Active drivers career stats nascar cup series xfinity series gander outdoor truck series pintys series ntt indycar series arca menards series. A few months after kens death, peter went to work for kens friend dick troutman at the troutman and barnes custom car shop in. Ken miles was married to mollie and had a son, peter miles. His friends, however, simply called the pioneer nascar premier series racing star glenn. One of the first superstars of nascar and considered by many to be the greatest stock car driver to never win a nascar grand national winston cup championship. Roberts raced the modifieds, until the joined the famed holmanmoody team in 1956. I put in a halfinch longer stroke with fuel injection, and thats when i got the greatest driver in the world, fireball roberts, tuff said. Mcduffie and roberts both would later be inducted into the georgia racing hall of fame. His nickname was nothing to do with racing but was a reference to his powerful pitching arm in baseball. Russ harrison, coowner of the fireball racecar, purchased the camaro last year. He enlisted with the united states army air corps in 1945, but was discharged after basic training because of his.
January 20, 1929 in tavares, florida july 2, 1964 in charlotte, north carolina was one of the pioneering auto racing race car drivers of nascar. Fireball roberts began the 1963 grand national season with banjo matthews, running five races with matthews before switching to holmanmoody racing before the. The fireball roberts legend and legacy high performance. After her husband was fatally injured during the charlotte world 600 on.
Roberts was raised in apopka, florida where he was interested in both auto racing and baseball. Before nascar had superstars like richard petty and dale earnhardt, its very first celebrity driver was likely an amiable floridian with a trademark crew cut, a milliondollar smile and a ready handshake. Nascar cup series results races click on the race to see the complete results for that race. When ken died while testing a prototype car in 1966, peter, who witnessed his fathers death, was almost 15. Ranking the 20 greatest nascar drivers of all time fox. Racing heroes glenn fireball roberts hemmings daily. Click on the site to see all races run at that track view career statistics for fireball roberts. Hall of famers junior johnson left and fireball roberts made five combined starts in the car number from 196162. Nascar 101 nascar sanctions more than 1,200 races in more than 30 u. 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. Nascar hof inductee fireball roberts had thirst for. Glenn fireball roberts after winning the 1963 firecracker 400. Fireball later said, i credit all my success to my chief mechanic, paul mcduffie. During qualifying on the wednesday prior to the race on saturday, roberts posted the fastest time out of the 50 drivers, reaching an.
Driver fireball robertss nascar cup series races racing. Fireball roberts class of 2014 nascar hall of fame. Originally from ohio, layton was a speed weeks regular after daytona international speedway opened in 1959. Painted fireball roberts, white and red got a 57 ford, baby i havent run my last race, darlin but sometimes wish i did roberts switched to chevrolet in 1958, won six times and was voted floridas professional athlete of the year, a first for a race car driver. Get the latest race results driver fireball roberts on. However, it was a cruel irony that it so accurately described his eventual death. Though his father didnt approve of this, glenn talked his mother to sign the release form to race modified stock cars. Drivers drivers by state compare drivers driver rankings owners crew chiefs. Glenn fireball roberts first nascar victory came on dirt. It took just seven years from that first win for fireball to be voted nascars most popular driver in 1957. When they pick a favorite, they back them a lifetime, making those drivers legends and icons. After starting the 1963 season with banjo matthews, fireball roberts moved to holmanmoody racing and won at bristol in his first start for the team. Fireball roberts began the 1963 grand national season with banjo.
Daytona beach, florida to his legion of fans, edward glenn roberts jr. Fireball roberts is one of the greatest nascar drivers of all time and was actually one of the first nascar drivers to ever race. On the first weekend of the nascar racing season, there are no flowers at fireball roberts final resting place there should be. Fireball roberts was one of nascars most electrifying speedsters in the 1950s and 60s. Profile for racing driver fireball roberts from united states. Get the latest race results, news, videos, pictures, win record and more for fireball roberts on. Miscellaneous all races for a year all races on a specific date random page chase races road course.
During his career, roberts often came up big in the biggest events, winning the daytona 500 in 1962 and the southern 500 in 1958 and 1963. While they were racing a 1958 ford, every other driver in the top five of the april race was piloting a 1959 or 1960 model car. Painted fireball roberts, white and red got a 57 ford, baby i havent run my last race, darlin but sometimes wish i did roberts switched to chevrolet in 1958, won six times and was voted floridas professional athlete of the year a first for a race car driver. Take a look at the 15 car numbers with the most wins in nascar history and some of the drivers who have visited victory lane in the ride. Rss motorsports collector series 1st edition cards 2242 glenn. By 1960 fireball was driving for smokey yunick and paul was still at elzeys garage building cars for joe lee johnson.
When autoplay is enabled, a suggested video will automatically. Fireball roberts nascar results, statistics and car numbers. Fireball roberts was one of nascars most electrifying speed merchants in the 1950s and early 60s. Weve been on location at south georgia motorsports park for the past week.
Fireball roberts was a professional race car driver, it said so right on his drivers license. The performance earned him the title of floridas 1958 professional athlete of the year, representing the first time the honor had been bestowed upon a race car driver. Rene replied, johnny roberts would have to be the one, because if if he couldnt go around, hed stay behind, never bumping, never pushing. Nascar cup series results races click on the race to see the complete. Though only one of the two crashes involved a car, the fact is that the timing of both makes cliffords death one of the most heartbreaking fatal crashes in nascar history. This book is more about his personal life than many folks would like, they would like to ignore the facts of his marital split, his girlfriend, and his escapades. He received the nickname fireball as a pitcher on his high school baseball team, not as a racecar driver. Though tagged with the nickname fireball, roberts went racing dirt tracks at the age of eighteen. Sporting news selects nascars most beloved drivers nascar has some of the most passionate fans in sports.
Roberts was born in tavares, florida, and raised in apopka, florida, where he was interested in both auto racing and baseball. Drivers for cotton owens include david pearson, buddy baker, pete hamilton, charlie glotzbach, marty robbins, ralph earnhardt, fireball roberts, mario andretti, junior johnson, ray hendrick, bobby isaac, marvin panch, darel dieringer and al unser to name just a few. Despite being one of the epic risk takers, he had an intangible that many other racers lacked. Starting just 10 of the seasons 51 races, roberts won six and produced a top10 finish in nine, all during a partial year with a new team. Speedway histories maryland stock car racing hall of. Roberts raced over the course of just 15 years, but he made a heavy impact on the sport. Fireball roberts race results in the nascar grand national series. As stock car racing began squeezing its way into the sports mainstream, roberts was the most recognized name in the roughandtumble sport. As we unloaded the fireball, many recognized this car or thought they recognized it.
Fireball roberts stats, race results, wins, news, record. Fireball roberts nascar cars, nascar race cars, old race. Though glenn fireball roberts never won a nascar championship and never. Fireball roberts is the stirling moss of nascar the greatest driver never to win the championship. At the marf metropolitan auto racing fan club 1965 banquet, rene charland, who raced johnny for many years, was asked if there was a particular driver to be behind him, who would it be. He was a pitcher for the zellwood mud hens, an american legion baseball team, where he earned the nickname, fireball because of his fastball.
79 838 333 184 227 995 1194 1 1542 146 220 262 373 312 53 220 1181 228 67 185 629 1407 1415 591 579 884 1197 1197 1244 994 1344 615 1387 733 67 1143 1359 771 1257 1495 443 872 1310