Fitzgerald was also at one time the oldest driver to run a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race, being 65 years old when he ran in the 1987 Budweiser 400 at Riverside International Raceway for Hendrick Motorsports.
[6] After his retirement from Western Electric in 1980, Fitzgerald became an instructor at SCCA driving schools, which included helping NASCAR drivers prepare for the road courses Watkins Glen International and Sears Point Raceway.
A resident of Clemmons, North Carolina, Fitzgerald befriended NASCAR team owners Richard Childress and Rick Hendrick in the process,[6] eventually driving for the latter in the Winston Cup Series.
[4] Fitzgerald ran two races in the Winston Cup Series, both as a road course ringer at Riverside International Raceway, in 1986 with Bobby Wawak's team, and in 1987 with Hendrick Motorsports.
On lap three, Fitzgerald crashed his Nissan 300ZX Turbo into a Jersey barrier in turn 1 at over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h), according to fellow competitor Paul Gentilozzi.