Roberts, "Fireball" (Glenn)
Auto Racing
b. Jan. 20, 1931, Apopka, FL
d. July 1, 1964
Roberts got his nickname as a hard-throwing baseball pitcher. At 17, he drove in the first NASCAR race at Daytona Beach, crashing on the ninth lap. He didn't win a major race until 1957 when he was first in the Rebel 300 at Darlington. He won the Southern 500 at the same track in 1958, repeated in the Rebel 300 in 1959, and won the Southern 500 again in 1963.
His other major victories included the Daytona 500 and the Firecracker 250 in 1959, the Dixie 400 in 1960, and the Firecracker 400 in 1963. He died of burns suffered in a crash at Darlington.