Fireball Roberts

Edward Glenn (Fireball) Roberts Jr. is the only winner of the Daytona 500 born in Daytona Beach. Raised in Apopka, Florida, Roberts was a 33-race winner in NASCAR’s top division. A great all-around athlete, Roberts’ nickname was actually derived from his legend as a baseball pitcher, but a promising career as a hurler was never more interesting to him than racing.

In 1949 at the age of 19, Roberts started his racing career on the sands of the old Daytona Beach course. His reputation grew at tracks all over the southeast like Darlington Raceway, but his legend was cemented at Daytona International Speedway where in 1962 he became the first driver to win the Daytona 500 and Pepsi 400 (Firecracker 250) in the same year.

Roberts was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers list in 1998 and was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1990. Proclaimed by many as the “First Superstar Driver” of NASCAR, Roberts is also one of the most celebrated drivers never to win a NASCAR championship.