Bill Rankin
Firecracker 250 start 1959
Fireball Roberts takes the green flag from starter Johnny Bruner ( note from where ) to begin the first annual Firecracker 250 at Daytona. Roberts won the event with ease over Joe Weatherly's T-Bird Convertible.
Who was nuttier? Johnny Bruner flagging the race from the track apron? Or drivers like Richard Petty racing a convertible on a 2.5 mile superspeedway?