Overview
- Waltrip’s family announced Wednesday that the 79-year-old NASCAR Hall of Famer has been diagnosed with frontotemporal degeneration (FTD) and that doctors see it as complicated by possible chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
- The family said they believe the brain damage is likely linked to injuries sustained during Waltrip’s nearly 30-year driving career and that he will be stepping further away from public engagements while he spends time with family.
- FTD is a progressive disorder that damages the frontal and temporal lobes and can affect behavior, language, movement and personality, and its course can vary widely from person to person.
- Medical experts note that CTE can only be definitively diagnosed after death, so any living patient’s CTE attribution is provisional and would require postmortem examination for confirmation.
- Waltrip is one of NASCAR’s most successful drivers with 84 Cup wins and three championships and later spent nearly two decades as a FOX analyst, and the diagnosis raises new questions about long-term brain trauma risks in motorsports and what to watch for as the disease progresses.