NASCAR legend Fred Lorenzen becomes the first known driver to have CTE

(Gray News) - Racing legend Fred Lorenzen became the first NASCAR driver to officially be diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.The Concussion and CTE Foundation announced that Lorenzen suffered from stage 3 CTE before his death in 2024 at 89. According to the foundation’s press release, Lorenzen lived with dementia for the last 20 years of his life.“My dad struggled for many years, long before he was diagnosed with dementia in his 60s,” his daughter, Amanda Lorenzen Gardstrom, said. “Watching him go through that, and experiencing the impact it had on me and our family was incredibly difficult and beyond heartbreaking.”It was only through research on Lorenzen’s brain at Boston University after his death that medical officials were able to confirm the CTE diagnosis.There is currently no way to test for CTE until after death.Lorenzen said in 2016 that he would donate his brain for research following his death, according to Motorsport. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has also previou