How these drivers got their nicknames is interesting. Glenn Roberts had a blazing fastball as a pitcher, thus the name, "Fireball."
And Ernie Irvan got his monicker from, Jimmy Means. Now, a lot of people think it was given to him by Dale Earnhartt but that isn't true. It was at Talledega in the late 1980's when Ernie was the major player in numerous wrecks and right about the time he caused the wreck that injured Kyle Petty. The wreck that caused Ernie to apologize at a driver meeting. Ernie had gone out for a practice run and was weaving in and out of traffic. Jimmy Means and Dale Earnhardt were watching when Jimmy turned to Dale and said, "look at Ernie out there. They ought to call him "swervin' Irvan!" Earnhardt, never one to pass up an opportunity to tease or joke, went through the garage and began calling Ernie Irvan, "Swervin' Irvan," and the name stuck.
Jimmy Means dislikes the name "Smut," a nickname given him by Bobby Allison very early in Jimmy's career. The name however, has absolutely nothing to do with with pornography as many immediately think upon hearing it.
This is Jimmy's version of how the name came about:
Jimmy had read an article on engine rebuilding written by "Smokey" Yunick. He showed the article to Bobby and said, "I could build something like that." Bobby saw an opportunity to tease Jimmy and jokingly replied, "Jimmy, you aren't a "Smokey". You aren't even a "smut." (defined as a small piece of soot or dirt). Bobby teased Jimmy, calling him "Smut," as they traveled to various tracks and the name stuck for awhile.
