BOSTON — Former NASCAR Cup Series driver Fred Lorenzen is the first driver to have a confirmed diagnosis of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).

Lorenzen was posthumously diagnosed with stage 3 CTE by researchers at the Boston University CTE Center, according to the Concussion & CTE Foundation on Tuesday. The foundation stated this is the first known, confirmed diagnosis in a driver.

Lorenzen died Dec. 18, 2024, at age 89, due to complications of dementia. In 2016, he pledged to donate his brain for research – leading to the analysis that found the diagnosis.

Lorenzen was first named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998 and one of the 75 Greatest in 2023. He was later inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015.

Another NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, Darrell Waltrip, was diagnosed with a brain disorder last month. Waltrip was diagnosed with Frontotemporal Degeneration (FTD), complicated by possible CTE.

Lorenzen, however, marks the first case of a driver with a confirmed CTE diagnosis.

Lorenzen earned 26 wins, 75 top-five finishes, 84 top-10 finishes and 32 poles in 156 starts. His career spanned 12 seasons, which included two top-10 points finishes despite only running over half of the races in a season in 1963. 

Lorenzen remains one of the most successful drivers in the Daytona 500 with eight top-10 finishes in nine starts, including seven top-five finishes and a win in 1965. He was successful in the big money, speedway races, which was reflected by fans selecting him as the most popular driver in 1963 and 1965.

Lorenzen's era is often billed by many as the golden age of true stock car racing. However, it was also defined by increased danger and health risks for drivers who raced without even a fraction of today's safety advancements, such as SAFER barriers and HANS devices. That made drivers more susceptible to injuries and the risk of CTE later in life.

CTE has become a hot topic in the sports world in football, wrestling, soccer and now auto racing. It happens as a result of cumulative, repeated hits to the head that physically damage brain tissue and trigger a breakdown of proteins in the brain.

While there are no other known cases of CTE in drivers, whether possible or confirmed, drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr. have pledged to donate their brain to advance research. Dale Jr. sat out 18 Cup Series races in 2016 due to concussion-like symptoms and later wrote about his experience in the book, "Racing to the Finish: My Story", after he retired in 2017.

The Concussion & CTE Foundation thanked Lorenzen's children for their $1 million donation to advance CTE research. They also established the free Fred Lorenzen Memorial HelpLine, which is set up to connect racers and their families to care and support.