Hometown:
Elmhurst, Ill.
Competed:
1956-72Starts: 158
Wins: 26
Poles: 32
Despite often competing in only a partial schedule of events, Fred
Lorenzen was one of NASCAR’s first true superstars. In 1964, he entered only 16 of the
scheduled 62 races but won eight, including five consecutively – and finished
13th in the NASCAR premier series standings.
In
1965, he won two of NASCAR’s “major” events – the Daytona 500 and the World
600.
Lorenzen
was extremely popular with fans, and was given several
nicknames by the media, inclduing “The Golden Boy,” “Fearless Freddie” and “The Elmhurst Express.”
Lorenzen,
now living in Oakwood, Ill., retired in 1967 at the age of 33 but made a brief
comeback from 1970-72. He didn’t win a race those last three years but he did
post 11 top-five finishes along with capturing two poles.
In
1998, he was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers.
This is the latest in a series of GodfatherMotorsports.com biographies profiling the 25 nominees for the 2012 class of the NASCAR Hall Of Fame. Each of the 25 candidates will be profiled in the coming weeks, in alphabetical order.
In July of 1963 my Dad took me to my first NASCAR event at Old Bridge Stadium/Speedway in NJ, and it was where I went drag racing in high school till it closed down and Raceway Park opened. Fireball Roberts won that day, but we liked Freddie Lorenzen. It was a grand day. I built models of his '63 Ford that year, and I can remember sitting in my bedroom assembling one like it was today.
ReplyDeleteNow that I'm at the point where those memories are fading, I wanted to share it because those stories need to be remembered. It was a grand time. It wasn't very safe for racing, but it was a grand time nonetheless.
Thanks for reading.
I hope he is voted in.
Doug from NJ
Thank you for sharing Doug! I'll tell my Dad! Sincerely, Amanda (Fred's daughter) friend him on Facebook to share your story and hear great ones too!
ReplyDelete