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NASCAR HALL-OF-FAME INDUCTION CEREMONYJanuary 30, 2015Amanda GardstromChris LorenzenCHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA KERRY THARP: Representing 2015 inductee Fred Lorenzen is his daughter Amanda Gardstrom and son Chris Lorenzen. Fred Lorenzen is from Elmhurst, Illinois. He's one of the first NASCAR drivers that came from outside of the south and he did it in a big way, won 26 races, and his career winning percentage of almost 17 percent of the races he entered, he won. That's fifth best all‑time. That's pretty incredible. We're privileged to have Amanda and Chris here with us, and Amanda, I'll start with you. Just talk about the significance of having your dad inducted into the Hall of Fame and what this means to you both personally and then also I know it's got to mean a lot to your dad, too. AMANDA GARDSTROM: What it means to me is just it's been a wonderful experience to be here with our dad with a huge group of wonderful race car drivers along the way. The fact that he's been‑‑ he's inducted and with us today is just a true treasure, and it's been a priceless experience just to be part of this here tonight, so thank you. KERRY THARP: Chris, I'll ask you the same thing. Talk about what this means to you and your family. CHRIS LORENZEN: I don't want to sound too repetitive, but yeah, having him here so he can be part of this great honor is just a phenomenal thing. Amanda and I both sort of knew it was going to happen at some point, but the sooner it was going to happen was really important, at least for us, so we were just very happy that he was able to make it down here and is here to see it himself. Q. What is the greatest personal memory for both of you that you have of your father? AMANDA GARDSTROM: That's an on‑the‑spot question, but if I had to answer it on the spot, there's a lot of good memories that we had with our dad, but I think one that kind of would translate to him and what he's meant to the sport and what it took to get to where he was, he never really told Chris and I that he was this famous race car driver. He was very humble our whole lives. But the thing that he did was he raised us with the same‑‑ raised us with the same character and morals that he had, the determination, that if you love something, you go after it, and you never give up and you keep, keep, keep going. And I remember, I think about it now, and it wasn't a big deal at the time, but now I see it as it was something my dad was doing for me to be a successful basketball player. I was just in high school and he would get me home from basketball practice, and then he'd say, get on your shoes, let's go back outside and shoot some more because if you want to be a champion, you've got to do more. If you want to be good at something you've got to do a little bit more than everybody else. So looking back now, it is what he did. He did a little bit more, he put in a little bit more in, he went the extra mile and I think taught my brother and I that if we wanted to be successful in every way in our lives that we had to give it everything and then a little more. CHRIS LORENZEN: Yeah, similar answer. I tried to focus my speech a little bit tonight off of sort of the basis of what Amanda is talking about here, and that is he always said, Chris, Amanda, as long as you work hard, the sky's the limit. Anything is possible. Nothing can stop anybody if you put your mind to it. And the other thing was don't ever let anyone say that you can't do something. Your life is there for you to make whatever your heart is set on doing. Q. With all the background and successful background and as a race driver your father had, you are not planning to start yourself as a racing career, maybe not as a race driver but as a team owner? CHRIS LORENZEN: That's a good question. Obviously my dad and anybody else in this sport, there's a lot of risk to that, and I think‑‑ I'm in the financial trading business, so I just decided to apply taking risks rather than my body on the track, I'd rather do it in the markets. But growing up in the Chicagoland area, I think we were just slightly removed from the sport in the '70s and '80s growing up. Had we been living down south, you never know what's possible. Q. I follow you on Facebook and I know that you guys have both talked about your father's battles with dementia and how racing helps him through that. Asking this delicately, him being here tonight, how did he appreciate, enjoy it? Could you sense that it helped him? AMANDA GARDSTROM: That's a great question. We weren't really sure. I'm going to speak candidly tonight. We weren't really sure what was going to happen when he came in. Was he going to recognize everybody, was he going to be tired, what was going to happen, and last night when we brought him into the reception it was fantastic.  His eyes light up any time he sees anybody. He saw Junior, his eyes were lighting up. As a child of someone that is struggling with dementia, to see him have these connections is‑‑ it gets me teared up even to talk about, so it was fantastic, and I think the connections with racing with his brain from it being a long time ago are much clearer than today. But just going back to see‑‑ there's something special in his eyes this weekend, so that's a big thank you to everybody that was a part of it. CHRIS LORENZEN: Yeah, I think there's a lot of photos taken obviously of him this whole weekend, and most all of the pictures are going to have this glow, a very just huge glow on his face, and it's clearly because he remembers everything from his past. AMANDA GARDSTROM: We haven't seen him smile this much in a long time, so it's terrific. Q. Was there a point when you both realized that this guy wasn't just your father but he was this superstar in a sport? And also for Chris, did he really outrun a tornado? AMANDA GARDSTROM: That was for real. It was really right in back of us. CHRIS LORENZEN: When was the first time we really realized his career? I think it was actually when we were down in Charlotte. I think I was only eight or nine. AMANDA GARDSTROM: I wasn't there. It was just you. CHRIS LORENZEN: I remember getting out of the car when we drove up to the speedway. We were coming for a race. We got out of the car, we're headed inside, and all of a sudden these people said, oh, my God, is that Freddie Lorenzen over there, and flocks and flocks of people came running. At nine years old, I'm like, what is going on here in Chicago my dad is popular but not like this. So it was just amazing that coming down here as a nine year old for the first time with him, it was just unbelievable to see all these people just come running at him because he hadn't been down here for a while. AMANDA GARDSTROM: For me it was a little bit different because he didn't take us‑‑ he did not want to go back to the tracks often because it hurt him too bad if he wasn't going to be in the car driving. And mine didn't come until just recently when dad started‑‑ his health was declining and we were kind of trying to figure out what we were going to do. I started to read the fan mail that still comes in, and talking to folks and different races that he's been through, the letters and the things that people would say about him being an inspiration‑‑ grown men writing letters about how he was an inspiration. One guy said he kept a picture of my dad in his helmet in Vietnam and different things that kept people going. The fact that my dad was so inspiring to people and me reading about it was the moment that I thought, wow, he's more than just my dad that had some trophies in the basement. That was the time, and that was just several years ago. He's always been very humble. KERRY THARP: Amanda and Chris, congratulations to you and your family on your father being inducted into the 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame. Certainly an honor that you all will hold close to your hearts forever. Thank you for being here tonight. Before we leave, let's go down below here and we have a couple of proclamations we'd like to present to you. First the city of Elmhurst, Illinois, declared Friday, January 30th, 2015, that today is Fred Lorenzen Day in the city of Elmhurst, Illinois, from mayor Steve Morely. And then also from Congressional award here from the house of representatives in the state of North Carolina, Richard Hudson, our esteemed Congressman, has presented you with a plaque recognizing your father's achievements, as well. If we could come down and get a picture. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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