Fred Lorenzen, longtime NASCAR Ford factory driver and Hall of Famer, died on December 18th, 2024. His accomplished racing career peaked in the 1960s when he won 26 races and raced for Holman-Moody, a successful racing team allied with The Blue Oval. In fact, Lorenzen brought a 1965 Ford race car to Victory Lane when he won the 1965 Daytona 500.
Lorenzen was born on December 30th, 1934. He was raised in Elmhurst, Illinois, and caught the racing bug after listening to motorsports broadcasts on his father’s car radio. Young Lorenzen was captivated and found his way to the drag racing world at 19 years old. He spent four years racing straight line machines before transitioning to oval track stock car racing in 1959. When not tearing up the track in a race car, Lorenzen was a carpenter by trade.
During the 1963 season, Lorenzen became the first driver in NASCAR history to bring in over $100,000 in prize money in a single season. Because of his prowess behind the wheel, Fred Lorenzen earned the nicknames “Fearless Freddie” and eventually became known as NASCAR’s “Golden Boy” due to his dashing good looks and magnetic personality off the track.
Fred Lorenzen understood the importance of Pit Road performance and spent time off the track coaching his pit crew during an era where such practice was not common. He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2015.
“Fred Lorenzen was one of NASCAR’s first true superstars,” said Jim France, CEO and Chairman of NASCAR. “A fan favorite, he helped NASCAR expand from its original roots. 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.”
We are deeply saddened by the passing of Fred Lorenzen, a true NASCAR legend and a cornerstone of Ford’s racing history. Fred’s hands-on approach, talent and charisma helped shape the sport, earning him iconic victories and a rightful place in the hearts of fans and the NASCAR… pic.twitter.com/qsaTsJUUYg
— Ford Performance (@FordPerformance) December 18, 2024
He added, “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 family and friends of Fred Lorenzen.”
Comments
Fred Lorenzen was a big hero to me….not only did win $100,000 in 63. first in Nascar .not running all the races,,,he also when he retired first to win on all the Nascar Superspeedways …and was the leader in Superspeedway wins…when he first retired in 1967….he never went out for the point title….and probably could have won some of those if he tried….His longtime Ford Sponsor was never me Lafayette Ford….and glad to see him win and attended his Nascar Hall of Fame with his fans and family in 2015
Saw homeboy Fred win the 500 on the big screen in Chicago.