Speedway, Indiana (December 19, 2024)………Fred Lorenzen, the talented, handsome and articulate racer who captured back-to-back USAC Stock Car championships in 1958 and 1959, passed away on Wednesday, December 18, 2024. He was 89 years old.
Hailing from Elmhurst, Illinois, Lorenzen gathered a bushel basket of nicknames from Fearless Freddy to Fast Freddie and the Elmhurst Express. Yet, the one moniker that seemed to capture it all was “The Golden Boy.”
Born on December 30, 1934, Frederick Lorenzen Jr. graduated from York High School in Elmhurst and made his first appearance in a stock car at Chicago’s Soldier Field in 1953. Just three years later, he was the Soldier Field track champion and also found success at O’Hare Stadium. Also in 1956, he tried his luck with NASCAR and USAC to limited success. While the results may not have been immediately forthcoming on the national scene, he continued to shine in the greater Chicago area.
The 1958 season was a breakout year. He dominated at O’Hare, taking the championship and caught many off-guard with his performances in USAC competition. With Holman-Moody power under the hood, Fred won five of the seven events he entered and emerged as the USAC champion. The following year, he snared six wins and already had a second title in his back pocket before the year had ended.
With NASCAR in 1960, he displayed flashes of brilliance, but it was a struggle to stay afloat. Then on Christmas Eve, he received a call that changed his life. He was offered a seat in the Holman-Moody entry. Fred immediately demonstrated that the principals in this powerhouse team had made a wise choice. From 1962 to 1965, he was arguably NASCAR’s top driver, and in 1963, he became the first driver to top $100,000 in winnings in a single year.
Hugely popular with fans, in 1965, he was victorious in the Daytona 500. This was but one of many signature wins. Some consider Lorenzen to be NASCAR’s first superstar. He won 26 times and notched 32 pole positions in his NASCAR career.
Fred essentially walked away from the sport in 1967 but soon realized that he had stepped away while still in his prime. He returned in 1970 but retired for good in 1972. Even with a short career by today’s standards, his body of work was so impressive that he was voted as one of NASCAR’s all-time top-50 drivers in 1998.
In his two USAC championship years, Lorenzen won 11 times in just 20 starts. His 12th and final USAC win came in the 1964 Yankee 300 on the road course at Indianapolis Raceway Park where he topped Parnelli Jones. At the conclusion of his racing career, Fred became a successful real estate broker in his hometown.
