One of the greatest racecar drivers to ever strap into a NASCAR Cup Series stock car, Fred Lorenzen has passed away at the age of 89. NASCAR confirmed the passing of the Class of 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame driver via a statement from Jim France, NASCAR’s Chairman and CEO.
France gave a tip of the cap to Lorenzen, a native of Elmhurst, Illinois, who helped NASCAR expand its fanbase in the early years of the sanctioning body’s existence.
“Fred Lorenzen was one of NASCAR’s first true superstars. A fan favorite, he helped NASCAR expand from its original roots,” 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, the 1965 Daytona 500 champion and two-time Coca-Cola 600 race winner, captured 26 victories over a 158-race NASCAR Cup Series career, where he raced part-time for the legendary Holman-Moody Racing team.
25 of Lorenzen’s 26 race wins came from behind the wheel of the No. 28 Holman-Moody Ford.
If you remove the 55 DNFs that Lorenzen recorded due to mechanical failures over his career from the equation, the driver notched a 25.2% winning percentage.
Driving in only 29 of the 55 races in 1963, Lorenzen finished the season third in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings. Outside of NASCAR, Lorenzen captured two championships in the USAC Stock Car Series. Those championships came in 1958, and 1959.
In 2016, Lorenzen, who suffered from dementia pledged to donate his brain to science upon his death. Lorenzen credited Dale Earnhardt Jr., who made a similar pledge, for inspiring him to help the medical community research concussions and head injuries sustained by race car drivers.
