Frederick Lorenzen Jr. (born December 30, 1934), nicknamed The Golden Boy, Fast Freddie, The Elmhurst Express and Fearless Freddy, is a former
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
driver from
Elmhurst, Illinois
Elmhurst is a city mostly in DuPage County and overlapping into Cook County in the U.S. state of Illinois, and a western suburb of Chicago. As of 2021, the city has an estimated population of 47,260.
History
Members of the Potawatomi Native A ...
. Active from 1958 to 1972, he won 26 races including
1965 Daytona 500.
Early life
Fred Lorenzen was 15 years of age when he and his
Elmhurst, Illinois
Elmhurst is a city mostly in DuPage County and overlapping into Cook County in the U.S. state of Illinois, and a western suburb of Chicago. As of 2021, the city has an estimated population of 47,260.
History
Members of the Potawatomi Native A ...
friends competed in a contest to see who could flip a 1937 Plymouth over first by cranking it around in circles. Lorenzen claimed to be the victor of that confrontation.
NASCAR
Early career
After graduating from high school, Lorenzen began racing
modifieds
Modified stock car racing, also known as modified racing and modified, is a type of auto racing that involves purpose-built cars simultaneously racing against each other on oval tracks. First established in the United States after World War II, ...
and late models, and made his NASCAR debut in 1956 at
Langhorne Speedway
Langhorne Speedway was an automobile racetrack in Middletown Township, Bucks County, near the borough of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, a northern suburb of Philadelphia.
According to the book ''Langhorne! No Man's Land'' by L. Spencer Riggs: "With a ...
, 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
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
.
The Holman Moody Years
On
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation ...
1960, Lorenzen received a phone call from team owner
Ralph Moody
Ralph Moody (September 10, 1917 – June 9, 2004) was an American stock car racer. He eventually became a team co-owner of Holman Moody.
Background
He built his first Model T Ford race car in 1935, and ran it on nights and weekends. He served ...
that would change his career. Moody asked Lorenzen about becoming his team's lead driver. A surprised Lorenzen accepted, albeit curious as to what he'd done to fulfill Moody's criteria to be part of his team.
In 1961, Lorenzen began winning races in what would become a remarkable career. For five years from 1961 till 1966, Lorenzen dominated NASCAR like few other drivers ever would winning many major races and defeating the best drivers of his day.
In his maiden season with Holman Moody, Lorenzen won: the Grand National 200 at Martinsville; the Rebel 300 at Darlington and the Festival 250 at Atlanta. There was no doubt that Lorenzen would challenge the all-time greats for the top prizes in NASCAR.
Lorenzen's winning streak (1962–1967)
In 1962, Lorenzen won the Atlanta 500 and a race at Augusta Speedway. The 1962 Ford was troubled at the start of the season by inferior aerodynamics, a serious problem that was rectified with a more streamlined roof halfway into the season.
In 1963, Lorenzen soared to the top and became the top money-winner and the first to break the $100,000 barrier in one season. In that amazing year, Lorenzen won: the Atlanta 500, the World 600; the Volunteer 500, the Western North Carolina 500; the Mountaineer 300 and the Old Dominion 500 bringing his total winnings to $122,000.
In 1964, Lorenzen won: the
Southeastern 500
The Food City Dirt Race is an annual 250-lap, NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. This is one of two NASCAR races held at Bristol, the other being the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. It was the ...
at Bristol; the Atlanta 500; the Gwyn Staley 400 at North Wilkesboro; the
Virginia 500
The Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 is an annual 400-lap NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at the Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia. It had no name from 1950 to 1955, before taking the name Virginia 500 in 1956. It is the first o ...
at Martinsville; the
Rebel 300 at Darlington; the
Volunteer 500
The Bass Pro Shops Night Race is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. It is one of two NASCAR Cup Series races held at Bristol, the other being the Food City Dirt Race, but it is by far the mor ...
; the
Old Dominion 500
The Xfinity 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car racing, stock car race held at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia. The race is traditionally held in the fall and has been run in every NASCAR Cup Series season, starting with the sixth e ...
and the
National 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway; six of those races are current "classics" on the Sprint Cup Circuit as of 2013.
In 1965 Lorenzen won: the Daytona 500; the Virginia 500; the World 600 and the National 400.
In 1966 Lorenzen won: the Old Dominion 500 and the American 500 at Rockingham, North Carolina.
In 1967 Lorenzen won: the
Daytona 500 Qualifier (until 1971, the races currently called the Budweiser Duels were points races).
Lorenzen compiled an amazing record of wins that clearly made him the dominant driver of NASCAR during a very significant portion of its Golden Era.
The Yellow Banana
In one race in 1966 at
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly known Atlanta International Raceway from 1960 to 1990) is a 1.54-mile entertainment facility in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Cup Series ...
, he drove a
Junior Johnson
Robert Glenn Johnson Jr. (June 28, 1931 – December 20, 2019), better known as Junior Johnson, was an American NASCAR driver of the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966. In the 1970s and 1980s, he became ...
-owned No. 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.
Comeback
He came back in 1970, driving a
Dodge Daytona
The Dodge Daytona is an automobile which was produced by the Chrysler Corporation under their Dodge division from 1984 until 1993. It was a front-wheel drive hatchback based on the Chrysler G platform, which was derived from the Chrysler K platfo ...
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
Robert Glenn Johnson Jr. (June 28, 1931 – December 20, 2019), better known as Junior Johnson, was an American NASCAR driver of the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966. In the 1970s and 1980s, he became ...
No. 98
Ford Torino Talladega
The Ford Torino Talladega is a muscle car that was produced by Ford only during the first few weeks of 1969. It was named for the Talladega Superspeedway, which opened the same year. The Talladega was a special, more aerodynamic version of the T ...
in that year's
Southern 500
The Southern 500, officially known as the Cook Out Southern 500 for sponsorship reasons, is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, United States. The race distance is and consists of 367 laps. Fro ...
, as Yarbrough had a prior Indy car commitment. In 1971, he moved over to the Ray Nichels/Paul Goldsmith owned No. 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 Brothers prior to the Southern 500. In 1972, he hooked up with Hoss Ellington driving a
Chevrolet Monte Carlo
The Chevrolet Monte Carlo is a two-door coupe that was manufactured and marketed by the Chevrolet division of General Motors. Deriving its name from the city in Monaco, the Monte Carlo was marketed as the first personal luxury car of the Chevr ...
, to little success. His last start came at the 1972
Old Dominion 500
The Xfinity 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car racing, stock car race held at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia. The race is traditionally held in the fall and has been run in every NASCAR Cup Series season, starting with the sixth e ...
at
Martinsville Speedway
Martinsville Speedway is a NASCAR-owned stock car racing short track in Ridgeway, Virginia, just south of Martinsville. At in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in ...
.
Later life
Lorenzen now lives in assisted living in a suburb of Chicago surrounded by his family. In his heyday from 1962–65, Lorenzen was the top driver in NASCAR. On the super speedways, Lorenzen defeated all of his competition to compile an unprecedented streak of wins in major races. Racing for money instead of points, Lorenzen never competed for the annual Grand National championship, but he won the big races that made him the uncrowned King of NASCAR during its golden years. Lorenzen's countless fans waited for a long time for Lorenzen's brilliant career to be recognized with his induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Awards
*He was inducted in the
Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycles, Sp ...
in 2001.
[Fred Lorenzen]
at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycles, Sp ...
*He was named one of
NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers
NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers is an alphabetical list of NASCAR drivers.
In 1998, as part of its 50th anniversary celebration, NASCAR gathered a panel to select the "50 Greatest NASCAR Drivers of All Time." It was inspired in part by the NBA's dec ...
in 1998.
*He was inducted into the
NASCAR Hall of Fame
The NASCAR Hall of Fame, located in Charlotte, North Carolina, honors drivers who have shown expert skill at NASCAR driving, all-time great crew chiefs and owners, broadcasters and other major contributors to competition within the sanctioning ...
in January 2015.
Quotes
*"When NASCAR lost
Fireball Roberts
Edward Glenn "Fireball" Roberts Jr. (January 20, 1929July 2, 1964) was an American stock car racer.
Background
Roberts was born in Tavares, Florida, and raised in Apopka, Florida, where he was interested in both auto racing and baseball. He was ...
it was like Santa Claus doesn't exist at Christmas and it just took everything out of the race"—Thoughts on Fireball Roberts' death.
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (
Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Grand National Series
Winston Cup Series
=Daytona 500
=
References
External links
*
*
Fred Lorenzen Wins
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lorenzen, Fred
1934 births
International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees
Living people
NASCAR drivers
People from Elmhurst, Illinois
Racing drivers from Chicago
Racing drivers from Illinois
USAC Stock Car drivers
NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees