this doesn't change the fact that he wants to beat Dave on the track, even challenging him to a dangerous figure-8 race.

Agents from the IRS threaten to send Dave to six months in jail unless he helps them bust the local moonshine ring.

After a driver, Joey, is killed during a run, Dave and Leander agree to team up to investigate the accident. They discover it was caused by someone placing a huge mirror across the road. It turns out that Martha's moonshining partner, Charlie Bigg, was solely responsible for the murder of Joey and also tried to kill Dave because he was jealous that the young California driver is sleeping with her.

Dave wins the big race but Leander is injured. Jane helps him recover and Dave drives off into the sunset with Martha the Moonshiner.

Cast

Critical

The Los Angeles Times said the film "leaves American International's beach formula pretty much intact despite William Asher's attempt to inject some sophistication into his story" but thought it was "always easy to watch" with "a brisk tempo, a stylish verve that leaps over large holes in the story." The New York Times called it "a real turkey... one old bird that should have been cremated, not cooked."

Sequel

In July 1966 it was announced Burt Topper would produce a follow up, Malibu 500 with a budget of $1.4 million. This became Thunder Alley.