NASCAR’s First CTE Case Triggers $1M Driver Safety Fund
Family establishes memorial helpline as Boston University researchers confirm stage 3 brain disease in Hall of Famer
A $1 million donation to the Concussion & CTE Foundation is forcing stock car racing to confront a neurological threat long associated almost exclusively with gridiron collisions. The funding, announced by Chris and Amanda Lorenzen through the newly created Fred Lorenzen Memorial HelpLine, follows post-mortem testing that identified stage 3 Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in their father, NASCAR Hall of Famer Fred Lorenzen.
Researchers at the Boston University CTE Center confirmed the diagnosis after analyzing brain tissue provided by the family, according to the Concussion & CTE Foundation. It marks the first documented case of CTE in a NASCAR driver.
Lorenzen died on Dec. 18, 2024, at age 89. He had lived with dementia for two decades before his death, according to the Concussion & CTE Foundation. In 2016, he pledged his brain to scientific research with the backing of his children.
The memorial helpline targets drivers and their families seeking medical care. Stock car racing lacks the centralized union infrastructure found in leagues like the NFL, leaving retired competitors to navigate complex neurological decline largely on their own. The financial commitment from the Lorenzen family attempts to fill that gap.
During his career, Lorenzen became the first NASCAR driver to earn $100,000 in a single season, achieving the milestone in 1965. That same year, he won the Daytona 500 driving the No. 28 Holman-Moody Ford. Fans voted him NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver in 1963 and 1965. The sport inducted him into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015.
CTE can only be definitively diagnosed after death. According to the Boston University CTE Center, the degenerative brain disease has been found “in an overwhelming percentage of examined former NFL and high-level tackle football players.”
Recent diagnoses continue to center heavily on professional football. NFL legends Steve McMichael and Billy Ray Smith Jr. were posthumously diagnosed with the condition, according to the Boston University CTE Center. Dallas Cowboys player Marshawn Kneeland, who died by suicide in November 2025, was diagnosed with stage 1 CTE following post-mortem analysis, according to the Boston University CTE Center.
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