Pace lap at Riverside in the 60s...
Pace lap at Riverside in the 60s...
Richard Petty and Fred Lorenzen at Ona, W.Va. in 1963...
Convertibles at Soldier Field...
Richard's Superbird...
Petty Enterprises, 1972 state of the art hauler...
Lee Petty's 1954 Chrysler. This is the car in which he won the first NASCAR premier series race in Kentucky at Corbin Speedway in August of 1954...
Tom Pistone and Fred Lorenzen at Soldier Field...
THE PETTY,S OF LEVEL CROSS
KYLE PETTY ....1983
marty robbins---dave marcis
WALTER BALLARD---ELMO LANGLEY--73
ED NEGRE--CHARLIE ROBERTS--73
RICHARD CHILDRESS....RON KESELOWSKI
FRANK WARREN.....HENLEY GREY..73
JOE FRASSON-----WENDALL SCOTT--73
RAYMOND WILLIAMS---LENNIE POND--73
Riverside, Calif.............1977.
Norm Palmer drove this car to a 6th place finish.
Color photo (not mine) of same car at Riverside.
Riverside, Calif.............1980
Same car but now with a Magnum body on it.
Never heard of Norm Palmer, I assume he was a Cali specialist, looking him up he had two top tens at Riverside so he was pretty decent (although 1980 can't be a Winston Cup appearance). But what a tragic death...
"An emphasis was placed on drivers with road racing backgrounds which meant drivers from open wheel, oval track racing were at a disadvantage. That led Tony George to create the IRL." -Indy Review 1996
Probably a regular in what was once known as the Winston West Series.
They ran up and down the west Coast and when the Winston Cup ran at Ontario or Riverside a few of the Winston West teams would make an attempt to qualify. The cars were more or less Cup legal IIRC and they were welcome to help pad the field.
I do remember Winston West used to schedule a race at Phoenix the week after the Winston Cup season ended at Riverside and some of the Cuppers would stick around and race at Phoenix too. The King won that race a time or two on the way back to Level Cross
I found almost nothing about Norm Palmer, what happened to him?
Faster than a bullet from a gun
He is faster than everyone
Quicker than the blinking of an eye
Like a flash you could miss him going by
No one knows quite how he does it but it's true they say
He's the master of going faster. -George Harrison
Crashed into a gully off a motorway in California, climbed up, seriously injured, to get himself some help, and got hit by an articulated lorry.
thats harsh
[QUOTE=KevMcNJ;2721511]Probably a regular in what was once known as the Winston West Series.
They ran up and down the west Coast and when the Winston Cup ran at Ontario or Riverside a few of the Winston West teams would make an attempt to qualify. The cars were more or less Cup legal IIRC and they were welcome to help pad the field.
In the 60s and 70s and most of the 80s, the rules for Winston West cars were exactly the same as for Winston Cup or they never would have been allowed to run with the Cup cars at Riverside, Ontario, Phoenix, or Texas. Ray Elder and Jack McCoy ran Ray Nichels built chassis in the late 60s and Herschell McGriff and Ray Elder ran Petty built chassis in the early 70s. Now the West series cars run under the same rules as the K&N East series and would not be eligible for Cup races.
I do remember Winston West used to schedule a race at Phoenix the week after the Winston Cup season ended at Riverside and some of the Cuppers would stick around and race at Phoenix too. The King won that race a time or two on the way back to Level Cross
Can I ask you for the link where you found that information?Originally Posted by ensign14
Crashed into a gully off a motorway in California, climbed up, seriously injured, to get himself some help, and got hit by an articulated lorry.
I was acquainted with Norm, chatted with him in the pits after several Winston West races in the early 70s. He was better known as a very good engine builder, particularly Chrysler big-block wedges. He built the engines for Gary Sigman's '72 Dodge Charger driven by Bill Butts on the Winston West circuit in '72 and '73. The car had several podium finishes with Norm's wedge motors under the hood racing against the Hemi powered Mopars of the other front runners (Elder, McCoy, McGriff, Bown). The circuit ran not only on Calif tracks but also in Oregon, Washington, Briish Columbia, and Las Vegas, Nevada. Norm started driving in the Sportsman (later Busch) series on the West coast, but only the larger races. He had a dayglow red '70 Plymouth Roadrunner, powered by (naturally) a Chrysler bb wedge. He later moved up to the Winston West series. The car in the pictures I posted above was actually an old Petty car (had originally been the #11 driven by Buddy Baker in '71 and '72) that was then sold to Ray Elder who ran it for 3 years on the West circuit before selling it to Norm.
I knew that Norm had been killed in a highway accident but didn't know the details that you posted, hence asking for the link.
Riverside, Calif..............."Motor Trend 500"
Dan Gurney in his Plymouth Superbird (actually a Petty car). Photo from "Rare Sportsfilms".
Riverside, Calif.................1970
Kevin Terris in his Plymouth Superbird. Picture from Joe Machado's "Winged Warriors" site.
Daytona..................1970
As defending West champion, Ray Elder got an invitation to the Daytona 500.
Picture I found of USAC driver Butch Hartman in his winged Dodge. Don't know the track or who was in the #10. IndyJohn?.....right up your alley.
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