Glenn “Fireball” Roberts

By John Nelson

July 25, 2023

Foreword

This account of the career of a leading American stock car racer began with the goal of documenting the short-track careers of early stars of NASCAR’s Grand National (GN) Division, the current Cup Series. With the notable exception of the Pettys, nearly all the early GN drivers raced Modified and Sportsman cars extensively, both before they started driving GN cars and concurrent with their GN careers. Red Byron, Fonty Flock, Joe Weatherly, and Bobby Allison were national Modified champions. NASCAR evolved out of an organization that raced Modified stock cars exclusively and continued to do so during its inaugural season (1948). 

The Modified racing careers of these Southeastern GN and Cup Series stand-outs generally have received little attention. Biographies concentrate on the headline series and brush over the short-track racing. Conversely, books have been written about many Northeastern drivers (e.g. Richie Evans, Bob McCreadie, Frankie Schneider, and “Bugs” Stevens) who drove Modifieds almost exclusively and rarely wheeled new-model stock cars. I sensed a gap to be filled, with the advent of online newspaper archives. 

The author of the only full length biography of Fireball Roberts was Godwin Kelly, who claimed (p. 104) “There is no performance chart to show Roberts’ sterling Modified record, but his feature victories can be easily counted by the hundreds.” My research shows that statement is a great exaggeration. I tallied 173 known Modified feature starts, garnering 40 wins. As an educated guess, Fireball may have started 200 to 250 Modified races and won a total of 50 to 60. Yet, his known 23% wins and 58% top-5s lands him in the top rank. When Roberts landed the top-caliber Modified ride of Bob Fish in late 1954 and 1955, he won more than 50% of his races. 

Because Fireball Roberts’ Modified and GN records are closely intertwined, I cannot ignore the latter. Of course, his results and hundreds of anecdotes from his career in NASCAR’s top series are fully documented. To avoid repetition with previous authorities, I sought out background on some of the less known aspects of Roberts’ GN activities, such as the car owners he drove for. 

Sources for this research, published and online, are listed at the end of this essay. The primary source for Modified racing results is local daily and weekly newspapers accessed on www.newspapers.com. This source also was fruitful for background and details on Roberts and the car owners he drove for in GN, road racing, and other competition. 

Personal life

Edward Glenn Roberts, Jr. was born January 20, 1929 northwest of Orlando in Tavares, Florida. In 1933 the family moved to Apopka, closer to Orlando. Edward Sr. was superintendent at a factory that manufactured fruit crates. No one in the family was involved in auto racing. Although plagued by asthma, Glenn played football at Apopka High School but was most adept as a baseball pitcher, earning his nickname because of his fastball. He pitched in high school and on American Legion and semi-pro teams. 

In 1945 the Roberts family relocated to Daytona Beach. Glenn dropped out of high school at the end of his junior year and enlisted in the Air Force, but was discharged after basic training because of his asthma. Returning home, Glenn earned his G.E.D. at a local vocational school and then attended the University of Florida (Gainesville) for two years, majoring in mechanical engineering. He became interested in fast cars and began racing on the street. 

Glenn’s life-changing event was meeting racer Marshall Teague, who operated a service station in Daytona Beach. 

In May, 1950 a young woman named Doris McConnell came into the pit area at Charlotte Speedway and struck up a conversation with Glenn. When her encouragement inspired him to win the feature that night, they began a courtship that lead to marriage two months later. The life of a professional race driver, however, is stressful for any marriage. In time, their relationship soured and the couple divorced in 1964. Soon thereafter, Roberts set a wedding date with Judy Judge, whom he had been seeing for some time – but his fateful crash at Charlotte intervened.  

1947 to 1949 seasons

According to authors Godwin Kelly and fellow racer Neil “Soapy” Castles, Fireball Roberts began racing stock cars In 1946 at age 17. No accounts of his races in 1946 have been found, however. Roberts raced out of the garage and race shop of Buddy Shuman and Willie Thompson at 325 Lincoln Street in downtown Charlotte, NC. In this building the team built 1939 and 1940 Ford coupes for Modified racing together with an occasional bootlegging car and on one occasion, a police car. Buddy and Fireball did most of the race driving while Castles learned the ropes as a mechanic. 

The earliest news account I have found places Roberts at the Daytona Beach and Road Course on August 17, 1947. Sanctioning the 110-mile race for Modified stock cars was the National Championship Stock Car Circuit (NCSCC), founded by Bill France and the immediate predecessor of NASCAR. Roberts finished 7th in a field that included winner Bob Flock, Skip Hersey, Buddy Shuman, Billy Carden, and Ed Samples, all prominent in early NASCAR competition. Finishing so well against top talent on a notoriously difficult course displays the natural talent that was a hallmark of Roberts’ career. 

The only other information from 1947 lists Roberts as an entrant in the Southeastern Championship stock car race at the Florida Livestock Exposition Grounds in Orlando on October 26. Marshall Teague won the race; where Roberts finished is not on record.  

To kick off the 1948 season Roberts entered the first race ever sanctioned by NASCAR, a 150-mile Modified contest on the Daytona Beach and Road Course on February 15. National Speed Sport News listed him among the entrants but did not publish race results.  Florida newspapers carried brief articles that did not name Roberts. A trading card circulated online has a photo of Fireball on the beach in 1948 with a dark-colored 1939 Ford coupe, No. 111. Top three finishers in the race were Red Byron, Marshall Teague, and Bob Flock. Only 10 (or 13, sources differ) of 56 cars that started the race went the full distance. 

The next definite record is from March 21 when he finished 5th a stock car race at Indian River Speedway, probably located in Cocoa Beach, Florida. “Skimp” Hersey won the 25-lap stock car race. There are a few other records that Roberts raced on local tracks in Florida early in 1948. 

In a 1959 interview, Roberts remarked, “This is my 13th year in racing. I started when I was only 18 [e.g. in 1947] but I didn’t take it seriously until 1950. Now it’s my only livelihood.” (Raymond Johnson, The Tennessean (Nashville), 4/14/1959). 

Later in 1948 Fireball Roberts took part in several NASCAR Modified races. Being under age 21, he need his parents’ permission to drive with NASCAR. One news article named Roberts as the youngest driver on the circuit. He raced at North Wilkesboro on July 18, Greensboro, NC on July 25, and Lakeview Speedway in Lexington, NC on August 1. None of these ventures ended well. As a publicity stunt, Bill France had a woman stunt flier land her plane in the infield at North Wilkesboro and kiss Roberts just before the race started. “I went for it. And I went through the fence after a few laps. They wanted to have her kiss me before another race, also in North Carolina. This time I was in a three-car pile-up. The papers got wind of it and they played it up. A few weeks later she flew in for another race also in North Carolina and kissed me. This time I flipped six times and wound up in a hospital for three weeks. No siree! I’ll never let a woman kiss me again before the start of a race. Not even my wife. I’ll gladly accept a kiss after the race.” (Raymond Johnson, The Tennessean (Nashville), 4/14/1959).

A single result has turned up for 1949. It has Roberts setting quick time, winning his heat, and sweeping the 20-lap feature at the 1-mile dirt Pompano Beach (FL) Speedway on September 25. A former horse racing track, Pompano Beach operated with local sanction. 

His studies at the University of Florida had caused Roberts to curtail his racing. That changed in January, 1950 when Roberts dropped out of the university. 

1950 season

Previously a hobby, stock car racing became the career for Fireball Roberts on February 2, 1950. The scene was the annual NASCAR Modified race on the 4.15-mile beach and road course at Daytona Beach. The vehicle was a white 1939 or 1940 Ford Coupe, No. 11, owned by Roy Jones. “White Lightning” was lettered on the hood and “Smokey’s” on the roof above the door, indicating the mechanic was none other than Henry “Smokey” Yunick. 

Surging to the front at the green flag, Roberts avoided a 17-car pileup in the north turn on lap 1. “[Gober] Sosebee was first approaching the turn,” reported National Speed Sport News, “but Bob Flock cut in front and passed him with a reckless burst of speed. Roberts was close, and he missed the curved bank of the turn and rolled partially over it. Just who hit whom after that is a matter of conjecture.” Although many cars were eliminated due to crash damage, no drivers were injured. Having spun, Roberts presumably restarted at the rear, but by lap 40 was on Sosebee’s tail again. “He [Sosebee] crossed the finish line one minute and 11 seconds ahead of Glenn (Fireball) Roberts of this City, a former Stetson student. Red Cummings of Beverly, Mass., driving a jazzed up car equipped with a recently invented Fish carburetor, was third.” We shall hear again from Fish Carburetors. 

Originally from Maulton, New Jersey, Roy Jones moved to Daytona Beach in 1948 or earlier, where he bumped into Fireball Roberts. They became friends as well as partners and stayed together on the racetracks until 1955, although Roberts occasionally drove for other owners. In 1957 Jones built a Modified for another Floridian, Dick Joslin from Orlando. Marty Little presented many technical details on the car, which should have been fast, and Joslin was a capable driver. Joslin’s record driving for Jones, however, has not been researched. 

Fireball made his NASCAR Grand National (now Cup Series) debut in a 200-mile contest on Daytona’s beach and road course on February 5. He drove for Jim Davis, who never again appeared as a NASCAR car owner. The car was a 1948 Hudson, predecessor of the “Fabulous Hudson Hornets” (introduced for 1951) that went on to dominate Cup racing in the early 1950s. Roberts retired from the race on lap 8 (about 40 miles) for reasons unknown and was scored 33rd, taking home $25 in prize money.

Returning to the Modifieds, Roberts placed third behind Buck Baker and Fonty Flock in a 50-lapper at North Wilkesboro on March 26. To follow up he placed 4th at Central City Park in Macon, GA on April 2. There are several records from May of Roberts racing at Alcyon, NJ and he also was named as an entrant in the grand opening of Wall Stadium, NJ on May 26, but the record indicates he did not compete. His name also turns up among entrants at Hagerstown, MD on May 30. To confuse matters, some Northern reports named the driver as E.C. “Fireball’ Roberts of Atlanta – I have not verified that there was a second “Fireball”. But Glenn Roberts won a feature at Alcyon on June 9 and for a time was listed 3rd in the NASCAR Modified national point standings. 

In mid-June Roy Jones set up a race shop in Charlotte, NC and Roberts used it as a base for weekly competition. He ran every Friday at the half-mile dirt oval at the Southern States Fairgrounds in Charlotte. On Saturdays and Sundays he raced at a variety of tracks including the afore-mention Lakewood and Hendersonville, NC. During the grand opening of Asheville-Weaverville Speedway Roberts crashed with three laps to go in the feature while battling Tim Flock for the lead. No wins are on record at the other tracks but several podium finishes at Charlotte. These Modified events were interspersed with his Grand National forays, culminating in his first victory on the 9/10-mile dirt oval at Occoneechee (Orange Speedway) on August 13. And this was a propitious time to take the vows of marriage, with the honeymoon delayed until a break in the racing schedule permitted. 

In August Fireball linked up with Sam Rice and focused on the Grand Nationals for the balance of the season. Driving a 1949 Oldsmobile, Roberts got off to a phenomenal start: winning at Occoneechee on August 13. As of 2023, Roberts remains the fifth-youngest driver to win a Cup Series race (youngest was Joey Logano, who was 18 at his first victory in 2009). Other season highlights for Roberts were 2nd place at Hamburg, New York; 2nd in the inaugural Southern 500 at Darlington, and 3rd on the one-mile circular track at Langhorne, Pennsylvania. That was enough to capture second place in season points and third in overall winnings, better than champion Bill Rexford, who ran 17 GN events compared to Fireball’s 9 starts. 

A native of Martinsville, Virginia, Sam Rice was an earthmoving contractor who began racing stock cars locally shortly after the end of World War II. In 1947 Rice joined forced with H. Clay Earles and Henry Lawrence in building Martinsville Speedway, which became NASCAR’s longest running facility, having hosted Cup Series races every year since 1949. Rice drove in two Strictly Stock (Cup) races in that debut season, finishing fourth in both. Between 1949 and 1959 he made 58 more starts in the series as car owner for Roberts (13 races), Bill Blair (19 races), Jimmie Lewallen (11 races), and five other drivers. Not partial to any make of car, Rive entered Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Ford, and Mercury in the series. He garnered two victories (one with Roberts, one with Blair), two poles, and 24 top-ten finishes. 

1951 season

For 1951 Roberts again based himself in the Charlotte area for most of the season both in Modified and in the nine GN races he ran. His weekly Modified tracks were the Charlotte Fairgrounds on Fridays, Columbia (SC) Speedway on Saturdays, and either Hendersonville or Wilson, SC on Sundays. Although frequently in the top 5, Roberts did not score a win on his weekly circuit until October 13 at Columbia, and followed this with another victory the next day (Sunday) at either Hendersonville or Spartanburg, SC (sources differ). In early November Fireball returned to Florida and is recorded in races at Plant Field in Tampa, Sunbrock Speedway in Orlando, and Palm Beach Speedway. At that time Sunbrock was paved and the other two were dirt tracks. Roberts won a 25-lap Modified race at Plant Field on November 4. 

On the Grand National circuit Roberts continued driving an Oldsmobile for Sam Rice, as in 1950, switching to a Ford for his final two starts at Darlington on September 3 and Columbia, SC on September 7, garnering 5th and 2nd-place money, respectively. Car owner was Ed Saverance, who owned a car dealership in Cheraw, SC, a small town north of Florence near the NC border. Roberts appeared to have won the race at Columbia, but a scoring check awarded the win to Tim Flock. As recorded in his obituary when he died at age 103, (in The State, Columbia, SC, 11/19/2010), “In protest, Mr. Saverance refused the second place prize money [$700], becoming the only NASCAR owner to ever refuse prize money.” 

1952 season

1952 was Fireball Roberts’ most disappointing season in Grand National racing. In seven starts he finished only one race, the spring event at Darlington, where he came home 8th. In six of those races Roberts drove Ford 6 or V-8 cars for dealer Ed Saverance, as in 1951. By this time Fords suffered a serious horsepower deficit to the Oldsmobile 88, Chrysler and DeSoto with their new hemi-head V-8s, and the dominant Hudson Hornets, which had superior handling to go with their power. For the final race of the GN season at the treacherous Lakewood mile in Atlanta, Fireball drove a Hudson for fellow Modified racer Bill Snowden, but his mount fell out with spindle failure. 

Records for 23 Modified races have been found in which Roberts probably or definitely competed. He tallied no known wins, but made the top 5 on at least 8 occasions. News accounts rarely mentioned the car Fireball drove or its owner, but most likely, he continued to wheel the “White Lightning” Ford No. 11 of Roy Jones.  

On February 8 Fireball took part in time trials for NASCAR’s new Speedway Division at Daytona Beach. His speed of 131.58 mph through the flying mile was good for second place but far short of the 142.29 mph mark set by Buck Baker. NASCAR’s Speedway cars were similar to Indianapolis cars of the era except they were powered by stock-block engines. The division completed seven races in 1952 and four in 1953 before being discontinued. Roberts did not enter any of those races and to my knowledge never drove an open-wheel car again.  

1953 season

In 1953 Fireball concentrated on the Modified and Sportsman circuit and entered only two Grand National races. Results were found for 55 Modified/Sportsman races that Roberts  entered. He won 10, finished 2nd 12 times, and finished 3rd 8 times for 30 podium finishes (55%), and 4th twice. In 9 features Roberts was out of the top-3 and his finishing position is unknown. He failed to finish 14 main events due to mechanical failure or accident. In five cases he dropped out while leading the race. On two occasions another driver borrowed Roberts’ car and won the feature. These were Billy Myers at Greenwood, SC on June 25 and “Speedy” Thompson at Lakewood, NC on July 26. Driving another car (source unknown) Roberts finished behind Thompson in third in the Lakewood race. Again, the No. 11 white Ford of Roy Jones was Fireball’s regular ride.  

In 1953 Roberts raced Modified and Sportsman cars at the following speedways: Daytona Beach & Road and West Palm Beach in Florida, Central City Park in Macon, Georgia; Darlington, Palmetto Speedway in Columbia, Greenwood Fairgrounds, Newberry, and Rock Hill (all in South Carolina); Asheville-Weaverville, Southern States Fairground in Charlotte, Goldsboro, Wilson, Raleigh, Champion in Fayetteville, Lakewood in Mooresville (all in North Carolina), and Richmond Fairgrounds in Virginia (16 speedways). He probably also raced at Harris Speedway in Concord, North Carolina and the Spartanburg, South Carolina Fairgrounds.  

He raced more or less weekly at Charlotte, Palmetto (Columbia), and Wilson. In nine recorded starts at Wilson, Fireball won four features, runner-up in another four and third place in the ninth. At these tracks and others Roberts found himself pitted against drivers such as Billy Myers, Cotton Owens, Buddy Shuman, Banks Simpson, Jimmy and Speedy Thompson, Joe Weatherly, Bill and Dink Widenhouse, and Shorty York, all of whom ranked among the top 10 in national points during the mid 1950s. 

All these tracks were NASCAR sanctioned, yet Roberts won no NASCAR state titles and was out of the top 10 in national Modified and Sportsman points in 1953 (he was 10th in Modified points in 1951 and 7th in 1955). My records indicate that Roberts never won a track championship in his career. He never ran steadily at one venue, preferring to hop from speedway to speedway. 

Fireball did not last the distance in either of his two GN starts. The first was a 300-lap affair at the Raleigh, NC Speedway on May 29. This paved 1-mile circuit had two long straightaways connected by hairpin turns, a car-killer and a man-killer (three fatalities in 7 years of operation). Roberts’ Saverance-owned Ford dropped out just past the halfway point, earning $25. In Darlington’s Southern 500 on September 7, sixth-qualifying Roberts led 41 laps but the Oldsmobile of Leland Colvin was forced out shortly after the halfway mark by tire, wheel, or front suspension failure (accounts differ).  

1954 season

Much of Roberts’ 1954 season is poorly documented. The newspapers were far more thorough in pre-race publicity than in publishing results. However, it’s clear that Fireball had spotty results with Roy Jones’ fuel-injected Ford modified, “White Lightning”. 

Between early April and mid-September partial results were found for 26 Modified-Sportsman races in which Roberts competed. He won 3, took second place in 5, finished between 4th and 10th place in 6, and did not finish 3. His finishing place in 9 races is not on record, but was outside the top 3. As in 1953, Roberts did much of his weekly racing at the Charlotte Fairgrounds and Columbia, SC. He also ran at Asheville-Weaverville and Hendersonville, NC, Newberry, SC, and Danville, Virginia plus two big races on the one-mile Raleigh Speedway. On May 29 he did not finish, but he came home 5th at Raleigh on July 5. 

On September 10 the Charlotte News reported that Roberts had garnered only three top-ten feature finishes at the Fairgrounds track. 

In mid-September Roberts started driving the #M-1 and M-2 cars for Bob Fish, proprietor of Fish Carburetors, and moved his operations back to Daytona Beach. Dink Widenhouse took over the Jones No. 11 Ford. The Fish-Roberts matchup proved dominating. Fireball raced six times at the one-mile Central Florida Speedway in Orlando, breaking the track record twice in qualifying, and winning four races by large margins, Another victory came at Speedway Park in Jacksonville. Although the level of competition may not have equaled that in the Carolinas, several strong drivers competed against Roberts at the Florida tracks, including Dick Joslin, Dave Ezell, and Emil Reutimann. 

Roberts also entered two major Modified races with the Fish car. On October 9 at the brand-new 1-5 mile oval of Memphis-Arkansas Speedway (aka Lehi Speedway; perhaps the longest dirt track in American history), Roberts led a stellar field early, but was forced out by engine failure. On October 31 a 100-lap National Championship race, paying $1,000 to win, took place at the Charlotte Fairgrounds. After leading from laps 26 to 55, Roberts pitted because of “wheel failure”. His pit crew made repairs and sent him back out, to a 20th place finish. 

In 1954, Fireball drove a 1953 Oldsmobile owned by Leland Colvin in five Grand National contests. These took place at Daytona’s Beach & Road Course, the Lakewood dirt mile in Atlanta, the above-mentioned Raleigh paper-clip, Columbia’s dirt half-mile, and Darlington’s Southern 500. Results were 7th at Darlington, 8th at Daytona, and mechanical failures at the other three. 

Leland was the brother of Bob Colvin, president and general manager of Darlington Raceway from 1952 to 1967. According to Neil “Soapy” Castle’s book. Leland owned the warehouses through which tobacco and peanut growers in that region had to market their government-controlled commodities. Thus, Leland Colvin was independently wealthy. Between 1950 and 1964 he fielded cars of various makes for various drivers in 35 Grand National events, out of which his best finish was 5th place in 1951 with Alfred “Speedy” Thompson, a driver who won 20 GN races for other car owners plus uncounted Modified and Sportsman contests. Colvin also fielded the Speedway car that Fireball Roberts drove to a 2nd-quick measured mile in 1952. That car came close to garnering Colvin’s lone racing win when Speedy Thompson put it on the pole at Darlington in May 1952 and was leading when the driveshaft broke. 

Fireball Roberts had yet to find the combination for success in the Grand National Division, but the time was near.  

1955 season

1955 was the year when Fireball Roberts showed (if anyone doubted) that he could win races at the highest level and contend for championships if he chose to do so. He drove the entire season for Bob Fish, whose assault on the NASCAR Modified-Sportsman scene can be compared with Karl Kiekhaefer’s on the Grand National Series. Fish prepared five cars, numbered M-1 through M-5 and flamboyantly lettered with the company name at a time when few cars in these classes had significant sponsorship. Although all were late 1930s coupes, each Fish car had different body, chassis, and engine setup tailored for different track conditions. One account placed a $5,300 price tag on one of his cars – over $50,000 in today’s money and equal to or above the cost of a contemporary top-level Offy Midget or Sprint Car. Naturally, all the M-series cars carried Fish carburetors, and the 1955 season proved that cars so equipped could win stock car races. 

Out of 25 Modified-Sportsman races for which I’ve found results, Roberts won 13, including the 200-lapper at Darlington on April 30 and the 125-mile NASCAR National Championship event at the ¾-mile Charlotte Speedway on October 30. Roberts also placed 3rd in the 100-mile Sportsman race on the Daytona Beach and Road Course in February and 5th in the 100-mile Sportsman Championship at Langhorne on October 9 (winner, Pete Corey). It appears that the Fish racing team generally concentrated on the larger, higher paying races. No results were found for most of July and all of August. At times in 1955 Roberts drove an M-series car in shorter Modified and Sportsman events, mostly in the Carolinas as usual. The three-day July 4th weekend yielded four feature victories – three (including a make-up feature) at Coastal Speedway in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and one at Morehead City Speedway in coastal North Carolina. In several cases where Fireball did not win, it was Fish teammate Alfred “Speedy” Thompson who beat him. 

The phenomenal winning percentage and high finishes in the biggest races landed Roberts 7th in NASCAR National Modified points for 1955. The only other time he cracked the top 10 was in 1951 when he finished 10th in the standings. If anything can be said about his racing career, Fireball Roberts was the farthest thing from a “points racer”. No figures are available, but it’s likely that most of the other top-10 drivers in 1955 started more than twice as many races. Yet, the records I’ve gleaned from www.newspapers.com and National Speed Sport News are far from complete. One news report (Petersburg, Virginia Progress-Index, May 9) stated that Roberts’ victory in the Darlington Modified event was his 18th win his last 22 starts.  

On the Grand National front, Fireball wheeled the Fish #M-1 1955 Buick at Daytona on February 28, where he crossed the checkers the apparent winner, having lapped every car up to second place. However, the M-1 was disqualified when a post-race teardown revealed shortened pushrods, contrary to the letter of NASCAR’s “strictly stock” rulebook. Mechanics had shortened the pushrods to obtain proper valve clearance when using thinner versions of “stock” head gaskets – with explicit prior permission from NASCAR.  Contrary to some claims, shorter pushrods produce no performance advantage when valve clearance is set correctly. Incorrect clearance simply cuts power and can lead to engine damage. 

At the Southern 500 at Darlington, the M-1 led the first four laps and continued in the lead pack until lap 30, when the car lost a wheel and crashed.  

1956 season

The racing career of Fireball Roberts took a historic turn in 1956. From this time forward Roberts concentrated on NASCAR’s Grand National Series and drove other types of race cars only on special occasions. 

Precipitating this change was the offer of a ride with the Ford factory team headed by Peter de Paolo. That team came onto the scene in September 1955 at the direction of Ford boss Robert McNamara, who was determined to see Ford overcome the two-year dominance of Chrysler on the GN circuit. DePaolo set up shop in Charlotte with crew chief Buddy Shuman.  For 1955 DePaolo fielded cars for Buck Baker, Speedy Thompson, Marvin Panch, Chuck Stevenson, Joe Weatherly, and Johnny Mantz. Together they made 16 starts, with two wins (by Baker and Thompson) and about $7,900 in total winnings. 

After Shuman died in a hotel fire in November, DePaolo turned to Louis “Red” Vogt, late of the Fish operation, as chief mechanic. For 1956, DePaolo began with drivers Fireball Roberts and Ralph Moody. The latter was a Massachusetts native who, like Roberts, had a strong Modified and Sportsman record. When differences surfaced between DePaolo and Vogt, John Holman was hired to run the Ford race shop in Charlotte. Born in Nashville in 1918, Holman moved in his teens to southern California, where he drove trucks, learned mechanical and machine-shop work, and mingled with the speed equipment industry. Holman and Bill Stroppe convinced Ford Motor Company to prepare stock Lincolns, with the new overhead-valve engine, for the 1953 Carrera Panamericana (Mexican Road Race), where they  swept the top three positions. 

Fireball Roberts adopted car number 22 in tribute to his hero, Red Byron.

On the GN circuit Roberts finished the 1956 season 7th in points, starting 33 out of 56 scheduled events. The tally shows 5 victories, 17 top-5s, 22 top-10s, and $14,741 in winnings (9th). Fireball failed to finish 11 GN races, only two due to crashes, the others due to tire or mechanical problems. He also drove in two Convertible Series races, one at Daytona and the other at the Charlotte Speedway, finishing second in both; and one Short Track Series race, which he won, at ChampIon Speedway in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Convertible and Short Track cars were mechanically identical to GN Cars and many of the same drivers competed in these series. 

There is no reliable record that Fireball Roberts drove in any Modified or Sportsman races in 1956. Some sources indicate that he was entered in the February Modified race at Daytona Beach, but the complete list of finishers in National Speed Sport News does not include his name. 

Two footnotes on the 1956 season. First, during this time period NASCAR frequently began the new year’s racing season before the end of the previous calendar year. Such scheduling took a peculiar turn in 1956. The road race on November 11 at Willow Springs, California, where Fireball finished 2nd, was part of the 1957 season but the race on the same date at Hickory, NC and the November 18 contest at Wilson, NC (where Roberts came home 4th), both were part of the 1956 season.  

Second, the Grand National race at the Tulsa, Oklahoma Fairgrounds on August 4 has been largely lost to history. Contemporary news sources clearly indicate this race was part of the GN schedule. National Speed Sport News (August 8, page 2) related what then ensued.  Beset by blinding dust clouds, Lee Petty pulled off the track, grabbed the red flag from the starter, and stopped the race. Promoter Jack Zink, himself driving in the race, agreed that track conditions were unsafe and ended proceedings with 32 of the scheduled 200 laps complete. The race never was rescheduled and thus, never entered NASCAR record books. Some sources list Roberts finished second in the Tulsa race. Possibly, Zink paid the drivers for the positions they were running when the race was halted. 

1957 season

The 1957 season was off to a great start with Roberts, Turner, Moody, Weatherly, and Marvin Panch picking up multiple wins and often sweeping the podium for DePaolo’s Ford team. Roberts contributed four GN victories, including three straight, plus a Convertible win in the Rebel 300 at Darlington in May. The team appeared poised for the car owners’ championship until a dramatic announcement blocked their path. 

On June 6 the Automobile Manufacturers Association, a board composed of motor industry executives, voted to terminate immediately all industry involvement, sponsorship, and advertisement of racing. This decision echoed (albeit with less finality) the AAA’s withdrawal from racing at the end of the 1955 season. Although carmakers whose products won races enjoyed increased sales, the companies feared adverse publicity and criticism in the face of growing concern about highway safety and the inevitable headlines about deadly crashes at the speedways. A crash at Martinsville on May 19, in which a car jumped the wall and seriously injured several spectators, did not help matters. 

 DePaolo and other factory team captains resigned and turned their cars over to the drivers. Thus, Fireball Roberts became his own car owner, operating out of Charlotte with a pick-up crew, while accepting a few one-race rides from other owners. Roberts’ overall 1957 record was 42 of 53 races entered, 8 wins and 21 top-5 finishes, sixth in points, and nearly $20,000 in winnings. Fords went to victory lane 26 times, beating out Chevrolet with 21. Meanwhile, John Holman and Ralph Moody formed their famous partnership, uniting Holman’s  business and promotional savvy with Moody’s technical skills. Ford supplied H-M with free engines, and sold most of its racing stock cars and equipment to the pair for the bargain price of $12,000. By late summer H-M grew to 40 employees and was supplying parts and complete cars to teams racing in NASCAR, USAC, and other organizations. The company also fielded its own NASCAR racing team with Joe Weatherly the leading driver in 1957. Eventually, Fireball Roberts would join the Holman Moody team. 

Here we may note that 1957 was the only season when Fireball effectively raced the entire GN circuit. Two other drivers, Marvin Panch (2nd in points) and Johnny Allen (7th) also made 42 starts; no driver made more. Running all 53 events was impossible because on several occasions NASCAR scheduled two races in different states on the same date. 

In addition to the Grand Nationals, Roberts drove in NASCAR’s Short Track (one win in 1957) and Convertible Series (4 wins, 1957 to 1959). The Convertible Division ran for four seasons. It was popular partly because spectators could clearly see the drivers. “Topless” dirt Late Model and Modified races today capture the same action. Convertible champions were Bob Welborn (1957, 1958, and 1959) and Joe Lee Johnson (1959). Running only a few topless races each year, Roberts never figured in the point standings, but in 16 starts captured 4 victories and 12 top-tens. 

Roberts’ only Modified race in 1957 was the February 15 grind on Daytona’s Beach and Road Course. Starting 4th in the Bob Fish 1955 Ford, Roberts raced up to 2nd place before dropping out with engine failure on lap 11. He was scored 44th of 78 starters. 

After crashing out at North Wilkesboro on October 20, Fireball took a well-earned vacation. On November 9 the Charlotte News informed its readers, “Fireball Roberts has parted company with the smooth ’57 Ford hardtop he pushed so successfully around the circuit this season. The Daytona Beach dandy sold out to Syracuse, N.Y. racing enthusiast P.J. Spaulding. Fireball will settle back now and take it easy until Speed Weeks in February.” 

As an extra reward, Roberts was voted “Most Popular Driver” of the 1957 season in a national poll of NASCAR members. 

1958 season

In a season built around selected high-paying races, Fireball Roberts enjoyed outstanding success in 1958. He competed in 21 events – 10 Grand National, 7 Convertible, and 4 Modified. From these he garnered nine wins, four second-place finishes (three by narrow margins), three 3rd through 5th-place finishes, and one 9th (a total of 16 top-5 and 17 top-10). All four of the races Roberts did not finish were due to mechanical failure, not crashes. 

Early in 1958 Roberts focused on the Modifieds. “I’m sticking with the Modifieds for several reasons”, he told Charlotte News columnist Max Muhleman (March 13, p. 24).”First, I have a good job with Fish Carburetor and until the factories start paying again, it’s hard to beat. If I ran Late Models now, I’d have to worry about a big investment in my car. Besides, I stand a pretty good chance in any Modified race with good equipment like ours – that’s why I’ll be back at the Fairgrounds Sunday, and I think you’ll find a lot of other drivers with the same feelings.” 

Roberts drove in four early-season Modified races in cars owned by Bob Fish and prepared by Red Vogt. The first took place on the Daytona Beach & Road Course on February 21. “So powerful was the Fish modified car of Fireball Roberts that he left 10-foot rooster tails of sand from both rear wheels before he started getting traction from his limited-slip rear end,” wrote the Charlotte News the following day. Hampered by a balky shift linkage and salt spray shorting out his ignition, Roberts had to settle for 4th place while his teammate Banjo Matthews whose 430-cubic-inch Lincoln engine afforded “a wide edge in straightaway speed” over the rest of the field. 

In a 100-lapper at the Charlotte Fairgrounds on March 16, Roberts trailed Cotton Owens by 6 seconds at the checkers, Ned Jarrett coming home 3rd. In the later stages Roberts was practically blinded by a sand-blasted windshield and driving into the setting sun. A week later at Concord Speedway (NC), Banjo Matthews borrowed Roberts’ car for the feature after blowing the engine in his own mount during the heat race. A broken axle in the main event ended Owens’ day. The final Modified race of 1958 for Roberts was on the treacherous mile dirt oval at Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta, on April 27. In the 30-lap finale, Fireball edged out Banjo, driving the second Fish car, with Ned Jarrett 3rd and Cotton Owens 4th. 

Although the factories didn’t resume paying (openly, at least), a top Grand National ride soon materialized in the form of a 1957 Chevrolet owned by Frank Strickland, a United Air Lines pilot from Atlanta. Running less than 20% of the races, Roberts placed 11th in final GN point standings and his winnings of $32,218 topped all drivers and also outstripped the $19,828 he earned in 1957 running in 42 events. Heading the list was $13,220 for victory in the Southern 500, other GN wins coming at Trenton, Martinsville, Raleigh, Asheville-Weaverville, and Birmingham. Triumphs in Convertibles came at Lakewood (in Atlanta) and Martinsville. Total winnings for the year topped $38,000, of which Roberts (as non-owning driver) probably received 40%, or about $15,200. That would be nearly $150,000 in today’s money. 

Strickland’s previous experience as a racecar owner was minimal. Reportedly, he fielded stock cars (not GN or convertible) in two or three previous seasons and tallied no wins. After a few races in 1959, Strickland apparently was out of racing. Thus, his remarkable record in 1958 with Roberts was 13 starts, 8 victories. Roberts drove four GN races in 1958 for other car owners: Julian Buesink in the Daytona Convertible race (DNF), Bob Fish in the Daytona GN event (9th place), Beau Morgan in the Lakewood GN contest (3rd), and the Salisbury, NC Convertible race for Petty Engineering (19th). 

Roberts gave much of the credit for this fine record to Strickland’s chief mechanic, Paul McDuffie. The Hawkinsville, Georgia native had been a key figure in Chevrolet’s “skunkworks”, Atlanta-based Southern Engineering and Design Company (SEDCO). As counterpart to DePaolo’s Ford organization, SEDCO vaulted Chevy from 3 GN victories in 1956 to 21 in 1957, second to their cross-town rival. With its light weight, excellent handling, and high-revving small-block, the ’57 Chevy became one of the finest racing stock cars in history. The black-and-white sedans and convertibles out of SEDCO were the famous “Black Widows”. They featured extra frame crossmembers, reinforced front A-frames, and rear axles and 6-lug wheels and hubs from ½-ton pickup trucks. Alas, when the AMA racing ban came down Chevrolet shut down SEDCO, which otherwise might have become the “bowtie” version of Holman Moody. And McDuffie was one of three who died during the 1960 Southern 500 when the car of Bobby Johns rolled into the infield, struck a barrier, and showered McDuffie’s pit area with chunks of concrete. 

Bob Fish died suddenly on May 11, by which time Roberts had returned to GN racing. Although Fish Carburetor continued to sponsor racing stock cars, their involvement diminished as the company entered financial difficulties and eventually faded from the scene.  

1959 season

As in 1958, Fireball Roberts drove a limited schedule in 1959, concentrating on the highest-paying Grand National and Convertible races plus a few invitational events. So far as known, his only Modified start was at Daytona on February 21 driving the #M-3 1956 Ford of the late Bob Fish, prepared by ace mechanic Ray Fox. Starting from the pole after qualifying at over 149 mph, Roberts played the “rabbit”, leading by as much as half a lap during the early going. But his day came to an end when the supercharger duct blew off on lap 24, forcing the M-3 to the pits and a 38th place finish. 

Roberts competed in 8 Grand National and 2 Convertible events in 1959. Five of these (3 GN, two convertible) were in Pontiacs fielded by the Daytona dealership of Jim Stephens and prepared by Smokey Yunick. Stephens is listed for 72 or 73 (sources differ) GN starts between 1956 and 1973, with a total of 10 poles and 5 wins. Fireball provided one of those victories in the Firecracker 250 at Daytona on Independence Day plus a pole in the Southern 500 on Labor Day. Although not a publicity seeker, Stephens was active in his racing endeavors, keeping company with Yunick and his crew in the pits on race days. He was interested in other sports, including golf. With five other men Stephens bankrolled Daytona Beach native Dave Ragan on the PGA tour, where he won three tournaments and placed second to Jack Nicklaus in the 1963 standings. Stephens died on October 27, 1986 at age 68. 

Fireball had enormous confidence in Smokey Yunick. “I am coming to Darlington [for the 1959 Southern 500] with the finest stock car racer I have ever seen. This Pontiac that Smokey Yunick has prepared is so tremendous that really all I’ll have to do is keep out of trouble. I don’t see any way in the world that anybody could outrun it.” (Max Muhleman, The Charlotte News, 8/28/1959, p. 16). 

In addition to his Pontiac efforts with Stephens, Roberts made single-race stands in Chevrolets for five different car owners: E.C. Wilson, Frank Strickland, Bruce Thompson, Buck Baker, and Lynton Tyson. His return to Strickland led to victory in Darlington’s Rebel 300 Convertible race in May. Aside from a 6th-place finish at Lakewood for Baker, his other starts with one-time owners ended in mechanical breakdowns. 

Roberts closed out his 1959 season with something different. Holman-Moody prepared three Studebaker Larks for Curtis Turner, Ralph Moody, and Roberts to drive in a 2-hour race for American and European compact cars on the 5.2-mile road course at Sebring. Although Walt Hansgen led almost the entire distance in a Jaguar, it was a fine showing for the Studebakers. In his typical damn-the-torpedoes style, Turner rode the rim to second place after blowing a tire with a couple laps to go. Another Jaguar took third and Moody placed fourth. While running third near the finish, Roberts suffered engine failure and had to pull off the course. 

Fireball was an astute judge of his competitors. In late November he told reporters, “Richard Petty [then in his first full season, 1959 Rookie of the Year] has all of the potential in the world to become one of the greatest drivers. He’s the best of the newcomers.” 

1960 season

Continuing his trend of 1959, Roberts competed in only nine  GN races in 1960 and ran a handful of other events. 

After four seasons, NASCAR’s Convertible Series became history. Its season champions were Bob Welborn in 1956, 1957, and 1958, Joe Lee Johnson in 1959. Fireball Roberts entered 16 soft-top events, winning 4 and scoring in the top ten on 12 occasions. NASCAR dropped the convertibles not out of safety concerns but because the open cars were 5 to 10 mph slower on the big tracks. As a nod to their popularity, ragtops continued to race alongside sedans and hardtops in their signature event, Darlington’s Rebel 300, through 1962. 

All of Roberts’ Grand National starts in 1960 came in Pontiacs prepared by Smokey Yunick and owned by John Hines. I have learned nothing about Hines, for whom this was his only stint as a NASCAR car owner. The cars Roberts drove carried sponsorship from Gilman Pontiac of Houston, Texas, suggesting that Hines owned or was otherwise connected with the dealership. In such role Hines would have followed the same role as Jim Stephens in 1959. 

Fireball seems to have reverted to his old “checkers or wreckers” mode in 1960 as he won three GN races and failed to finish the rest. More than half his total season earnings of nearly $20,000 came from his victory in the inaugural Dixie 300 at the brand-new Atlanta International Raceway. As Fielden explained, “Roberts said he felt a tire going flat on the 137th lap and rolled down pit road. Later, he claimed he was in a ‘trance’, explaining why he motored right past his pits and proceeded to return to the track. ‘I sort of felt goofy’, admitted Roberts. ‘I thought a tire was about ready to blow. I was hot, tired, and exhausted, and I was sort of in a trance. But after that, I was okay’.” Other GN wins came in a 40-lap qualifier for the Daytona 500 and a 10-lap qualifier for the Daytona Firecracker. 

At the Southern 500 Roberts started from the pole and was closing on leader Buck Baker with 11 laps to go when the No. 22 Pontiac billowed smoke and retired to the pits. Some sources blamed axle or engine failure; contemporary news accounts reported the clutch went out. Roberts was scored 9th, ahead of several cars still running at the finish. In his other six GN starts, Fireball finished 20th or worse as a result of crashes and mechanical failures. 

Roberts competed in two events in 1960 outside NASCAR’s top series. The first was a pair of races on January 31 for American compact cars on Daytona’s 2.5-mile superspeedway. News accounts do not reveal who arranged for Roberts to drive a Corvair in this unusual contest comprising races of 15 and 20 laps. Chrysler engineers prepared special “Hyper-Pak” engines for Plymouth Valiants, and they totally dominated. The package included a racing camshaft and valve springs, long-ram 4-barrel intake, and split exhaust header boosting horsepower of the 170-cubic-inch (2.8 liter) Slant Six to 148 from the stock 101. Valiants swept the first seven places in the 15-lapper and top three in the 20-lapper. Marvin Panch won both races, averaging over 88 mph in the first race with accelerator floored the entire distance. Yet, the live audience and millions more viewing on CBS-TV must have found this about as exciting as watching freeway traffic compared to the GN cars circling the tri-oval at 150 mph. As for Roberts, he pull out at lap 3 in the first race and was scored last among the 25 entrants. In the second he stayed finished 8th, two laps behind the winner.

Roberts’ only Modified race in 1960 was the Daytona Modified-Sportsman event of February 13. Starting on the second row kept Roberts ahead of what was probably the biggest crash in oval-track racing history. On the first lap, 37 cars piled up, eliminating 24 from further action and sending 8 drivers to the hospital. When green-flag racing resumed, Roberts resumed his charge, swapping the lead repeatedly with Carl Burris and his relief driver Marvin Panch. “Just when it seemed Roberts had victory in the bag, when he had gained a sizeable lead with only 12½ miles remaining in the race, the tachometer cable shorted out his magneto and brought him to a stop on the backstretch”, reported National Speed Sport News.  

1961 season

For 1961 Fireball Roberts boosted his GN schedule to 22 races (of 52), plus three non-points GN events and a Compact Car race. Smokey Yunick was the car owner of record in addition to crew chief for most of the GN events. Driving for Yunick, Roberts won a 40-lap qualifier for the Daytona 500 plus two short non-points dashes at the same track. The team also scored 11 top-fives plus 6th in the World 600 at Charlotte. 

Roberts drove for four other car owners in 1961. Four of these were for Rex Lovette, one of four brothers who ran the Holly Farms chicken operation, best known for providing sponsorship and pit crew help for Junior Johnson. Based in Wilkes County, North Carolina, Holly Farms was an early leader in wholesale poultry farming and one of the first non-automotive companies to sponsor stock car racing. Rex Lovette was an active car owner and crew chief who reportedly was the first to use two-way radios for driver to pit communication in stock car racing. His brief foray with Fireball Roberts yielded four DNFs in four starts, although the last, at Orange Speedway (Occoneechee), occurred 11 laps from the finish, enabling Roberts to be scored 5th and ahead of five other cars that were still running at the finish. 

Roberts’ drives for other GN car owners resulted as follows. Victory with J.D. Braswell at Marchbanks Stadium in Hanford, California on March 12. Fourth with Cotton Owens on September 24 at Martinsville and 2nd with Bud Moore at North Wilkesboro on October 1. The outing with B.G. Holloway at Asheville-Weaverville on August 13 ended with axle failure and a 31st-place finish. 

Turning to the compact-car race, Roberts earned the pole with a qualifying speed of 84.62 mph in a four-cylinder 1961 Pontiac Tempest. The contest was 150 miles on Daytona’s 3.81-mile infield road course. The field brimmed with Grand National talent. Taking the win was Lee Petty in a 1960 Plymouth Valiant, followed by Roberts in second place and 43 seconds behind. The next four were Tim Flock, John Rogers, Ralph Moody, and Curtis Turner. Unlike the 1960 races, where Valiants totally dominated, four different makes of cars made up the top six. Out of the running was Joe Weatherly when his Falcon struck a berm and rolled over, but Joe went on to capture a special non-points “Race of Champions” for GN cars on the big oval later that day finishing a whisker ahead of Fireball Roberts. 

Although one source indicates Roberts qualified for the 1961 Modified-Sportsman race at Daytona, National Speed Sport News indicates he did not take the green flag.

1962 season

1962 is remembered as the year when Fireball Roberts achieved near-total dominance at Daytona International Speedway, winning the Daytona 500 and Firecracker 400 together with a “500” qualifier and two short non-points GN races. At the “500” Roberts started on the pole, led most of the race, and crossed the checkers 27 seconds ahead of Richard Petty, the only other driver on the lead lap. NASCAR denied a protest by the Petty team claiming that Smokey Yunick had more than 6 crewmen working on pit stops, awarding $24,190 to Roberts, a career high that contributed to more than doubling his earnings from any previous season. 

One of Roberts’ remarkable records is winning 18 out of 29 poles on superspeedways from 1959 to 1962. He won five of those races. For his entire GN career, Roberts earned 36 poles in 207 starts, more than 17%. 

Fireball continued driving Pontiacs throughout 1962. Initially Jim Stephens, the Daytona Beach car dealer, returned as owner and Smokey Yunick continued as crew chief. However, in late March Yunick temporarily quit NASCAR racing, leaving Roberts in search of a ride. Yunick told the media that he pulled out to prepare an Indy car for Jim Rathmann, but in Best Damn Garage in Town (p. 268) he cited a disagreement with Roberts. Roberts reunited with Rex Lovette for the Richmond race (finishing fifth) before joining former Modified competitor Banjo Matthews for victory in the Firecracker 250, in which Roberts, in uncharacteristic fashion, held back and saved his car until lap 81 of 100. Also with Matthews, Roberts drove to top-5s at North Wilkesboro, Bristol, and Atlanta and 9th in the World 600 at Charlotte. 

Roberts and Jim Stephens reunited following the Firecracker 400. Runner-up finishes at Boyd Speedway near Chattanooga and the October race at Charlotte were their season  highlights. The pair scored two additional top-10s and the other five finished deep in the field due to crashes and mechanical woes. 

Proving he could turn right as well as left, Fireball made highly creditable runs in two top level road racing events in 1962. The first was the 3-Hour Daytona Continental on the 3.8-mile course laid out through the infield and using part of the high-banked tri-oval. The stellar field included road-racing veterans Phil Hill, Stirling Moss, Dan Gurney, and Jim Hall; Indianapolis winners Jim Rathmann and A.J. Foyt; and fellow NASCAR rivals Joe Weatherly and Marvin Panch. Roberts was seated in a Ferrari Berlinetta from the North American Racing Team headed by Luigi Chinetti, who was the first Ferrari dealer in the United States. Despite unplanned pit stops, Roberts came home 2nd in class and 11th overall. 

That performance paved the way for on appearance on Grand Prix racing’s biggest stage, the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 24. Roberts and co-driver Bob Grossman wheeled a 2.9-liter Ferrari again from Chinetti’s stable. Despite long delays pitside due to a faulty starter switch, the pair scored first in class and 6th overall; they were running 3rd before the electrical problem surfaced. The largely French crowd really warmed up to Roberts and chanted his name during pit stops. “It’s too doggone long”, was Fireball’s first impression after finishing the day-long grind. “If I wanted to do that kind of racing [regularly] I’d go to Indianapolis, where the money is.” 

1963 season

Fireball Roberts kicked off the 1963 Grand National season (which officially began in November 1962) driving a Pontiac for Banjo Matthews. Fresh off two manufacturers’ championships in NASCAR, Pontiac clearly was the brand for winners in early 1963. But, that was about to change dramatically. 

In January 1963 GM chairman and CEO Frederick Donner issued a memo to all divisions upholding the 1957 agreement with the Automotive Manufacturers Association prohibiting factory-supported racing. Pontiac’s “Super Duty” engine program, instrumental in the brand’s superspeedway victories, came to a halt. Henceforth, Pontiac emphasized street performance with cars like the GTO and Firebird Trans Am while staying clear of all forms of organized competition . Simultaneously, new Ford chief Lee Iacocca (who replaced Robert McNamara, now U.S. Secretary of Defense) rolled out its “Total Performance” program and returned full tilt to the NASCAR circuit with the Holman Moody shops supplying the race cars. 

Although Pontiacs remained competitive early in 1963, Ford made headlines with wins at Riverside, Atlanta, and especially in sweeping the top 5 positions in the Daytona 500 led by the storybook effort of “Tiny” Lund. Thus, no insiders were surprised in late March when Fireball announced his switch from Banjo’s Pontiacs to the Holman Moody Fords. And Roberts ran true to form, winning his first outing for H-M in the Southeastern 500 at Bristol on March 31, sliding past Fred Lorenzen, who had to make a late pit stop for fuel. 

Driving for Matthews, Roberts took 4th at Riverside, 2nd at Atlanta, and started from the pole in the Daytona 500, remaining in the hunt until forced out by engine troubles with 18 laps to go. In addition to the spring race at Bristol, Roberts won for Holman Moody in Daytona’s Firecracker, the Southern 500, and a 200-lapper on the half-mile paved oval at Old Bridge, New Jersey. Overall record for the season included the 4 wins, 11 top-5s, and 14 top-10s plus 5th in the final point standings, all from 20 starts out of 55 races. Money earnings topped $73,000, a close third behind champion Joe Weatherly and Fred Lorenzen who was 3rd in points. 

On the extracurricular side, Fireball competed in a sports car race on the Daytona tri-oval and in road races at Daytona, Sebring, and Indianapolis Raceway Park. Open to production sports cars and modified sedans, the SCCA American Challenge Cup on February 16 covered 100 laps (250 miles) on the big track. Paul Goldsmith led the entire race in a modified Pontiac Tempest, finishing 7 laps ahead of 4th-place Roberts, who drove a Ferrari 250 GTO for Chinetti’s North American Racing Team. (Possibly, this incident inspired the GTO name for the big-engine Tempest released by Pontiac the following year.) The next day, February 17, a larger field of sports cars and sedans ran 3 hours on Daytona’s road course. Mexican driver Pedro Rodriguez earned the laurels and completed 81 laps, while Roberts, suffering a series of difficulties, accrued 65 laps and was scored 15th. 

For the 12 Hours at Sebring on March 23, Fireball Roberts and Dave McDonald (who would die with Eddie Sachs in a fiery crash at Indianapolis a year later) teamed up in a Shelby Cobra against the heavily favored Ferraris. At the start Roberts “set a blistering pace and led the parade”, and remained in contention until forced out with mechanical problems after three hours. Ferraris indeed swept the first six positions, the first Cobra being that of Phil Hill, Dan Gurney, and Lew Spencer. “The Cobra is six months away from having everything ironed out”, Roberts remarked to the press. “Then, I’m sure it will be in a class with the grand touring Ferraris though never equal to the faster prototype Ferraris.” Reflecting on his experience with a Ferrari at Le Mans in 1962, Roberts offered, “…the engine was as good the last lap as it was the first…though everything else was falling apart.” 

The USAC-sanctioned Yankee 300 stock car race at Indianapolis Raceway Park covered 120 laps on the 2/5-mile road course. Driving a Holman Moody Ford, Roberts passed Roger Penske for the lead at lap 98 but spun in his own oil when the engine blew three laps later, relegating him to 15th place behind winner A.J. Foyt.  

1964 season 

Fireball Roberts continued to drive Fords for Holman Moody in the 1964 Grand National season, which began in November of 1963. He made 10 starts on the circuit, including the World 600 at Charlotte on May 24, scene of the crash that ended his career and ultimately his life. He also raced in three short non-points GN events at Daytona, Atlanta, and Martinsville. 

Fireball’s final victory in a points-counting NASCAR race took place on the 3-mile road course of Augusta (Georgia) International Speedway on November 17, 1963. This was the debut event for the new track and the only one sanctioned by NASCAR (although a half-mile dirt oval at the same complex hosted 12 GN races). The November 17 contest ran for 5 hours. Roberts stayed near the front throughout as contenders Richard Petty, David Pearson, Junior Johnson, and Marvin Panch all fell out with mechanical problem. Roberts became the first GN driver to win two races on road courses (his first was on December 30, 1956 on the Titusville-Cocoa track in Florida). 

Roberts came home 3rd behind Dan Gurney and Marvin Panch in the Motor Trend 500 at Riverside on January 19. His close friend Joe Weatherly lost his life in a crash at this road race. Three more top-fives came Roberts’ way. At Bristol on March 22, Fred Lorenzen nursed a failing engine across the finish line ahead of runner-up Roberts. At Martinsville on April 26, Roberts raced up to 5th from his 20th starting spot, but was 5 laps behind winner Lorenzen, who notched his 5th straight series win in Darlington’s Rebel 300 on May 9, Roberts taking the runner-up spot. 

On February 15 Fireball ran in the American Challenge Cup, 250 miles on Daytona’s 3.81-mile road course for GT and prototype sports cars. He drove to a runner-up finish behind the Chevy-powered Scarab of A.J. Foyt. News accounts describe Roberts’ mount as a Ford Falcon (or Fairlane) prototype powered by a NASCAR-spec 427 big-block engine. Although no pictures of the car have surfaced and the car owner isn’t identified, the car was probably a Falcon, because several road-racing Falcon prototypes were built during this time period. In 1962 (and perhaps later), Holman Moody fielded the “Challenger III” Falcon prototype, which featured a lowered and sectioned body fitted with a fastback roof. Before introduction of the Mustang a few months later in 1964, Shelby American also built several racers based on stock-bodied Falcons. 

In the NASCAR Sportsman-Modified race at Daytona on February 22, Fireball started on the pole after setting a world record for stock cars with a qualifying lap at 170.47 mph, nearly 5 mph faster than second-quick Junior Johnson. Unfortunately, ignition trouble sidelined Roberts in the race on lap 37. The car he drove was a 1961 Ford Starliner owned by Ernie Tuff of Rushford, Minnesota. An admirer of Henry Ford and his company’s products, Tuff became an engine builder for local and regional racers, including Sprint Car standouts Jerry Richert and Jerry “Scratch” Daniels. Although based far from NASCAR country, Tuff prepared the Starliner for the 1964 Daytona race and fitted it with a 427 Ford engine boasting a half-inch stroker crank and fuel injection. “Fireball was the greatest racecar driver in the world”, remarked Tuff on his choice of drivers. Tuff entered the same car in three more Daytona Modified races and continued to set new speed marks with Cale Yarborough, LeeRoy Yarbrough, and Larry Frank behind the wheel. Reportedly, Bill France outlawed the car in 1968 in an effort to keep the competition equal. As of 2016 the Starliner was still in Tuff’s shop according to https://educate.winona.edu/winona360/blog/tag/ernie-tuff/. 

On May 3 Roberts again drove in the Yankee 300 road race for stock cars at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Owner of the 1964 Ford he drove is not on record. Overheating forced Roberts out of the race while running 3rd on lap 80 out of 120. Despite severe headaches and blistered hands Fred Lorenzen held on for the win, remarking, “This was the hardest race I ever ran in my life”. 

The crash that ultimately ended Fireball Roberts’ life took place during the World 600 at Charlotte on May 24. The cars of Junior Johnson and Ned Jarrett spun on lap 7, directly ahead of Roberts’ No. 22 Holman Moody Ford. Trying to avoid them, Roberts spun, rocketed backward into a concrete wall, where his car flipped and exploded in flames. Running to the scene before safety crews arrived, Jarrett freed Roberts from the blazing wreckage. 

This accident and the inferno that took the lives of Eddie Sachs and Dave McDonald at Indianapolis a week later prompted auto racers to adopt the fuel cells and fire-resistant suits then being developed by the aerospace industry. 

Perspective

Recounting the career of Fireball Roberts highlights how much NASCAR’s top series has changed over six decades. Beyond obvious changes in the cars, the economics of the sport have been transformed from the Grand Nationals of Fireball’s era to the Cup Series of today. To pick and choose races as Fireball did would be unthinkable in today’s tightly structured series funded by major corporations. 

The GN Series of the 1950s and 1960s compares more closely with modern short-track traveling series, such as the Lucas Oil and World of Outlaws dirt late-model tours. Most of the GN races then took place on fairgrounds dirt ovals and privately owned speedways that hosted weekly amateur stock car racing. Purse structure was commonly in the range of $1,000 to win and $50 or less for last place – multiply those figures by 10 for current equivalents. Start-and-park would not pay travel expenses. 

In the modern Outlaws and Lucas Oil dirt tours, typically 10 to 15 drivers run the entire schedule and contend for the series point money. In 1963 only seven drivers competed in more than 40 of the 55 GN races contested. Fields were filled by local drivers and by travelers who followed the money the way Fireball did. The NASCAR point fund and championship meant a lot less then than they do now. The total GN fund for 1965 was “more than $60,000”, divided among drivers and car owners (NSSN, 12/15/1965, p. 5). Adjusting for inflation, this falls well short of the $780,000 drivers point fund, with $175,000 for the champion, in the 2023 World of Outlaws Late Model Series. The biggest GN races of the mid 1960s did pay more prize money, again adjusting for inflation, than any of the current “crown jewels” in dirt-track racing . With these economics it’s no surprise that a money-conscious racer such as Fireball Roberts ran only the higher paying NASCAR races while forgoing the constant traveling to chase points at county fairgrounds. 

Corporate sponsorship has heavily financed NASCAR racing since 1971, when Winston became the title sponsor. The role of sponsors was much smaller when Fireball was racing. Outside of gate receipts, the biggest sources of funds were the carmakers, who typically funneled racecars, parts, and other support through local dealers and shop owners such as Jim Stephens and Smokey Yunick. Those men hired the drivers, who probably received the standard 40% of the prize money they won. Independents without factory support financed their own operations, often on shoestring budgets. When manufacturers pulled out of racing, as happened frequently, everyone became self-financed. The names of local businesses and stickers from automotive suppliers were applied to stock cars in exchange for small amounts of cash and free tires, oil, or parts. As we have seen, one of the first non-automotive sponsors was chicken producer Holly Farms with Junior Johnson driving. The Lovette brothers were neighbors of Johnson and took personal and direct interest in his racing. Current short-track sponsors such as Lucas Oil are apt to be motivated as much by enthusiasm for racing as by marketing opportunities. 

Fireball Roberts could have succeeded in any form of auto racing (such as Indy cars or road racing) he chose to pursue. His career path was determined by opportunities that presented themselves in the southeastern United States and in the early years, the need to support himself via a day job. By the late 1950s he’d attained enough fame that opportunities to race came calling and he could make a good living running a limited schedule. Having devoted his career to turning left, Fireball tried road racing and scored highly creditable results against the world’s best drivers. But he stayed with stock cars because the best money was there, as well as the connections. He expressed interest in Indianapolis but to run there, he would have needed open-wheel connections, plus time taken away from NASCAR competition. Had Roberts grown up in the Midwest, he might have gravitated toward the Midgets and Sprint Cars that then provided the route to Indianapolis. 

Modified and Sportsman racing provided an outlet for energy and a way to build experience until competitive and regular GN rides materialized. Fireball never raced these cars as an occupation, running an irregular schedule and taking several months off during the winter while full-time Modified professionals, such as Frankie Schneider, raced the year around. Probably seeking to broaden his experience, Roberts drove Modifieds at many different tracks, dirt and paved, rather than concentrating on those closest to home base. As luck would have it, the best Modified ride in the country materialized right in Daytona Beach with Bob Fish in 1955. That connection provided a steady job in addition to the fastest Modifieds in the country to race at the highest paying events. 

Available records show that Fireball Roberts started at least 173 Modified and Sportsman races, winning 40, finishing 2nd through 5th in 60, and failing to finish 34. Thus, Roberts’ known winning percentage was over 23% and top-five percentage nearly 58%. These races span the years 1947 through 1960 but only 10 results are known for the first three years and 6 after 1955. Fireball’s last known Modified outing was at Daytona in February 1960. 

These records obviously are incomplete. Many announcements of races were found where Roberts was listed as filing an entry, but either no results were found or the published results did not mention him. Roberts apparently did little racing in 1948 and 1949 while a student at the University of Florida, and sharply curtailed his Modified activity after 1955. My best guess is that the record is under-counted by 20% to 30%, possibly as much as 50%. He might have won 50 or 60 career Modified and Sportsman races and made the top-five in 75 to 90. He certainly did not capture several hundred wins, as Godwin Kelly speculated.  

For comparison, Fireball’s record in GN racing stands at 207 starts, 33 wins (16%), 93 top-5s (45%), and 122 top-10s (59%). He started on the pole in 36 races (17%). 

High praise came from blunt-spoken Smokey Yunick (Best Damn Garage in Town, p. 285). “He was the smartest of drivers”, a man who carefully studied his competitors and their equipment, analyzing their strengths and weaknesses. Roberts developed pit strategy and while not much of a hands-on mechanic, knew enough to guide the crew chief in making the car handle better. But at the end, his strategy was simple: “Sit on the pole, and lead every lap.” 

Roberts stayed in peak condition for racing through sports, including golf and swimming. In a 1959 interview, he echoed Yunick’s remarks about being the smartest of drivers. “I believe I can out-think all but a few of the drivers on the circuit… Physically, I’m much stronger than they are. But they can think a good race. In my opinion, [Curtis] Turner is the best driver ever to get behind the wheel of a stock car. But he will make a mistake when he gets tired.” Source: Bob Talbert, The State, Columbia, SC, 7/8/1959, p. 16. 

In “Portrait of a Professional”, veteran motorsports writer Russ Catlin wrote he first recognized Fireball Roberts as a professional (as distinguished from a man who merely races for a living) in an interview at the Darlington Modified race that Roberts won in 1955. It was Roberts’ mode of speaking directly and looking the interviewer straight in the eye that established this impression. Many other media members thought Roberts was too brief and blunt, but it’s likely they interviewed him at the wrong time – before a race. Intently concentrating on the competition ahead, the driver shunned all distractions. Catlin related an incident in which Roberts disdained even to wave during qualifying to a troupe of Cub Scouts who wanted to meet him, but duty out of the way, Roberts bought the boys programs, autographed them, and offered a tour of the pit area. Fireball was known as a party animal, but after the races – never before. 

Like all successful racers, Roberts encountered his share of boos and catcalls from spectators. “Yes, I hear it,” Roberts told Russ Catlin. “I don’t consider it booing. I feel it is cheering because I had made a race of it and had given it my all. They were paying me a tribute.” Fireball went on to say, “People call me a garage lawyer because I study entry blanks before I sign them. Sure I catch promoters using a sharp pencil, and when I do, I let everyone know about it. But that’s not why I study the things. I study them because I want to know where the money is. I’m a professional, and I drive for money. The payoff is the real thing and not always is the best payoff to the winner.” 

The record shows that Fireball Roberts was out to win every race. His strategy was to start on the pole and stay out front. Season championships did not interest him because at the time, the money was not there. He stayed with the Modifieds, where he could make good money, until top-level GN rides came along; and when they did he preferred to stick to the bigger races rather than run the entire circuit. Early in his career, Roberts’ all-out approach produced many crashes and mechanical failures. Over time, he developed the experience and smartness to go the distance unless (as in his final crash) circumstances beyond his control intervened. Thus, Fireball Roberts earned a place among the greatest stock car racers of all time.

Sources

Printed

Balch, Henry, 1959, The Man to Beat: The Orlando Sentinel, Sunday, 2/15/1959, p. 110-114. 

Castles, Neil “Soapy” with Perry Allen Wood, 2019, Memoir of a Life in NASCAR and the Movies; McFarland & Company, Jefferson, NC, 196 p. 

Catlin, Russ, 1967, Portrait of a Professional: Stock Car Racing Magazine, January 1967, p. 24-33. 

Chevrolet Central Office, 1957, 1957 Stock Car Competition Guide: 23 p. (widely available online). 

Cotter, Tom and Al Pearce, 2002, Holman Moody, The Legendary Race Team: MBI Publications, St. Paul, MN, 240 p. 

Fielden, Greg, 1995 (4th edition), Forty Years of Stock Car Racing, Vol. 1, The Beginning 1949-1958 (336 p.) and Vol. 2, The Superspeedway Boom 1959-1964 (319 p.): The Galfield Press, Surfside Beach, SC

Fielden, Greg, with Bryan Hallman, 2013 (2nd edition), NASCAR, The Complete History: Publications International, Lincolnwood, IL, 588 p. 

Golenbock, Peter and Greg Fielden, 2003, NASCAR Encyclopedia: MBI Publishing, St. Paul, MN, 1009 p. 

Granger, Gene, 1992, Fireball Roberts: American Racing Classics, January 1992 (Vol. 1, No. 1), Griggs Publishing, Concord, NC, p. 22-35. 

Kelly, Godwin, 2005, Fireball: Carbon Press, Daytona Beach, FL, 212 p. 

Yunick, Smokey, 2010, Best Damn Garage in Town: My Life & Adventures: Carbon Press, Daytona Beach, FL, 652 p. 

Online

Hemmings, Glenn “Fireball” Roberts, www.hemmings.com/stories/article/glenn-fireball-roberts, accessed 1/29/2023

Lempert, Michael, 2021, Fast-Backward: The Ford Falcon Challenger III: https://mlempert0.wixsite.com/anachronist/post/fast-backward-the-ford-falcon-challenger-iii, accessed March 12, 2023 

Little, Marty, 1999, Dick Joslin, in Checkered Past, Official Newsletter of the Garden State Vintage Stock Car Club, Sept/Oct 1999, p. 4-5. 

Newspapers, daily and weekly archives, www.newspapers.com, accessed repeatedly late 2022 and early 2023. 

Reed, Brandon, 2009, From Hawkinsville to Darlington, McDuffie Was a Master: www.georgiaracinghistory.com, accessed 2/12/2023. 

Reynolds, R.G., Jr., 2016, Glenn “Fireball” Roberts, 8 p.: accessed via Kindle on www.amazon.com. 

Ultimate Racing History, www.ultimateracinghistory.com, accessed repeatedly, late 2022 and early 2023. 

Wikipedia, Fireball Roberts, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireballRoberts, accessed 1/21/22.