Fred Lorenzen had stage 3 CTE, first NASCAR driver known to have the disease

What the brain study found

NASCAR Hall of Famer Fred Lorenzen had stage 3 chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head impacts, when he died in 2024, researchers at the Boston University CTE Center have found. The Concussion & CTE Foundation announced the diagnosis on Tuesday, according to Sports Illustrated, and USA TODAY Sports and Jayski reported that Lorenzen is the first NASCAR driver known to have been diagnosed with the disease. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Stage 3 is the second most severe on the four-stage scale, Jayski reported. The neuropathologist who examined the brain, Dr. Thor Stein, director of molecular research at the BU CTE Center, identified a form called cortical-sparing CTE, according to Sports Illustrated. Stein told the magazine the subtype tends to hit areas that control behavior and movement harder, producing behavioral symptoms and Parkinson's-like movement problems that begin earlier in life. Sports Illustrated put the subtype at roughly 10% of CTE cases, while USA TODAY Sports put it at about 11%. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

CTE can currently be diagnosed only after death, Sports Illustrated noted. USA TODAY Sports reported that Lorenzen pledged his brain for research after his Hall of Fame induction, making him the second NASCAR driver to do so after Dale Earnhardt Jr. ^{[1] [2]}

Decades of decline

Lorenzen died on Dec. 18, 2024, at age 89, Jayski reported, 12 days short of his 90th birthday according to USA TODAY Sports. He was diagnosed with dementia in his 60s and lived with it for roughly his final 20 years, Sports Illustrated reported. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

His daughter, Amanda Lorenzen Gardstrom, told USA TODAY Sports the family endured "35 years of just constant heartbreak of some form." She described impulsiveness, anger and repetitive behavior that began years before the dementia diagnosis. The paper reported that Lorenzen used a wheelchair for his last 14 years after a fall, and that his son, Chris Lorenzen, estimated assisted living cost about $200,000 a year. ^[1]

A $1 million gift and a dispute with NASCAR

Chris Lorenzen and Amanda Lorenzen Gardstrom have donated $1 million to the Concussion & CTE Foundation, according to all three outlets. Jayski reported the money will advance research and establish the Fred Lorenzen Memorial HelpLine, which struggling drivers and their families can contact to find care. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

The family had hoped NASCAR would join the effort. Jayski reported they opened talks with NASCAR leadership in January and that the sanctioning body declined to take part. Chris Lorenzen told Sports Illustrated his father's care came at a "significant financial and emotional cost to our family." In comments reported by Jayski, he said the family still hopes for "opportunities to work together." NASCAR did not respond to a USA TODAY Sports request for comment before publication. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Lorenzen's career

Lorenzen made his NASCAR debut in 1956 at 21 and won 26 Cup Series races in 158 starts, most of them in Holman-Moody's No. 28 Ford, USA TODAY Sports reported. His victories included the 1965 Daytona 500 and two World 600s, which Sports Illustrated dated to 1963 and 1965. He won eight of 16 starts in 1964, was a two-time USAC stock car champion in 1958 and 1959, and in 1963 became the first driver to earn more than $100,000 in a season. He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame with the Class of 2015. ^{[1] [2]}

What comes next

The diagnosis brings CTE, long associated with football and other contact sports, into stock car racing, where drivers absorb repeated crash impacts. Gardstrom told USA TODAY Sports that NASCAR should invest in treatment for retired drivers with CTE symptoms. The foundation has not publicly said when the helpline will open, and none of the reports said whether NASCAR will revisit the family's request. ^{[1] [3]}