| Fred Lorenzen | |||||||
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| Born | December 30, 1934 Elmhurst, Illinois |
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| Awards |
1998 Named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers |
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| NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career | |||||||
| 158 races run over 12 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 3rd - 1963 Grand National season | ||||||
| First race | 1956 untitled race (Langhorne Speedway) | ||||||
| Last race | 1972 Old Dominion 500 (Martinsville) | ||||||
| First win | 1961 Grand National 200 (Martinsville) | ||||||
| Last win | 1966 American 500 (Martinsville) | ||||||
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Fred Lorenzen (born December 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 was born in Elmurst, Illinois.
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Lorenzen 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. 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. The highlight of his career was winning the 1965 Daytona 500.
In one race in 1966 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, he drove a Junior Johnson-owned #26 Ford due to the Ford boycott of NASCAR for much of the 1966 season, and it is still 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 side windows 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." NASCAR let this very illegal car run in only one race, in an attempt to bring up attendance, which had suffered due to the Ford boycott.
He came back in 1970, driving a Dodge Daytona prepared by Ray Fox in the World 600(now the Coca-Cola 600), but dropped out while leading on lap 252 of 400 due to engine issues, 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 success. His last start came at the 1972 Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
| Preceded by Richard Petty |
Daytona 500 Winner 1965 |
Succeeded by Richard Petty |
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