NASCAR Hall of Famer Fred Lorenzen died December 18, 2024 just days before his 90th birthday.  While no official cause of death was given, his family noted that Lorenzen had been battling dementia.

He has agreed to donate his brain to the Concussion Legacy Foundation and Boston University for the study of concussions in athletes.

A NASCAR driver in the ‘60’s, he won 26 races including the Daytona 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 twice in just 158 starts.  He was the first driver to win $100,000 in a single season.  He concentrated on the higher paying races and never ran a full season and was never eligible to compete for the championship.

Speaking on Lorenzen, NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France said, “Fred Lorenzen was one of NASCAR’s first true superstars. 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. 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.”

Nicknamed “the Golden Boy”, he was voted NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver twice.

He was born Frederick Lorenzen Jr on December 30, 1934 in Elmhurst, Illinois (about 20 miles from Chicago).  His interest in racing began by listening to the races on his father’s car radio in the backyard but he would be 19 before his first ride at age 19 in a drag race.

Lorenzen made his oval racing debut in 1956 but had little success in his own equipment and moved to racing USAC cars where he won the championship in 1958 and 59.  He became a regular winner at his home track of O’Hare Stadium.

In 1960, he made the move to NASCAR.

A common practice today, Lorenzen was one of the first driver/owners to hold coaching and practice for his pit crews.  While other drivers mocked him, Lorenzen consistently had faster pit stops that gained him positions on the track.

In a 2014 interview, daughter Amanda spoke on her Dad saying, “(other drivers) partied, they were out to go fast and live the life, but when my dad came in, he was business. After every time he won a race, he’d call the stock broker and want to know the best way to invest that. He insisted that his pit crew was ready to go at 7 o’clock in the morning every day — clean white suits and ready to work. They all worked, and they planned and had strategies as a team.”

Chief mechanic Herb Nab noted, “Freddie was a stickler. He worried about everything. He wanted everything to be just so. He was never satisfied unless it was. Maybe that was the key to his success. He wanted perfection, and he made sure he got it.”

Driving for Holman-Moody, Lorenzen won three times in 15 starts in 1961.  He also won the pole four times.

He retired at just 32 years of age, citing health issues and the demands of traveling to races.  He made a short-lived comeback in 1970 that lasted only 29 races over the next three seasons.

Along with being a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Lorenzen is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.

He is survived by his children Chris and Amanda.

Feature photo credit: Fred Lorenzen Holman Moody at the 2016 Freedom Race Car Show

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