Fireball Roberts
Encyclopedia
Edward Glenn Roberts, Jr. (January 20, 1929 July 2, 1964), nicknamed "Fireball", was one of the pioneering race car
drivers of NASCAR
.
, and 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 fast ball, not his driving style, which is sometimes disputed. He enlisted with the Army Air Corps
in 1945, but was discharged after basic training because of asthma
.
He attended the University of Florida
and raced on dirt tracks on weekends. In 1947, at the age of 18, he raced on the Daytona Beach Road Course
at Daytona
for the first time. He won 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 1960s. In his 206 career NASCAR Grand National races, he won 33 times and had 32 poles. He finished in the top five 45 percent of the time. He won both the Daytona 500 and Firecracker 250 events in 1962 driving a black and gold 1962 Pontiac built by car builder legend Smokey Yunick.
had helped organize and France was trying to kill. Unlike the banned Curtis Turner and Tim Flock
, Roberts soon returned to the NASCAR fold.
On May 24, 1964, at the World 600
in Charlotte
, Roberts had qualified in the eleventh position and started in the middle of the pack. On lap 7, Ned Jarrett
and Junior Johnson
collided and spun out and Roberts crashed trying to avoid them. Roberts' Ford
slammed backward into the inside retaining wall, flipped over and burst into flames. Witnesses at the track claimed they heard Roberts screaming, "Ned, help me!" from inside his burning car after the wreck. Jarrett rushed to save Roberts as his car was engulfed by the flames. Roberts suffered second- and third-degree burns
over 80 percent of his body and was airlifted to a hospital in critical condition. Although it was widely believed that Roberts had an allergic reaction to flame-retardant chemicals, he was secretly an asthmatic and the chemicals made his breathing worse.
Roberts was able to survive for several weeks, and it appeared he might pull through. But Roberts' health took a turn for the worse on June 30, 1964. He contracted pneumonia
and sepsis
and slipped into a coma
by the next day. He died on July 2, 1964.
Roberts' death, as well as the deaths of Eddie Sachs
and Dave MacDonald
at the Indianapolis 500
six days later, led to an increase in research for fire-retardant uniforms. It also led to the development of the Firestone RaceSafe fuel cell, and all race cars today use a foam-backed fuel cell to prevent severe fuel spillage of the massive degree that Roberts had. Also, fully fire-retardant coveralls would be phased in leading to the now mandatory Nomex
racing suits. Roberts had just lost close friend Joe Weatherly
in the January Motor Trend 500 at Riverside, California, making 1964 a black year for major league auto racing.
Prior to his death, there were many sources that Roberts was retiring, since he had taken a prominent public relations position at the Falstaff Brewing Company and the race in which he was killed was to be one of his final races of his career.
.
Other career awards he won include induction into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame
in 1990, and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
in 1995.
In 2000 the city of Concord, North Carolina
named a street near Charlotte Motor Speedway
in his honor.
Ned Jarrett
has stated that his decision to retire was prompted by Roberts' death.
After Roberts' death, NASCAR mandated that all drivers must wear flame retardant coveralls while on track. They also instituted the five point safety harness, and the special, contoured drivers seat, all three of which are still requirements on all NASCAR entrants.
Auto racing
Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...
drivers of NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
.
Background
Roberts was born in Tavares, FloridaTavares, Florida
Tavares is a city in central Florida in the United States. It is the county seat of Lake County. The population was 9,700 at the 2000 census. The Census Bureau estimated the population in 2008 to be 13,746. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, and raised in Apopka, Florida
Apopka, Florida
Apopka is a city located in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 26,969 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S Census estimates of 2006, the city grew to 53,563. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area. Apopka is an Indian word for “Potato...
where he was interested in both auto racing and baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
. He was a pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
for the Zellwood Mud Hens, an American Legion
American Legion
The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...
baseball team, where he earned the nickname "Fireball" because of his fast ball, not his driving style, which is sometimes disputed. He enlisted with the Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
in 1945, but was discharged after basic training because of asthma
Asthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
.
Racing career
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
and raced on dirt tracks on weekends. In 1947, at the age of 18, he raced on the Daytona Beach Road Course
Daytona Beach Road Course
Daytona Beach Road Course was a race track that was instrumental in the formation of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, or NASCAR. It originally became famous as the location where fifteen world land speed records were set...
at Daytona
Daytona Beach, Florida
Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, USA. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city has a population of 64,211. Daytona Beach is a principal city of the Deltona – Daytona Beach – Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which the census bureau estimated had...
for the first time. He won 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 1960s. In his 206 career NASCAR Grand National races, he won 33 times and had 32 poles. He finished in the top five 45 percent of the time. He won both the Daytona 500 and Firecracker 250 events in 1962 driving a black and gold 1962 Pontiac built by car builder legend Smokey Yunick.
Labor Union
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 and Curtis TurnerCurtis Turner
Curtis Turner was an early NASCAR driver. In addition to his success in racing, he made a fortune, lost it, and remade it buying and selling timberlands. Throughout his life he developed a reputation for drinking and partying...
had helped organize and France was trying to kill. Unlike the banned Curtis Turner and Tim Flock
Tim Flock
Julius Timothy Flock was one of NASCAR's early pioneers, and a two time series champion. He was a brother to NASCAR's second female driver Ethel Mobley and NASCAR pioneers Bob Flock and Fonty Flock.- NASCAR career :...
, Roberts soon returned to the NASCAR fold.
Death
Coca-Cola 600
The Coca-Cola 600, formerly known as the World 600, is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held each year at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina on Memorial Day weekend...
in Charlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
, Roberts had qualified in the eleventh position and started in the middle of the pack. On lap 7, Ned Jarrett
Ned Jarrett
Ned Jarrett is a retired race car driver and two-time NASCAR champion.Jarrett was best known for his calm demeanor, and he became known as "Gentleman Ned Jarrett", yet he was an intense competitor when he put his two hands on the steering wheel of a NASCAR Grand National stock car...
and Junior Johnson
Junior Johnson
Robert Glenn Johnson, Jr. , better known as Junior Johnson, is a retired moonshiner in the rural South who became one of the early superstars of NASCAR in the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966...
collided and spun out and Roberts crashed trying to avoid them. Roberts' Ford
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
slammed backward into the inside retaining wall, flipped over and burst into flames. Witnesses at the track claimed they heard Roberts screaming, "Ned, help me!" from inside his burning car after the wreck. Jarrett rushed to save Roberts as his car was engulfed by the flames. Roberts suffered second- and third-degree burns
Burn (injury)
A burn is a type of injury to flesh caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, light, radiation or friction. Most burns affect only the skin . Rarely, deeper tissues, such as muscle, bone, and blood vessels can also be injured...
over 80 percent of his body and was airlifted to a hospital in critical condition. Although it was widely believed that Roberts had an allergic reaction to flame-retardant chemicals, he was secretly an asthmatic and the chemicals made his breathing worse.
Roberts was able to survive for several weeks, and it appeared he might pull through. But Roberts' health took a turn for the worse on June 30, 1964. He contracted pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
and sepsis
Sepsis
Sepsis is a potentially deadly medical condition that is characterized by a whole-body inflammatory state and the presence of a known or suspected infection. The body may develop this inflammatory response by the immune system to microbes in the blood, urine, lungs, skin, or other tissues...
and slipped into a coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
by the next day. He died on July 2, 1964.
Roberts' death, as well as the deaths of Eddie Sachs
Eddie Sachs
Edward Julius Sachs, Jr, born May 28, 1927 in Allentown, Pennsylvania, died May 30, 1964 in Speedway, Indiana was a United States Auto Club driver who was known as the "Clown Prince of Auto Racing." He coined the phrase "If you can't win, be spectacular."...
and Dave MacDonald
Dave MacDonald
David George MacDonald was an American road racing champion noted for his successes driving Corvettes and Shelby Cobras in the early 1960s. His promising career ended abruptly after a crash in the 1964 Indianapolis 500 in which he was one of two drivers killed in a fiery inferno that directly led...
at the Indianapolis 500
1964 Indianapolis 500
The 1964 Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 30, 1964. It was won by A.J. Foyt, but is best known for a fiery seven-car, second-lap accident that resulted in the deaths of Eddie Sachs and Dave MacDonald...
six days later, led to an increase in research for fire-retardant uniforms. It also led to the development of the Firestone RaceSafe fuel cell, and all race cars today use a foam-backed fuel cell to prevent severe fuel spillage of the massive degree that Roberts had. Also, fully fire-retardant coveralls would be phased in leading to the now mandatory Nomex
Nomex
Nomex is a registered trademark for flame resistant meta-aramid material developed in the early 1960s by DuPont and first marketed in 1967.- Properties:...
racing suits. Roberts had just lost close friend Joe Weatherly
Joe Weatherly
Joseph "Joe" Weatherly was a two-time NASCAR championship driver. Weatherly was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2009 after winning NASCAR's Grand National championships in 1962 and 1963, three A.M.A...
in the January Motor Trend 500 at Riverside, California, making 1964 a black year for major league auto racing.
Prior to his death, there were many sources that Roberts was retiring, since he had taken a prominent public relations position at the Falstaff Brewing Company and the race in which he was killed was to be one of his final races of his career.
Legacy
Despite having his career cut short and having never won a Grand National title, Fireball Roberts was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest DriversNASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers
NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers is a list of NASCAR drivers.In 1998, as part of its 50th anniversary celebration, NASCAR gathered a panel to select "The 50 Greatest NASCAR Drivers of All Time." It was inspired in part by the NBA's decision to select the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History on its 50th...
.
Other career awards he won include induction into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame
International Motorsports Hall of Fame
The International Motorsports Hall of Fame is a Hall of Fame dedicated to enshrining those who have contributed the most to auto racing either as a driver, owner, developer or engineer...
in 1990, and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America is a Hall of Fame and museum for American motorsports legends. It was originally located in Novi, Michigan and it moved to the Detroit Science Center in 2009.-Museum:...
in 1995.
In 2000 the city of Concord, North Carolina
Concord, North Carolina
Concord is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. According to Census 2010, the city has a current population of 79,066. It is the largest city in Cabarrus County and is the county seat. In terms of population, the city of Concord is the second largest city in the Charlotte Metropolitan Area...
named a street near Charlotte Motor Speedway
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the Sprint All-Star Race...
in his honor.
Ned Jarrett
Ned Jarrett
Ned Jarrett is a retired race car driver and two-time NASCAR champion.Jarrett was best known for his calm demeanor, and he became known as "Gentleman Ned Jarrett", yet he was an intense competitor when he put his two hands on the steering wheel of a NASCAR Grand National stock car...
has stated that his decision to retire was prompted by Roberts' death.
After Roberts' death, NASCAR mandated that all drivers must wear flame retardant coveralls while on track. They also instituted the five point safety harness, and the special, contoured drivers seat, all three of which are still requirements on all NASCAR entrants.