Fireball: Legends Don't Fall From the Sky [Paperback]

Godwin Kelly (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2005

This is not a racing book. This is the story of an complex and amazing individual who happened to be one of the greatest race car drivers of his time. The glory days of racing serve as the back drop for a stormy love triangle that was the talk of the tiny resort village of Daytona Beach during the late 50’s and early ‘60s

Glenn "Fireball" Roberts was the first modern superstar of stock car racing. He was truly ahead of his time and already a legend in his late 20’s. Unfortunately, for the woman he loved and the racing community, his time ran out far too early.

Godwin Kelly became enamored with this story while working on a special feature story for the Daytona Beach News-Journal’s coverage of the 2004 July race. During the research, he discovered there was much more to Glenn Roberts than the "Fireball" persona the public saw.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Godwin Kelly breathes life into one of the sport’s greatest drivers and most colorful characters. -- David Poole, February, 2005

From the Publisher

Carbon Press was founded by legendary mechanic, inventor and racer Smokey Yunick. He wanted to ensure that his autobiography was published just as he wrote it - the real stories with no worries about making things politically correct.

Given the fact that Fireball Roberts driving Smokey Yunick prepared cars was one of the most feared combinations in the early days of racing, it seemed only fitting that Carbon Press should publish the first biography of Glenn "Fireball" Roberts. David Poole sums it up in his comments on the book, which appeared on the back cover:

NASCAR’s history is filled with legends, and in his book Godwin Kelly breathes life into one of the sport’s greatest drivers and most colorful characters. Glenn "Fireball" Roberts was, as the nickname suggests, a bright comet who graced stock car racing’s skies at a critical point in the sport’s history and then, tragically, had his career and his life cut short. For fans who’ve heard Roberts’ name but don’t know his story, Kelly writes expertly and entertainingly about a complicated man and his complicated life. – David Poole, Charlotte Observer

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Carbon Press (February 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0972437851
• ISBN-13: 978-0972437851
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #594,441 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Godwin Kelly grew up in Daytona Beach, Florida, home to NASCAR and the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. While other children across the country admired the sports heroes of the day, such as Bart Starr and Mickey Mantle, Godwin's followed stock car racing's Fireball Roberts and Richard Petty. Godwin has been the Motorsports Editor at the Daytona Beach News-Journal since 1982 and published four books about stock car racing. Godwin has three children, two dogs and two cats, or seven children total. LOL! Godwin first met Trevor Bayne while he was testing with a pair of European drivers at New Smyrna Speedway, a half-mile oval in Samsula, FL. Trevor, then just 18, was showing the two former Formula One drivers how to drive a stock car on a short track. That was an interesting experience.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FIREBALL: Legends don't fall from the shy, June 3, 2005

By 

Shiela Sharp - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fireball: Legends Don't Fall From the Sky (Paperback)

NASCAR FANS: DON'T MISS THIS ONE!!..For those to young to remember stock car racing's beginning, this book is a must read.

Godwin Kelly writes from the heart and soul of a sport that he knows and loves from his many years as a sports writer.

This book is a personal and compelling story of one of racing's

most colorful legends when they rolled up their sleeves and RACED! Not for the money or the fame..for the raw sport.

Great read!!...Shiela Sharp...Indiana race fan...

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Wow, this book was bad, March 27, 2006

By 

Steven Bechtel "Raceway24" (Blue Island, IL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fireball: Legends Don't Fall From the Sky (Paperback)

I have to agree with the last guy who reviewed this book. I figured from all the stories I have heard about "Fireball" that this book would knock my socks off. Instead it went all over the place and then again it went nowhere. Hardly any racing stories at all and not much about the crash that took his life. Some of the pictures were neat to see but just about every picture in the book is used more then once. You would think there is tons of photos out there of him, so the need to keep using the same photos at different parts of the book seemed odd. And way to many pics of his girlfriend. I sometimes felt like the book was about her, more then him. If you can pick this up cheap somewhere for a few dollars it may be worth it. Other then that, it was a huge letdown. I read it fairly quick and when I was done it was like I learned nothing at all about the man.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fireball the man and how it affected his racing., January 14, 2010

By 

Darrel Drumm "Darrel the librarian" (Bunch, OK United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fireball: Legends Don't Fall From the Sky (Paperback)

Fireball Roberts was a professional race-car driver, it said so right on his driver's license. This book is more about his personal life than many folks would like, they would like to ignore the facts of his marital split, his girl-friend, and his escapades. Well, they are just part of what made Fireball who he was--a man who raced cars. The major problem I have with this book is the photographs without captions. They leave me wondering "Who were these people," "Where was this race?," "Which year was this?" etc. Obviously written with input from Judy Judge, his girl-friend and fiance, but not Fireball's first wife and his late daughter, it is a little one-sided. I hope that another book comes out that Pam, his daughter, was working on. It would show another side of him, I'm sure.