NASCAR Hall of Famer Fred Lorenzen has passed away at age 89.
He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015 after earning 26 wins in his NASCAR career, including the 1965 Daytona 500.
“Fred Lorenzen was one of NASCAR’s first true superstars. A fan favorite, he helped NASCAR expand from its original roots,” NASCAR Chairman & CEO Jim France said. “Fred was the picture-perfect NASCAR star, helping to bring the sport to the silver screen — which further grew NASCAR’s popularity during its early years. For many years, NASCAR’s ‘Golden Boy’ was also its gold standard, a fact that eventually led him to the sport’s pinnacle, a rightful place in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. On behalf of the France family and all of NASCAR, I want to offer our condolences to the friends and family of Fred Lorenzen.”
Lorenzen also accumulated 75 top fives and 84 top 10s in 158 starts.
He earned more than $100,000 in a single season in 1963, the first NASCAR driver to do so.
Joy joined Frontstretch in 2019 as a NASCAR DraftKings writer, expanding to news and iRacing coverage in 2020. She's currently an assistant editor and involved with photos, social media and news editing. A California native, Joy was raised watching motorsports and started watching NASCAR extensively in 2001. She earned her B.A. degree in Liberal Studies at California State University Bakersfield in 2010.
More people should know who Lorenzen was. Many things said about him would be repeated about Jeff Gordon 30 years later.
The first big track that I attended was the Rebel 300 (convertible race ) at Darlington,SC in 1961 . Fred past Curtis Turner with two laps two go and won the race. He was always a clean driver. R.I.P
Sad news to hear. A great driver RIP
He was my favorite driver after Fireball Roberts tragically died. Smooth on the track. This is a sad day for me as I lose a childhood hero. Those that didn’t get to see him race missed something.
First saw him race at Soldier Field in Chicago in the late 50s.