Fred Lorenzen
Encyclopedia
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
driver active between 1958 and 1972. He won the 1965
1965 Daytona 500
The 1965 Daytona 500 was won by Fred Lorenzen driving a 1965 Ford on February 14, 1965. Lorenzen drove his number 28 to victory in 2 hours and 23 minutes after starting the race in the fourth position. There were 3 cautions flags which slowed the race for 43 laps. Lorenzen won the rain shortened...
Daytona 500
Daytona 500
The Daytona 500 is a -long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is one of four restrictor plate races on the Cup schedule....
. Lorenzen was born in Elmurst
Elmhurst, Illinois
Elmhurst is a suburb of Chicago in DuPage and Cook Counties, Illinois. The population is 46,013 as of the 2008 US Census population estimate.-History:...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
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Early career
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 SpeedwayLanghorne Speedway
Langhorne Speedway was an automobile racetrack in Middletown Township, Bucks County, near the borough of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, a northern suburb of Philadelphia....
, finishing 26th after suffering a broken fuel pump, winning $25. He moved to a USAC
United States Automobile Club
The United States Auto Club is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, the USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapolis 500...
stock car, and won the 1958 and 1959 championships driving his Talarico Bros. built Chevrolet
Chevrolet
Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...
.
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
Ralph Moody
Ralph Moody was one of early drivers of NASCAR. However, he eventually became the most famous as team co-owner of Holman Moody.-Background:...
, 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.
The Yellow Banana
In one race in 1966 at Atlanta Motor SpeedwayAtlanta Motor Speedway
Atlanta Motor Speedway is a track just outside Hampton, Georgia, twenty miles south of Atlanta. It is a quad-oval track with a seating capacity of over 125,000. It opened in 1960 as a standard oval. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track...
, he drove a Junior Johnson
Junior Johnson
Robert Glenn Johnson, Jr. , better known as Junior Johnson, is a retired moonshiner in the rural South who became one of the early superstars of NASCAR in the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966...
-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.
Comeback
He came back in 1970, driving a Dodge DaytonaDodge Daytona
The first car that carried the Daytona name was a sporty version of the Studebaker Lark which was produced from 1963 to 1966 with standard bucket seats and available with an optional Studebaker Avanti V8 high-performance engine....
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
Junior Johnson
Robert Glenn Johnson, Jr. , better known as Junior Johnson, is a retired moonshiner in the rural South who became one of the early superstars of NASCAR in the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966...
#98 Ford Torino Talladega
Ford Torino Talladega
The Ford Torino Talladega was a car produced by the Ford Motor Company during the first few weeks of 1969, only. Ford's Talladega was actually named after the Talladega Superspeedway racetrack in Alabama, which also made its debut in 1969. The Ford Talladega was a special, more aerodynamic,...
in that year's Southern 500
Southern 500
The Showtime Southern 500 is the annual spring NASCAR Sprint Cup race held at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, USA, and is the second such event at Darlington to bear the name. It began in 1957 as a race in the Convertible Division, known as the Rebel 300. In 1966, the race was...
, 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
Chevrolet Monte Carlo
The Chevrolet Monte Carlo was an American-made two-door coupe introduced for model year 1970, and manufactured over six generations through model year 2007. It was marketed as a personal-luxury coupe through most of its history, with the last model version being classified as a full-sized coupe...
, to little success. His last start came at the 1972 Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville Speedway
Martinsville Speedway
Martinsville Speedway is an International Speedway Corporation-owned NASCAR stock car racing track located in Henry County, near Ridgeway, Virginia, just to the south of Martinsville. At in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved...
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Awards
- He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of AmericaMotorsports Hall of Fame of AmericaThe Motorsports Hall of Fame of America is a Hall of Fame and museum for American motorsports legends. It was originally located in Novi, Michigan and it moved to the Detroit Science Center in 2009.-Museum:...
in 2001. - He was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest DriversNASCAR's 50 Greatest DriversNASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers is a 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 decision to select the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History on its 50th...
in 1998.
Quotes
- "When NASCAR lost Fireball RobertsFireball RobertsEdward Glenn Roberts, Jr. , nicknamed "Fireball", was one of the pioneering race car drivers of NASCAR.-Background:...
it was like Santa Claus doesn't exist at Christmas and it just took everything out of the race" --Thoughts on Fireball Roberts' death.