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Search WWW Search FireballRoberts.com FireballRoberts.com is a reference source for many racing questions. To help, we've added the NEW SITE SEARCH above. Welcome to the most comprehensive Fireball Roberts information site on the web. This site has been up over 17 years and many, many fans have shared memories, pictures and stories. There are a lot of pages, so make sure you click through to find them all. Contact us with a request for the page updates.trag·e·dy : noun; plural - trag-e-dies1 a : a narrative poem or tale typically describing the downfall of a great man b : a serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (as destiny) and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that excites pity or terror c : the literary genre of tragic dramas 2 a : a disastrous event : CALAMITY b : MISFORTUNE 3 : tragic quality or element Tragedy certainly describes the end of the life of Edward Glenn "Fireball" Roberts. Taken from us too early, before he had a chance to reach full life, legacy and legend before hanging up his helmet. It makes it that much harder to deal with. Such was the case of one of NASCAR’s early pioneers, and first superstar of NASCAR racing. Perhaps the greatest driver never to win a NASCAR t**le. That is, until the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Fireball Roberts Voted into Hall of Fame CHARLOTTE -- Dale Jarrett leads the fifth cla*** of the Hall of Fame, NASCAR CEO Brian France announced Wednesday evening at the Charlotte stock-car shrine. The cla*** also includes Fireball Roberts, Tim Flock, Jack Ingram and Maurice Petty. After the January induction of the latest five-member cla***, the total of NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees will be 25. Roberts, who lost on a tiebreaker during last year's vote, was arguably NASCAR's first superstar. A two-time winner of the Southern 500 and the 1962 Daytona 500 winner, Roberts is known as one of the greatest drivers to never win a t**le. He died in a fiery crash in 1964. A 54-member panel a***embled at the Charlotte Convention Center to elect the fifth cla***. The top five vote-getters were elected from a ballot of 25. There was no minimum percentage required for induction, and voters each chose up to five names. The nominees were chosen by a 21-person committee consisting of NASCAR officials, Hall of Fame reps and track owners. On the panel are: Hall of Fame executive director Winston Kelley; historian Buz McKim; NASCAR Chairman/CEO Brian France; Vice Chairman Jim France; President Mike Helton; Vice President of Compet**ion Robin Pemberton; Senior Vice President of Racing Operations Steve O'Donnell; Compet**ion Administrator Jerry Cook; former Senior Vice President Paul Brooks; former Vice President Ken Clapp; International Speedway Corporation CEO Lesa Kennedy; Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell; Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage; Atlanta Motor Speedway President Ed Clark; former Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Tony George; Dover Motorsports CEO Denis McGlynn; Pocono Raceway board of director member Looie McNally; Bowman Gray Stadium operator Dale Pinilis; Riverhead Raceway operators Jim and Barbara Cromarty (1 vote); Rockford Speedway owner Jody Deery; and Kingsport Speedway Operator Robert Pressley. Last year, the three highest vote totals of those who weren't inducted belonged to Roberts, who lost to Buck Baker on a tiebreaking vote for the final slot in the 2013 cla***, Cook and Flock. PAST CLa***ES OF HALL OF FAME 2010: Richard Petty, Bill France, Dale Earnhardt, Junior Johnson, Bill France Jr. 2011: David Pearson, Bobby Allison, Ned Jarrett, Bud Moore, Lee Petty 2012: Darrell Waltrip, Cale Yarborough, Glen Wood, Dale Inman, Richie Evans 2013: Rusty Wallace, Cotton Owens, Herb Thomas, Buck Baker, Leonard Wood Send Congratulations! NASCAR Hall of Fame - Thanks For Voting for FIREBALL! Fireball Roberts by Ed Hinton – ESPN.com -- Jan. 2014 NASCAR's Hall is, of course, "of Fame." Emphasize the last word, and Fireball Roberts should have been inducted in its first cla***. He was NASCAR's first FAMOUS driver -- nationally famous, even known in Europe, where he once drove a Ferrari at Le Mans. The morning after he died on July 2, 1964, of complications from severe burns suffered in a cloud of flame during Charlotte's World 600 that May, NBC's "Today Show" ran the news of his pa***ing, and concluded the obituary simply: "Fireball Roberts." The name was enough. It resounded through American households when no other NASCAR name did. It wasn't just the nickname; it was the way the driving style fulfilled the nickname: all-out, all the time. Win, wreck or blow. Thirty-three times he won. He was the archetype, the way race drivers are supposed to be in movies, but rarely are, especially nowadays. Of course he never won a NASCAR champions***p, with that life- and car-gambling style, and that selectivity of races. He never ran a full schedule. By consensus of those who knew him, he exuded charisma and fearlessness. His favorite song on the juke boxes in the beer joints and diners was by Faron Young: "h****o, Walls." Edward Glenn Roberts Jr., it was long believed, got his nickname as a fastball pitcher in his youth in Central Florida. NASCAR historians now question the story, with input from Roberts' family and friends. Maybe, just maybe, Fireball got the name purely for his racing career. His shorter, more poignant nickname in the inner circles was, simply, "Balls." Driving for legendary mechanic Smokey Yunick, Roberts won the first two Firecracker 250s at Daytona (now the summer 400-miler there) in 1959-60, with less endurance required of his cars. But he didn't win the Daytona 500 until 1962, beating an upstart kid, NASCAR's household name in waiting, Richard Petty. Roberts left Yunick to drive for Banjo Matthews, and won the Firecracker again that summer, becoming the first driver to sweep Daytona's major races in one season. How hard is that? Jimmie Johnson did it in 2013, and before him it hadn't been done since Bobby Allison in 1988. Roberts' fearlessness might have found its limits in 1961, when the future if not the very existence of NASCAR teetered on his name. He at first was the brightest star in a movement by the Teamsters union to organize NASCAR drivers as the "Federation of Professional Athletes." Had it stuck, that union might have spread to other sports. The movement started with Curtis Turner, and included Tim Flock, another 2014 inductee into the Hall of Fame. But Roberts was the key. The three of them were banned for life from NASCAR that August of '61. But Roberts took what old-timers would remember as "The Long Ride," across western North Carolina from Winston-Salem to Asheville, with Pat Purcell, the right-hand enforcer of NASCAR's founder and first czar, Bill France Sr., "Big Bill." Purcell came out of the carnival business, reputedly carried bottles of scotch in his briefcase for negotiation purposes, but played nothing but the hard line. Whatever was said in that pa***enger car moving west into the Blue Ridge mountains, Fireball Roberts got out in Asheville and announced he was through with the union movement. Roberts was reinstated, and that was the beginning of the end of the FPA. Toward the end of his career, which is to say his life, Roberts drove a Ford for the fabled Holman-Moody team. One teammate was an Indy car regular who also raced NASCAR, Dave MacDonald. On the same Memorial Day weekend in 1964, both MacDonald and Roberts were engulfed in flame, MacDonald in the Indianapolis 500, with Eddie Sachs, and Roberts in the World 600. All three were fatally injured. Those deaths led to safety innovations taken for granted today: fire-resistant uniforms, and explosion-resistant fuel cells in NASCAR and fuel bladders at Indy. And so the name resounds down through the decades, for charisma, daring and the end of a deadly era. Fireball Roberts. Fireball Roberts.com News_____________________________________ Tom Kitchen’s NASCAR tribute cars The Famous Lee Petty Protest After Fireball's 1962 Daytona 500 Victory Pamela Jane Roberts Trivette 1951 - 2009 - Story Here Email me with Pamela Updates. Click Here. NEW! Cards (Collectible Cards, Post Cards) NEW! CHECK OUT THESE VIDEOS (Click) NEW! INCREDIBLE PHOTO GALLERY New Pictures are in as of 12/26/11 Fireball Roberts Jacket... the story Piece of childhood brought back to life By GODWIN KELLY, September 27, 2011 Tony Layton was a big fan of NASCAR driver Fireball Roberts, enthralled to the point of tracking the stock car driver to a Main Street pool hall. Originally from Ohio, Layton was a Speed Weeks regular after Daytona International Speedway opened in 1959. He was especially fascinated with Roberts, who made his home here. Roberts was NASCAR's first breakout star. Layton watched Roberts run the big track and was determined to meet his favorite driver. "I saw Fireball race, but I didn't know him," Layton said. "One time when we were here during race week, I heard he liked to shoot pool at Main Street. We went up there and he was shooting pool. We got to say hi to him." Layton left Ohio to run a business in Daytona Beach Sh****s for 27 years. More than 30 years after Roberts' death, Layton bought a 1939 Ford Coupe and turned the sedan into a mirror image of Roberts' infamous "White Lightning." "White Lightning" was the No. 11 Ford that Roberts raced to stardom in the early 1950s. "Sammy Packard found the car for me over in Sarasota," Layton said. "We went over to take a look at it. I wanted a '39 because that was the year I was born. "When I got it, Sammy asked me, 'Now what are you going to do with it?' I told him I had a photo of Fireball's modified car, and I wanted to put it back together like that." After Layton made the purchase in 1999, Packard a***isted with the mechanical restore, while renowned racing artist, Buz McKim, used a series of photos of Roberts' machine from various reference points to recreate the look of the car. "Buz told me he had all the photos I needed to build a near exact replica car," Layton said. "He told me, 'We can put it together just like Fireball's car.’" McKim, now the NASCAR Hall of Fame historian in Charlotte, meticulously detailed the car, right down to the distinctive tapered compet**ion numbers on its side. "It wasn't too difficult," McKim said in a recent phone interview. "I had the original artwork (photos), so you basically draw pictures of what's on there. "In order to get those compet**ion numbers as accurate as possible, I had to sketch them on the car just like they appear in the photographs, then paint it." You would think that after Layton spent the money to buy the car, restore it to orginal racing specs and hire McKim to detail it, the '39 Ford would find a home in a museum. No way, says Layton. "I race it at historic and antique races on short tracks here and there," the 71-year-old said with a laugh. "And we race. We run into each other." Layton's car is on display outside the Living Legends of Auto Racing Museum in South Daytona's Suns***ne Mall. There is no charge to visit the museum or view the car. Another little known Fireball "Factoid"... A NASCAR Labor Union? Fireball was PRESIDENT?? In 1961, Roberts, temporary president of the Federation of Professional Athletes, was in dispute with NASCAR president,Bill France , over the Teamsters' Union affiliate - the FPA - which he andCurtis Turner had helped organize and which France was trying to disband.Unlike the banned Curtis Turner andTim Flock , Roberts soon returned to the NASCAR fold. Living in the home of NASCAR, Daytona Beach, it was hard for Roberts to remain separate. Rare Picture of Glenn and his private plane Glenn "Fireball" Roberts exits his private plane in Nashville to compete in the super stock drag meet at Union Hill, a track near Goodlettsville. Roberts had been signed to replace Fred Lorenzen, who couldn't make it. (J.T. Phillips / The Tennessean) 9/7/1963 Extremely rare photo of Ray Fox, mechanic of Fireball's M-1 Fish Carb car in the mid 50's Pointing at the Smokey Yunick "Best d**** Garage in Town" writing on the left front fender his '62 Pontiac. Hiding cigarette in his right hand. Argyle socks? More Fireball! Sebring Shelby Cobra Race Team 24 Hr Lemans in 1962 (about 1/2 way down...) Rare Photo from 1952 Darlington Program New picture with friend Bob Reuther Curtis Turner Story and Pictures Update 'Fireball's' daughter wants to doc***ent 'Daddy's' life The "Fireball" Myth? ....... by Norm Froscher "Crystal Ball" Roberts ......... by Norm Froscher Fireball & the Sport of Jai-Alai - What A Player ......by Roland Via JOHN ROBERT (BOB) FISH, JR. Pa***es Away Click on Picture to read the 1962 Ferrari Story! OTHER NEWS: Streets surrounding the former Augusta International Raceway will be named for former champions Glenn "Fireball" Roberts and Dave MacDonald at the third annual "Celebrating Georgia's Racing Heritage" on Sept. 9 at 10 a.m. For information, go to www.augustainternationalspeedway.com. "Real Top 50" 2007 Update! |
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Dale Jarrett |
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The cla*** also includes Fireball Roberts, |
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Tim Flock, Jack Ingram and Maurice Petty |
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PAST CLa***ES OF HALL OF FAME |
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NASCAR Hall of Fame - Thanks For Voting for FIREBALL! Fireball Roberts by Ed Hinton – ESPN.com -- Jan. 2014 NASCAR's Hall is, of course, "of Fame." Emphasize the last word, and Fireball Roberts should have been inducted in its first cla***. He was NASCAR's first FAMOUS driver -- nationally famous, even known in Europe, where he once drove a Ferrari at Le Mans. The morning after he died on July 2, 1964, of complications from severe burns suffered in a cloud of flame during Charlotte's World 600 that May, NBC's "Today Show" ran the news of his pa***ing, and concluded the obituary simply: "Fireball Roberts." The name was enough. It resounded through American households when no other NASCAR name did. It wasn't just the nickname; it was the way the driving style fulfilled the nickname: all-out, all the time. Win, wreck or blow. Thirty-three times he won. He was the archetype, the way race drivers are supposed to be in movies, but rarely are, especially nowadays. Of course he never won a NASCAR champions***p, with that life- and car-gambling style, and that selectivity of races. He never ran a full schedule. By consensus of those who knew him, he exuded charisma and fearlessness. His favorite song on the juke boxes in the beer joints and diners was by Faron Young: "h****o, Walls." Edward Glenn Roberts Jr., it was long believed, got his nickname as a fastball pitcher in his youth in Central Florida. NASCAR historians now question the story, with input from Roberts' family and friends. Maybe, just maybe, Fireball got the name purely for his racing career. His shorter, more poignant nickname in the inner circles was, simply, "Balls." Driving for legendary mechanic Smokey Yunick, Roberts won the first two Firecracker 250s at Daytona (now the summer 400-miler there) in 1959-60, with less endurance required of his cars. But he didn't win the Daytona 500 until 1962, beating an upstart kid, NASCAR's household name in waiting, Richard Petty. Roberts left Yunick to drive for Banjo Matthews, and won the Firecracker again that summer, becoming the first driver to sweep Daytona's major races in one season. How hard is that? Jimmie Johnson did it in 2013, and before him it hadn't been done since Bobby Allison in 1988. Roberts' fearlessness might have found its limits in 1961, when the future if not the very existence of NASCAR teetered on his name. He at first was the brightest star in a movement by the Teamsters union to organize NASCAR drivers as the "Federation of Professional Athletes." Had it stuck, that union might have spread to other sports. The movement started with Curtis Turner, and included Tim Flock, another 2014 inductee into the Hall of Fame. But Roberts was the key. The three of them were banned for life from NASCAR that August of '61. But Roberts took what old-timers would remember as "The Long Ride," across western North Carolina from Winston-Salem to Asheville, with Pat Purcell, the right-hand enforcer of NASCAR's founder and first czar, Bill France Sr., "Big Bill." Purcell came out of the carnival business, reputedly carried bottles of scotch in his briefcase for negotiation purposes, but played nothing but the hard line. Whatever was said in that pa***enger car moving west into the Blue Ridge mountains, Fireball Roberts got out in Asheville and announced he was through with the union movement. Roberts was reinstated, and that was the beginning of the end of the FPA. Toward the end of his career, which is to say his life, Roberts drove a Ford for the fabled Holman-Moody team. One teammate was an Indy car regular who also raced NASCAR, Dave MacDonald. On the same Memorial Day weekend in 1964, both MacDonald and Roberts were engulfed in flame, MacDonald in the Indianapolis 500, with Eddie Sachs, and Roberts in the World 600. All three were fatally injured. Those deaths led to safety innovations taken for granted today: fire-resistant uniforms, and explosion-resistant fuel cells in NASCAR and fuel bladders at Indy. And so the name resounds down through the decades, for charisma, daring and the end of a deadly era. Fireball Roberts. Fireball Roberts.com News_____________________________________ Tom Kitchen’s NASCAR tribute cars The Famous Lee Petty Protest After Fireball's 1962 Daytona 500 Victory Pamela Jane Roberts Trivette 1951 - 2009 - Story Here Email me with Pamela Updates. Click Here. NEW! Cards (Collectible Cards, Post Cards) NEW! CHECK OUT THESE VIDEOS (Click) NEW! INCREDIBLE PHOTO GALLERY New Pictures are in as of 12/26/11 Fireball Roberts Jacket... the story Piece of childhood brought back to life By GODWIN KELLY, September 27, 2011 Tony Layton was a big fan of NASCAR driver Fireball Roberts, enthralled to the point of tracking the stock car driver to a Main Street pool hall. Originally from Ohio, Layton was a Speed Weeks regular after Daytona International Speedway opened in 1959. He was especially fascinated with Roberts, who made his home here. Roberts was NASCAR's first breakout star. Layton watched Roberts run the big track and was determined to meet his favorite driver. "I saw Fireball race, but I didn't know him," Layton said. "One time when we were here during race week, I heard he liked to shoot pool at Main Street. We went up there and he was shooting pool. We got to say hi to him." Layton left Ohio to run a business in Daytona Beach Sh****s for 27 years. More than 30 years after Roberts' death, Layton bought a 1939 Ford Coupe and turned the sedan into a mirror image of Roberts' infamous "White Lightning." "White Lightning" was the No. 11 Ford that Roberts raced to stardom in the early 1950s. "Sammy Packard found the car for me over in Sarasota," Layton said. "We went over to take a look at it. I wanted a '39 because that was the year I was born. "When I got it, Sammy asked me, 'Now what are you going to do with it?' I told him I had a photo of Fireball's modified car, and I wanted to put it back together like that." After Layton made the purchase in 1999, Packard a***isted with the mechanical restore, while renowned racing artist, Buz McKim, used a series of photos of Roberts' machine from various reference points to recreate the look of the car. "Buz told me he had all the photos I needed to build a near exact replica car," Layton said. "He told me, 'We can put it together just like Fireball's car.’" McKim, now the NASCAR Hall of Fame historian in Charlotte, meticulously detailed the car, right down to the distinctive tapered compet**ion numbers on its side. "It wasn't too difficult," McKim said in a recent phone interview. "I had the original artwork (photos), so you basically draw pictures of what's on there. "In order to get those compet**ion numbers as accurate as possible, I had to sketch them on the car just like they appear in the photographs, then paint it." You would think that after Layton spent the money to buy the car, restore it to orginal racing specs and hire McKim to detail it, the '39 Ford would find a home in a museum. No way, says Layton. "I race it at historic and antique races on short tracks here and there," the 71-year-old said with a laugh. "And we race. We run into each other." Layton's car is on display outside the Living Legends of Auto Racing Museum in South Daytona's Suns***ne Mall. There is no charge to visit the museum or view the car. Another little known Fireball "Factoid"... A NASCAR Labor Union? Fireball was PRESIDENT?? In 1961, Roberts, temporary president of the Federation of Professional Athletes, was in dispute with NASCAR president,Bill France , over the Teamsters' Union affiliate - the FPA - which he andCurtis Turner had helped organize and which France was trying to disband.Unlike the banned Curtis Turner andTim Flock , Roberts soon returned to the NASCAR fold. Living in the home of NASCAR, Daytona Beach, it was hard for Roberts to remain separate. Rare Picture of Glenn and his private plane Glenn "Fireball" Roberts exits his private plane in Nashville to compete in the super stock drag meet at Union Hill, a track near Goodlettsville. Roberts had been signed to replace Fred Lorenzen, who couldn't make it. (J.T. Phillips / The Tennessean) 9/7/1963 Extremely rare photo of Ray Fox, mechanic of Fireball's M-1 Fish Carb car in the mid 50's Pointing at the Smokey Yunick "Best d**** Garage in Town" writing on the left front fender his '62 Pontiac. Hiding cigarette in his right hand. Argyle socks? More Fireball! Sebring Shelby Cobra Race Team 24 Hr Lemans in 1962 (about 1/2 way down...) Rare Photo from 1952 Darlington Program New picture with friend Bob Reuther Curtis Turner Story and Pictures Update 'Fireball's' daughter wants to doc***ent 'Daddy's' life The "Fireball" Myth? ....... by Norm Froscher "Crystal Ball" Roberts ......... by Norm Froscher Fireball & the Sport of Jai-Alai - What A Player ......by Roland Via JOHN ROBERT (BOB) FISH, JR. Pa***es Away Click on Picture to read the 1962 Ferrari Story! OTHER NEWS: Streets surrounding the former Augusta International Raceway will be named for former champions Glenn "Fireball" Roberts and Dave MacDonald at the third annual "Celebrating Georgia's Racing Heritage" on Sept. 9 at 10 a.m. For information, go to www.augustainternationalspeedway.com. "Real Top 50" 2007 Update! |
| 10 |
NASCAR's Hall is, of course, "of Fame." Emphasize the last word, and Fireball Roberts should have been inducted in its first cla***. He was NASCAR's first FAMOUS driver -- nationally famous, even known in Europe, where he once drove a Ferrari at Le Mans. |
| 11 |
The morning after he died on July 2, 1964, of complications from severe burns suffered in a cloud of flame during Charlotte's World 600 that May, NBC's "Today Show" ran the news of his pa***ing, and concluded the obituary simply: |
| 12 |
"Fireball Roberts." |
| 13 |
The name was enough. |
| 14 |
It resounded through American households when no other NASCAR name did. It wasn't just the nickname; it was the way the driving style fulfilled the nickname: all-out, all the time. Win, wreck or blow. Thirty-three times he won. |
| 15 |
He was the archetype, the way race drivers are supposed to be in movies, but rarely are, especially nowadays. |
| 16 |
Of course he never won a NASCAR champions***p, with that life- and car-gambling style, and that selectivity of races. He never ran a full schedule. |
| 17 |
By consensus of those who knew him, he exuded charisma and fearlessness. His favorite song on the juke boxes in the beer joints and diners was by Faron Young: "h****o, Walls." |
| 18 |
Edward Glenn Roberts Jr., it was long believed, got his nickname as a fastball pitcher in his youth in Central Florida. NASCAR historians now question the story, with input from Roberts' family and friends. Maybe, just maybe, Fireball got the name purely for his racing career. |
| 19 |
His shorter, more poignant nickname in the inner circles was, simply, "Balls." |
| 20 |
Driving for legendary mechanic Smokey Yunick, Roberts won the first two Firecracker 250s at Daytona (now the summer 400-miler there) in 1959-60, with less endurance required of his cars. But he didn't win the Daytona 500 until 1962, beating an upstart kid, NASCAR's household name in waiting, Richard Petty. |
| 21 |
Roberts left Yunick to drive for Banjo Matthews, and won the Firecracker again that summer, becoming the first driver to sweep Daytona's major races in one season. How hard is that? Jimmie Johnson did it in 2013, and before him it hadn't been done since Bobby Allison in 1988. |
| 22 |
Roberts' fearlessness might have found its limits in 1961, when the future if not the very existence of NASCAR teetered on his name. He at first was the brightest star in a movement by the Teamsters union to organize NASCAR drivers as the "Federation of Professional Athletes." Had it stuck, that union might have spread to other sports. |
| 23 |
The movement started with Curtis Turner, and included Tim Flock, another 2014 inductee into the Hall of Fame. |
| 24 |
But Roberts was the key. The three of them were banned for life from NASCAR that August of '61. But Roberts took what old-timers would remember as "The Long Ride," across western North Carolina from Winston-Salem to Asheville, with Pat Purcell, the right-hand enforcer of NASCAR's founder and first czar, Bill France Sr., "Big Bill." |
| 25 |
Purcell came out of the carnival business, reputedly carried bottles of scotch in his briefcase for negotiation purposes, but played nothing but the hard line. Whatever was said in that pa***enger car moving west into the Blue Ridge mountains, Fireball Roberts got out in Asheville and announced he was through with the union movement. |
| 26 |
Roberts was reinstated, and that was the beginning of the end of the FPA. |
| 27 |
Toward the end of his career, which is to say his life, Roberts drove a Ford for the fabled Holman-Moody team. One teammate was an Indy car regular who also raced NASCAR, Dave MacDonald. On the same Memorial Day weekend in 1964, both MacDonald and Roberts were engulfed in flame, MacDonald in the Indianapolis 500, with Eddie Sachs, and Roberts in the World 600. All three were fatally injured. |
| 28 |
Those deaths led to safety innovations taken for granted today: fire-resistant uniforms, and explosion-resistant fuel cells in NASCAR and fuel bladders at Indy. |
| 29 |
And so the name resounds down through the decades, for charisma, daring and the end of a deadly era. |
| 30 |
Fireball Roberts. |
| 31 |
Fireball Roberts.com News_____________________________________ Tom Kitchen’s NASCAR tribute cars The Famous Lee Petty Protest After Fireball's 1962 Daytona 500 Victory Pamela Jane Roberts Trivette 1951 - 2009 - Story Here Email me with Pamela Updates. Click Here. NEW! Cards (Collectible Cards, Post Cards) NEW! CHECK OUT THESE VIDEOS (Click) NEW! INCREDIBLE PHOTO GALLERY New Pictures are in as of 12/26/11 Fireball Roberts Jacket... the story Piece of childhood brought back to life By GODWIN KELLY, September 27, 2011 Tony Layton was a big fan of NASCAR driver Fireball Roberts, enthralled to the point of tracking the stock car driver to a Main Street pool hall. Originally from Ohio, Layton was a Speed Weeks regular after Daytona International Speedway opened in 1959. He was especially fascinated with Roberts, who made his home here. Roberts was NASCAR's first breakout star. Layton watched Roberts run the big track and was determined to meet his favorite driver. "I saw Fireball race, but I didn't know him," Layton said. "One time when we were here during race week, I heard he liked to shoot pool at Main Street. We went up there and he was shooting pool. We got to say hi to him." Layton left Ohio to run a business in Daytona Beach Sh****s for 27 years. More than 30 years after Roberts' death, Layton bought a 1939 Ford Coupe and turned the sedan into a mirror image of Roberts' infamous "White Lightning." "White Lightning" was the No. 11 Ford that Roberts raced to stardom in the early 1950s. "Sammy Packard found the car for me over in Sarasota," Layton said. "We went over to take a look at it. I wanted a '39 because that was the year I was born. "When I got it, Sammy asked me, 'Now what are you going to do with it?' I told him I had a photo of Fireball's modified car, and I wanted to put it back together like that." After Layton made the purchase in 1999, Packard a***isted with the mechanical restore, while renowned racing artist, Buz McKim, used a series of photos of Roberts' machine from various reference points to recreate the look of the car. "Buz told me he had all the photos I needed to build a near exact replica car," Layton said. "He told me, 'We can put it together just like Fireball's car.’" McKim, now the NASCAR Hall of Fame historian in Charlotte, meticulously detailed the car, right down to the distinctive tapered compet**ion numbers on its side. "It wasn't too difficult," McKim said in a recent phone interview. "I had the original artwork (photos), so you basically draw pictures of what's on there. "In order to get those compet**ion numbers as accurate as possible, I had to sketch them on the car just like they appear in the photographs, then paint it." You would think that after Layton spent the money to buy the car, restore it to orginal racing specs and hire McKim to detail it, the '39 Ford would find a home in a museum. No way, says Layton. "I race it at historic and antique races on short tracks here and there," the 71-year-old said with a laugh. "And we race. We run into each other." Layton's car is on display outside the Living Legends of Auto Racing Museum in South Daytona's Suns***ne Mall. There is no charge to visit the museum or view the car. Another little known Fireball "Factoid"... A NASCAR Labor Union? Fireball was PRESIDENT?? In 1961, Roberts, temporary president of the Federation of Professional Athletes, was in dispute with NASCAR president,Bill France , over the Teamsters' Union affiliate - the FPA - which he andCurtis Turner had helped organize and which France was trying to disband.Unlike the banned Curtis Turner andTim Flock , Roberts soon returned to the NASCAR fold. Living in the home of NASCAR, Daytona Beach, it was hard for Roberts to remain separate. Rare Picture of Glenn and his private plane Glenn "Fireball" Roberts exits his private plane in Nashville to compete in the super stock drag meet at Union Hill, a track near Goodlettsville. Roberts had been signed to replace Fred Lorenzen, who couldn't make it. (J.T. Phillips / The Tennessean) 9/7/1963 Extremely rare photo of Ray Fox, mechanic of Fireball's M-1 Fish Carb car in the mid 50's Pointing at the Smokey Yunick "Best d**** Garage in Town" writing on the left front fender his '62 Pontiac. Hiding cigarette in his right hand. Argyle socks? More Fireball! Sebring Shelby Cobra Race Team 24 Hr Lemans in 1962 (about 1/2 way down...) Rare Photo from 1952 Darlington Program New picture with friend Bob Reuther Curtis Turner Story and Pictures Update 'Fireball's' daughter wants to doc***ent 'Daddy's' life The "Fireball" Myth? ....... by Norm Froscher "Crystal Ball" Roberts ......... by Norm Froscher Fireball & the Sport of Jai-Alai - What A Player ......by Roland Via JOHN ROBERT (BOB) FISH, JR. Pa***es Away Click on Picture to read the 1962 Ferrari Story! OTHER NEWS: Streets surrounding the former Augusta International Raceway will be named for former champions Glenn "Fireball" Roberts and Dave MacDonald at the third annual "Celebrating Georgia's Racing Heritage" on Sept. 9 at 10 a.m. For information, go to www.augustainternationalspeedway.com. "Real Top 50" 2007 Update! |
| 32 |
Tony Layton |
| 33 |
Another little known Fireball "Factoid"... |
| 34 |
Rare Picture of Glenn and his private plane Glenn "Fireball" Roberts exits his private plane in Nashville to compete in the super stock drag meet at Union Hill, a track near Goodlettsville. Roberts had been signed to replace Fred Lorenzen, who couldn't make it. (J.T. Phillips / The Tennessean) 9/7/1963 Extremely rare photo of Ray Fox, mechanic of Fireball's M-1 Fish Carb car in the mid 50's |
| 35 |
Pointing at the Smokey Yunick "Best d**** Garage in Town" writing on the left front fender his '62 Pontiac. Hiding cigarette in his right hand. Argyle socks? |
| 36 |
More Fireball! |
| 37 |
Sebring Shelby Cobra Race Team 24 Hr Lemans in 1962 (about 1/2 way down...) Rare Photo from 1952 Darlington Program New picture with friend Bob Reuther Curtis Turner Story and Pictures Update 'Fireball's' daughter wants to doc***ent 'Daddy's' life The "Fireball" Myth? ....... by Norm Froscher "Crystal Ball" Roberts ......... by Norm Froscher Fireball & the Sport of Jai-Alai - What A Player ......by Roland Via JOHN ROBERT (BOB) FISH, JR. Pa***es Away Click on Picture to read the 1962 Ferrari Story! |
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OTHER NEWS: |
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Glenn "Fireball" Roberts |
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Jimmie Johnson - Superstar: |
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Great Dr. John Craft Magazine Article Always playing with the logo. . . . Believe it or not: Another "Fireball"?Updated About Us Page: Special Photo Curtis Turner Pages Updates Links and Banner Exchange Page Updates NEW GUESTBOOK! New Page: Daytona 1955 - Check it Out! Check out this rare, 1956 personal photo (top of page) Ray Nichels pa***es away Nov. 26, 2005 Darlington Pure Oil Record Club Special Fireball Memorabilia Offered! Get On First Served Email List |
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B |
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"Fireball" |
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Glenn |
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G |
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THE RACES - Brief Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . 1947- |
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1948- |
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1950- |
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(L to R) 20 yr. old Fireball, Red Byron and Johnny Mantz congratulate each other in victory lane following the 1st Southern 500 at Darlington. Byron (then #22 before Fireball) was originally flagged in 2nd place, ahead of Roberts. Following a lengthy study of the scoring sheets, race officials discovered Roberts had completed one more lap than Byron in the 500 lap race. Mantz collectd $10, 510 (a whopping some back then for a car race), while roberts took home $3,500. and Byron pocketed $2,000. |
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1951- |
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1951-1955- |
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1956- |
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1957 - |
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1957- |
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1958- |
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Florida’s 1958 Professional Athlete of the Year |
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144.997 mph and a 57 second margin, about a third of a lap before a crowd of 12,900; Weatherly ran second, Johnny Allen (ironically in a number 22 which fireball would later make famous), Jack Smith (47) 4th, and Eduardo Dibos (37) was fifth. Below is winning #3; |
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SUPERSPEEDWAY MASTER . . . . . . . . . . . |
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1959- |
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1962- |
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1963- |
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1960: NASCAR pioneer Glenn 'Fireball' Roberts hugs Miss Georgia, Sandra Talley from Homerville, Ga., following his win on July 31, 1960 in the first NASCAR race at the brand new Atlanta International Raceway, the Dixie 300. The following year, the race date was moved to March |
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RETIREMENT . . . . . . . . . . |
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THE FINAL LAPS . . . . . . . . . . . |
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THE ORDEAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
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The b |
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lack smoke is fuel burning. |
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Ned Jarrett, Junior Johnson and Glenn ‘Fireball’ Roberts |
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Joe Weatherly |
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Daytona Memorial Park |
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Bellevue Road, Daytona Beach |
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THE RECORDS |
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The records Glenn set would place him in the Top 50 NASCAR Drivers of All Time. These are just a few of the 400 records he set: In 15 years, he started 206 races and: |
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Owned 35 poles, Won 33 times, Had 22 seconds, 9 thirds, 16 fourths and 13 fifths. 45% of the time, 93 times out of 206 starts, he amazingly placed in the top 5! 59% of the time, 2 out of every 3 races, Roberts finished in the top 22 with:--29 finishes in the 6-10 category, -- 9 finishes in the 11-22 area Had 79 DNF’s ('did not finishes') |
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from his hard charging and the fragility of the early stock cars and their tires). It was easy to see that if he didn't show for the dough, you'd know he's blow! Led 5,790 out of 37,230 laps run, a leading percentage of 16%! His career winnings totaled $325,643, Elected to the Stock Car Racing Hall Of Fame in 1965 Voted Florida’s Professional Athlete of the Year in 1958. Twenty of the Fireball's races were in the short-lived convertible division where he won 5 times and had 5 poles. He won 1 out of 4 races! |
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Statistics |
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Qualifying |
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A |
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Please Put Me On Your Fireball Roberts E-Mailing List |
| 80 |
Copyright © 1999 FireballRoberts.com by Roland Via. All rights reserved. Revised: 04/20/20 05:19:18 -0400. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works. FAIR USE NOTICE: This web page may contain copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This page is operated under the a***umption that this use on the Web const**utes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. Any text or images that you feel need to be removed please contact me. FireballRoberts.com is not a***ociated or affiliated with any racing club or organizations including that of NASCAR. Opinions and other content are not necessarily those of editors, sponsors. |
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