NASCAR Fred Lorenzen

12 posts

Another Earnhardt for the NASCAR Hall of Fame?

Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Patriotic Chevrolet, gets into his car during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 25, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina Photo – Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

In his final season of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series racing, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won’t be eligible for the NASCAR Hall of Fame until the class of 2021, but the driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet SS is already looking in that direction. Continue reading

Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Formidable Legacy will Continue Off the Track

Dale Earnhardt Jr. gives a statement announcing his retirement from NASCAR after the 2017 season at the Hendrick Motorsports Team Center on April 25, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Photo – Mike Comer/Getty Images

The suddenness and finality of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Tuesday retirement announcement may have sent shock waves through the world of NASCAR racing, but from a global viewpoint, the timing couldn’t be more appropriate.

And it’s not as if NASCAR’s 14-time most popular driver will disappear from the stock car racing landscape when he stops driving a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series car at the end of the current season. Continue reading

#FordRacing has a Rich #NASCAR History at #Martinsville Speedway

After having a week off, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to action for the first of two races this season at Martinsville Speedway.  This marks the beginning of a stretch that will see two of the next three events take place on half-mile tracks.  Here’s a look at Ford’s history at Martinsville.

A FIRST FOR FRED
The first time Ford won a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway also marked the first career victory for 2015 NASCAR Hall of Famer Fred Lorenzen.  The date was April 9, 1961 and Lorenzen battled Rex White, who led the first 118 laps after starting on the pole.  Lorenzen, was driving for Holman-Moody when he grabbed the lead on lap 119 and held it until rain came ending the race prematurely after 149 circuits.  Little did anyone know that 54 years later both men would be enshrined into the NASCAR Hall of Fame as part of the same induction class.  Martinsville was a place Lorenzen dominated, winning six times, including four straight from 1963-65.  He was absolutely unbeatable in 1964 as he led 990 out of a possible 1,000 laps (487 in the first and 493 in the second) in winning both races. Continue reading