It was customary at the time to name races for recently dead drivers, and the Fireball Roberts 200 at Old Bridge, N.J., would be won by Wade, not long before Wade’s own death at Daytona.

Roberts had quite a career, winning 33 races from 1950 until 1964, Godwin Kelly notes in his 2005 book, “Fireball: Legends Don’t Fall from the Sky,” and is considered by many to be “the ...

Had Roberts lived, Wood said, he believed the driving great may have tried his hand at the Indianapolis 500. But he was just as big off the track, at one point even hosting his own radio program.

Fireball Roberts in victory lane at Hillsboro after his first NASCAR Cup win in 1950. Roberts didn’t win again in Cup (he concentrated on Modified racing through most of the ’50s) until 1956 ...

Fireball Roberts enjoys his win at the1963 Southern 500. He won the 1962 Daytona 500, beating a punk kid named Richard Petty by 27 seconds. They were the only drivers on the lead lap in that ...