Edward Glenn "Fireball" Roberts, Jr. (January 20, 1929 in Tavares, Florida - July 2, 1964 in Charlotte, North Carolina) was one of the pioneering race car drivers of NASCAR.
Roberts was raised in Apopka, Florida where he was interested in both auto racing and baseball. He was a pitcher for the Zellwood Mud Hens, an American Legion baseball team, where he earned the nickname "Fireball" because of his pitches. He enlisted with the Army Air Corps in 1945, but was discharged after basic training because of asthma.
He spent some time at the University of Florida, but would race on dirt tracks on weekends. In 1947, at the age of 18, he raced on the beach course at Daytona for the first time. He would win a 150-mile race at Daytona Beach the following year.
Roberts continued to amass victories on the circuit, despite the changes in NASCAR as it moved away from shorter dirt tracks to superspeedways in the 1950s and 60s. In his 206 career NASCAR Grand National races, he won 33 times and had 35 poles. He finished in the top five 45% of the time.
On May 24, 1964 at the World 600 in Charlotte, Roberts had qualified in the 11th position and started in the middle of the pack. On lap seven, Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson collided and spun out and Roberts crashed trying to avoid them. Roberts's Ford slammed backwards into the inside retaining wall, flipped over and burst into flames. Jarrett rushed to save Roberts as his car was engulfed by the flames. Roberts suffered second- and third-degree burns over 80% of his body and was airlifted to a hospital in critical condition.
Roberts was able to survive for several weeks and it appeared that he might pull through, but on June 30, Roberts began to take a turn for the worse. He contracted pneumonia and sepsis and he slipped into a coma by the next day. He died on July 2.
Despite having his career cut short and having never won a Grand National title, Fireball Roberts is still considered one of the best and most well-respected drivers in the history of NASCAR. NASCAR named him to their list of Top 50 NASCAR Drivers of All Time. He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1990.
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Last updated: 05-14-2005 21:54:28
