Weekly vs Don Garlits
- Match Race at Pomona in 1963
Norm Weekly puts
the Frantic 4 A/FD out in front to stay as he captures the #1
Fuel Ranking from Chicago invader, Chris Karamesines at Pomona
in 1963.
Looks like Tommy
Ivo is out on Norm Weekly at this 1963 match race at Ramona Raceway.
Some things never
change. As it is now, it was then and the manufactures always
used their "stars" in their ads. These could be seen
in every thing from Drag News to Hot Rod Magazine.
Same
as above.
Jocko's
Porting Service used a great word play in this ad.
Like the manufactures,
the local drag strips also featured the cars that were "hot".
Promo
for an upcoming race at Pacific Raceway in Kent, WA - 1963
Wheels
cocked, tires blazing -- Norm Weekly makes a classic "Lions
Leave" in 1963.
Rare
color shot of Norm in the Frantic 4 at Lions in 1963.
Norm
Weekly takes a leisurely ride thought the pits at Bakersfield
in 1963.
From the pages
of Popular Hot Rodding, another incredible overhead shot from
Fontana in 1964.
Castle Rock,
June 21 1963 Rocky Mountain News -- "The team of Weekly.
Rivero, Fox, and Holding of Pomona, Calif. set a Colorado drag
race speed record Sunday at Continental Divide Raceways. The
Pomona crew set a mark of 185.56 miles per hour with an 8.26
ET, bettering the previous record of 182.78 mph. The Weekly,
Rivero, Fox, and Holding team also beat Denver's Nick Colbert
in a special two out of three match races. Colbert also broke
the old mark with a speed of 183.28 mph. Both cars were powered
by Chrysler engines."
Sponsor
"Thank You" ads were also common in the 1960's.
"Used Car
Lot" - Yea, right! This was taken at Airline Auto Sales
in 1963 when the team hooked up with Jack Flatley who owned Orange
County Metal Processing (OCMP). No clue what the Frantic 4, the
OCMP and Airline Auto dragsters were doing on the lot but you
can bet they weren't the daily specials.
"For just $50 down
and $25 a month you can drive this beauty home today."
A rare shot of
Weekly in the Frantic 4 car with "zoomie" headers at
Pacific Raceway in 1964.
Norm Weekly in
a very early shot of the OCMP car at Lions in 1963. This was
a beautiful cars by anybody's standards and it really flew once
the Frantic 4 took it over.
This is obviously
a promo photo for the OCMP car. As Dennis Holding tells it...
"In late 1963 and early 1964 we operated the OCMP car on
a deal in which Fox and Holding maintained the engine for a fee
with Norman driving for a percentage of the winnings Jack Flatley
who owned the company liked the deal because Madden and Yates
had blown up a lot of stuff and we cost him very little. When
he tired of racing we returned everything to him and concentrated
on getting the Edmison chassis ready for the 64 tour back east.
This car was then sold to Val LaPorte in Florida and ultimately
ended up in the water at the end of Lakeland Dragway."
Great
head-on shot of Norm Weekly in the OCMP AA/FD.
Here's
a few candid shots of the OCMP car taken in 1963 and obviously
not at the races.
Norm Weekly launches
the OCMP AA/FD at Pomona in late 1963. Note the front wheels
are up but the smoke off the rear tires isn't as thick as the
1963 shots. The tires were getting a little better and some of
the guys were finally figuring out how to work the clutches.
In a period of
one week the Frantic 4 captured the #1 1320 Drag News spot with
the orange car at Pomona and the #8 with the OCMP car at Ramona.
OCMP
Special - Frantic 4 in control. Great shot of the starting line
at Ramona in 1963.
Great
candid shot of Norm Weekly and engine ace, Jim Fox in 1964.
Norm Weekly, Woman?, Jerry Ruth
,Dennis Holding, Jim Fox, Bob Edmison, Dan Whitz. Dan owned Airline
Auto sales. Bob Edmison worked for Dan for a lifetime ....built
the 1964 Frantic4 dragster that toured in 1964 and was adapted
for the 426 motor from Nov 64 to March 65 when Norm bought Woody
car for 65 Tour.
Norm at Bakersfield in
the 426 (late model hemi) car during the 1964 March Meet.
Late in 1965,
Ron Rivero got out of the Army and took over the driver position
from Weekly in the Frantic 4 full bodied Woody car. Here is Weekly
getting into the car with Ron assisting. This was the original
livery redone when Rivero took the seat.
Rivero began
his full-time driving career and soon after set top speed at
the 1965 Hot Rod Magazine meet in Riverside and lost in the finals
to Tom McEwen in a VERY controversial starting line red-light.
Rivero and Jim Fox then toured the East that year as the "K&G
Frantic Fueler".
Starting line snafu aside, they
did set top speed of the meet and that was good for a trophy
and a check.
The pits at Phoenix (Beeline)
were as good as they got for 1965. However maintenance techniques
were still in the 1950's. Here "The Frantic 4", Weekly,
Rivero, Fox and Holding use oil boxes to get their fueler off
the ground to do some bottom end work. Note: No power tool or
gloves.
Rivero
at Pacific Raceways in Washington.
Rivero driving
the Frantic 4 car at the 1967 Winternationals. It was the swan
song for the late model hemi they flogged, with little success,
in 1966. Rivero and Jim Fox would go on to campaign a 392 under
the "K&G Speed Associates" banner that summer.
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