Fred Lorenzen

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**Fred Lorenzen**

Born:	December 30, 1934 (age 72)
Birthplace:	Elmhurst, Illinois
Awards:	1998 Named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers 2001 inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Statistics
158 races run over 12 years.
Best Cup Position:	3rd - 1963 (Grand National)
First Race:	1956 (Langhorne Speedway)
Last Race:	1972 Old Dominion 500 (Martinsville)
First Win:	1961 Grand National 200 (Martinsville)
Last Win:	1966 American 500 (Martinsville)
Wins	Top Tens	Poles
26	84	32

Fred Lorenzen (born December 30, 1934 in Elmhurst, Illinois), is a former NASCAR driver. He first caught the car bug young, and had built his first car at the age of 13. After graduating from high school, he began racing modifieds and late models, and made his NASCAR debut in 1956 at Langhorne Speedway, finishing 26th after suffering a broken fuel pump, winning $25. After that, his career took off, as he won 26 races and 32 poles, before announcing his surprise retirement in 1967. He came back in 1970, although he never ran a full schedule running a Plymouth Superbird owned by L.G. DeWitt. His last start came at the 1972 Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Fred was nicknamed "The Golden Boy" , "Fast Freddie" and "Flyin Freddy".

1 The Yellow Banana
2 Awards
3 Quotes
4 External link

[edit] The Yellow Banana

In his final years he drove a Junior Johnson owned #26 Ford and it was one of the most talked about vehicles in NASCAR Grand National Competition to this day. The front end of the car was sloped downward, the roofline was lowered, the sidewindows were narrowed and the windshield was lowered in an aerodynamic position and the tail was kicked up. Several rival drivers referred to it as "The Yellow Banana", "Junior's Joke", and "The Magnafluxed Monster". Even though it was against the rules NASCAR allowed the car to compete and Lorenzen crashed while leading the Dixie 500 on the 139th lap. One pit crew member said after the incident "No wonder" he said, "I ain't never seen anybody who could drive a banana at 150 mile an hour"

[edit] Awards

He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2001.
He was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998.

[edit] Quotes

"When NASCAR lost(Fireball Roberts) it was like Santa Claus doesn't exist at Christams and it just too everything out of the race"--Lorenzen thoughts on Fireball Robert's death.