"When I was thinking of this exhibit, I didn't really know much about him. And I realized that that was a reason to do this," says museum curator Lance Tawzer. "I called the (Charlotte, N.C.-based NASCAR) Hall of Fame and asked if it was worth doing an exhibit on him. Before I even finished asking, they were saying 'yes.'"

In the exhibit, Lorenzen's life and career are divided into more than a dozen categories, featuring his trophies, driving gear, video clips, even "For Sale" signs from his post-racing days as a successful real estate agent.

It's a deserving tribute from Elmhurst to Lorenzen, who throughout his career made a point of letting people know where he was from: It was Elmhurst, not Chicago.

"He told all the publicity people, 'Say I'm from Elmhurst,'" Tawzer says. "I've been talking to all these racing people, and I say I'm from Elmhurst. And they say they don't know Elmhurst, except that Fred Lorenzen was from here."

"I was proud of being from Elmhurst, racing in the South and doing well," says Lorenzen, who is now 78 and lives in a Bensenville assisted-living facility. "A lot of Southern guys (were) down there and didn't do well. I just hit it right, and we had such a good crew."

The exhibit closely examines the life of "Fearless Freddie." Born in 1934, Lorenzen and his family lived on Church Street in Elmhurst. His introduction to NASCAR was from listening to races on his father's car radio. He first entered NASCAR competition in 1956 and won the United States Auto Club stock car championship in 1958 and '59. He returned to NASCAR Sprint Cup competition in 1960, but had a disappointing season that threatened his career.

But on Christmas Eve of that year, he got an unexpected phone call from Ralph Moody, one of the top racing team owners, inviting Lorenzen to join the Ford Motor Co.-backed Holman-Moody team. It was the start of a productive and record-breaking partnership.

Lorenzen won three of the 15 races he entered the next year and won $30,000. His success is made all the more impressive by the fact that he never ran a full schedule of races. In 1963 he won six of the 29 races he entered, good for $122,587, making him the first NASCAR driver to win more than $100,000 in a season. His most remarkable season came in 1964, when he won eight of the 16 races he entered, including an amazing five in a row. And in 1965, he won NASCAR's crown jewel, the Daytona 500.

All those well-known accomplishments are featured in the exhibit, which runs until May 19. But less-familiar events also are noted. Such as the Yellow Banana.

During the 1966 season, owner Junior Johnson built an aerodynamically sleek Ford it sloped downward, had narrowed windows and a high rear and asked Lorenzen to drive it. It was yellow; thus the nickname. It also didn't meet NASCAR specs and ran in only one race, in which he crashed and finished 33rd.

"I didn't know much about it. Nobody even saw it till (Johnson) brought it out," Lorenzen says of the car. "He built the back up, so it'd be like a spoiler."

Lorenzen retired from racing in 1967, then returned in 1970 for three abbreviated seasons. He left the track for good in 1972.

"I was just tired of traveling all the time, living out of a suitcase," he says. "I was on the pole at Martinsville (Speedway in Virginia), and I said, 'This is it.' I thought that would be my last race. It just wasn't fun anymore."

Lorenzen's legacy is one of success on the track 26 victories and 84 top 10 finishes in just 158 races and a close relationship with his fans.

"He was a thinking man's driver," Tawzer says. "Others would mash the pedal down and get out ahead and try to hang on. He'd figure out how many pit stops he'd need if he stayed at a certain speed. Or he'd draft behind other cars . Or he would figure out when he needed to change tires."

"His blond hair and his Hollywood good looks made him a fan favorite," added NASCAR Hall of Fame historian Albert McKim via email. "He had one of the most loyal fan bases and was extremely popular during his career."

Lorenzen's family is hoping that his popularity, perhaps rekindled by the exhibit, will help get Lorenzen into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Already a member of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (2001), and named one of NASCAR's top 50 drivers in 1998, Lorenzen just missed election the last two years. (How fans can vote is explained at nascarhall.com/inductees/fan-vote ).

"So now it's, 'Let's get this done. It's due,'" says his daughter, Amanda Lorenzen Gardstrom. "I think this year or next will be the year. We'd rather see it sooner than later, for obvious reasons."