RIP, Fred Lorenzen: NASCAR Star Who Changed the Sport Forever
f you are at all a NASCAR fan, likely you’re aware that Hall of Fame driver Fred Lorenzen died last week. Possibly you read the statement issued by NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France: “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.”
By “silver screen,” I can only guess that France is talking about the 1968 film Speed Lovers, a B-movie which actually stars Lorenzen, top-billed in the advertising as “The Nation’s Top Stock Car Racer.” It’s about a driver who falls in with gangsters trying to fix a race. Says a review on Amazon: “This poorly written and directed pic would interest no one who is not into 1960’s NASCAR racing (like I am). The best acting was done by stock car driver Fred Lorenzen, who played himself.” According to IMDb, Lorenzen was in three other movies, including I Love You, I Love You Not, in which Lorenzen plays a character named Fingers, but only Speed Lovers is about racing.
Of course, all that was a long time ago, though Lorenzen’s importance to NASCAR is undeniable. Coming from Chicago, he was among the first NASCAR winners who didn’t speak with a southern accent. Nicknamed “The Golden Boy” for his blonde hair and good looks, Lorenzen helped advance NASCAR beyond its hayseed perception and into a legitimate, national sport.
Before he was Hagerty’s “Barn Find Hunter,” Tom Cotter was a pioneer in motorsports public relations, particularly for NASCAR. He co-wrote a book about Holman-Moody, Ford’s legendary race team, for which Lorenzen drove. And as part of the research for that book, Cotter came to know Lorenzen.
The first thing you need to know about Fred Lorenzen is that he was a businessman. “Until Fred, no one in NASCAR had made more than $100,000 in a single season,” Cotter recalled. “He told me that when he got out of a car, he’d kiss the queen and take the trophy and smile, and then he’d go straight to a pay phone and call his broker about how to invest the money he just won.
