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Joe Weatherly, Glenn Roberts and the Tragedy of 1964. (Part
Two) By Michael Smith
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For Joe Weatherly and Glenn Roberts the 1964 NASCAR
season dawned full with the promise of success and good
fortune – nothing could lead a person to believe otherwise.
Joe Weatherly entered the new year as 1963’s reigning
Grand National champion, having scored 3 victories and
six pole positions on his way to the title. Glenn Roberts
was fresh from a fifth place finish in the season’s
final points standings, with 4 victories to his credit
in just 20 starts, and probably looking forward to another
season of championship contention.
Weatherly and Roberts, 41 and 35 years old respectively,
were nearly direct opposites in terms of how they raced
and conducted their lives away from the track. Early
in their careers, Weatherly and Roberts, along with
Curtis Turner, drove for the powerhouse team of Holman-Moody.
Weatherly and Turner apparently paired off as party
buddies on and off the track and would do whatever it
took to win a race, including knocking competitors and
each other out of the way. Roberts seemed content to
run his races and keep his personal life as low key
as possible. Weatherly, a World War II veteran, seemed
to live life on the edge with a grin and a practical
joke for everyone that crossed his path. Roberts, a
bit younger, is recalled as somewhat reserved, NASCAR’s
first superstar, and a driver who knew that to win a
race, a driver had to finish.
Sudden Death on the West Coast
Joe Weatherly was in the championship points lead heading
to Riverside Speedway, the fifth race of the 1964 season.
Little Joe qualified sixteenth for the event but things
would not go well under the California sun, at the track
where he had clinched the 1963 championship just two
short months earlier. Accounts of Little Joe’s accident
vary. According to Ralph Moody, during the race the
transmission in Weatherly’s 1964 Mercury reportedly
malfunctioned. Weatherly pulled into the pits and the
Bud Moore pit crew hastily swapped out the clutch and
transmission and sent the red and black #8 car back
out onto the road course, several laps down. The day
after the race, the New York Times speculated that the
cause of Weatherly’s crash might have been a stuck accelerator.
A more recent account of the sudden accident indicates
that an inspection of the car found that a brake caliper
pin had fallen out, leaving Little Joe with no brakes
heading into Riverside Speedway’s most treacherous turn.
Whatever the cause, less than halfway through the 187-lap
event, Little Joe Weatherly’s car skidded out of control
entering the treacherous 180-degree turn 6 and the car
leapt, driver’s side first, into the steel retaining
wall. Some reports indicate that a puff of blue smoke
was seen to issue from the Mercury before the car skidded
out of control. Perhaps in keeping with his devil-may-care
attitude, perhaps because he had survived combat during
the war, Little Joe Weatherly didn’t typically wear
a shoulder harness and reportedly didn’t always race
with his helmet strapped. The force of the impact jarred
Little Joe Weatherly’s head sideways causing it to hit
the retaining wall. Little Joe was apparently killed
instantly.
In our era of modern mass communication, we might find
it shocking that Little Joe’s sudden death warranted
less than a half column of print in the New York Times
the Monday morning following the Riverside race. The
article was accompanied by a photo of Little Joe wearing
his trademark “Rebel 300” shirt, which he had started
wearing after what was perhaps his proudest moment:
winning the 1960 Rebel 300 at Darlington. One wonders
how many readers of the New York Times really noticed
the photo, much less the article, sandwiched as it was
between stories of bowling scores, yacht racing and
the Monte Carlo rally race results.
Memorial Day Trial by Fire
For his part Fireball Roberts managed a third place
finish at Riverside Speedway that day, behind Marvin
Panch and race winner Dan Gurney. Fireball wouldn’t
fare much better through the remainder of what was to
be an abbreviated season for him as well. In the Daytona
500 on February 21st, equipment failure ended Fireball’s
chances for another Daytona win. Following the Daytona
race, Fireball managed to notch several second place
finishes before the Grand National circuit rolled into
Charlotte for the Memorial Day running of the World
600.
There were rumors that Fireball, who had come over to
drive Fords during the 1963 season, was thinking of
retiring from racing to take a job as spokesman for
a national brewing company. Nevertheless, Fireball Roberts
strapped on his helmet that Memorial Day and climbed
into his #22 “Passino Purple” Ford Galaxie, intent on
winning and giving the crowd of some 68,000 an enjoyable
afternoon of racing action.
Notable by its absence was the fireproofed clothing
worn by other drivers that day. In the 1960s, integrated
fire suits had not been developed. As an early expedient,
drivers suits or even T-shirts were soaked in a mixture
of chemicals then hung up in the garage area to dry
prior to the race. Fireball Roberts was allergic to
the chemicals and preferred not to treat his clothing
with the mixture.
The green flag dropped on the 1964 World 600 and, as
the New York Times reported, “The starting field of
44 had just begun to settle down…” when on lap seven
Junior Johnson’s yellow Ford went into a spin on the
backstretch. One report indicates that Johnson’s car
got into the back of Fireball Robert’s car sending them
both, along with the Ford of Ned Jarrett into a spin.
Whatever the cause, the results were disastrous. Almost
immediately, there was fire.
Johnson’s car spun harmlessly away and into the grass.
The cars of Jarrett and Fireball Roberts spun toward
the outside wall with Robert’s car spinning backward
and into the end of the exposed cement barrier. The
fuel tank ruptured, the car turned over and burst into
flames. The Monday morning following the Charlotte disaster,
the New York Times ran a photo of the flaming wreck.
Clearly visible is the #11 car of Ned Jarrett, with
Jarrett scrambling clear of the flames. Once free, Jarrett
rushed to the overturned #22 Ford and, at risk to his
own life, pulled the badly burned Glenn Roberts out
of the flaming wreck. As the stunned crowd looked on,
Roberts was taken to the infield care center, then quickly
transported to Charlotte Memorial Hospital in critical
condition.
Fireball Roberts’ fate would not come as quickly as
that of Little Joe Weatherly. Roberts remained on the
critical list, his condition improving only slightly
over the next few weeks. Most who visited him wondered
how he could have survived the initial trauma, and many
doubted from the outset that he would survive his injuries.
Nevertheless, the Sunday, June 7th edition of the New
York Times ran a small, postage stamp-sized article
under the heading “Glenn Roberts is Gaining.” The article
briefly pointed out that, though still in serious condition,
the driver “is progressing satisfactorily.” Sadly, the
burns would be too much even for Glenn Roberts.
Just a little over a month after reporting Roberts’
improving condition, the New York Times reported on
July 3, 1964, the sad news, “Fireball Roberts Dead of
Injuries.” Roberts’ condition had apparently continued
on the upswing right up until three days before his
death, when pneumonia and blood poisoning set in. Roberts
lapsed into a coma on Wednesday and died Friday, July
3, 1964.
The loss of Little Joe Weatherly and Glenn Fireball
Roberts ripped a void in the heart of NASCAR racing.
Their sudden and violent deaths went as little more
than a blip on the worldwide scene, if the New York
Times coverage is any indication, but closer to the
center of American stock car racing, the pain was palpable.
In fewer than 6 short months, the reigning champion
along with a perennial favorite were dead and the sport
was looking for answers, along with new champs and contenders.
Aftermath
By their deaths, we now know that Joe Weatherly and
Glenn Roberts helped raise awareness of on track safety.
Where once driver safety took a backseat to excitement,
NASCAR began to see a need for improvements in equipment.
Head restraints, window nets, improved seat belt harnesses,
and better fuel cells were mandated shortly after the
tragic events of the 1964 season.
Richard Petty would go on to clinch his first championship
in 1964, after finishing second in the points to Joe
Weatherly in both ’62 and ’63. One has to wonder where
“King” Richard might have placed were it not for the
death of Little Joe so early in the 1964 season. Glenn
Roberts and Joe Weatherly finished 27th and 48th respectively
in the championship points that tragic year.
Nineteen-sixty four was really without precedent, in
terms of its tragic events, both for NASCAR and for
auto racing in general. In addition to Weatherly and
Roberts, a number of other drivers died during the year,
including: Robby Marshman, killed in a fiery crash while
testing in Phoenix, and drivers Eddie Sachs and Dave
McDonald who were killed in a fiery crash on the first
lap of the Indy 500. So, it’s little surprise that when
1993 rolled around and NASCAR lost Alan Kulwicki and
Davey Allison, two more of its favorites sons, the mourning
was very real and very profound – as NASCAR fans, we’ve
seen it before.
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NASCAR
RACING DEPARTMENTS
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NASCAR
AUCTIONS
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NASCAR
RACING WEB SITES
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