August 19, 2008
By Allen Madding
Apopka, Florida will salute the late Glenn "Fireball" Roberts on Saturday, September 6 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Northwest Recreation Facility in Apopka. Robert’s historic No. 22 stock car and various items of his racing memorabilia will be on display.
Fireball Roberts was born in Tavares, Florida and his family moved to Apopka before he was school age. His family later moved to Daytona Beach after he completed his high school sophomore year.
In 1948 after his family had relocated to Daytona Beach, 17 yr old Roberts started his first race in a Modified event on Daytona’s beach course. His day ended quickly as he crashed out on lap nine but racing got a attention of the young Roberts. Roberts earned the attention of the locals playing high school and American Legion baseball where he garnered the nickname “Fireball” for his fastball. He attended college at the University of Florida for three years but never graduated, abandoning scholarly pursuits to return to stock car racing.
Fireball’s first win in NASCAR Grand National Racing came in 1950 in the Occoneechee 100 at Occoneechee Speedway in Hillsboro, NC. He then qualified on the pole for the Wilkes 200 at North Wilkesboro. In 1952, he sat on the pole for the Darlington 100.
In 1956, Fireball hit his stride winning at Raleigh Speedway, Soldier’s Field, Costal Speedway in Myrtle Beach, Orange Speedway, Tennessee-Carolina Speedway, and Titusville-Cocoa Speedway in Florida.
In 1957, he won events at North Wilkesboro, Langhorne Speedway, Southern States Fairgrounds in Charlotte, Cleveland Fairgrounds, Newport Speedway, Newberry Speedway, and at the New Concord Speedway.
In 1958 he won at the New Jersey State Fairgrounds, the Raleigh Speedway, Asheville-Weaverville Speedway, the Southern 500 at Darlington, the Fairgrounds Speedway in Birmingham, AL, and at Martinsville, VA.
In 1959, Fireball began driving the No. 22 black and gold Pontiac for Smokey Yunick and won the Firecracker 250 at the new Daytona International Speedway. In 1960 he won the qualifying event at Daytona and the July race at Atlanta. In 1961, he won the Daytona qualifier again and an event at Marchbanks Speedway.
In 1962, Roberts won the Daytona qualifier, the Daytona 500 and the Firecracker 250 at Daytona. That same year, he became the first southern stock car driver to compete at LeMans.
In 1963, Roberts signed a three-year contract to drive the Fords of Holman-Moody and won the March event at Bristol, the Firecracker 250 at Daytona, at Old Bridge Stadium, and the Southern 500 at Darlington.
At the age of 34, Roberts had begun to tire of the grind of competing on the NASCAR circuit schedule. He told his friend Ned Jarrett that he was beginning to think about a career in broadcasting, but his contract with Holman-Moody and Ford kept him in racing.
Robert’s brilliant racing career would come to an end with a crash occurring in the 1964 World 600 at Charlotte. Junior Johnson slammed into the rear of Ned Jarrett’s Ford. Jarrett’s Ford put Robert’s No. 22 Holman-Moody Ford into the wall. Roberts’ car began to leak fuel and caught fire. Jarrett ran to his friend’s aid as Roberts struggled to free himself from the burning car. Robert’s suffered burns to 75% of his body and was rushed to Charlotte Memorial Hospital where he remained for 37 days until his death on July 2, 1964 from pneumonia.
During his career, Fireball Roberts amassed 33 wins in the NASCAR Grand National Series ,now the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and 35 poles in 206 races and set countless records in various events. His career winnings totaled $325,643.
In 1990, He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of fame. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1995. And, he was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers.
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