Where is ... Fred Lorenzen? (cont'd)

Fireball Roberts' star was on the rise at the same time as Lorenzen's. The winner of 33 races between 1956 and 1964, Roberts also never ran a full slate of races and therefore was never crowned champion. Still, he was a star.

Roberts was a star, as it so horribly turned out, that flickered out far too soon. The driver would linger for more than a month after sustaining burns in a crash at Charlotte on May 24, 1964, before passing away on July 2.

And if Roberts' death had an effect on the racing world in general, it particularly touched Lorenzen. Asked if Roberts' tragedy had an impact on him, and Lorenzen answers simply, "Yep ... did," and leaves it at that. How did he react to the loss of his fellow competitor?

"It hurt," Lorenzen admitted. "He was a very good friend of mine, very close. I saw it happen. I saw it coming, the accident. He didn't have a fire suit on."

Lorenzen ran just 40 races over the three years after Roberts' accident, and while he won 10 of them, he quit after starting five of the first 10 races in 1967. At the time, it was said that Lorenzen left the sport due to stomach ulcers.

According to Lorenzen, the loss of his friend Roberts "might have" contributed at least in small part to his decision to retire. Other than that, he figured it was just time.

"Tired of traveling," Lorenzen said. "I'd won everything I'd set out to. I got burned out."

Still, Lorenzen came back into the NASCAR fold to make 29 more starts from 1970 through 1972. He didn't win, but settled for a couple of runnerup finishes at Dover and Darlington. He had "unburned" out, and gotten "tired of doing nothing."

He ran his last race at Martinsville, in September 1972, at the age of 37. Was he satisfied with his comeback?

"Not really," he began. "But you've got to take into consideration, the big thing is age. The older you get, the slower you get. That's my opinion. 25, 27 years old ... that's the peak of your career in auto racing."

Lorenzen is a member of more than one motorsports hall of fame, and should almost assuredly be inducted at some point into the NASCAR Hall of Fame once it opens a few years down the road. Ultimately, how does Lorenzen want to be remembered?

"As a good driver," Lorenzen said. "If you want to be the best and be good, you've got to put everything else aside and go for it. Anybody can go to the top if they want to bad enough. If you want it bad enough, you've gotta give everything else up and go for it."