According to Motorsport.com, NASCAR legend Fred Lorenzen has become the first driver to ever be officially diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). The Concussion & CTE Foundation announced the historic finding, noting that the 1965 Daytona 500 winner suffered from Stage 3 CTE following his racing career. Because the degenerative disease can only be definitively diagnosed after death, this posthumous finding marks a sobering milestone for motorsport.
Lorenzen passed away in December of 2024 at the age of 89. He had made the courageous decision to donate his brain for research way back in 2016, eight years before his death. Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose own stellar NASCAR Cup career was cut short due to concussions, has previously announced plans to make a similar brain donation.
In honor of their father, Lorenzen's children, Chris Lorenzen and Amanda Lorenzen Gardstrom, are donating $1 million to help advance CTE research. They have also established the Fred Lorenzen Memorial HelpLine, which is designed to connect drivers and their families with vital care and support.
Known widely as 'Fast Freddie' as well as the 'Golden Boy,' 'Fearless Freddie,' and the 'Elmhurst Express,' Lorenzen carved out a remarkable career at the absolute top level of NASCAR. He started 158 Cup races between 1956 to 1972, taking 26 victories along the way. Beyond his Daytona triumph in 1965, he also claimed victory at the World 600 in 1963 and 1965.
What made his numbers truly wild was that he never even ran a full schedule, choosing instead to focus his efforts on the biggest money events of the era. He made history as the first driver to clear $100,000 in earnings across a single season. Even while running a partial calendar of just 29 out of 55 races in 1963, he still managed to finish as high as third in the championship standings.
Before conquering NASCAR, Lorenzen secured back-to-back USAC stock car championships in 1958 and 1959. Voted Most Popular Driver twice by adoring fans, he was deservedly named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers and was elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015.
