Fred Lorenzen

Late Daytona 500 Champion Becomes First NASCAR Driver Confirmed To Have CTE, Family Pledges $1M For Research

Oct 21, 2026 @ 1:46pm

Late NASCAR legend Fred Lorenzen is the first driver confirmed to have CTE after battling dementia. His family pledged $1 million toward brain research. The Hall of Famer from Elmhurst, Illinois, won 26 races, including the 1965 Daytona 500 and had 84 top-ten finishes during his NASCAR career, which spanned from 1958 to 1972. Fred […] The post Late Daytona 500 Champion Becomes First NASCAR Driver Confirmed To Have CTE, Family Pledges $1M For Research appeared first on BroBible.

Fred Lorenzen Becomes First Ever NASCAR Driver To Be Diagnosed With CTE

Oct 20, 2026 @ 4:20pm

Motor SportsNASCAR

Whiskey Riff Sports

The NASCAR world has its first, confirmed case of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). Former NASCAR Cup Series driver, Fred Lorenzen, passed away in December of 2024 at the age of 89. His cause of death was complications of dementia, which Lorenzen lived with for 20 years. Eight years before his death, the NASCAR Hall of Famer pledged to donate his brain for research. Because of that pledge, and the work of researchers at the Boston University CTE Center, the 26-time […] The post Fred Lorenzen Becomes First Ever NASCAR Driver To Be Diagnosed With CTE first appeared on Whiskey Riff.