Down Memory Lane ~ Fireball Roberts

by: PattyKay Lilley

Author's Note: On Monday, July 2, the birthday of King Richard Petty, something kept pulling at my memory, but simply would not come back to me. Today I realized what that something was. Richard's birthday, for the past 48 years, has been the same day on which we lost E. Glenn "Fireball" Roberts, horribly burned in a wreck at the World 600 in Charlotte on Memorial Day Weekend, 1964.

The following article is not new; it appeared, with title unchanged, on another website in May of 2003, and wasn't new then either. It was lost several years later in a server crash that erased all of my writings from the Internet. Please excuse any time-related errors such as the mention of "Winston Cup." I offer it today, a bit late, in loving memory of Fireball, and also in loving memory of his only daughter and my friend, Pam Trivette, who left us three years ago, far too soon. May they both rest in eternal peace.

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Long before Dale Earnhardt became "The Intimidator",  and even before Richard Petty was "King", the sport of auto racing had another #1 man. His name was E. Glenn Roberts, but he was known the world over as "Fireball."