NASCAR’s Fireball Roberts Was MacDonald Mentor
Glenn “Fireball” Roberts, who was recently inducted into NASCAR’s Hall of Fame, is one of the many sidebars to the story of the 1964 Indianapolis 500 that made researching "Black Noon" so interesting to me.
Roberts was one of the first stars of NASCAR, joining the series in 1950, the second season for the stock car organization. Although often running only a limited schedule, he won 33 Cup races and 32 pole positions during his career and finished in the top five an amazing 45 percent of the time. Teamed with Smokey Yunick and Pontiac in the early ‘60s, he was nearly unbeatable. His career reached a peak in 1962 when he drove to victory in both the Daytona 500 and Firecracker 250.
With General Motors scaling back its racing efforts in 1963, Roberts moved to Ford, which opened doors for him to race in different types of competition. Carroll Shelby paired Roberts in the 12 Hours of Sebring and with a hot shot young road racer named Dave MacDonald. Although the team’s car broke early in the event, the pair hit it off and they became friends, Roberts serving as something of a mentor for the young driver when it came to the “taxi cab” circuit.
In the last race of the ’63 season, the student became the teacher as MacDonald led much of the Riverside 500 before finally finishing second, two places ahead of Roberts. A couple of weeks later, with both driving Holman-Moody Fords, Roberts returned the favor, taking the checkered flag just ahead of MacDonald on Augusta International Raceway's road course. It would be Roberts’ last victory.
The 1964 season started tragically with the death of Roberts’ close friend, Joe Weatherly, at Riverside in January. Weatherly had always said his biggest fear was being trapped in a burning car and as a result, didn’t wear a shoulder belt, so he could get out of his car in a hurry if necessary. It’s thought his head banged against Riverside’s steel plate in Turn Six when his car pounded the wall. NASCAR moved quickly to mandate shoulder belts, while Roberts hinted he might retire at the end of the season.
Come May, MacDonald was in Indianapolis where he had qualified for the 500 as a rookie. On Bump Day, word began to spread through the garage area that Roberts had been badly burned and near death following a crash during the Charlotte World 600 stock car race.
Roberts was well-liked and respected by the Indy drivers and news of his accident shook those at the track. Many had competed against Roberts just a few weeks earlier in a USAC stock car race on the road course at Indianapolis Raceway Park. He had even tested an Indy car before deciding the Speedway wasn't for him.
That evening on the phone, Sherry MacDonald told her husband that their children had written letters to Roberts. MacDonald asked her not to the mail the letters; he would try and deliver them in person after the Indy 500.
Tragically, the letters never reached Roberts. MacDonald was killed in another fiery accident, along with Eddie Sachs, the following weekend in the Indy 500. The radio in Roberts' hospital room had been tuned to the race as he was visited by other drivers on Memorial Day, but he'd been in and out of consciousness. He finally asked his wife who had won at Indy. "A. J. Foyt" was all she could say, unable to tell him about the deaths of MacDonald and Sachs. Roberts would linger for more than a month, before catching phenomena and passing away on July 2.
The accidents of Roberts, MacDonald and Sachs, coming on two consecutive weeks, led to a public outcry against the brutality of the racing, with some media outlets calling for an end to motorsports. As a result, the racing world was finally forced to focus on improving the safety of the sport and introduced new regulations and advancements that may have saved the future of auto racing and certainly saved the lives of many other drivers.
Roberts was one of the first stars of NASCAR, joining the series in 1950, the second season for the stock car organization. Although often running only a limited schedule, he won 33 Cup races and 32 pole positions during his career and finished in the top five an amazing 45 percent of the time. Teamed with Smokey Yunick and Pontiac in the early ‘60s, he was nearly unbeatable. His career reached a peak in 1962 when he drove to victory in both the Daytona 500 and Firecracker 250.
With General Motors scaling back its racing efforts in 1963, Roberts moved to Ford, which opened doors for him to race in different types of competition. Carroll Shelby paired Roberts in the 12 Hours of Sebring and with a hot shot young road racer named Dave MacDonald. Although the team’s car broke early in the event, the pair hit it off and they became friends, Roberts serving as something of a mentor for the young driver when it came to the “taxi cab” circuit.
In the last race of the ’63 season, the student became the teacher as MacDonald led much of the Riverside 500 before finally finishing second, two places ahead of Roberts. A couple of weeks later, with both driving Holman-Moody Fords, Roberts returned the favor, taking the checkered flag just ahead of MacDonald on Augusta International Raceway's road course. It would be Roberts’ last victory.
The 1964 season started tragically with the death of Roberts’ close friend, Joe Weatherly, at Riverside in January. Weatherly had always said his biggest fear was being trapped in a burning car and as a result, didn’t wear a shoulder belt, so he could get out of his car in a hurry if necessary. It’s thought his head banged against Riverside’s steel plate in Turn Six when his car pounded the wall. NASCAR moved quickly to mandate shoulder belts, while Roberts hinted he might retire at the end of the season.
Come May, MacDonald was in Indianapolis where he had qualified for the 500 as a rookie. On Bump Day, word began to spread through the garage area that Roberts had been badly burned and near death following a crash during the Charlotte World 600 stock car race.
Roberts was well-liked and respected by the Indy drivers and news of his accident shook those at the track. Many had competed against Roberts just a few weeks earlier in a USAC stock car race on the road course at Indianapolis Raceway Park. He had even tested an Indy car before deciding the Speedway wasn't for him.
That evening on the phone, Sherry MacDonald told her husband that their children had written letters to Roberts. MacDonald asked her not to the mail the letters; he would try and deliver them in person after the Indy 500.
Tragically, the letters never reached Roberts. MacDonald was killed in another fiery accident, along with Eddie Sachs, the following weekend in the Indy 500. The radio in Roberts' hospital room had been tuned to the race as he was visited by other drivers on Memorial Day, but he'd been in and out of consciousness. He finally asked his wife who had won at Indy. "A. J. Foyt" was all she could say, unable to tell him about the deaths of MacDonald and Sachs. Roberts would linger for more than a month, before catching phenomena and passing away on July 2.
The accidents of Roberts, MacDonald and Sachs, coming on two consecutive weeks, led to a public outcry against the brutality of the racing, with some media outlets calling for an end to motorsports. As a result, the racing world was finally forced to focus on improving the safety of the sport and introduced new regulations and advancements that may have saved the future of auto racing and certainly saved the lives of many other drivers.
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