FREDRICK "FRED" LORENZEN - 12/30/1934
nicknamed The Golden Boy, Fast Freddie, The Elmhurst Express and Flyin' Freddy, is a former NASCAR driver active between 1958 and 1972. He won the 1965 Daytona 500. Lorenzen first caught the car bug young, and had built his first car at the age of 13. He moved to a USAC stock car, and won the 1958 and 1959 championships driving his Talarico Bros. built Chevrolet. He returned to NASCAR and won 26 races and 32 poles, before announcing his surprise retirement in 1967. From 1961 until 1967, Lorenzen drove the famous White and Blue #28 Ford for Holman and Moody. Under the guidance of legendary team co-owner Ralph Moody, Lorenzen became one of NASCAR's all-time best drivers. In 1963, he
became the first driver in racing to earn over $100,000 in a single season. He came back in 1970, driving a Dodge Daytona prepared by Ray Fox in the World 600, (now the Coca-Cola 600), running in a few more events that year, including substituting for LeeRoy Yarbrough in the Junior Johnson #98 Ford Torino Talladega in that year's Southern 500, as Yarbrough had a prior Indy car commitment. In 1971, he moved over to the Ray Nichels/Paul Goldsmith owned #99 Plymouth, sponsored by STP. He left that team part way through the season, and was badly injured in a practice crash while trying to drive for the Wood Bothers prior to the Southern 500. In 1972, he hooked up with Hoss Ellington driving a Chevrolet Monte Carlo, to little
1964
1970 Daytona 500
success. His last start came at the 1972 Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville Speedway. He retired at a very young age (38) and was in the prime of his career. He never was in competition for a CUP championship because mostly he just ran 15 or less races a year. He did run 29out of 55 races in 1963, and finished third in the points chase. Fireball Roberts and Fred Lorenzen were very good friends. Fred admitted that Fireball Roberts death played a part on why he retired young. Another reason Fred retired in 1967 was the fact he had stomach ulcers. For his career, he ran 12 season. He made 158 starts, and claimed 26 wins, and 75 top fives. Of the 87 races he completed, he finished in the top ten 84 times. He could wheel a car on the super speedways. He had 14 of his 26 wins on the big tracks, with several at Atlanta, and Charlotte. He was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest drivers in 1998. Some info from WikiPedia Also a video from YouTube; TNT's show the Pride of NASCAR
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