On May 24th of 1964, Roberts started eleventh at the World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. On lap seven he was
trying to avoid a crash by drivers Junior Johnson and Ned Jarrett. His Ford crashed hard into the inside retaining wall,
flipped onto its roof and exploded in a ball of flames. Ned Jarrett rushed in and pulled Roberts from the flaming car. In
those days, there was no such thing as a Nomex Firesuit or fuel cells. It was common for drivers to race in tee shirts
and jeans. The popular driver suffered
second and third degree burns over eighty percent of his body.
After a week or so in the Charlotte Hospital, it
appeared that Roberts had a chance survive his injuries. Sadly, six weeks later on July 2nd, he took a turn for the worse
and succumbed to complications of pneumonia and sepsis. He was laid to rest in Bellview Memorial Gardens (now Daytona
Memorial park) not far from the high banks of Daytona Speedway. A legion of fans paid their respects.
In the
wake of Dale Earnhardt's death we got the HANS device, safer barriers and the car of tomorrow.
No driver has been lost in a crash since 2002 and that's a testimony to how safe these cars have gotten. Fireball
Robert's passing in a year when two other drivers lost their lives at Indianapolis punctuated the need for safety standards. Shortly
after came the development of the Firestone fuel cell and soon came the mandate by the sanctioning body to wear approved fire
retardant clothing.
Racing great Fred Lorenzen is quoted as saying, "When NASCAR lost Fireball Roberts, it
was like Santa Claus doesn't exist at Christmas; it just took everything out of the race." Lorenzen would race
another six years before retiring at a young 37 years old citing losing his friend as one of the reasons for his early exit
from the sport.
Saturday marks 44 years since that horrific crash at Charlotte Motor Speedway. We should not
forget the men who built NASCAR into what it is today. Many of our legends aren't here today and we should not let
their memory whither. So this Saturday when the field crosses the start/finish line for the seventh lap, hoist a cold
one to honor the king of the superspeedways, Glenn "Fireball" Roberts. He'd like that.
2006 StockCar Review.
