|| *Comments on the 1964 World 600:* View the most recent comment <#25> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. MARK KITCHENS posted: 02.14.2004 - 12:11 am Rate this comment: (0) (2) NEITHER NED JARRETT OR JUNIOR JOHNSON WAS INVOLVED IN A CRASH ON LAP 7.THEY BOTH STOPPED TO PULL FIREBALL OUT OF THE FIRE AND WERE INJURED. 2. webmaster posted: 02.17.2004 - 8:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mark, It appears that Junior Johnson & Ned Jarrett got together and spun - which Fireball was trying to avoid when he crashed. I'm not sure about Junior, but I have a picture of Ned Jarrett's car engulfed in flames, so I think we can safely say he retired that day due to the crash. Jarrett got to Fireball first and pulled him out of the upside-down, fire-engulfed car. [This account & the photo are from Greg Fielden's "Forty Years of Stock Car Racing"] 3. Anonymous posted: 02.28.2005 - 8:16 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) My father attended this race with some friends.He told me the crash with Fireball came to a stop right in front of their seating area.He also mentioned hearing Fireball screaming.It shook my father up so much he never attended another race. 4. scdvn sn posted: 05.11.2005 - 12:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) did fireball roberts die in the race 5. scdvn sn posted: 05.11.2005 - 12:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) not sure 6. ogarek posted: 06.08.2005 - 6:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) fireball died on july 2, 1964 he never came out of the hospital 7. dalejrfan14 posted: 02.28.2006 - 8:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) the worst paret is that he was getting better but he got blood poisoning when surgery to remove the dead skin failed.he slipped into a coma a few days later and died 8. jackie posted: 06.03.2007 - 9:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I heard that Fireball was going to announce his retirement soon after this race. Fireball was the first superstar of the Superspeedway era. It's a shame that he hasn't got the recognition for it. 9. brandon posted: 01.17.2008 - 12:19 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) thats true jackie, fireball wanted one last shot to win the one major nascar race that he hadn't yet won. he was then going to retire 10. Ray Hice posted: 03.14.2008 - 6:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Having studied this crash quite a bit, I know the following is correct: Roberts was trying to avoid a collision between Johnson and Jarrett that occured coming off turn 2. Roberts spun trying to avoid the crash, and it's not certain if Johnson may have hit the 22. Roberts then slid down the backstretch, most of the way on the roof, with the car hitting the opening in the inside retaining wall. The impact caused the fuel tank to split, and also split the firewall inside the passenger compartment. the resulting fuel spill ignited, causing a massive fire. Roberts was not seriously injured by the crash itself, but was trapped when his ankle became pinned up under the dashboard, caught by either the clutch or brake pedal. Had Jarrett not pulled him from the flames, he would have died at the speedway. 11. b4il3y posted: 08.23.2008 - 1:30 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) I work at an Elementary School in Hampton, TN, where a buddy of mine is the one of the janitors. Just so happens he used to work with Ed Whitaker, and is a nephew of David Pearson. He told me to this day David remembers this crash and is the only thing that shakes him up. 12. Ryan posted: 01.29.2009 - 4:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Fireball died of pneumonia. He was in the hospital 39 days after this race until he died. What a shame. 13. DaleJrFan17 posted: 02.22.2009 - 12:10 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av1h0MCAM0E&feature=related An actual video of the wreck 14. Anonymous posted: 03.18.2010 - 11:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Roberts was going to work for Falstaff when he was going to retire 15. AutoRockinRacing94 posted: 05.27.2010 - 2:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Worst week in Racing until April 29-May 1 in 1994, Eddie Sachs and Dave MacDonald were both killed in the Indy 500 that very day. 16. AutoRockinRacing94 posted: 05.27.2010 - 3:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sachs and MacDonald died on May 30th (the day of the 500), but that week in general was bad 17. rob posted: 11.26.2010 - 12:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) fireball's car did not go on its roof until he hit the inside wall. the rear of the car struck the wall in a way that made the car turn over. the impact also ruptured the fuel tank. my late brother-in-law worked on the speedway cleanup crew back then. 18. jessie henry posted: 04.10.2011 - 9:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (2) no waht two race afer bad lap 7 crash 19. Ralph Strader posted: 08.12.2012 - 7:03 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) I was there on this awful day back in 1964 and setting on the back stretch watching this tragic event unfold, I was 21 at the time. I will soon be 70 and I never got over it fully. I was a Petty fan but Fireball was also one of my hero's of Nascar back then and everybody was pulling for him on that day. I've always been a Nascar fan and have been racing on the internet for 15+ yrs. At this writing I am having a purple #22 car painted in remembrance of Fireball Roberts, Gone but not forgotten. Being fortunate to have seen racing in the era to me is like shaking hands with Abe Lincoln, or George Washington. It was history in the making, things happened that will never happen again. I am blessed to have seen some of this first hand and in person. 20. rob posted: 03.23.2013 - 1:13 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) to ralph.. i too hold the viewing of these races in this era in high regard. i sometimes feel that when i go to heaven , there will be a perpetual schedule of events with the stock cars of the mid-sixties and a great deceased driver at the wheel of each. 21. simonracer posted: 08.08.2016 - 1:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) There was a 30-mile consolation race the day before this to determine the final 14 starters. Bobby Keck finished 14th in that race (in a '63 Ford) but it seems he was unable to start the 600 and his car was withdrawn, with Pete Stewart taking the last starting position on the grid as the first alternate starter. Major Melton finished 16th in that race driving a '63 Dodge and was the second alternate for this race. 22. Rob posted: 12.21.2016 - 6:24 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) There were a lot of instances where an alternate car got in the field during that era. Present day Cup will be lucky to have 35 full time cars in the field after Daytona. 23. Kalamazoo posted: 12.21.2016 - 7:17 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lucky to have 35 full time cars after Daytona? I'm pretty sure there's 36 charters... 24. Anthony posted: 01.31.2017 - 7:09 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Lot of cars out early in this one - throwback start and parks! 25. The Great Dave posted: 02.05.2017 - 12:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Withdrawn #23 Bobby Keck 63' Ford DNQ #36 Major Melton 62' Dodge ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: