Yearly Archives: 2014

614 posts

Fireball Roberts: A Pathfinder into NASCAR’s Superspeedway Era

Fan4Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Fireball Roberts Photo - ISC Gallery/Getty Images
Fireball Roberts
Photo – ISC Gallery/Getty Images

To his legion of fans, Edward Glenn Roberts Jr. was known as “Fireball.” His friends, however, simply called the pioneer NASCAR premier series racing star “Glenn.”

Legend has it that Roberts, the 1962 Daytona 500 winner, acquired his nickname as a fastball-throwing baseball pitcher. Others, including Roberts’ family, disputed the story, noting that the teen’s alleged American Legion baseball team – the Zellwood Mud Hens – never existed. Fellow competitors said the moniker mirrored the Daytona Beach, Fla., driver’s devil-may-care approach to stock car racing.  Continue reading →

Garrett Marchant Seeks Creative Ways to Race

Fan4Racing
Garrett Marchant stands by his 2013 fan car. Photo - garrettmarchant.com
Garrett Marchant stands by his 2013 fan car.
Photo – garrettmarchant.com

Today, sponsorship is the only way a race car driver can move their career forward. There are so many drivers with a wealth of talent, and they’re all vying for the same sponsorship dollars which are limited.  The result means that many drivers are looking for unique ways to raise the money needed to race from one week to the next. It’s a process that is never-ending, until a major sponsor jumps on their bandwagon allowing them to rise to the next level.  Continue reading →

Fans Look Forward to Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Midget Nationals

Michelle NASCAR
Photo - LucasOil.com
Photo – LucasOil.com

Every January, drivers from all over the world and all disciplines of racing flock to the QuikTrip Center in Tulsa, OK.  Why Tulsa?  Simple, it is the home for Chili Bowl, otherwise known as the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Midget Nationals, which takes place every year around this time.

Chili Bowl is in it’s 27th year and is a five-night event, January 14 to 18th, known as Midget racing’s answer to the Super Bowl. Every driver will give all their effort toward putting on a show for the fans while competing for the coveted Chili Bowl trophy, the Golden Driller. Continue reading →

Jason Leffler’s Chili Bowl Plan Comes to Life This Week

Michelle NASCAR

Jason Leffler checks out the track with his son Charlie Dean Photo - JasonLeffler.com
Jason Leffler checks out the track with his son Charlie Dean
Photo – JasonLeffler.com

Jason Leffler’s  Memory and Legacy Live On in this Week’s Chili Bowl Races

Jason Leffler was a racer’s racer in every sense of the word.  He was what some in racing call a journeyman racer, as he raced anything and everything just to race.  The night he died, Leffler was competing in a race with a winner’s purse of only $7,000; a big departure from the paydays he experienced during his days of NASCAR racing.

 

Another big part of Leffler’s life was Charlie Dean, his son with Alison East. They divorced leaving time with Charlie Dean at a premium for Leffler. Charlie Dean was five-years-old at the time of his father’s death and they resided in North Carolina.  Continue reading →