| While he is considered one of the first superstars of | | | | In his first year back, 1956, Roberts won five races |
| NASCAR there is no doubt Fireball Roberts was its | | | | and four pole positions to finish sixth in the point |
| first Legend. And he remains, along with Dale | | | | standings. He raced only 10 times in 1958 but had six |
| Earnhardt, Sr., at the top of NASCAR's list of | | | | wins, one second and a third, and finished 11th in the |
| legendary drivers that are no longer with us. He also | | | | point standings despite missing almost 80% of the |
| has to be considered, along with Fred Lorenzen, the | | | | races. |
| greatest driver never to win a NASCAR Cup title. | | | | He won several times over the years, but it was on |
| Roberts accumulated 32 wins, including the 1962 | | | | the fast, exciting new super speedways that began |
| Daytona 500, in a career that spanned 15 seasons | | | | to crop up in the late '50s and early '60s where he |
| before his untimely death in 1964 from injuries | | | | made his mark." His favorite was Darlington and on it |
| incurred in a fiery accident. He was NASCAR's first | | | | Roberts honed his Super speedway skills and became |
| driver to achieve nine victories on the big racetracks. | | | | one of the best big track drivers of his era. He won |
| Roberts had natural physical skills, and while he was | | | | the Rebel 300 in 1957 and 1959 and the Southern |
| noted for his Super speedway prowess, he could | | | | 500 in 1958 and 1963. In 1960, he won the Dixie 500 |
| drive the short tracks as well, and ran door-to-door | | | | at Atlanta International Raceway. His 1962 Daytona |
| with Richard Petty, Junior Johnson, Ned Jarrett, and | | | | 500 and July Firecracker 400 victories added |
| Joe Weatherly. | | | | credence to his Super speedway fame and made him |
| Always ahead of his time, Roberts was not the | | | | the first to sweep the speedway's two events in a |
| stereotypical NASCAR driver. He was a mechanical | | | | single season. |
| engineering student at the University of Florida. He | | | | He came to Charlotte in 1964 for the World 600. He |
| loved classical music and he loved to dance. He also | | | | started in the middle of the pack, but early in the |
| liked to fly his Comanche airplane, dabble in the stock | | | | race he crashed, trying to avoid a wreck in front of |
| market and participate in Jai Alai, both as a spectator | | | | him. His famous No. 22 Holman-Moody Ford hit the |
| and a player. | | | | retaining wall, flipped, and burst into flames. Roberts |
| Fireball finished second to Bill Rexford in his rookie | | | | suffered burns over 80% of his body and survived |
| season in what was then, the beginning of NASCAR. | | | | only 37 days before he succumbed to pneumonia |
| He split his time between the NASCAR Grand | | | | and died on July 2, 1964. Fireball's legendary status as |
| Nationals and the NASCAR Modifieds for five years | | | | a racecar driver has, and will endure the test of time |
| before turning just to NASCAR Grand National racing. | | | | because he was certainly one of a kind. |