|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NASCAR HALL-OF-FAME INDUCTION CEREMONYJanuary 29, 2014Matt McDanielWaddell WilsonCHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA KERRY THARP: At this time we're going to call up our final inductee, representing the family of Fireball Roberts is his grandson Matt McDaniel and former crew chief Waddell Wilson inducted Fireball here tonight, so we're going to call those folks up. Fireball Roberts, probably known as NASCAR's first superstar, 33 wins in the top series, '62 Daytona 500, he won two Southern 500s. Waddell Wilson built engines for many of those wins. Congratulations to the Fireball Roberts family, and Matt, representing your grandfather here tonight. What does it mean to be a part of this induction here this evening. MATT McDANIEL: It's definitely an honor to represent my grandfather.  I didn't ever think I'd get my chance to. But since our mom has passed away, it's left up to me and my sister, and she's passed the torch to me basically, and I'm happy to do it, very happy to do it. KERRY THARP: Waddell, certainly you built those engines. It was around a crew chief, so many of those wins with Fireball. Talk about what it means knowing that you played a role in him getting into the Hall of Fame. WADDELL WILSON: Well, first, I looked back on it and I remember him well, and he was an outstanding gentleman. At that time he was‑‑ Fireball Roberts was a household name, period. Working with him and learning from him, because when I went to work for Holman Moody, that was the first driver I worked with, and they put me on a race car the first week I was there. But he had just came from Smokey's in Daytona, that's when Chevrolet pulled out of racing, GM, and I can remember being at Daytona with him like in '63, and you talk about somebody that knew Daytona and drafting and all, he and probably Junior Johnson are the first two that figured it out better than anyone else. And there was a lot of guys that come down there to race Daytona, and they had been on nothing over a half mile if that, and they wanted to know about it, and Junior knew about it, and Junior would sit there on pit wall and explain detail by detail exactly how to get around Daytona, how to drive the race cars. I've never seen a driver before or since that would sit down and do that and tell people that could actually then later outrun him. He was trying to help the sport and teach everyone he could how to get around Daytona. I'll tell you a funny thing about him: We were at Daytona in '63, and he's always done the sign board. He'd tell me, wherever you go with that sign board I'm going to follow you. Then we had the old drum brakes, no pit road speed, so he's coming down pit road, and with a green‑flag stop, and he moved over in front of me, but when he was coming so fast, I didn't have no idea he wasn't going to be able to stop that race car. Running through my mind, I said, he's told me not to move. Wherever I go, he's going, and I can't go nowhere. I remember when he got close enough to me I jumped straight up, landed back on the windshield, and after the race, though, he never said a word about it. Q. Matt, it's painful that it was the loss of your grandfather that brought it on, but do you ever take solace in the fact of how many drivers and competitors' lives have been saved by the fact that once he passed in that accident, all of the safety that was pushed forward and brought to the sport for fireproof clothing and the self‑contained fuel cell and things like that, because of his misfortune? MATT McDANIEL: Oh, most definitely. That would just mean that his death wasn't in vain, I guess. Q. Waddell, you may have already touched on it, but what was the one biggest thing you learned from him that you were able to pass on to other people throughout your entire career in NASCAR. WADDELL WILSON: Well, the way he went about things. You know, he had a way of getting us working on the race cars and getting the things he needed done. He was so meticulous. Q. Your grandfather was one of the first NASCAR superstars. Are you operating something like a museum to keep the memory alive? And is anybody in your family still in racing? MATT McDANIEL: No, not at all. I didn't even really know I was Fireball Roberts' grandson until 1998. My mother put me up for adoption when I was born, and I went and found my biological parents, and in 1998 I realized I was Fireball Roberts' grandson. Q. Do you guys have any memorabilia around or anything? MATT McDANIEL: Oh, most definitely. I plan to do what my mother did and my grandmother before that, to keep his legacy alive, yes. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|