Fred Lorenzen of Elmhurst got his start in auto racing as an 18-year old racing stock cars at Soldier Field in Chicago in the early 1950s. His career took him all the way to NASCAR’s top races. For that and other milestones, he has been named to NASCAR’s 2015 Hall of Fame.
“He always had a passion for cars,” said his daughter, Amanda Lorenzen Gardstrom.
She also said that, after winning local United States Auto Club events in the late 1950s at both Soldier Field and at O’Hare Stadium, then a racing venue south of the airport, he shifted gears.
“He decided he wanted to try out NASCAR on his own,” she said, “but he went broke twice.”
However, Lorenzen, known as “Fearless Freddie” and also as “The Elmhurst Express,” never gave up, kept trying and finally connected with Ralph Moody of the famed Holman Moody Ford racing group. In late 1960, Moody offered him a ride driving in NASCAR events.
Lorenzen’s career with NASCAR was relatively short. Except for a brief comeback, he retired from racing in 1967, saying he was tired of the traveling and living out of hotels.
But in that short career, he had 158 NASCAR starts and 26 wins. His victories included the 1965 Daytona 500 and the World 600 that same year.
In 1998 he was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers.
Lorenzen is suffering from dementia, which his daughter thinks might be related to long-ago crashes. Some of his memories are not so clear. But the Hall of Fame induction in January was a special time for Lorenzen and his family.
“We all flew down to Charlotte,” Gardstrom said. “We were there for the whole weekend. I haven’t seen my dad so happy with a glow in his eyes and smiling for so long.
“He was so happy – he recognized all his old racing buddies. What a gift to give to a man who’s given so much to NASCAR. That was the best thing. He gets to have all these memories come back.”
Winston Kelley, executive director of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, said Lorenzen’s selection recognized his overall success both on and off the track and his contributions to the sport.
“He excelled on big tracks and big races,” Kelley said, noting that Lorenzen was the first driver to earn $100,000 in a season, doing so in 1963.
Kelley also noted Lorenzen’s Elmhurst roots.
“He was one of the first non-Southerners to come into NASCAR and have great success.”
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