Fred Lorenzen First Known NASCAR Driver to Have Suffered From CTE

Fred Lorenzen, a NASCAR Hall of Famer, has become he first former NASCAR racer to ever be diagnosed with CTE. His family has donated for additional CTE research.

Fred Lorenzen, winner of the 1961 and 1964 Rebel 300s. (Photo by ISC Archives via Getty Images) | ISC Archives via Getty Images

On Tuesday, the Concussion and CTE Foundation officially revealed that Fred Lorenzen, a NASCAR Hall of Famer, is the first known NASCAR driver to have suffered from CTE. According to research done on Lorenzen's brain at Boston University following his death in 2024, it was discovered that Lorenzen had stage 3 CTE.

Lorenzen, who lived to age 89, lived with dementia for the final 20 years of his life. The Lorenzen family has donated $1 million to the Concussion & CTE Foundation to advance CTE research and to help struggling drivers and their families find care.

“My dad struggled for many years, long before he was diagnosed with dementia in his 60s,” said Amanda Lorenzen Gardstrom. “Watching him go through that, and experiencing the impact it had on me and our family was incredibly difficult and beyond heartbreaking. While he may be the first race car driver diagnosed with CTE, we know from outreach to other drivers that he isn’t the only one suffering. I know there are so many more out there who need help. Our family wants to honor our dad’s legacy by making sure other drivers and their families have help navigating this devastating disease and hopefully better answers in the future.”

The Lorenzen family hoped that NASCAR would join them in researching CTE among drivers, but ultimately, the family says the sanctioning body hasn't helped in the process to this point.

“My dad’s dementia care came at a significant financial and emotional cost to our family,” said Chris Lorenzen, Fred’s son. “We had hoped NASCAR would join us in this effort, and while we’re disappointed that hasn’t happened, we remain hopeful there will be opportunities to work together to support the drivers who helped build the sport. Our family is proud to make this investment in CTE research, and we hope it brings us closer to a future where we can diagnose this disease in living patients, develop effective treatments, and ultimately find a cure.”

The Concussion & CTE Foundation is thankful for the donation from the Lorenzen family, which will allow the organization to further research CTE in the racing community.

“It is concerning to find CTE in the brain of Fred Lorenzen, the first NASCAR driver to be studied,” said Dr. Chris Nowinski, Concussion & CTE Foundation CEO. “We know the need for programs supporting the auto racing community with CTE symptoms is there, and we are thankful we can ramp up our work thanks to a generous $1 million donation from Chris Lorenzen and Amanda Lorenzen Gardstrom.”

CTE, currently, can only be diagnosed after death.

The specific CTE subset that Lorenzen was found to have is only found in roughly 10% of all CTE cases, and has worse impacts in areas of the brain controlling behavior and movement.

“Mr. Lorenzen had cortical-sparing CTE, which is the first identified subtype of the disease,” said Dr. Thor Stein, director of molecular research at the Boston University CTE Center, and the neuropathologist who studied Lorenzen’s brain. “In about 10% of CTE cases, the disease is worse in areas of the brain controlling behavior and movement, leading to behavioral symptoms and Parkinson’s-like movement disorders that start earlier in life.”

Lorenzen captured 26 victories in the NASCAR Cup Series over the course of a 158-race career. Among the major wins in Lorenzen's career came in the Daytona 500 (1965) and the World 600, now known as the Coca-Cola 600, in 1963 and 1965.

Outside of NASCAR, Lorenzen was a two-time champion in the USAC Stock Car Series in 1958 and 1959.

Lorenzen was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2015.