Louis "Lou" Lazzaro (January 7, 1935 – May 1, 2000) was an American Modified racing driver. Equally adept on both dirt and asphalt surfaces, he raced from Daytona to Canada, and is credited with over 250 feature wins in a career that spanned six decades.[2][3]
| Lou "the Monk" Lazzaro | |
|---|---|
| Born | Louis P. Lazzaro January 7, 1935 Utica, New York |
| Died | May 1, 2000 (aged 65) |
| Modified racing career | |
| Debut season | 1952 |
| Car number | 4 |
| Championships | 10 |
| Wins | 250+ |
| Finished last season | 2000 |
| Championship titles | |
| 1968, 1971 All-Star Racing League Champion 1969, 1971, 1972 NASCAR NY Modified Champion[1] | |
Racing career
editKnown as "the Monk" to his fans, Lou Lazzaro started racing in 1952 at the Columbia Speedway near Utica, New York, when the driver of a Hobby class car he was crewing refused to help fix the car after a wreck. Lazzaro claimed his first Hobby class feature event win in 1955 at the Brewerton Speedway NY, and by 1959 had joined with 3 other friends to field his signature maroon and white Modified, aptly numbered "4".[4][5][6]
The quartet garnered their first Modified feature win the next year at Victoria Speedway NY.[7] Lazzaro went on to capture the 1962 and 1964 track championships at the venue, and over his career claimed four championships at the Fonda Speedway NY, three at the Utica-Rome Speedway NY, and one at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway NY. The Monk also competed successfully at the Daytona International Speedway FL, the Syracuse Mile NY, and the Weedsport Speedway NY.[4][8][9]
Lou Lazzaro suffered a stroke while racing at the Fonda Speedway on April 29, 2000, from which he did not recover. He was inducted into the Eastern Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame, the New York State Stock Car Association Hall of Fame, and the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame.[1][2][4]
References
edit- ^ a b Boggie, Tom (April 2, 1993). "Shoemaker enters Dirt Hall of Fame". The Daily Gazette. p. D6. Retrieved March 22, 2024 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b Zupan, Doug (December 16, 2000). "Lou Lazzaro NYSSCA Hall of Fame induction". Motorsport.com. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
- ^ Robbins, Seth (February 18, 2017). "Firing up racin history at annual parade of driving legends". The Daytona Beach News-Journal . Retrieved March 23, 2024.
- ^ a b c "EMPA Hall of Fame-Lou Lazzaro". Eastern Motorsport Press Association. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
- ^ O'Brien, Dick (August 23, 1990). "Lazzaro drives his maroon No. 4 into Fonda's Hall of Fame". Syracuse Herald-Journal. p. C4. Retrieved March 20, 2024 – via NewspaperArchive.
- ^ Moshier, Ron (2023). Lazzaro the Man and His Machines. Coastal 181. ISBN 9781736256138.
- ^ Boggie, Tom (May 18, 1984). "Honoring the Monk". The Daily Gazette. p. 32. Retrieved March 23, 2024 – via Google Books.
- ^ Mitchell, Charlie (October 22, 1978). "Lazzaro victorius in Middletown 200". The Hour. p. 22. Retrieved March 23, 2024 – via Google Books.
- ^ Guest, Gary (August 3, 1977). "Lazzaro wins Schaffer qualifier". The Post-Star. p. 18. Retrieved March 23, 2024 – via NewspaperArchive.