Fred Lorenzen, NASCAR Hall of Famer and 1965 Daytona 500 champion, died Wednesday. He was 89 years old.
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NASCAR released a statement that Lorenzen had died and confirmed the death with his family. The cause of death was not given, but Lorenzen had been in poor health for years.
In 1998, he was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers.
One of NASCAR’s first superstars, Lorenzen was known as “Golden Boy” for his rugged, movie-star looks. He won 26 career Cup races and started in 12 seasons from 1956 to 1972.
“Fred Lorenzen was one of NASCAR’s first true superstars. A fan favorite, he helped NASCAR grow from its original roots. Fred was the perfect NASCAR star, helping to bring the sport to the big screen – which further increased NASCAR’s popularity during its early years,” NASCAR President Jim France said in a statement. “For many years, NASCAR’s ‘Golden Boy’ was also its gold standard, a fact that ultimately led him to the pinnacle of the sport, a rightful place in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.”
In 1964, Lorenzen competed in 16 of the 62 scheduled races and won eight of them, including five consecutive starts. During that stretch, Lorenzen led 1,679 of a possible 1,953 laps, one of the most dominant stretches in NASCAR history.
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He was the first NASCAR driver to earn more than $100,000 in a single season, which he did in 1963.
Lorenzen battled dementia in his later years and donated his brain to the Concussion Legacy Foundation.
Her daughter, Amanda Lorenzen Gardstrom, told the Associated Press in 2016 that she was convinced Lorenzen had a CTE years of brutal crashes and hits from the 1960s, one of the most dangerous eras in auto racing history.
“He never stopped healing,” she said.
His daughter said Lorenzen first showed signs of dementia around 2006. He suffered from memory loss and used a wheelchair at Oak Brook Healthcare in Illinois.
The Elmhurst, Ill., native was one of the first NASCAR stars to come from outside the sport’s Southern roots.
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“The hardest thing right now is his racing memories are starting to fade,” Gardstrom said in 2016. “That was the one thing that was really wonderful, connecting and seeing him light up when he was talking about racing.”
Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson was part of a 54-member panel that selected Lorenzen for his induction into the hall in 2015. Tony Stewart introduced Lorenzen during his induction into the hall.
“He was such a humble guy that I don’t think he ever realized the impact he had on the sport,” Gardstrom said.
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