NASCAR Hall of Fame member Fred Lorenzen has passed away. He was 89 years old.
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The sanctioning body issued a statement on Dec. 18 announcing the news and expressing condolences to the family.
"Fred Lorenzen was one of NASCAR's first true superstars," NASCAR CEO Jim France said. "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."
According to the Hall of Fame, Lorenzen got his start as a mechanic for Holman-Moody in 1960. However, he took over as lead driver for the team that season. In 1961, Lorenzen reached victory lane for the first time at Martinsville Speedway and then he added two more wins to his resume at Darlington Raceway and Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Lorenzen only started 158 Cup races in his career and he never ran a full season. However, he won 26 races while posting 75 top-five finishes and 84 top-10s. He also won the pole 32 times.
Some of the successes included wins in crown jewel races. Lorenzen won the World 600 — now the Coca-Cola 600 — in 1963 and '65. He also won the Daytona 500 in 1965.
Lorenzen's best season was in 1963. He only started 29 of the 55 races, but he posted six wins. He also finished inside the top 10 in 23 of these races. Lorenzen ended the season third in the standings behind champion Joe Weatherly and Richard Petty.
One season later, the Illinois native won eight of the 16 races that he started. He led 2,375 laps, including 494 at Bristol and 487 at Martinsville.
